MODERN JEWISH HISTORY - Essay Example

As a result, the individuals are likely to be converted, marry or get married and get full recognition into the said community as the process reaches advanced stages. However, in the case of the Jews, there have been historical issues that have surrounded their assimilation because of the various injustices they had to face. In the light of this observation, this paper will examine the various issues that led Jews to assimilation in order to shield themselves from persecutions given their minority status historically.

The paper will be two phased with the first section discussing the assimilation process in the east and west, the second part will look at the case of assimilation in Poland. Assimilation in the East and West One of the great influences of the Jewish community in these regions was the impact of religious bearing between Judaism and the other religions For instance, the inferior nature of the community that practices Judaism as compared to their Christian counterparts is assumed to be a fact. As a result, the people who may be living in other nations may not be considered to belong because of the difference in culture or some mutual obligations that bind the group together.

On the other hand, the assimilated groups in other nations may tend to treat their Jewish status as an embarrassment and therefore a non issue in the process of integration. As many people accepted these stereotypes, there were continued calls for assimilation into Christianity since it provided a good opportunity of the development of personal goals. In effect, Christianity therefore remained the dominant religion in such regions. Moreover, the desire to assimilate and become “terminal Jews” was popular because of the younger generations who were vulnerable to stigma and exclusion in the society.

Through this, being a Jew was becoming meaningless in the eastern and western societies. Anybody with that identity was considered an outsider and therefore the hastening of the assimilation process for fear of being abandoned or even persecuted. This in effect created a condition where the Jews in the regions dominated by other religions conform and re-align their faith and integrate with the others. As a result, there came “liberal Judaism” that seemed to have done away with the strict requirements of the Jewish law including all the theological guidelines and other religious beliefs and practices.

By arguing that inclusiveness is the main foundation of Judaism, those in support for assimilation therefore were inclined towards the ethics of "prophetic Judaism". The Jewish intellectuals stressed individual moral independence, rational conduct and inclusiveness. Consequently, this idea became popular and gave rise to a ‘Judeo-Christian ethic approach’ in most of the regions of the western nations. Christians were comfortable with this approach because they were trying to reconnect to their ethics that emerged from the prophetic teachings of biblical Judaism.

They also wanted to claim the legitimacy of Christianity as the designated owner of the Judaism as practiced in the biblical Israel. On the other hand, the Jews supported this because they wanted to demonstrate that in terms of ethics, they were similar to Christians and hence were supportive of them. In America, as opposed to Europe, Jews were not bothered with having to fight for their basic civil and human rights. Jewish ethics as fought