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In Pursuit Of A Promise

Washington, D.C.
n the early 1800s, 3,000 Jews lived in America.
Between 1820 and 1880, the number swelled
to 200,000, thanks to an influx of Central
European Jews, who would change the face of
American Jewry forever.
Largely young and poor, they came from vil-
lages in modern-day Germany, Poland and the
Czech Republic. In emigrating, their hope was to
trade antisemitism and economic hardship for a
less oppressive, more fulfilling life.
In pursuit of that dream, they sought to assimilate
into the American way of life while keeping their
Jewish identity. Detroit's German Jews, for example,
founded Temple Beth El in 1850.
The impact of Central European Jews on
American Jewry is told in the permanent exhibit,
"Jewish Immigrants . . . The Promise Of A New
Life," at the Smithsonian Institution's National
Museum of American History.
It's a remarkable story about America's pull as a
land of possibility and opportunity.
In many German states, Jews became middle-
men because they couldn't own a business. When
the government restrictions became intolerable,
many came to America.
In America, the majority of immigrant Jews
became peddlers, capitalizing on what they learned
as middlemen and their new homeland's growing
need for manufactured goods.
As peddlers, they worked hard. Many earned
enough money to open a shop, send for relatives
and later help the poor immigrant Jews from
Eastern Europe. Some parlayed their entrepreneur-
ial spirit into success in the garment, retail, bank-
ing and wholesale industries.
It wasn't easy leaving their European homeland.
But America's tug proved too strong. As Joseph
Rosengart, new to America, wrote to a friend back
in Bavaria in 1846:
"Dry your tears because you have the sweet hope
of finding a second home abroad and a new country
where you will not be deprived of all political and
civil rights . . . a real homeland where you . . . may
claim all human rights and human dignity."
— Robert A. Sklar, Editor

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Yiddish Limericks

An elderly banker named Menken
From memory loss had been crankin'
Whenever an auditor
Q uestioned a fraud, her
Response was, "Zuhl ich gay gdenken?"**

Be Someone's Hero

— Martha Jo Fleischmann

* suffering
** Should I go remember?

Become a
Person-to-Person
Volunteer for )ARC

No Experience
Necessary

Quotables

"Beatifying a son of the church does not celebrate
particular historic choices that he made, but rather
points him out for imitation and for veneration for
his virtue . . ."

Pope John Paul II on beatifying Pope Pius IX, the
Roman Catholic Church's longest-serving pope
(1846 to 1878), regarded by many as antisemit-
ic. Beatification is the exaltation of a deceased
Catholic, one of the stages the church takes before
possibly declaring the person a saint.

Pope John Paul II

"Pope John remains in the memory of all .. .
the image of a smiling face and two arms
thrown open in an embrace of the entire world."

— Pope John Paul II on beating Pope John XXIII, "The Good Pope"
(1958 to 1963), who prompted the Vatican to reach out to other religions.

"It is about time for those who tend to make the Arab-American com-
munity look antisemitic to wake up. Our community is beyond that."

Ideal recruit should be
caring, fun-loving, and
could enjoy any of the
following activities:

Ars Shooting hoops

lir Visiting a library

ler Catching a Tigers'
game

lir Just hanging out

Hours are flexible, and
benefits last a lifetime!

— Imad Hamad of the Dearborn-based American Arab Anti-
Discrimination Committee, in a Detroit Free Press letter stating
that his community's differences with Sen. Joseph Lieberman
are over issues, not faith.

ENLIST TODAY!

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Call (248) 352-5277,
ext. 349.

Because doing something
good for someone will do a
world of good for you.

AO MEANINGFUL-

FEEDBACK

Helping people with disabilities
lead full, dignified lives

28366 Franklin Road
Southfield, MI 48034
jarc@jarc.org • www.jarc.org

9/8

2000

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