Early Jews in Chicago - Essay Example

?EARLY JEWS IN CHICAGO College: The Jews were among the earliest settlers in Chicago. Most of them lived in most countriesin Europe and the Middle East. More specifically, the Jews from Spain suffered a great oppression that steered them to vacate the country. That would therefore mean that they would go looking for favorite places to lay their heads. The American Revolution was however a great u-turn for the country as well as the Jews living in America at large. The greatest achievement was the fact that the Jews living in America, despite their few numbers, still fought for their rights in the state and besides, even though they worked this hard, they still faced biasness in the country. On the other hand, they too gained a lot from the revolution as well. This is actually due to the fact that they got an available opportunity to mix freely and get to know the other non-Jewish neighbors. The Jews also had an inner feeling of ultimate security due to the fact that they had tirelessly championed for the liberation of their country importantly, self with the entire unity of their Christian associates. Their major strength was bestowed in unity and most importantly, self confidence. These are the main features that they used in order to champion for their rights without false pretense and very much boldly (Mazur, 2012). The Jews majorly originated from virtually every country in Europe and the Middle East but most of them migrated from Eastern Europe and Germany. The major reason for migration from the Middle East, Europe, Eastern Europe and Germany was due to poverty, discriminations and massacres (Joseph, 1988). The first Jewish immigrants to Chicago came from the central Europe and arrived in 1841. Most of the early Jewish settlers began as street peddlers and later opened stores that later developed into reknown companies such as Florsheim, Spiegel, Aldens, Mandel Brothers among others (Mazur, 2012). The civil war that occurred in America divided the Jews along various different lines (Mazur, 2012). It separated the Jews physically and ideologically, this is to say that there were Jews in the south of the country as well as the north of the country, others upheld slavery and human trafficking while the others rejected and fought against the vice. In the same manner, there were other Jews who worked hard to ensure that there was unity among the Jews whereas on the other hand others were struggling to ensure that the Jews were actively divided (Mazur, 2012). It is very much evident that the civil strife that occurred in America affected the Jews as well. Consequently, there are three characteristics of the struggle that had a different impact on the Jews specifically. To begin with, the civil strife led to an increase in panic and uncomfortability among the Jews. This later gave rise to increased racial and religious differences and biases in America. To make matters worse, the Jews both in the north and south of America, were made to bear the whole blame (Mazur, 2012) Secondly, the Jews were however adversely affected by the fact that the Jews in the North were denied the chance to have or to elect an army chaplain. Even though the task was not that easy, the Jews saw that they too had a say and hence wanted a representation on the same. According to the law that had been put in place and was functional at that moment, an army chaplain had to be, “a regularly ordained minister of some Christian denomination” this therefore made it very difficult for the Jews to qualify. The law however was seen to become that strenuous and even President Abraham Lincoln himself made an effort to re-strategize the clause in order to loosen its strenuous ends but his efforts did not bear instant fruits. Instead it took the Jews over one year of great job and hard work before the law was amended and passed successfully (Joseph, 1988). The Jews also suffered the consequences of the civil war through an operation that was far much against the Jewish officials. This is the final and the most humiliating of all effects of the civil warfare. The so called General Order No. 11 which was published on December 17, 1862, opted to remove all General Grant’s military offices. The general order, despite its strictness, faced an active opposition from the Jews who advocated that the order be turned down. With the active antagonism that the order faced, the President of America, at that time, Abraham Lincoln withdrew the order within eighteen days. In another phase, the Jews faced inbuilt challenges. This means that Jews of different descent looked down upon the others. This majorly took place among the Jews who were born in Germany and hence were natives in the country. The German-born Jews looked down on the fresh residents and felt very uncertain about them. They had an inner feeling that if the intensity of the immigration continues in that manner then, they feared that the new residents would exceed them in number and if by any chance this happened they feared that the immigration was in one way or the other steering intense dislike for and bias against the Jewish people. They also feared that the East Europeans would not be easy to incorporate into their system. It is however also very important to note that the American Jews of around the early 19th century formulated the norms and regulations as well as desired protocols that the succeeding generations made use of and stuck to. Surprisingly, the American government never acknowledged the existence of the Jewish religion in the country. This was also a great factor in Europe where the faith was not recognized as well. To become more specific, the rate of Judaism rose so high that it exceeded the number of the available Jews in the country. The intensity, at which the Judaism was liked by most people, made the religion most prominent and most preferred in the whole country. In line with this, the Jews, just as the other protesting churches did, they opposed the order of leadership embraced in Europe. Later in the course of the leadership, the Europe prohibited the existence of the “chief of rabbi” especially among the organizations that traced their origin to religious backgrounds. Despite all the challenges faced by the protestant churches, they worked round the clock to ensure that they actively participated in building the Europe as a nation. Their actions were geared towards upholding good moral standards especially in line with the Jews’ religious life. The Protestants in question here did various charity jobs like giving free education and a conducive learning environment (Judith, 1933). As all these were going on the Jews never took the favors that they were being offered with great thanksgiving but instead, these good deeds seemed very much annoying and triggering to the Jews. This is because they thought that they were being converted to the Protestants. The random movement of the Jews from the German territory was greatly steered by several factors that influenced their judgment towards the eviction. One of the most significant factors is the fact that the German government as well as the citizens preoccupied and dominated the judgments of the Jews in their country. In doing so, the Germans had an added advantage against the Jews and this made the Jews to have an inner feeling of rejection and disgrace. Similarly, the Jews also felt neglected and this heightened the pressure that them to resort to emigrate out of the German territory. Another factor was based on the readiness of the other neighboring countries to accommodate the Jewish immigrants into their countries without any problem (Judith, 1933). This effort of the neighbors to show leniency and charity encouraged the Jews to seek refuge in the neighboring countries. The Germans were however not inclined to take this task up, that is to mean that they were not ready to see the Jews migrate with their household goods since this would bring a shortfall to their economy. In order to counter that action of migrating, the German government decided to increase the amount payment made during emigration (Judith, 1933). Two years later, the rate of emigration in Germany had reduced this is most probably because the German government had stabilized their economy and the rate of political instability also reduced by a great and commendable margin. The American policy of immigration had also been reinforced and made tighter. Thus the Jews at that time were forced to stay back in Germany. (Leibne, 1994). After the occurrence of the Second World War, there was increased financial success in Chicago that made settling of the Jewish immigrants more comfortable (Leibne, 1994). This is to say that the Jews were allowed to stay in the single family houses that were in Chicago. By doing so, the Jews settled and stayed comfortably in Chicago despite the few wrangles here and there. In conclusion it is necessary to note that the Jewish immigration especially in Chicago was a complicated matter that nobody ever thought of. This is due to the very facts that the Jews that migrated to America were of different and varied decency amongst others being, the Polish-Jews and the German Jews. Even though the east and the German Jews were all occupants of the America, the Jews from Eastern Europe were quite different from the German Jews especially in terms of their culture, dress, language code, economic status among others (Leibne, 1994). References Joseph, A. (1988). Chicago Jewish News - Jewish Chicago's Hometown Newspaper. Chicago Jewish News - Jewish Chicago's Hometown Newspaper. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://www.chicagojewishnews.com/story.htm?sid=3&id=253265 Judith, S. (1933, September 5). Reform in Chicago by . Foreign Language Press Survey. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_9_1_0374/ Leibne, J. (1994, February 1). Jewish Historical Society Begins Publishing the History of the Jews in Chicago by J. Leibner. Foreign Language Press Survey. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_5_1113 Mazur, E. (2012, February 14). Chicago Jewish Historical Society - Your personal site. Chicago Jewish Historical Society - Your personal site. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://chicagojewishhistory.org The Dark Side of Chicago Jewry (Editorial). (1913, March 19). Foreign Language Press Survey. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_8_1_0518/ The Driving Force in Jewish Life (Editorial). (1914, January 14). Foreign Language Press Survey. Retrieved April 14, 2013, from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5423972_7_0545/ Read More