The Jewish consumer culture of British Mandate Palestine

Hizky Shoham discusses the Jewishness of consumer rituals in the Jewish sector of British Mandate Palestine (the “Yishuv”). Understanding consumerism as a culture for all intents and purposes, Shoham looks at several case studies of public festivals and domestic rituals that conveyed to the entire Yishuv society the myths of identity construction, self-expression, and self-fulfillment through the act of purchasing. These rituals, especially the Tel Aviv Purim carnival and the bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies, were typical products of consumer culture but simultaneously perceived as authentic markers of Jewish identity. The intersection of consumer culture with Jewish culture in the Yishuv, both in the public and domestic spheres, highlights the ritualized act of purchasing as a new locus for the construction of modern Jewish identities.