The Jewish Immigrant Experience in New York

The Paper

In the later part of the nineteenth century and the early part of the twentieth century there was a great influx of immigration into the United States. Much of this occurred in New York City. During the period from 1880-1920 approximately 3.5 million Jewish immigrants passed through New York harbor (Muggamin, 1988 p. 14). In particular, during a thirty year span of this period, Eastern European Jews, 1.4 million of them, were fleeing pogroms and many forms of discrimination and found asylum in New York City. It is ironic, that almost two hundred years prior to this immigration movement into the United States, Jews were not welcomed with the open arms that they were during this time. In 1654, for example, 23 Jews coming to New Amsterdam from Brazil were called "the deceitful race, -such hateful enemies and blasphemers of the name of Christ" (Muggamin, 1988 p.35). While a great many people immigrated into the United States during these years, the numbers diminished when, in 1924, Congress set limits on the number of new immigrants based on their national origin. Even during times in which Jewish immigrants were seeking political asylum because of persecution by Nazis, many boats carrying immigrants were not allowed to enter the harbor and the people were turned away and some of these people were sent back to Europe and died in concentration camps (Hoobler, 1995).

The European Jews that did arrive in America settled in New York for a few reasons. Many could not afford to travel westward although some settled as far away as Seattle, Washington. New York was also seen as a land of opportunity, and a place in which the first Jewish immigrants converged many years prior (Plessur, 1982). New York had a diverse immigrant community in which each culture was facing the same problems as the Jews. Many uneducated refugees from Europe arrived in America and developed a thirst for knowledge. They wanted to advance themselves so that they could make money and become the elite of their new home (Muggamin, 1988 p. 15).

The Jewish immigrants who arrived were mostly manual workers in their old country. Most of the immigrants worked in sweatshop type conditions in the garment industry when they came to America. Others, took to the streets in an entrepreneurial fashion selling goods via pushcarts and stores. Most were ambitious and were willing to do everything necessary to become an integral part of their new home. "Despite their commitment to class solidarity, immigrant Jews declined to remain lower-class workers . . . They moved into white collar positions rapidly" (Moore, 1981 p.8). Later in the 20th century, Jews took positions in the government and became heads of industries.

For the most part, Eastern Europeans settled downtown or on the Lower East Side and Germans settled uptown on the Upper West Side. These two groups were frequent rivals but they were bound together by their Jewish heritage. However, the German Jews tended to practice the new Reform Judaism and the Eastern European Jews tended to practice more Orthodox traditions. The "uptown" community and the "downtown" community differed to a degree. Downtown, the Eastern Europeans lived in very small, overcrowded tenements with many families sharing one apartment. Some of these apartments also housed sweatshops where family members would work, sleep, eat and live all in the same small, confined space. The uptown Jews tended to live in slightly better conditions. The Upper West Side was a more prestigious place to live. In fact, many German Jews looked down on their Eastern European counterparts (Meltzer, 1985 p.79). The Lower East Side was described as "an urban equivalent of the shtetl"(Moore, 1981 p. 7). That is, the Lower East Side was similar to the small Jewish communities of Eastern Europe.

Both the downtown and the uptown populations lived in an urban environment that was difficult and harsh at times. The first generation Jewish immigrants were used to these conditions. Living with hardships was nothing new. Families learned to adapt and to stick together by keeping their well defined rolls. Women and Men had different responsibilities which helped families to remain strong through the hard times. Women were typically in charge of the house, men were in charge of religious duties and earning money. Both sons and daughters would work in sweatshops until the girls would get married and have to takes the role of the wife.

Assimilation was a big issue when the Jewish immigrants came to America. Some immigrants immediately adopted American culture and others avoided it as much as possible. Typically, the second generation of immigrants in America adopted the new world more than the first generation. First generation immigrants are always reminded of the days in the old world and use there experiences there to relate to the experiences here. Second generation immigrants don't relate to old world experiences, rather they focus on the new world. They more quickly embrace the American ideals and culture (Moore, 1981 p. 8-9). These second generation immigrants did not retain many of the traditions of the old world. They seemed to embrace the American culture more than their own and this distressed the first generation immigrants. The second generation wished to be a part of both American and Jewish culture. Out of this conflict, Reform Judaism was born. It is a less strict and more accepting form of Judaism. It was possible to be both American and Jewish. For the most part, the German Jewish immigrants assimilated to American culture more than their Eastern European counterparts.

Today, being a Jewish immigrant in New York is very different. Life is much easier for all immigrants. There is still some discrimination but there are so many people of different cultures in New York, that an immigrant can feel that they have a place in society. Immigration has increased to other parts of the country. There are Jewish populations everywhere. People like to feel at home by being with other people whom they can identify with. For this reason certain neighborhoods of the five boroughs have been inhabited by different ethnic groups. Thus an immigrant today can be in a community where they can be supported by those who have been through the same problems as they have.