Jewish Tartan

[gilmore]

"Jewish servicemen outside South Portland Street Synagogue c 1916.

Around 1,200 Glasgow Jews enlisted in the armed forces during the First World War, of whom eighty-six died in action.

South Portland Street Synagogue opened in 1901 and was the focus of Judaism in the Gorbals."

Can anyone identify their regiments from the kilts, the sporrans, or the insignia?

[Arlen]

Chipping in a bit late...
I live just next to the highest Jewish population in Scotland. It's not at all uncommon to see folk wearing matching Kilts and Kippot to weddings or Bar Mitvahs.
I knew a folk folk when I was in School who would wear the Gordon tartan as in some Jewish communities Gordon is a popular surname. (There are many stories of why.)

[gilmore]

"A Bar Kochba weekend camp at Loch Lomond in the 1930s.

The Glasgow Bar Kochba Jewish sports club was founded in 1933 and was based in Turriff Street in the Gorbals. As well as offering members access to facilities in Glasgow, it organised weekend excursions to the countryside and a variety of social functions."

This is an interesting photo in that it shows that by the 1930's at least some Scottish Jews were relating to the kilt differently than had their immediate forebears.

The caption of the earlier photo from the earlier 20th Century read "One major difference between the JLB [Jewish Lads Brigade] and other youth groups was the intention that JLB membership would help the children of immigrants integrate themselves into their new surroundings and learn to be good citizens. Accordingly the Glasgow JLB adopted a number of Scottish traditions including establishing what was claimed to be the world's only all-Jewish pipe band."

Quite a few British and other Jews enlisted in the British armed forces and wore kilts in World War I, going against a long history of anti-Semitism in the European military and exclusion of Jews from armed forces (other than 25-year-long terms of conscription in the Tsarist Russian army), to demonstrate patriotism in their (often new) country.

Here we see that at least some Scottish Jews by the 1930's were not taking the kilt as seriously as a marker of Scots identity as it had been in earlier years.

[gilmore]

Chipping in a bit late...
I live just next to the highest Jewish population in Scotland. It's not at all uncommon to see folk wearing matching Kilts and Kippot to weddings or Bar Mitvahs.
I knew a folk folk when I was in School who would wear the Gordon tartan as in some Jewish communities Gordon is a popular surname. (There are many stories of why.)

Do Glaswegian Jews wear the Gordon tartan more often because their surname is Gordon, or because it has become identified as a (or the) Jewish tartan? What other tartans are popular?

[Arlen]

Do Glaswegian Jews wear the Gordon tartan more often because their surname is Gordon, or because it has become identified as a (or the) Jewish tartan? What other tartans are popular?

A bit of both, really.
I knew a few Jewish Gordons with whom I went to school and few who just wore the Gordon tartan because it was pretty much accepted as a tartan that a lot of the local Jewish boys wore.
And I can honestly say, none of the Gordons I went to school with who were not Jewish ever has a problem with it.

[macwilkin]

"Jewish servicemen outside South Portland Street Synagogue c 1916.

Around 1,200 Glasgow Jews enlisted in the armed forces during the First World War, of whom eighty-six died in action.

South Portland Street Synagogue opened in 1901 and was the focus of Judaism in the Gorbals."

Can anyone identify their regiments from the kilts, the sporrans, or the insignia?

The lads on the upper left appear to be wearing the "swinging six" sporran of the Argylls -- their glengarries have the A & SH Highlanders dicing pattern as well.

I remember a story from Bryon Farwell's Mr. Kipling's Army that told of someone seeing a Gordon Highlander praying in a synagogue in Aberdeen.

T.

[gilmore]

A bit of both, really.
I knew a few Jewish Gordons with whom I went to school and few who just wore the Gordon tartan because it was pretty much accepted as a tartan that a lot of the local Jewish boys wore.
And I can honestly say, none of the Gordons I went to school with who were not Jewish ever has a problem with it.

Arlen,

Thanks very much for the info.

Some of the various stories of the Jewish connection, if any, to the Gordon clan and name are gone over a bit in this earlier thread on Jewish tartans: http://www.xmarksthescot.com/forum/j...ghlight=jewish
Some are obviously fanciful, some could be closer to the truth, and some are indeed true.

Did/do the Jewish Glaswegians you know wear kilts and kippot in the usual Gordon tartan (mostly dark green and dark blue with yellow overstripe) or do/did they more often wear dress Gordon tartan (white background with dark green stripes and yellow overstripe), or both?

Were/are there other tartans that were/are popular with Jewish Glaswegians?

[Macman]

FWIW, I just read on another site, from a piper living in Israel, mention of a MacAbee tartan. The limited looking around I've done on MacAbee/MacAbi leads to MacFie.

[Monkey@Arms]

FWIW, I just read on another site, from a piper living in Israel, mention of a MacAbee tartan. The limited looking around I've done on MacAbee/MacAbi leads to MacFie.

Judah Maccabi is the protagonist of the Chanukah story, which took place in 167 BCE. Another transliteration of the name is Maccabee. Doubt he's related to the MacFie's

Best regard,

Jake

[TheKiltedWonder]

FWIW, I just read on another site, from a piper living in Israel, mention of a MacAbee tartan.

I think that's just a bit of word play. Judah Maccabee was a leader of a revolt against a hellenistic dynasty that attempted to forbid Jewish religious practices. The Maccabees were his followers and many Jewish sports teams, groups and even a brewery have that name. Incidentally the name means "hammer" in Hebrew, so it's possible to get hammered on hammer in hebrew.