The Cause Of The Contradictory Behaviors Of German Jews Towards Ostjuden At The Turn Of 19th Century America

A massive immigration from Europe was recorded in the immigration history of the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century, which formed the first immigrant upsurge of America. The conflicts between the Old Generation and the New Generation within America at that time were particularly outstanding. Between 1880 and the upcoming First World War, more than 2 million East European Jews, namely Ostjuden or so-called “Russian Jews” poured into the New World, which has been witnessed as the biggest of the three main waves of Jewish immigration. Those Yiddish-speaking Jews believed in the divineness and authority of Jewish law, they sticked to their own principles and customs, and refused any possible changes in Judaism. By contrast, German Jews had lived for more than four decades in the United States before the coming of their East European cousins. Most of them were under influence of the radical thoughts of Reform Judaism, they believed the ancient Orthodoxy thoughts could not adapt to modern life. They firmly believed that religion should keep pace with the times and practice is the criterion of truth. Although German Jews and East European Jews were both Ashkenazi Jews, their relationship were complicated, confused and constantly changing. This relationship was neither what Gentiles thought- the people within the same minority group should be as thick as thieves and beneficial for each other, nor what Jews thought-the same group of people who seemed to be strangers and even enemies, but a contradictory relationship filled with assistance and conflicts.Constant conflicts and assistance between German Jews and East European Jews, both Ashkenazi Jews, were recorded in the history of the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century. The self-contradict behaviors of German Jews towards East European Jews had penetrated socially, politically and economically. Those self-contradict behaviors led to many contradictory behaviors of German Jews towards East European Jews, which was witnessed in cultural value, immigration restriction, market economy etc. Speaking of contradictory attitudes, it is generally believed that they are caused by contradictory states of mind.This thesis believes, however, the contradictory behaviors of German Jews could not be all attributed to their contradictory attitudes, in other words, their identity dilemma as both Jews and American, but their strong desire of assimilating into American society.The same conflicts can also be traced within other ethnic groups, the American Born Chinese and newly arrived Chinese for example. The analytical method of this thesis can be applied to the further study of the conflicts within the same minority ethnic group, as well as the on-going conflicts between German Jews and East European Jews across the world nowadays.