Assimilation and Its Discontents
September 29, 2008
Community | Religious Life
(1 comments)
By Gardening Grandma
In its 40th anniversary issue, New York magazine takes a look at how Jews have been assimilated into New York and how, by doing so, have lost some of their identity.
Contributing writer David Samuels writes:
The ascendancy of the Jews of New York can be viewed as a Hollywood-style triumph, but it can also be read as the tragedy of a group of brilliant outsiders who remade a city in their own image, only to cut themselves off from the roots of their tribal genius, ensuring that the future will belong to the children of the new outsiders--Koreans, Indians, Russians, and Chinese.
I'm not sure I agree that "success has ruined the New York Jew." I rather like feeling at home in the city.
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I agree that the author is wrong in lamenting the assimilation of immigrants into our society. It is misplaced nostalgia on the part of that author to long for a period when most Jews were green horns, struggling to overcome their lack of education and culture so that they could reorient themselves, learn the language and culture and become Americans. That was a tough adjustment to make and those immigrants made it with remarkable success.
Assimilation can be defined as seeing one's self as part of a larger national family. The Jews who moved to America in great numbers in the late 1900's were largely from Eastern Europe, from oppressive and backward countries like Romania and Russia where Jews were never allowed to become part of the nation, even after many generations living in the land. Having been segregated in many places im the lands of their birth, not being able to attend the public schools, live and work with non-Jew, or hold or work in any but the least desirable jobs, was in addition to not being allowed to join in as part of the government or most democratic parties. They did not come here to continue their suffering as a people apart.
It was not because of their immigrant culture, but despite its handicaps, that the Jews accomplished great things. Before and after this waive of immigrants, Jews from other parts of the world demonstrated that they could successfully integrate into America and achieve greatness in many fields.