Robin P. Stone
LITR 4333
American Immigrant Literature
April 22, 2002 

Note: It is custom not to spell the holy name of G-d out in order to avoid the name being erased or defaced. Though this rule does not apply to computer typed names, once the page is printed, the rule does apply, therefore the proper spelling is avoided by replacing the o with a hyphen, to prevent the possible erasure or defacement of G‑d’s name.

The Assimilation of the Jewish Religion

In this journal, I wish to examine the Jewish religion and the assimilation of the religion and culture of the Jewish people in America. In order to do this we must first discover exactly who these people are and the difference between their culture, their religion, and the people themselves, which we will do in this first section. In the following section, we will look at the assimilation of the Jews and the effects it has had on their religion.

The Jewish religion is not the longest surviving religion to date. Before Abram was called to be the father of God’s chosen people, he was a pagan and so was everyone else in his family at the time, descendants and ancestors. Abram’s father, Terach, was a native of Ur and a pagan. He took his family, left Ur, and went to Canaan. It was in Canaan that God told Abram to leave his family and go to a place that he would be shown when the time was right. Abram did as he was told, and God established a covenant with him. It was at this time that God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “the father of a multitude” (Open Bible).

The term Hebrew, instead of the term Chaldean, was used to describe Abram as a specific person; however, the term Hebrew, which comes from the word Habiru, literally means “those who pass from place to place” (Unger 65). Therefore, Abram the Hebrew is actually describing an action that Abram did rather than a race. Hebrew is now the term used to denote the language of the children of Israel. The children of Israel are the descendants of Israel meaning “a prince of God” who was born with the name of Jacob and renamed after fighting with an angel.

The term Jew came about after the land of Israel was split into two kingdoms: northern and southern. The Southern Kingdom was called Judaea. For the past 2500 years, the people of the descendants of Abraham have been called Jews as a shorted version of “Ju-dah.” Israeli is a term that refers to people born in the State of Israel—not all of them are necessarily Jewish. Thus, the people who descended from Abraham are Jewish and are called Jews, their language is Hebrew, which is the national language of the State of Israel, and the word Hebrew is a term used to describe the people erroneously.

Now that we have sorted out the terms of the people, let us look at their religion. After the term Jew was adapted from the word Judah, the religion of these people became to be referred to as Judaism, or the practice of following the religion of a Jew. Abraham and his descendants were called aside from the other nations, and on Mount Sinai were given a separate code of laws to follow, not only as a religion, but also as a way of life. This code of laws was the Torah, which covers the laws of moral and physical conduct. It begins with the origin of existence and ends with the word Israel. There was also an oral law called the Mishna, which was later written, and the commentary on the Mishna, which is called the Gemara. The oral law was compiled into a written work that is now called the Talmud. The code of law given in the Torah includes 10 greater commandments and 613 lesser, or sub-commandments, called mitzvoth that govern everything about the lives of the people: Including, but not limited to how they dress, what they eat, what actions are acceptable in business, home life, and family life. There are rules concerning everything from financial matters to when and how to have sex. There is not a single aspect of daily life that is not covered by the laws of Judaism in how to walk in the path that G‑d set out for them.

Judaism has always been and will always be more than just a religion. To the practicing Jews, it is a way of life and more. There are several modes of thought on whether Judaism is a religion, ethnicity, nationality, or something else. There are those who feel that since all Jews (except those who convert) are all descendants of Abraham, they are thus more a family than anything. This family has been set off from others with their religion that encompasses their entire way of life, beliefs, and actions, but may not have much to do with faith since Jewishness comes via the matrilineal bloodline.

Another view on this issue is that Judaism is only a religion since those who have no blood relation may convert and that in order to convert they must adopt the religion. They can retain their nationality and still be Jewish. This is shown by the fact that, in every nationality there is a Jewish faction. There are Chinese Jews, American Jews, Israeli Jews, Italian Jews, German Jews, etc. This indicates it is not an ethnicity in and of itself. However, there is a different take on this view. If a person was born to a Jewish mother, that person is a Jew: There is nothing he or she can do that will change that. However, in regards to a person converted to Judaism, according to the Code of Jewish Law, that person will also remain Jewish and there is nothing he or she can do about it. There is absolutely nothing any Jew can do to remove their status as a Jew, even if they forsake Judaism and practice other religions: Once a Jew always a Jew (Deutsch).

Next, there are those who feel that Judaism is more of a civilization unto itself. Jews have their own culture, foods, history, language, traditions, customs, and mores. They are more like a separate nationality, or separate ethnicity, than just a religion. This is seen in the unique art, music, culture, and even politics of those who are Jewish. In religions, the adherents only share the religious beliefs themselves, the different cultures and nationalities are not shared. Jews, however, share more than just their religion. They share the way of life, the culture, and a common language. Jews in Germany, China, America, or Africa can all walk into an Orthodox Temple and the Torah will be in the same language: Biblical Hebrew. The customs and traditions will all be the same: Even the calendar is the same. In their everyday life, they use the Gregorian calendar that most of the rest of the world uses, but for their religion, traditions, holidays, and practices, they use the Hebrew calendar.

 Whatever you call Judaism, it is more than just a religion, it is a set of legal and cultural laws and standards that guide the “practicing” Jews in every aspect of their lives today, just as it did over 2000 years ago. However, there is a major difference between Judaism and being Jewish. There are many Jews today that are Christian, Muslim, or even atheist. There is a distinct difference between the religion of Judaism and the birthright, if you will, of being Jewish. There are Jews who do not practice Judaism, but there are no people who practice true Judaism who are not Jewish.

Bibliography:

Deutsch, Lawrence. “To be a Jew”. Cornerstone University. Lecture. November 2, 1992.

Halley, Henry H. Halley’s Bible Handbook. Revised Ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan

Publishing. 1965.

The Open Bible: Expanded Edition. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. 1985.

Unger, Merrill F. Unger’s Bible Handbook. Chicago: Moody Press, 1988. Pp.1-154

Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. New York: Persea Books, 1999.

Assimilation:

            Now that we know whom we are talking about, let’s examine the main topic of this journal: the assimilation of the Jewish people and the effect it is having on their religion. Cambridge International Dictionary of English defines assimilation as “to take in, fit into, or become similar to.” America provides ample opportunity to immigrate and with immigration comes assimilation.

The Jewish people avoided becoming assimilated throughout history by refusing to change their way of dress, their way of eating, their names, their language, or their religion. “Let this be a lesson… If you do not want to end up as one of THEM (whoever THEY might be), don’t dress like them, talk their language, or adopt their names as your own” (Polirer). When they went to Egypt, they dressed differently from the Egyptians, they continued eating the way the Torah commanded, they gave their children Hebrew names, and they continued to say their prayers and conduct their services in Hebrew.

Regardless of persecution, the Jewish language of worship, their way of dress, and their foundations of religion continue primarily as they were in the beginning. Their way of dress included the tzit-tzit, which are fringe tied in a special way, having a special significance that must show from under whatever other garment they wear. They also covered their heads with yarmulke for the men and sheytle for the women. The foods they ate were within the guidelines of their religion—especially on the holy days—and they kept their Jewish names. The language was not difficult to preserve as all prayer books and blessings were in Hebrew and were not changed. When they were prohibited from having their religious writings, the writings were made into artwork with the beautiful alphabet of the Hebrew language written as the lines in a sketch—making an astounding picture called micrography, where the entire picture is created from the Hebrew alphabet and tells a story. All of these things were the glue that held the people together under such hard times and harsh conditions. Each of these elements can be traced back to the Jewish religion and have been guarded, cherished, and followed faithfully by most of the Jewish people over the centuries, since the calling out of Abraham. The persecution they endured due to being set apart from the other nations has only served to draw them closer together.

The Jewish people have been called back out of assimilation all throughout Biblical history. The Assyrian Empire absorbed the Ten Lost Tribes, the Hellenists were absorbed by the Greek culture, and Christianity absorbed the Marranos in the Middle Ages. However, they have managed to prevent assimilating completely, and have retained the same language since its conception. Now that modern technology has made it so easy to immigrate, the assimilation that comes naturally with immigration is beginning to affect the Jews again. According to Rabbi Michael M. Remson of Congregation Beth Shalom the most obvious effects he has seen of assimilation have occurred in the past 20 years and includes women taking leadership roles, and people becoming less caring about others and more centered on themselves—thus taking less action socially. Also noted were greater tensions in the Jewish world as well as in the non-Jewish world, and most importantly, the Americanization of Judaism which can be seen in the opening of the Jewish religions to Non-Jews, which was done in order to teach the Americans so as not to be persecuted or assimilated. This seems to have backfired, however. As the Jews started changing and assimilating, different denominations started developing. Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise started the Reform movement over 125 years ago in response to the Enlightenment. It is not only the oldest, but also the largest Jewish movement in all of North America. The Reform movement believes the religious laws are Divinely inspired but humanly written and thus, observation is a matter of choice. The Reform also considers itself a “religious community” instead of a “Jewish State.” Assimilation into the American culture does not permit a separatist way of life. Thus, the pressure of the dominant culture is to assimilate the manners and custom of daily routine of its immigrants into the more traditional way of life of most Americans

After the birth of the Reform movement, the Conservative movement appeared in response. The Conservatives hold that the Torah and laws are of divine origin but that revelation continues, thus Halacha—the code of laws—can be changed. This movement believes “The Reform are too Christian, and the Orthodox are too Jewish” (Ahavat-Israel). The formation of the Conservative movement follows the typical stage 5 of the Immigrant Narrative: Rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity. The Reform movement came very close to total assimilation and those Jews who did not want assimilation, and who saw their religion in danger of it, tried to rediscover and reassert their identity—it was only partial however, and thus the Conservative movement was born. The original Judaism, now called Orthodox Judaism, is the same Judaism handed down to the Israelites all those years ago. The three main tenets of this branch of Judaism are observing the Sabbath—called Shabbat, keeping the strict laws of eating kosher—called kashrut, and keeping the laws of family purity—called mikvah.

In his article, “Who Should Get In?” published in the New York Book Review, Christopher Jencks pointed out that religion is the last thing to be assimilated even over language, and that intermarriage is the leading cause as well as the leading determinate to gauge assimilation (59). This seems to be logical argument since it was not until the Reform and Conservative movements took hold and intermarriage became a common practice that the decline of Judaism seemed to become a major problem. It is estimated that most Jews in the United States marry non-Jews and that only one-fourth of these mixed families will be raised Jewish (Prager). It seems from Prager’s articles that the largest problem facing Jewish people in America is not that they are being persecuted, or that they are being converted, but that they are being assimilated through marriage.

            Usually acceptance is a good thing, but in this case, this acceptance has meant the decline of a culture and religion that is struggling to maintain its identity. The necessary tension of a dominant culture is not being found in the experience of Jews immigrating to America today. This tension is necessary in order to define the structure of their group identity, and in the absence of it, the Jewish people are seeking an answer, or a means of preserving their value systems and their way of life as well as their religion. This is process is a flow from stage three of the Immigrant Narrative—shock, resistance, exploitation, and discrimination—through stage four in which assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity occurs, and on to stage five in which the immigrant tries to rediscover or reassert their ethnic identity.

The poem “The Seder” by Enid Dame in Unsettling America reflects that religion is the last facet of a culture to be assimilated. Different politics, and how laws are interpreted are varied as shown by the female leader, the non-sexist Haggadah, and the forgotten symbols of the ritual. However, the people are there celebrating a common Festival or holy day among all Jews. In stanza four, line two shows the Seder is not an orthodox service or they would use a traditional Haggadah. Haggadah is the book from with the Seder services are conducted. The word Haggadah literally means “Telling” referring to telling the story of the Exodus. Line three again shows non-traditional elements with the stress of the Universals—or less offensive concepts such as impressive leaders/priests, sacred space, and pilgrimages. Line 4 shows non-traditional views and assimilation by having a female host-person: The host person is usually a male head of household. The fact that the hard-boiled eggs were forgotten and that it doesn't matter shows assimilation and loss of ritualism in the ceremony. The hard-boiled eggs in the Seder represent life as well as the hard-headedness of the Jews. It is interesting that that was what was forgotten and it doesn't matter to the members of the Seder.

Ritualism and orthodoxy view these symbols almost as commandments, thus they become assimilation markers when absent. In stanza six, the secular relatives are non-religious and therefore not present. Washing the hands over an unnecessary fire is a metaphor for wasting their time in the ritualism. In stanza seven, the Orthodox relatives are very religious people who would leave out of disapproval. The heresies spoken of are the things like the woman leader and the non-sexist Haggadah. The bad pronunciation is an assimilation marker as well; in that they do not observe holy days often, therefore they are unfamiliar with the pronunciation.

This poem, especially stanza four, shows stage four of the Immigrant Narrative—assimilation to dominant American culture and loss of ethnic identity, and stage five, the rediscovery or reassertion of ethnic identity in observing a Holy day that reaches back to the beginning of their history. No matter what they have done all year, the holy days are reaching back and getting in touch with whom they started out to be—a descendant of Israel/Jacob.

A trend called a “Spiritual Holocaust” by many Jewish leaders includes the lack of a Jewish education of children raised in foreign countries as well as conversion of Jews who intermarry, into other religions. Another factor in assimilation is the fact that many Jews today are not keeping Kashrut—the kosher way of eating. Rabbi Deutsch says that the failure to observe Kashrut always leads to the assimilation of Jews.

            The assimilation process has been slower with the Jews due to their religion and language, but it seems that the assimilation is wearing both down at last: From Orthodox to Reform to Conservative. It is estimated that approximately 50 percent of all Jews intermarry and that of those families, assimilation is happening very quickly. With intermarriage, lack of education, secular Jews becoming a “norm,” political correctness, and the failure to preserve Kashrut the Jewish people as a nation are losing their spirituality and the loss of Biblical Hebrew seems to be the last hurtle in the eventual course of assimilation of the culture, and the religion: the last area of the religion that has remained unaffected.

Bibliography:

Ask the Rabbi. Jewish Community Online. 4 February 2002. <http//www.jewish.com>.

Bar-Ami, Rabbi Ben-Zion. “The Rebbe.” Oht Ohr—Israel. 9 March 2002.

<http://www.bar-ami.org.il/bar-ami/index.html>.

Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,

2001

Deutsch, Lawrence. “To be a Jew”. Cornerstone University. Lecture. November 2, 1992.

Gillan, Maria Mazziotti, and Gillan, Jennifer. Unsettling America: New York: Persea

Books, 1994.

Jencks, Christopher. “Who Should Get In?” New York Review of Books. 29 November

2001.

Orthodox, Conservative, Reform. Ahavat-Israel. 2 April 2002. <http://www.ahavat-

Israel.com/ahavat/protest/judaism.asp>.

Prager, Dennis. “Jewish Assimilation.” Wall Street Journal (1997): 17

In conclusion, what I have discovered through this journal is that I have not even touched the knowledge that awaits me in this area. I have discovered that the term “Jew” does not have a negative connotation unless USED as a negative epithet. Jesus was a Jew. I have learned that many Jews want to be part of the American Dream but do not want to lose their Jewish identity. These Jews cannot afford to lose who they are and still expect to keep their religion, thus, “Jews . . . who adore the challenge of living as Jews, have to work much harder to resist the pressure of assimilation. (Wisse 5).

The “Spiritual Holocaust” that is assimilation is splintering the Jewish people, especially the youth via intermarriage, lack of education, and political correctness, to the point that the Jewish religion and culture are in danger. Spiritual leaders must do some major soul searching to find a solution before it is too late.

I never thought of the immigration that has touched my own life until this class. My father is a fourth generation immigrant from France. On my mother’s side, we are about 12^th generation immigrants from Europe and Germany, as well as 1/8^th American Quapaw Indian. Now my daughter has married a first generation Mexican immigrant and I live in a neighborhood in which there are very few non-immigrants. On top of that, my religion is Messianic—where Jewish believers in Christ and Gentile Christians who respect and admire the rich culture and religion of the Jewish way of life, come together to worship. I have, in a way, started my own immigration into the Jewish ethnicity spoken of in the introduction. I never though of any of this until taking this course and now see something awesome in this. I find myself anxious to discover who else I have in my family line and where they come from. With each link to a new culture I find, I find a piece of myself and a bit more understanding of how I became who I am.

            I am very much interested in further research in this field and will be starting by getting in touch with my own “Old World” that has been handed down from my ancestors. I will also spend some time researching how different Rabbis from different denominations of Judaism feel the assimilation is affecting the Jewish nation and what they think is causing the most damage. I will also research what the Rabbis think can be done to stop this loss of religion and culture before any more is lost. I am sure they will all say education is key but there must be more than can be done. I will also interview other Jews, those who have immigrated personally and see if they see the assimilation occurring and how they think it is affecting them. Perhaps a survey would be a good place to start here—maybe through the Jewish Community Center.

Bibliography:

Wisse, Ruth. “The Meaning of Assimilation”. Empower America. <http://www.empower.org/patriotism/wisse.pdf>.