Jewish Americans

Fülszöveg

he story of the migration of Jews to America presented in Jewish Americans: The Immigrant Experience is a richly textured, complex one of tradition and adaptation. Jews had been both pushed out by the limitations of life elsewhere and drawn in by the lure of America with íts politica] and religious freedom and reputation as a place where hard work meant a secure future. Since the middle of the seventeenth century, when the first Jews fleeing from Brazil stepped down onto the docks of New Amsterdam, they have sought to keep alive their Jewishness and to preserve their age-old identity as bearers of an historic faith.They came from Bavaria and Bohemia, from Russia and Rumania, from across the European continent, because conditions of life had deteriorated for them as Jews. Even before the Jews embarked upon their journeys, they understood that America offered them much; it was a place in which differences in religious practice did not lead to physical violence and exclusion from... Tovább

Fülszöveg

he story of the migration of Jews to America presented in Jewish Americans: The Immigrant Experience is a richly textured, complex one of tradition and adaptation. Jews had been both pushed out by the limitations of life elsewhere and drawn in by the lure of America with íts politica] and religious freedom and reputation as a place where hard work meant a secure future. Since the middle of the seventeenth century, when the first Jews fleeing from Brazil stepped down onto the docks of New Amsterdam, they have sought to keep alive their Jewishness and to preserve their age-old identity as bearers of an historic faith.They came from Bavaria and Bohemia, from Russia and Rumania, from across the European continent, because conditions of life had deteriorated for them as Jews. Even before the Jews embarked upon their journeys, they understood that America offered them much; it was a place in which differences in religious practice did not lead to physical violence and exclusion from political life. America offered them a chance to work, save, and invest in their children's futures. As peddlers and shopkeepers in the early decades of the nineteenth century and as garment workers in the years from the 1870s through the 1920s, they filled a niche in the American economy. They knew that compared to Europe, few bars existed which hampered them. In America the Jews always lived free of fear of physical violence and with an understandmg that they could practice their Judaism as they saw fit. America left its mark upon its Jewish citizens-the immigrants and their descendants. Since its doors were open, at first partially, and eventually completely, the historically self-contained Jewish community was in danger of dissolution. In every era they struggled with the question of how far they might go in adj usting Judaism and the institutions of Jewish life to fit the circumstances of a tolerant and comfortable society. In the course of their history in America, continued on back flap Vissza