Jewish History Questions - Assignment Example

Jewish History The Jewish community history is a story of immigration. The Jews are not originally from America, but they migrated from other parts of the world. They migrated from Israel to America. This article clearly explains the history of the Jews in America and their relationship with the people of America in the early years. Question # 1 Four major waves of migrations existed during the immigration of the Jews. The first wave occurred during the colonial period, the Jews who migrated were of Portuguese or Spanish origin, called the Sephardim. Sephardim is an ancient name in Hebrew for Spain. The second wave occurred during the pre-civil war through the nineteenth century, and it included the Jews who came from the central European the Ashkenazim. Ashkenazim is the ancient name in Hebrew that means Germany. Thirdly, it occurred between 1880 and early 1920s this migration was from Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe, the Jewish community increased in population, in America. Between the period of 1880 and 1900, at least 1.4 million had arrived, compared with those that were there in the period of 1800 to 1880. It is during this period that the Jewish and Judaism culture were established in America. The wave of migration ended in 1920 due to the legislation that restricted migration (Jerome 10). Question # 2 The Jews had the challenge of opportunity cost, which was much higher in America than in Europe. It was very costly to make every hour attendance in the synagogue and observation of home religion. People reduced their synagogue attendance time and activities on religious rituals. The American Jews had a reduced intensity of time in observing their religion, and many of them stopped to observe kashrunt. It is good to find that the Hebrew Congregation of America Union, the America United Synagogue Union and the Union of the Orthodox were made in the late 19th century (Jerome 13). The unions continue to dominate the religious life of the Jews up to this day. Question # 3 The population of the Jews in America is concentrated to the northeast with 44 percent of them living in the region of Mid-Atlantic and England. The Jews from America tend to be much older than the general population. About 14 percent of the Jews are foreign born, but in 1970, it was higher with 23 percent. Jews from America worry much about intermarriage and their identification as Jews. It is believed that, in 1990, the rate of intermarriage increased by 50 percent. In the year 2000 to the year 2001, the percentage recorded for intermarriage was 47 percent (Jerome 18). This record shows that the rate of intermarriage is increasing at a great rate. These mixed marriages at a time when the fertility of the Jews from America is under replacement level predicts a community that is shrinking. Most Jews in America identify themselves as cultural members when given the opportunity to identify themselves. Even though, most of American Jews practice and attend to rituals like the Passover, kindling of the Sabbath candles on the night of Friday and the lighting of Hanukkah candles, a few of American Jews are literate in carrying the rituals. This is a great concern on the American Jews that should be looked at from the young generation to the elders. The Jews of America should be taught the importance of knowing how the rituals are carried to enable their community to stand strong. Question # 4 The formal wisdom is that the Jews from America are disorganized and are full of chaos, with most of the institutions expressing themselves rowdily in a cluster of voices. The framework of the Jews of America is America itself and it is a society placed under democratic and cultural doctrine. The pattern that is seen in this organization is unique in the history of the Jews. The philosopher way of equalizing the state, groups and a single person, the person interest of minorities and majorities has produced a society corresponding to the traditional Jewish stew, the “melting pot” of early 1990s that is very tasty and makes one have heartburn, which is very nourishing. It is exactly that a society that is based on liberal principles encourages the act of one to volunteer, that the Jewish community organization tower rest (Jerome 24). The federal principle and the voluntary nature of the Jewish Americans depends upon the affiliation with a synagogue, a relation agency of a community and a Zionist system, which is a greater degree in the history of the Jews. Question # 5 King Manuel had issued an order to baptize all the Jews that were, in Portugal, to make them citizens of his country, and to prevent their parents from leaving the country. There was a strong prejudice among the Jews since they were tortured and brought to punishment (Jerome 30). Question # 6 The movements of the Jews religion in America is through four groups; the Orthodox, the “Reconstructionist”, the Conservatives and reform. It is found that a majority of the American Jewish are Reform, standing at 38 percent. The Conservative Jews are about 32 percent while 3 percent of Americans identify themselves as Reconstructionist Jews. Additionally, 8 percent of the Jews from American belong to the Orthodox. The American Jews attend the synagogue at a defined rate. 33 percent of the Jews who attend the synagogue are from the Conservative movement. Majority of the Jews in the synagogue are from the Reform movement with a 42 percent the Reconstructionist take about 3 percent while the others groups in the synagogue add up to 1 percent. The movement that is open to intermarriage is the Reform, which still contains the most liberal practices. The Jews of America that identify themselves to be in the Reform movement are the fastest in terms of the congregation growth and conversion of members in the synagogue. The issues that differentiate the Reform movement from the movement of Orthodox and Conservative are that the Reform movement stands on the issues of patrilineality and mixed marriages. The Conservative Jews movement is different from the Orthodox movement, in that it binds the normative tradition authority on every matter. The migration of Jews to America was a problem in matters concerning leadership the Jews candidates were not elected in the congress due to the anti-Jewish bias (Jerome 50). Both the Jews and non-Jews wanted the power to lead. Religion was a matter of concern as the Americans were attending the church while the American Jews attended the synagogue. The Jews had a big challenge from the non-Jews community since they were discriminated in America. The Jews were not allowed to have their education in public schools. Works Cited Jerome, A. A Dark Side of History: Antisemitism through the Ages. New York: Anti-Defamation League, 2000. Print. Read More