Chrissie Johnston

LITR 5731

Jewish Assimilation/Acculturation

            I am completely fascinated by the Jewish religion. Judaism is a complex religion dating back to pre-biblical times which makes its history difficult to study. There is just so much to learn! As someone raised in a Baptist church, on the gulf coast of Texas, I’ve never been given the opportunity to learn more about this religion. There just are not that many Jews in Brazoria County; in fact I can’t even tell you where a synagogue is, but I can name dozens of Christian Churches. That being said, after watching Hester Street and our class discussions, I wanted to know who had an easier time assimilating; Orthodox , Conservative, or Reform Jews . I was not surprised to find the answer to this question is just as complex as the religion itself.

                        What are Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism? It is important to know what these terms mean because depending on which category an immigrant fit into, it had an effect on how well they assimilated.  Orthodox Judaism is a “formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics canonized in the Talmudic texts.” Conservative Judaism “has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism, developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and does not imply the movement's adherents are politically conservative.” Reform Judaism “in general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the surrounding culture” (Wikipedia). These are the three main groups of Jewish immigrants.

“The American Jewish community was created by three waves of immigration” (Hertzberg). Each group arrived in America at a time when there were distinctive changes in Judaism. The first wave arrived during colonial times and consisted of Orthodox Jews. The second wave came over in the middle of the 19^th century from Central Europe with the start of the Reform movement in Judaism, and the last wave of immigrants arrived from Eastern Europe between 1882 and 1914. (Hertzberg) The third group arrived during the time when men like Solomon Schechter were working to establish the Conservative movement in Judaism (Spiro). Just like the puritans, these groups were looking for religious freedom.

            Orthodox Jewish people came to America to find a place where they study their religion free of persecution and so they could live as free citizens. Like many other immigrants, “Jews wanted to share in the opportunity of America.” (Klinger) During colonial times there were only around 2,000 Jews in the United States; therefore, they were seen as a rarity. With so few of them, they had no choice but to assimilate quickly. There were no synagogues and they had no very few Rabbis to lead them. Observance of their religion soon began to dwindle. Another problem they faced was a lack of Jewish women, and like other colonists, this lead to intermarriages. “In the fourth and fifth generations of colonial Jewish families, intermarriage was so dominate that most of these families disappeared from the Jewish community” (Hertzberg). Essentially, these Orthodox Jews had to sacrifice their religion in order to survive.

            The second set of Jewish immigrants came from Central Europe and included several rabbis who were involved in the Jewish Reform movement in Europe. These groups of Reform Jews had no problem with acculturation and were eager to fit in. I believe this is where the term “Model Minority” from objective two would fit in. The Rabbis in this group believed they should, “undergo the process of Americanization as rapidly as possible and surrender [their] foreignness, that is, [they] should learn to behave and live in imitation of the dominant modes” (Hertzberg). This group took advantage of the opportunities available to them excelled in academia (Objective 2). The problems arose when the Eastern European Jews arrived. This Conservative Jewish group “felt the Reform had gone too far” (Spiro). Unlike the Central European Jews, the new arrivals tended to be poor and arrived with no money and very little family. I believe this is what lead them to settle in “tight-knit communities where they retained the traditions and customs form the old world. They consciously avoided assimilation into American culture.” (Gale Group) (Objective 4). They must have felt they had very little of their old life left and as a result held on tightly to the only thing they could, each other. With one group of Jews eager to assimilate and another fighting it, assimilation for any Jew had to be difficult.

            With the industrialization of America all types of immigrants were working hard jobs for long hours and little pay. Industrialization made assimilation hard for all of the Jewish people. Many of them worked in sweatshops, like inYekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto or in laundry services like in “Soap and Water”. “In the busy season the employees [were] required to work long hours, sometimes as high as fifteen, perhaps eighteen, a day” (Bernheimer Qtd. in Spiro). They generally worked six days a week with only Sunday as a day of rest.  If the Jews stayed home on Saturday for their Sabbath, they were fired at once. Eventually most just stopped the observance all together.

            What I learned during this research process is that the Jews that had the easiest time assimilating were the ones that gave up their religious beliefs or changed them to suit the dominant culture. I believe this happened to all branches of Judaism and many other religions for that matter. If any immigrant’s religion is different in any way from the dominate majority, they have to covert to said majorities’ religion or adapt theirs to mirror the majorities’. It is naïve of anyone to assume America is “the land of the Free”. Because of my research and this class, I believe the America should be describe as “the land of the Free, if you are willing to assimilate and fit in with the dominate majority”; otherwise, why would American be seen as a “melting pot” (objective 2)? If we wanted newcomers to retain their individuality, why should they have to blend in?

Works Cited

Hertzberg, Arthur. < http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01522.html.>

Kamp, Jim. "Jewish Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Ed. Jeffrey Lehman. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 1030-1051. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 July 2010.

Klinger, Jerry. “American Jewish History 1924-1945.” http://jewishmag.com/86mag/usa10.htm

Spiro, Rabbi Ken. “Jews gained untold riches in America, at the cost of their heritage and spirituality.” Jewish Life in America: Crash Course in Jewish History #58. <http://www.aish.com/jl/h/48956976.html>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism>

[earlier version]

Chrissie Johnston

Jewish Assimilation/Acculturation

            I am completely fascinated by the Jewish religion. Judaism is a complex religion dating back to pre-biblical times which makes its history difficult to study. There is just so much to learn! As someone raised in a Baptist church, on the gulf coast of Texas, I’ve never been given the opportunity to learn more about this religion. There just are not that many Jews in Brazoria County; in fact I can’t even tell you where a synagogue is, but I can name dozens of Christian Churches.. That being said, after watching Hester Street and our class discussions, I wanted to know who had an easier time assimilating; Orthodox , Conservative, or Reform Jews . I was not surprised to find the answer to this question is just as complex as the religion itself.

            What are Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism? Orthodox Judaism is a “formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics canonized in the Talmudic texts.” Conservative Judaism “has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism, developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it, and does not imply the movement's adherents are politically conservative.” Reform Judaism “in general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the surrounding culture” (Wikipedia) It is important to know what these terms mean because depending on which category an immigrant fit into, it had an effect on how well they assimilated.

            Orthodox Jewish people came to America to find a place where they study their religion free of persecution and so they could live as free citizens. Like many other immigrants, “Jews wanted to share in the opportunity of America.” (Klinger) During colonial times there were only around 2,000 Jews in the United States; therefore, they were seen as a rarity. With so few of them, they had no choice but to assimilate quickly. There were no synagogues. With no place to worship and no one to lead them, observance of their religion began to dwindle. Another problem they faced was a lack of Jewish women, and like other colonist, this lead to intermarriages. “In the fourth and fifth generations of colonial Jewish families, intermarriage was so dominate that most of these families disappeared from the Jewish community” (Hertzberg). Essentially these Orthodox Jews had to sacrifice their religion in order to survive.

            The second set of Jewish immigrants came from Central Europe and included several rabbis who were involved in the Jewish Reform movement in Europe. This group of Reform Jews had no problem with acculturation and was eager to fit in. I believe this is where the term “Model Minority” from objective two would fit in. The Rabbis in this group believed they should, “undergo the process of Americanization as rapidly as possible and surrender [their] foreignness, that is, [they] should learn to behave and live in imitation of the dominant modes” (Hertzberg). This group took advantage of the opportunities available to them excelled in academia (Objective 2). The problems arose when the Eastern European Jews arrived. This Conservative Jewish group “felt the Reform had gone too far” (Spiro). Unlike the Central European Jews, the new arrivals tended to be poor and arrived with no money and very little family. I believe this is what lead them to settle in “tight-knit communities where they retained the traditions and customs form the old world. They consciously avoided assimilation into American culture.” (Gale Group) (Objective 4). They must have felt they had very little of their old life left and as a result held on tightly to the only thing they could, each other. With one group of Jews eager to assimilate and another fighting it, assimilation for any Jew had to be difficult.

            With the industrialization of America all types of immigrants were working hard jobs for long hours and little pay. Industrialization made assimilation hard for all of the Jewish people. Many of them worked in sweatshops, like inYekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto or in laundry services like in “Soap and Water”. “In the busy season the employees [were] required to work long hours, sometimes as high as fifteen, perhaps eighteen, a day” (Bernheimer Qtd. in Spiro). They generally worked six days a week with only Sunday as a day of rest.  If the Jews stayed home on Saturday for their Sabbath, they were fired at once. Eventually most just stopped the observance all together.

            What I learned during this research process is that the Jews that had the easiest time assimilating were the ones that gave up their religious beliefs or changed them to suit the dominant culture. I believe this covers all types of Judaism and any other religion for that matter. If any immigrant’s religion is different in any way from the dominate majority, they have to covert to said majorities’ religion or adapt theirs to mirror the majorities’. It is naïve of anyone to assume America is “the land of the Free”. Because of my research and this class, I believe the America should be describe as “the land of the Free, if you are willing to assimilate and fit in with the dominate majority”; otherwise, why would American be seen as a “melting pot” (objective 2)? If we wanted newcomers to retain their individuality, why should they have to blend in?

Works Cited

Hertzberg, Arthur. < http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_01522.html.>

Kamp, Jim. "Jewish Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America. Ed. Jeffrey Lehman. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2000. 1030-1051. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 July 2010.

Klinger, Jerry. “American Jewish History 1924-1945.” http://jewishmag.com/86mag/usa10.htm

Spiro, Rabbi Ken. “Jews gained untold riches in America, at the cost of their heritage and spirituality.” Jewish Life in America: Crash Course in Jewish History #58. <http://www.aish.com/jl/h/48956976.html>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism>