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Jewish Dolls – From American Girl’s Rebecca Rubin To Jewish Barbie
Jewish dolls impart history and identity to Jewish girls
By Simone Ellin
Rebecca Rubin is a media darling! From Jewish Week to the Huffington Post, from the New York Times to “ABC News,” everyone is talking about the newest addition to the American Girl doll collection.
Rebecca is a turn-of-the-20th-century daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, who lives on the Lower East Side of New York. Although she is not American Girl’s first Jewish doll—Lindsey Bergman, who appeared in 2001, was a “Girl of the Year”—she is the first doll to be part of the company’s historical collection.
For a number of years, Jewish American parents had been clamoring for the production of a doll of Jewish heritage. In May, American Girl released Rebecca with great fanfare.
“Rebecca’s stories capture the moment in American history when the Jewish experience becomes intertwined with key cultural developments happening in our country, such as the great American melting pot, the rise of the movie industry, and the labor movement, all of which reshaped the nation,” says Ellen L. Brothers, president of American Girl. “We’re proud to introduce Rebecca to our historical line and know girls will enjoy learning about her world and the far-reaching contributions immigrants made—and still make—to American society.”
So, does Rebecca Rubin’s background matter to Jewish girls? Rivi and Shani Goloskov, 8- and 12-year-old students at Bnos Yisroel, an Orthodox Jewish girl’s day school in Baltimore, think it does. Although they don’t own the doll (yet), they would like to.
“I want it because she’s Jewish like me. We have something in common,” says Shani. “Only Rebecca keeps Shabbos,” explains Rivi. “The others don’t do the same things that Rebecca does” she adds.
“Having a Rebecca doll shows that people can be Jewish without being afraid about it. Like during the Spanish Inquisition,” notes Shani. “People had to be very careful about practicing their Judaism.”
As for the girls’ mother, Rina Goloskov, she says it’s not critical for her that the girls play with specifically “Jewish” dolls. “They have incredibly active imaginations and routinely have Barbie and her friends celebrating Chanukah or making Shabbos.
However,” she adds, “I think the American Girl series—not just the dolls, but the books and movies—are a wonderful way for young girls to learn about history through the eyes of someone their own age. Having a character that is so relevant to them because of her Jewish identity gives them a tremendous sense of pride, and the related books will open their eyes to the Jewish immigrant experience that almost all their grandparents or great-grandparents had.”
Vicki and Michael Firestein of Owings Mills echo Goloskov’s admiration for the American Girl doll and book collection. Their 7-year-old daughter Joan has had a strong Jewish identity since toddler-hood, when her mother recalled her saying Shabbat prayers without prompting before the age of two. Nevertheless, they feel the appearance of a Jewish American Girl on the scene has only increased their daughter’s pride in being Jewish.
Prior to the release of Rebecca, Vicki Firestein says Joan was frustrated when she looked at the American Girl holiday catalogue. She would ask, “Why do all the dolls celebrate Christmas?” recalls her mother. “When they came out with a Hanukkah set (before Rebecca’s release), Joan just had to have it.”
“I got it for Hanukkah and I lit candles with Kit, and ‘little Joan’ (Joan’s ‘Just Like Me’ American Girl doll), Ruthie (another American Girl doll) and ‘mini Ruthie,’ Ruthie’s doll,” says Joan.
When the Firesteins learned about the upcoming release of Rebecca, there was no question about buying the doll for Joan. “We had planned a trip to New York to the American Girl Place for Joan’s birthday,” says Vicki Firestein. They arrived at the store the day before Rebecca was released to the public.
“They wouldn’t let us purchase the doll on that day, but they took all our information, and sent it out to us right away,” says Vicki Firestein.
“If your doll is Jewish, then you can play Hanukkah together,” says Joan. “Rebecca and “little” Joan can teach Kit (another doll), who is Christian, about the Jewish holidays.”
Joan also says she likes the fact that the books that accompany Rebecca use lots of Yiddish words. “There’s a glossary at the back of the book and there are words like bubbie, and oy vey!”
From Ellis Island to Tefillin Barbie
A collection of Jewish dolls
Despite the attention that American Girl has attracted with Rebecca Rubin, the company isn’t the first to market a doll of Jewish heritage. Jewish parents intent on finding a “Jewish” doll for their daughters could have found one in 2004 when Aliza Stein of New Jersey began manufacturing the Gali Girls dolls designed to encourage girls to, as their motto says, “learn and play the Jewish way.”
Stein says she decided to create Gali Girls one day while at the toy store with her children. “We were in the doll aisle at the height of the Bratz dolls’ popularity. They wore very little clothing and they were all about hair, make-up and partying,” says Stein. “I was kind of amazed and disgusted, all at once, and felt these dolls both reflected and perpetuated our culture.”
At the time, Stein was a professional recruiter and one of her clients owned a toy company. “I asked how I could go about making a doll and they helped me to get started,” she says. Stein says she reflected on her Jewish upbringing and the Jewish values she learned during her childhood as the basis for the Gali Girl philosophy.
What does Stein think about the arrival of Rebecca Rubin?
“Well, it’s great that American Girl is finally catering to American Jewish girls,” she says, chuckling. “I do think it’s interesting that they chose a character so similar to our Jewish American doll—same story—Russian immigrant family living on the Lower East Side, right down to the year, 1914!
I haven’t read the books,” Stein continues, “but I’m not sure that the American Girl dolls necessarily espouse Jewish values the way ours do. I think they’re more about American history, whereas we’re more about how the Jewish community has survived, not just in America, but all across the world for 5,000 years.”
Ellis Island dolls, meanwhile, were first created in the late 1980s to honor the centennial of Ellis Island. In the late 1990s, Copa Judaica, a ceremonial and lifestyle product wholesaler, began manufacturing a series of Jewish Ellis Island dolls. Currently, these dolls are sold at the Jewish Museum of Maryland’s shop, at the Jewish Museum, N.Y. and at many online Judaica stores.
These dolls are better suited for collection and display, less for play, since they are made of porcelain. Like the Gali Girls and the American Girl dolls, Ellis Island dolls are also meant to teach about history, specifically about Jewish immigration. Unlike the other doll companies, Ellis Island manufactures both boy and girl dolls. While they come with historically accurate clothes and accessories, and brief “bios,” they do not have a related book series.
For the kitsch-minded, there’s Tefillin Barbie, the creation of Jen Taylor Friedman, whose other accomplishments include being the first known woman in history to have written a sefer torah. Friedman starts with Mattel’s 2006 version of Halloween Barbie, already outfitted with a long (modest) denim skirt, and then adds a tallit, tefillin, siddur and a volume of Talmud.
“She’s perfect for turning into a nice modern Orthodox girl,” explains Friedman. Torah scrolls can be added to the package for an additional $40.
Tefillin Barbie has created quite a stir and garnered a lot of press—not always positive. Depending upon their religious orientation, some view her as a doll whose message is long overdue, while others see her as a disgrace to Jewish traditions.
Jewish Dolls Aren’t Just For Little Girls!
Just ask Michael Glasser, a collector of paraphernalia from the heavy metal band KISS. One of his prized possessions is vocalist and bass guitar player Gene Simmons. “Gene Simmons is indeed ‘from the land of Israel’ quips Glasser. His real name is Chaim Wietz.”
Glasser doesn’t stop there. He also has Paul Stanley, vocalist and rhythm guitar player from KISS. His real name is Stanley Eisen!
