Jews in America
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Jews in America A Contemporary Reader Roberta Rosenberg Farber and Chaim I. Waxman Brandeis University Press a~''''1'\ ,,'1'\ "",g'O Published by University Press of New England 'n",,-n'I" ",,,," ')'11)" Hanover and London ,;>~ "~f· >.,,-.l·~:;u:" Chaim I. Waxman The Sociohistorical Background and Development of America's Jews The very first Jewish communities in the United States were settled by Sephar dim, Jews of the Spanish-Portugese tradition who established their synagogues in that tradition. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the majority of American Jews were of German and Central European background. During the second half of the nineteenth century and especially from 1880 to the mid- I920S, there was a massive wave of immigration from Eastern and Southern Europe. In this period of peak immigration, Italians were the largest immigrant group to enter America, and Jews from Eastern Europe were the second largest. Whereas in 1880 the American Jewish community numbered approximately a quarter of million (most of Central European background), during the years 1881 to 1923 about two and a half million Jews came from Eastern Europe. The floodtide of Eastern European immigration transformed the American Jewish community. Because the American Jewish community came to reflect the culture and con cerns of this immigrant community, it is important to understand their cultural background. The world of Eastern European Jewry was unique. In contrast to Jews in Cen tral and Western Europe, Eastern European Jews lived in towns and villages shtetlach in Yiddish-in which they were the majority. Their isolation from the larger society enabled them to develop and perpetuate a Jewish culture with a strong sense of in-group unity and with strong Jewish norms and values, many of which were religious in nature. They understood themselves as belonging to a Jewish "nation" or people, rather than simply a religion, a definition that derived from and was reinforced by both internal and external sources. As Daniel J. Elazar points out (see his essay in this volume), the Jewish community has traditionally been a unique blend of "kinship and consent," and it was almost natural that shtetl Jews perceived the Jewish community as extended family. This perception was not only theirs; the larger society also viewed them as a separate nation or people. 8 • Establishing a Foundation Their mode of life was less a matter of intentional individual choice and more a For the millions who emigrated tc matter offamiliarity and social and communal control. the change, though lifesaving for rna: Traditional Judaism was the religion of the shtetl and its culture as well. A Jew they encounter alien social and cuItur living in the traditional monoreligious culture of the shtetl would almost certainly tility, fear, and disdain from the earlie have been confused by the Western distinction between religious group and ethnic beginning to feel comfortable with l group. To him or her there were only Yidn (Jews) and Yiddishkei (Jewishness, the To be sure, many of the German J Jewish way of life). To be a "good Jew" meant to behave in accordance with the grants as uncouth, destitute, uncivilL norms of traditional Judaism as defined by the rabbis-scholars of the community. position in American society. In addi Jews have traditionally had their own languages, and the language of the shtetl Jewish intellectuals began espousing: was Yiddish, which was a combination of a medieval German dialect and some Jews became involved in and even as; Hebrew elements, as well as aspects of the local vernacular. Hebrew was the ing labor movement in the United St loshen kodesh, the "holy tongue," reserved primarily for religious rituals, includ tially middle-class, were appalled. Th. ing Scripture and prayer. For the masses, Yiddish was the mama loshen, the class members of minority groups "mother tongue," which was used even to understand Scripture and for prayer. In typically hold the lower-class memb this language of the shtetl, Jews expressed their deepest sentiments and most pro novel, however, was the manner in w~ found ideas. Those who knew the language of the country in which they lived their fears and hostilities. They did not used it only in their dealings with outsiders. groups often have, totally reject and di~ Occupationally, the Jews of the shtetl were middlemen engaged in commerce, brethren. Rather, they undertook to "A.l trade, or skilled work. As a result ofthe abolition ofserfdom in the early 1860s, the One way they did this was to estab: construction of railroads, and official attempts to promote industrialization, the ec Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society, whiet onomic situation ofEastern European Jewry increasingly worsened during the sec dozen cities throughout the United St~ ond half of the nineteenth century. These economic conditions, which reduced establishing educational and training. many to pauperism, along with the spread of the secular ideas of the Enlighten adults. ment, secular Yiddishism, secular Zionism, and secular socialism, overpowered The Eastern European Jewish i1Il1l! the shtetl. As a closed society it could not withstand these forces. By the end of the ceived as the snobbishness of the Gerr century the shtetl was disappearing, and Jews who remained in Eastern Europe forts to Americanize them, which the E were moving to the larger cities. lation. Some Eastern European immigr that they embarked on massive efforts t Because their cultural and structural backgrounds in Europe were so different from educational, and social service instituti those of German Jews and because the conditions in the United States had changed ample, they founded their own Hebrew by the time of their arrival, the Eastern European Jewish immigrants developed quently merged with the Hebrew Shelte: very different patterns of organization from those of their predecessors. Ellis Is pean Jews, and became the Hebrew 1m! land, in Upper New York Bay, was the major immigration station for those who ar international Jewish migration agency. rived in the United States after 1892. And almost all Eastern European Jews who New York also organized a federation 0 arrived after 1870 initially spent some time on New York City's Lower East Side. Trades. The Eastern European Jewish immigrants arrived at a point during which the United States was rapidly becoming urbanized, and they settled in the ethnic In 1887 the major Eastern European sy neighborhoods in the country's largest cities. These settlement patterns led to create a united Orthodox community E American Jewry's becoming highly urbanized, a pattern that persists but has been deliberations and a search, they elected 1 steadily declining somewhat in recent years. Most Eastern European Jews arrived of Vilna (Vilnius), in Lithuania, Rabbi: with no money and made their way to the Jewish neighborhoods, primarily on the 1888. The whole effort failed, howe Lower East Side in New York City, where they were assisted by relatives, friends, Orthodox rabbis; the vehement opposil and/or representatives of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. archists; the resistance of ritual slaughtf Waxman/Sociohistorical Background • 9 ~ntional individual choice and more a For the millions who emigrated to the United States at the tum of the century, nal control. the change, though lifesaving for many, was nevertheless traumatic. Not only did :he shtetl and its culture as well. A Jew they encounter alien social and cultural forces, they were frequently met with hos re of the shtetl would almost certainly tility, fear, and disdain from the earlier German Jewish immigrants, who were just on between religious group and ethnic beginning to feel comfortable with their own integration into American society. Jews) and Yiddishkei (Jewishness, the To be sure, many of the German Jews perceived the Eastern European immi ~t to behave in accordance with the grants as uncouth, destitute, uncivilized, and therefore threatening to their own the rabbis-scholars of the community. position in American society. In addition, when newly arrived Eastern European .guages, and the language of the shtetl Jewish intellectuals began espousing socialism and when many Eastern European a medieval German dialect and some Jews became involved in and even assumed leadership roles in the newly emerg le local vernacular. Hebrew was the ing labor movement in the United States, many German Jews, who were essen primarily for religious rituals, includ- tially middle-class, were appalled. There was nothing novel in their fears; middle Yiddish was the mama loshen, the class members of minority groups who are themselves of precarious status nderstand Scripture and for prayer. In typically hold the lower-class members of their group in contempt. What was heir deepest sentiments and most pro novel, however, was the manner in which the German Jews attempted to deal with e of the country in which they lived their fears and hostilities. They did not, as other middle-class members of minority groups often have, totally reject and disassociate themselves from their lower-class ore middlemen engaged in commerce, brethren. Rather, they undertook to "Americanize" them as rapidly as possible. tion of serfdom in the early 1860s, the One way they did this was to establish philanthropic organizations such as the Is to promote industrialization, the ec Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society, which had local committees in more than two increasingly worsened during the sec dozen cities throughout the United States and Toronto, Canada. Another was by ;x:onomic conditions, which reduced establishing educational and training courses and schools for both children and )f the secular ideas of the Enlighten adults. _and secular socialism, overpowered The Eastern European Jewish immigrants strongly resented what they per lhstand these forces. By the end of the ceived as the snobbishness of the German Jews and especially the Germans' ef 'WS who remained in Eastern Europe forts to Americanize them, which the Eastern Europeans viewed as forced assimi lation.