Assimilation is the process by which a minority group adopts the customs, values, and practices of the dominant culture in a society. As a minority group, the issue of assimilation has been heavily contended over by the Jewish people for centuries. For Jews, assimilation has often been a popular choice, as a means of escaping discrimination, and helping them achieve greater economics and societal success. However, assimilation can also lead to a loss of cultural identity and valuable traditions which can be detrimental to both the individual and community as a whole. This essay will examine the pros and cons of assimilation for the Jewish people and explore historical and current attitudes towards assimilation within the Jewish community. One …show more content…
Jews also I need another example Jews also face many social challenges, due to observance of Jewish holidays and customs. Many Jews attend services on Friday evenings and Saturdays and follow the rules of Shabbat, and cannot attend any other social event. Additionally, several Jewish holidays, such as Passover and Yom Kippur, fall during school days, and Jewish students cannot attend school on those days, or find it very difficult to. In addition, these absences from school for religious reasons are often classified as unexcused absences, and may even result in consequences for the students observing their religion. However, while Assimilation looks good on paper, there are significant drawbacks to the Jewish community. One example would be prayer. Jewish congregations rely on a group of at least ten adults at each service in order to hold important prayers such as the mourner's Kaddish, a prayer for the dead. However, as many Jews are choosing to assimilate, Jewish communities across The United States of America are shrinking, and on some occasions, congregations are unable to procure a minyan. This is extremely detrimental to these Jewish communities, as one of the most important traditions of the Jewish community is being united and there for others in times of
423). Jacoby asks the reader a question, and in doing so, opens up the debate as to which side of assimilating immigrants you take as an individual. Jacoby reasons that the pessimistic views of assimilation have come to dominate the majority of the public’s understanding, and that it leaves “little room for those in the middle who take a more positive view” (Jacoby, 2004, p. 424). Jacoby believes that assimilation is possible, inevitable even. She feels as though “we as a nation not only can but must continue to absorb those who arrive on our shores” (Jacoby, 2004, p.424).
Assimilation is different for everyone. Whether it is going to a new school, joining a club, or even moving to another state or country, most people experience assimilation at least once in their lives. The book, Breadgivers, by Anzia Yezierska, is a good example on the assimilation process and how different it can be for people. Sara is a young girl who moved to The New World, otherwise known as New York City, with her parents and sisters from a small village in Poland. From the start, she knows she must assimilate to this new country that she now lives in.
Immigrants usually go through phases when it comes to migrating to a new country and this essay was an attempt to outline those phases with an emphasis on the negative effects of assimilation. Firstly, isolation. Nearly every immigrant finds themselves isolated at first, but this tends to go away as they become assimilated with the new culture. As this happens, they start to lose touch with their cultural identity and start to change in order to fit in with the new culture. Sometimes this is forced, other times the immigrant knowingly assimilates.
Ten years ago, I immigrated to the United States and ever since I have been an undocumented immigrant. Due to my legal status in the United States, I felt like I was restricted from certain situations and possessions and would never be able to succeed. I was not living the normal life of a seven-year-old. Instead, I had to learn to cope and adapt to a whole new culture. Even though the drastic change at such a young age was a challenge, it has shaped who I am today.
For example, with cultural assimilation, immigrants will change their culture – in any way, to fit the standards of the majority. Rather than it being a one-way process (assimilation), it is a two-way process (acculturation). As for structural assimilation, immigrants participate in integrated organizations of American society, such as social/civic/work organizations or the US military (Fraga et al. 2016, p. 334). The last type of assimilation the authors analyze is marital assimilation.
________________ ____ _________________ _________________ _________________ _________________ Working Title : Jewish Resistance: When Arms Go Up & Flags Come Down “Between 5 & 6 million Jews-out of the Jewish population of 9 million living in Europe-were killed during the holocaust.” This quote, derived and utilized in this paper from a website that is most focused upon history and its historical background and contents. The Holocaust was the mass/systematic extermination of a specific race or group of people, places, or things.
For many new immigrants coming to America, it is difficult to adjust into the new society. Many come to America without the basic knowledge of English, the new immigrants do not have the ability assimilate to American society because of the lack of possible communication between the immigrant and an native. Non-English speaking immigrants that come to America face harsh challenges when trying to assimilate to U.S. society because immigrants are often segregated into ethnic communities away from natives, Americans do not know basics of words of other well known languages, and the lack of government funding education programs. Assimilation into a new society is difficult enough, but when the society pushes any new immigrants to separate part
Assimilation has a major impact on America and its history. Assimilation is a very controversial topic as many people have different opinions and beliefs about it. The reason people have so many different opinions and beliefs is because assimilation impacts America in so many different ways and happens for so many different reasons. I personally believe assimilation is both good and bad depending on what aspect you 're looking at and how the assimilation is happening. Assimilation can be seen in both the past and present, whether it is forced or happens willingly/naturally.
However, assimilation and communication issues are the most predominant struggles that immigrants face. The reason being is that immigrants have divers of cultures and beliefs. Which means that it is difficult to adapt to the new environment. Language barriers is also a predominant problem because there are many languages. But yet immigrants are not taken seriously because of where they are from and what language
Also, there are immigrants out there that have two faces; a face for around the family and a face for outside of family with friends. These people might also have similar obstacles as Faith. Especially, in the United States, people can choose what kind of cultures they want to practice. For example, there was a family, whose were originally practice Jewish culture, but their children never really follow the traditions of the culture. They sometimes just celebrate the Holidays that Jews have.