Judaism Modernization In America Essays - Semitic Peoples

Judaism Modernization In America The Jewish way of life has been affected in a tremendous way by the people of the United States of America. By the time of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there were only 2500 Jews in America. For forty years beginning in 1840, 250,000 Jews (primarily from Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia) entered this country. Anti-Semitism and economic woes in Eastern Europe went from bad to worse after the pogroms of 1881-1882. Almost three million Eastern European Jews left between 1881 and 1914, two million (85%) of which decided to come to America, where they thought "the streets were paved with gold." They were wrong. Because of this intercontinental migration, the social characterization of Jews in America changed drastically. Before the move, the largest group in the early eighteenth century were the Sephardic Jews. They lived in the coastal cities as merchants, artisans, and shippers. The Jews who predominately spoke German came to America over 100 years later, and quickly spread out over the land. Starting as peddlers, they moved up to business positions in the south, midwest, and on the west coast. New York City had 85,000 Jews by 1880, most of which had German roots. At this time in American history, the government accepted many people from many different backgrounds to allow for a diverse population; this act of opening our borders probably is the origin of the descriptive phrase "the melting pot of the world." These German Jews rapidly assimilated themselves and their faith. Reform Judaism arrived here after the Civil War due to the advent of European Reform rabbis. Jewish seminaries, associations, and institutions, such as Cincinnati's Hebrew Union College, New York's Jewish Theological Seminary, the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC), and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, were founded in the 1880s. America was experimenting with industry on a huge scale at the time the Eastern European Jews that arrived. Their social history combined with the American Industrial Age produced an extremely diverse and distinct American Jewry by the end of the intercontinental migration, which coincided with the start of the Great World War (World War I). Almost two out of every three new immigrants called the big northeast municipalities (such as the Lower East Side of New York) their new home. They would take any job available to support the family, and they worked in many different jobs which were as physically demanding as they were diverse. The garment district in New York today was made from the meticulousness, the sweat, and the determination of the Jews. Low pay, long hours, and disgusting working conditions characterized the average working day. Labor unions fought for these workers' rights and eventually won. There are stories of men in the Lower East Side of New York who started to sell rags from a cart, and slowly moved up the ladder in time to run a small clothing shop. Like other Jews in America at this time, they sacrificed the Sabbath to work during it, but it was for the good and the support of his family. The 1890s saw the birth of many Jewish-oriented charities were organized to raising funds for medical and social services, such as Jewish hospitals and Jewish homes for the aged. The American Jewish Committee was formed in 1906 to attempt to influence the American government to aid persecuted Jewish communities overseas. B'nai B'rith, a Jewish fraternal society, was set up in 1843 by German Jews in America; in 1913 it instituted the Anti-Defamation League to combat anti-Semitism. Today the ADL combats not just anti-Semitism, but also racism and other discriminants. Furthermore, The B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation has put together Hillel Houses at major college campus throughout the country to ensure that Jewish college students get an adequate religious experience. Anti-Semitism in America did not become widespread until the turn of the century. Anti-Semitism follows Jews around; it is not part of a community unless Jews live with them in that community and the gentiles don't want them there. Jews were informally ostracized from clubs and resorts, and were denied entrance to colleges and other institutes of higher learning. Moreover, it was a common practice to not employ Jews in particular professions and basic industries. Between World War I and World War II the United States placed limits on the number of Jews allowed in per year. Zionism, the movement formed by Jews to get themselves to a land that they can call their own, had a definite impact on American Jewry during Zionism's times of development and

To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress Free Online Research Papers My Grandmother is what some would consider a feminist. She believes that woman have the potential to do anything but men hold them back. My Gram has very strong feelings about a woman’s role and how men play into it. Being extremely close with my Grandma has imprinted these views and ideas on to me. My Grandmother tells me that I can do anything I want and I don’t need a man to help me. She also tells me that I can be â€Å"choosy† and not to settle for less than perfect. Her last major view is don’t let a man disrespect you in any form. Having these views when reading, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† these views shone through with my interpretation. This poem by Andrew Marvell, is a poem that is open for interpretation. One can view it as that the male character is madly in love with this woman and he is telling her to seize the day. The other way to view it, the way that I view it, is that the male character is a just a man looking for sex fr om this woman. Never the less, the poem contains many components that make it so beautiful. â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† is about a man pleading with a woman to have sexual intercourse with him. He persistently tells her that there is no time and they have to do it as soon as possible. The male character in this poem, to me, is generally looking for sex. I do think he loves her but wants the sexual aspect of their relationship more than anything. This poem has three parts. The first part is him saying if they had enough time they would have the world. He also tells the girl that if there were was enough time, they would be able to take it slow, but there is not so they need to do it now. In the second part he is saying they don’t have enough time and death is coming. The third part is saying that now they have to satisfy each other. I believe the theme of this work is â€Å"carpe diem†, live each day in Latin. Marvell’s main goal in this poem is to tell the reader to live you life to the fullest because you never know what tomorrow holds. No matter how one interprets what the male character is saying to the mistress or what he expects of it, the theme is live your life and do not dawn on the past. I believe Andrew Marvell’s life and his past up to writing this poem has a great influence on and a main reason why he wrote it. Marvell received a scholarship to Trinity College in 1638. A few days later he received the news of his mother’s death. Unfortunately, two years later his father passed away as well. After undergoing these tragedies at a young age, Marvell didn’t give up and throw his life away. Marvell continued to be very successful through the duration of his life. He was fully involved in politics and wrote several successful poems and earned a very good salary. A lot of people would give up and waste their lives away after going through what he went through. Marvell’s message in this poem is to not let life get you down when something bad happens. Live each day like it is your last because eventually good will come, and live it fully because you don’t know when your end will come. Marvell makes use of allusion, metaphor, and imagery in order to convey a mood of endurance and to explicate the theme of carpe diem. Marvell makes reference to past and future events on a scale. His allusions to religious scripture early on in the poem give the impression of vast ages passing, spanning most of time itself. The period from ten years before the flood until the conversion of the Jews crosses a massive amount of time. Another such technique is the metaphor. Lines 11-12 read, My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires, and more slow. The first line makes the narrators love a slow-growing vegetable. Such a growth would take far longer than humans to live and be greater than an entire empire. Personally I think that Marvell‘s attempt at portraying his theme is the imagery. We would sit down, and think which way / To walk, and pass our long loves day is free of the pressures of age. Not only are they walking, which implies calmness, but they are sittin g down and considering which way to walk. This carefree attitude is unusual in this poem because its entire goal is to tell the reader to live each day because you don’t know when your last day is. The theme is also repeated through out the poem that there is no time. â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, is written in iambic tetrameter. It is also written in an A, A, B, B rhyme scheme. Marvell took the concept of carpe diem and transformed it into a beautiful poem with many techniques that supported it. The male character was trying to express that time was limited in live to the female character. The interpretation of whether he was sincere about his love for her or just another man looking for something sexually is up to the reader. The main concept of the poem is to live your life, carpe diem. Research Papers on To His Coy MistressMind TravelBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West MeetHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayAnalysis Of A Cosmetics AdvertisementThe Effects of Illegal Immigration19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 Europe