Transformation of traditional confessions among Jewish immigrants in USA (1880-1914)

Problems of immigrants’ adaptation to the life in a new country had a direct impact on their traditional forms of worship and religious rituals. The USA offered full rights and freedoms to newly arrived citizens, as well as opportunities to satisfy their striving for excellent education and financial prosperity. In return, the state was counting on the Americanisation of immigrants, which led to a cultural and linguistic assimilation of the Jews and their loss of deep spiritual connections with their national religion. These problems were particularly apparent in family life. Many of the immigrant families experienced conflict of generations, i.e. parents vs Americanised youth. In this paper, we would like to address the following question. In what way was traditional religious practice of the Eastern-European immigrants of the Jewish descent compatible with American way of life and American social norms, with a particular focus on the religious traditions of celebrating Sabbath? In spite of a variety of congregations in this time, the everyday life attitude of the majority of Jewish people was of more consequence than disputes among congregations on matters of public ceremonies, exact texts of liturgies and narrowly specialised theological problems. Most of the Jewish immigrants of this period did not belong to any of the above mentioned congregations. American Jewish people were very selective about the responsibilities they took on. Much of what they did reflected their life circumstances rather than any idealistic musings. Celebration of Sabbath is a good example of this. Basically, those who considered breaking the rules, such as not following Sabbath, out of the question turned down the idea of migration to America while those who believed their Jewish identity would not be compromised by working in the shops on Saturdays, occasionally eating non-kosher food or skipping the ritual bath ceremony topped up the ranks of immigrants. They did insist on following the traditional rituals for holidays and significant moments in one’s life: weddings, burials or birth of a son. In their minds, such rituals were part of the traditional and unchanging Judaism. By and large, they selected individual elements of the traditions they were familiar with since childhood and haphazardly combined these elements with the American reality and the need to make a living. The older generation of immigrants, who were still in touch with the religion of their fathers, were painfully aware of the changes to traditional forms of national culture. The new generation had a different take on spirituality. The inner growth of the young generation had more to do with realizing that they now belonged to American culture and searching for new ways of finding their own identity capable of reconciling both of their cultural experiences.

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