odysseyshot t1_itowu0s wrote
Jewish wouldn't assimilate to the nations they moved to. If a group of Jewish people moved to, say, Germany, the Jewish people would have a different religion, language, and customs compared to the other German people. Even if a Jewish family had three generations of descendants in Germany those grandkids would still be very clearly different from other Germans. In our modern world we may see this as no big deal, diversity is encouraged now, but for most of history it just made a target on the backs of the Jewish.
majwilsonlion t1_itoy9vl wrote
That said, my German ancestors moved to Texas in the 1830s and it wasn't until after/around WW1 that they started to figure it might be a good idea to start speaking more English.
DrSmurfalicious t1_itoy5nl wrote
They seem pretty damn assimilated today though. I can't tell the difference most of the time. I'm fascinated as to why they experience such hate.
sterexx t1_itp3kx5 wrote
A lot are, but a lot aren’t. Jews actually pay for the upkeep of a long wire encircling much of Manhattan so that it counts as a place they’re allowed to do certain stuff on the sabbath
They’ve got their own police-like force across the river in wburg, and other places with high concentrations of orthodox jews
and even among jews that are culturally assimilated, they maintain a much tighter social network than, say, the american great grandchildren of swedish immigrants. there are like 3 million of those and 7 million american jews. having a distinct religion will do that. lutheran swedes and germans intermixed in the midwest quite easily
CptnFabulous420 t1_itozcnt wrote
I've heard stories about those communities still being present in many parts of the world. But we're becoming more culturally mixed generally due to advancements in travel and communication making the world smaller.
weebeardedman t1_itpuvsu wrote
Eh, I'd argue out strength, at least with more secular/reform jews, is our ability to assimilate.
The orthodox jews, sure, they stick to themselves and their ways.
But a vast majority of jews are not orthodox.
Most jews you see, you wouldn't know. Most of us don't wear a yarmulke (except maybe in synagogue), a tallit, etc.
In fact, the attire you probably think of most (black hat, payos, black coat/pants) kind of has the "opposite" origins of what you'd expect. The outfit emulates what was popular in eastern Europe in the early 19th century, it was literally adopted by Jewish communities at the time to fit in better, or assimilate.
For whatever reason, the orthodox seemed to have twisted the purpose of the attire, and now use it to stand out/differentiate themselves. There's nothing, religiously, that requires/asks of it.
A good amount of my family is orthodox, and a good amount of them follow the law, rather than tradition - as to say they wear a head covering (ball cap) and wear a tallit under their clothes mostly, just with the 13 tassels hanging out near their waist. Anything further is their own choice, has nothing to do with God, its them wanting to stand out.
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