Philosophy 310 Final

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was not only to find employment and shelter, but to learn the politics and ways of American people. Jews and other immigrants were expected to learn social rules and local politics immediately, which created misunderstandings like that of the ‘longshoremen’s strike. Still, the Jewish community took this in stride and worked harder still. “Since then the Jewish workmen have been among the most faithful memembers of the various trades-unions of the country,” Bernheimer says (34). Jewish immigrants stand out because they were able to think on their feet and learn quickly, once understanding the situation they didn’t make the same mistake twice.

Jewish immigrants were always working to improve their lives and move up in their work. Bernheimer says “I have met very few wage workers among Jewish people who regard it as their permanent lot in life” (135). Despite having to work sweat shop and factory jobs, the Jews remained not only optomistic but took action and changed their lives, “bending their energies to get into business or to acquire an education so that they might fit themselves for some other calling than that of the wageworker” (135). The American dream for Jewish individuals was not merely to get wealthy in a new country, Jews were prepared to work hard for their success and achieve it through their own means. Many Jews sought out education, learning English and going on to become doctors and business owners. “If he brings with him a lower standard of living, his keen susceptibilities, his ‘intellectual avidity,’ and his ‘almost universal and certainly commendable desire to improve his condition’ impel him to raise that standard to the level of his new surroundings” (Bernheimer 34).

In Isaac Metzker’s book, A Bintel Brief, the hardships and dreams of Jewish immigrants are detailed in personal and heartfelt letters to the editor of a Jewish newspaper. Women and men struggle in their marriages, financial hardship puts pressure on individuals and their families, and discrimination especially is a common theme. A Jewish machinist writes the editor to recount how he was tormented by his coworkers and treated unfairly, he and a fellow Jew are beaten but when the police arrive he and the other victim are arrested along with the tormentor. The two Jews are charged a fee and the tormentor is also let go with a fine. Another Jewish immigrant writers in to tell of how his wife became seriously ill and he was unable to tend to her due to his long work hours. One day in a fit of grief he attempted to give up and end both their lives by opening the gas jet. The man’s wife begs for a glass of water and as the man gets up to get it he changes his mind and they both survive. Stories like these paint a picture of the intense suffering Jewish people experienced even in America where they not run out of town or outright persecuted for their beliefs.

Jewish Americans come from a rough history of hardship and discrimination. From ridiculing lies about tails and furry bodies to public decrees for Jews to leave their homes, the Jewish community has had to develop a tough skin and even tougher dedication. This is why I believe the Jewish community is successful today, it’s part of their history to work hard and to press on despite adversity.

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