Judaic History Essay, Research Paper

Judaism & # 8217 ; s Modernization in America The Judaic manner of life has been affected in a enormous manner by the people of the United States of America. By the clip of the sign language of the Declaration of Independence, there were merely 2500 Jews in America. For 40 old ages get downing in 1840, 250,000 Jews ( chiefly from Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia ) entered this state. Anti-semitism and economic sufferings in Eastern Europe went from bad to worse after the pogroms of 1881-1882. Almost three million Eastern European Jews left between 1881 and 1914, two million ( 85 % ) of which decided to come to America, where they thought & # 8220 ; the streets were paved with gold. & # 8221 ; They were incorrectly. Because of this intercontinental migration, the societal word picture of Jews in America changed drastically. Before the move, the largest group in the early 18th century were the Sephardic Jews. They lived in the coastal metropoliss as merchandisers, craftsmans, and shippers. The Jews who predominately spoke German came to America over 100 old ages subsequently, and rapidly spread out over the land. Get downing as pedlars, they moved up to concern places in the South, Midwest, and on the West seashore. New York City had 85,000 Hebrews by 1880, most of which had German roots. At this clip in American history, the authorities accepted many people from many different backgrounds to let for a diverse population ; this act of opening our boundary lines likely is the beginning of the descriptive phrase & # 8220 ; the runing pot of the world. & # 8221 ; These German Jews quickly assimilated themselves and their religion. Reform Judaism arrived here after the Civil War due to the coming of European Reform rabbis. Judaic seminaries, associations, and establishments, such as Cincinnati & # 8217 ; s Hebrew Union College, New York & # 8217 ; s Judaic Theological Seminary, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations ( UAHC ) , and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, were founded in the 1880s. America was experimenting with industry on a immense graduated table at the clip the Eastern European Jews that arrived. Their societal history combined with the American Industrial Age produced an highly diverse and distinguishable American Jewry by the terminal of the intercontinental migration, which coincided with the start of the Great World War ( World War I ) . Almost two out of every three new immigrants called the large nor’-east municipalities ( such as the Lower East Side of New York ) their new place. They would take any occupation available to back up the household, and they worked in many different occupations which were as physically demanding as they were diverse. The garment territory in New York today was made from the meticulosity, the perspiration, and the finding of the Jews. Low wage, long hours, and gross outing working conditions characterized the mean on the job twenty-four hours. Labor brotherhoods fought for these workers & # 8217 ; rights and finally won. There are narratives of work forces in the Lower East Side of New York who started to sell shreds from a cart, and easy moved up the ladder in clip to run a little vesture store. Like other Jews in America at this clip, they sacrificed the Sabbath to work during it, but it was for the good and the support of his household. The 1890s saw the birth of many Jewish-oriented charities were organized to raising financess for medical and societal services, such as Judaic infirmaries and Judaic places for the aged. The American Jewish Committee was formed in 1906 to try to act upon the American authorities to assistance persecuted Judaic communities overseas. B & # 8217 ; nai B & # 8217 ; rith, a Judaic fraternal society, was set up in 1843 by German Jews in America ; in 1913 it instituted the Anti-Defamation League to battle antisemitism. Today the ADL combats non merely antisemitism, but besides racism and other discriminants. Furthermore, The B & # 8217 ; nai B & # 8217 ; rith Hillel Foundation has put together Hillel Houses at major college campus throughout the state to guarantee that Judaic college pupils get an equal spiritual experience. Anti-semitism in America did non become widespread until the bend of the century. Anti-semitism follows Jews around ; it is non portion of a community unless Jews live with them in that community and the heathens don & # 8217 ; t want them at that place. Hebrews were informally ostracized from nines and resorts, and were denied entryway to colleges and other institutes of higher acquisition. Furthermore, it was a common pattern to non use Hebrews in peculiar professions and basic industries. Between World War I and World War II the United States placed bounds on the figure of Jews allowed in per twelvemonth. Zionism, the motion formed by Jews to acquire themselves to a land that they can name their ain, had a definite impact on American Jewry during Zionism & # 8217 ; s times of development and executing. American Zionism was affected by German and East European Jews coming to America.. Although the little members

hip of the American Zionist movement was almost completely East European at first, many of its leaders came from the older German group. By 1915, Zionism began to attract prominent American-born figures, such as Louis D. Brandeis, who is most famous as being the first Jew to serve on the Supreme Court. Brandeis and his associates added a distinctly American note into Zionism, rejecting the belief that the diaspora was a form of exile, and also that Zionism tried to address the dangerous problem of dual loyalty for patriotic Jewish Americans. For Brandeis, American and Zionist ideals reinforced each other. The occurrences of intermarriage (a Jew marrying a gentile) was not only extremely rare in the first generation of American Jews, it was also unheard of and rarely talked about. Today, love commonly crosses the borders of religion; intermarriages are common. Although divorce is allowed by the Jewish religion, it also happened once in a blue moon in those times. In America today, every other marriage ends in a divorce. The parents tried to push their children for them to have a better life (i.e., material wealth), a better job, and a better education than they themselves did. The primary reason for this is so the parents would know that their children could adequately support them in old age. Today, “the curve has changed.” This happens on a much lower rate, and the chances that it happens again (on the same scale the first generation of American Jews) is slim; today’s economy is but one reason of many why this will happen. Back then, only the husband worked and the “universal middle-class expectation” of the wife was to stay at home and tend for the children. If the wife had to work — even part time during seasonal times of the year — then it shamed the family into thinking that the husband was not a good provider. Today it is not uncommon for both parents to work, and usually neither parent is ashamed that both work to (simply) support the family; usually they are both employed such that the family can enjoy a higher standard of living. Furthermore, the advent of women’s liberation has made it possible for more women to go out into the work force. Keeping Kosher is yet another issue that has changed over the generations of American Jews. My mother and father, both Jews, grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, and my mother’s family always kept kosher. Today, as a Jew, I have never kept kosher in my life, with the exception of certain holidays, and when my rabbi was watching me. Finally, the last issue which is a part of the Jewish-American generation gap is the Yiddish language. Parents spoke Yiddish often, but not to the children. They only spoke it to each other if they did not want the kids to understand what they were talking about (i.e., marriage problems). However, because the parents did not choose to have their kids learn Yiddish, they may have contributed to the generation gap. Today, Yiddish is dying rapidly. Yiddish theater in New York is but one of a few remaining areas in America that still speak the language. Today, as a Jew, I have never heard a Yiddish sentence — only a few words here and there, like “schlemiel” and “zoftig” — and even then I am still unsure of their true meaning in the times when it was spoken freely. Scholars have predicted the extinction of the language by 2040 AD, or 5800 on the Jewish calendar. America has also been an influence on new kinds of Judaism. Mordecai Kaplan founded the Jewish Reconstructionist movement in America in the early 1900s. In 1917 he led a shul which incorporated a broad realm of cultural and recreational activities. Five years later, he formed the Society of the Advancement of Judaism, which believed that worship was only one of many issues a congregation should address. His book Judaism as a Civilization called for a “reconstruction” of Jewish life. The Jewish Reconstructionist Foundation (now the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot) issued new liturgical texts in the 1940s and 1950s, and it opened the Reconstructionist Rabbinic College in Philadelphia in 1968. It is an evolving and organic kind of Judaism, which is constantly adapting itself to the needs of the community and the society it serves. Judaism today, largely because of the American hustle-and-bustle contemporary lifestyle, is just a religion instead of a way of life. We are now in a period of time where many options are presented on how to be Jewish — going to shul, observing the holidays, sending your children to learn about the Jewish ways of life, belonging to temples and Jewish organizations (i.e., Havurah, an attempt to revive Judaism in small social groups) — instead of what was only one way to be Jewish. No central idea holds it together. There’s really no one common way to be Jewish anymore.