Modern American Judaism

¶ … American Judaism

Throughout American history, Judaism has played a major role in influencing historical events. This is because the persecution of Jews over the centuries has created the desire to a find a place where they will be respected. Examples of this go back as far as the Romans, when the Emperor Tiberius was a part of a program to systematically disperse the Jewish population throughout the Roman Empire. This was in response to the revolts that occurred in Judea and modern day Jerusalem during the 1st and 2nd centuries. (Merrill 365 -- 372)

As a result, the Jews would face a variety of obstacles over the course of time. This is because of: their unique way of life and how different their religion was from Christianity in certain aspects. These elements led to feelings of resentment and mistrust in Western Europe of the Jewish population. During the Renaissance period is when many of these feelings began to boil over. As, European nations began to: deport the Jews from various regions or they were outwardly discriminated against. Once this began to occur, it meant that it would only be a matter of time until the Jewish population was looking for a place where they could avoid these kinds of problems. (Sarna) (Glazer 12 -- 54)

Evidence of this can be seen by looking no further than the expulsion of the Jewish community from Spain in 1492. This set off a chain of events that led to increased amounts of discrimination and a lack of belonging. Once this happened, many people would travel from one country to next in an effort to find some kind of homeland that they could feel a sense of community. This caused a wave a migration to occur throughout Europe. One of the most notable took place, was with many Jews going to the Netherlands. The basic idea was that this strategy allowed them the opportunity to find some where they could be accepted and practice their religion freely. The Calvinist views of the people and open attitude of society were ideal for many Jews. At the same time, the Dutch were open to the idea of creating colonies in the new world that gave them their own communities. One of the first examples of this can be seen in with Jews establishing a colony in Brazil in the early 1650's. However, once it was captured by Portuguese in 1654, the population quickly was dispersed throughout the region. This is significant, because it shows the overall frustrations that many Jews were feeling about finding a nation where they can be treated with respect. (Sarna) (Glazer 12 -- 54)

In America, the first Jews were sent to New Amsterdam by the Dutch in the 1660's. They were mainly involved in the city's commerce and trade. Once the British captured the city (renaming it New York) they began to play an even more important role. This is because, many Jews began to become a part of: implementing the financing as well as logistics for a number of projects involving trade between the U.S. And Britain. Over the course of time this caused the Jewish population in many different cities to increase exponentially and they began to spread out along the coastal regions. In place such as: New York and Philadelphia they began to live together in their own communities (where the established different temples). This is important, because it is showing how in America, the Jewish experience became a part of the culture itself with large communities flourishing. (Sarna) (Glazer 12 -- 54)

However, in spite of these advantages many people were restricted from immigrating to America. As, the British were placing severe limitations on: the total amount of Jewish inhabitants to just one tenth of the population. This caused animosity to increase among many Jews, who felt that these kinds of restrictions were designed to exclude them from opportunities within society. (Sarna) (Glazer 12 -- 54)

Once the American Revolution began, is when a shift took place in how Jews were viewed within society. In this case, the liberal ideas of: freedom of religion and freedom of speech meant that they were given more of a voice in society. In the decades following the birth of the nation, their amounts of influence would begin to sway back and forth until the 1880's. This is when a shift in social attitudes occurred. What happened was that a wave of Jewish immigrants began to arrive from many Western European nations. They established a variety of communities throughout numerous cities. This caused the ideas and views of Jewish culture to be brought increasingly to the forefront. (Sarna) (Glazer 12 -- 54)