Emily Garr
May 14, 2012
TAHG
Dedham
Jews of Boston
INTRODUCTION
Becoming part of mainstream American life while maintaining their cultural Jewish identity was
of great importance to many Jewish immigrants. This was accomplished in Boston over a 350-year
journey. Met with the hostility of a insular religious community in the colonial period to the snobbish
ways of the late 19th century Boston Brahmin society, Jews have worked hard to transform their cultural
identity into what it is today a mixture of faith, culture and modernity. “The experience of the Jewish
[immigrant] in the United States over the past century has been one of acculturation and
accommodation to the norms and values of American society”. (pg 1 Gelden) Pursuing middle class
values in work ethic, business, family life, and education Jews were able to create an identity that
mirrored their Yankee counterparts eventually allowing them entre into a society once closed to them
while maintaining their cultural distinctiveness.
Historical Background
Due to Boston’s religious founding, Jewish immigration was minimal to the city from the early
days of it’s founding through the antebellum period. Most who came to the city were iterant workers
who soon went on their way seeking employment and a more hospitable environment to their faith.
Jewish communities were not unheard of in the American colonies in the 17th century; many were
thriving culturally and economically centuries before a true Boston Jewish community was ever
established. The first accounts of a Jew in Boston was of a Sephardic sailor who did not stay long in the
city; but notably long enough to be fined for attending the Sabbath and being out of work. He did pay
back the fine within a matter of months and moved on to more commercially viable seaports in other
colonies. (Sarna pg 3) A Boston Jewish community didn’t truly grow until 1843 when Oahbei Shalom
“Lover’s of Peace” , Boston’s first Jewish congregation was founded by ten men and their families to
observe the Sabbath.( Smith pg48) Escaping limited economic opportunities religious persecution and
the failures of government reforms in Europe, it was not until Poles and Germans immigrated from
Central and Eastern Europe in the later half of the nineteenth century that a Bostonian Jewish
community with any significant presence developed and created roots still in evidence today.
(Braverman, pg 65) These two groups worked together in the early years of the community’s presence
to establish religious institutions, which still dominate Boston’s Jewish religious community.
Many Jews preferred to live in more diverse urban areas where there was greater diversity and
economic opportunity, as opposed to rural areas they were met with great anti-Semitism and general
discrimination, which carried on through the next three centuries. Areas of larger population also
brought great opportunities as cultural centers where tolerance was part of prosperity and commercial
activity. Upon arriving, many Jews found that it wasn’t much of a struggle to succeed upon arrival in a
new country. A willingness to work and exercising of thrift led to many being able to climb the
socioeconomic ladder within a generation, truly going from rags to riches. Part of the reason for the
economic success of many Russian Jews was their ability to position themselves in sectors of the
clothing industry that others had either overlooked or consciously avoided because of the
unpleasantness and low status of the work.” (Braverman, pg 69-70) This is not say that every Jewish
person was able to become a member of the highest echelons of society, but, more often than not, Jews
became entrenched in the middle to upper middle class, requiring only one family member to work: the
husband. True economic prosperity came when Jewish men brought their sons and nephews into their
businesses. (Smith pg 53) As a group working toward a collective goal they were able to achieve a
middle class prosperity within the first generation of immigration whereas other groups often took
longer. By also involving wives and daughters in the work through activities such as bookkeeping (for
businessmen) or sewing (for tailors), the entire Jewish family found themselves collectively striving
toward the American Dream. As stated in JEWS OF BOSTON “the earlier they arrived and helped build
the community as a whole, the better their status was in later generations” (pg 4). Many started out in
traditional roles of peddling, tailoring, or rag picking. These occupations were generally empty or
deemed too inferior for the present tenants of the city. Through hard work and thrift many were able to
grow their businesses and soon became prosperous. A peddler might become a petty shopkeeper, a
tailor could become a clothing manufacturer. (Smith) However, looking to remain religious was met with
a degree of difficulty. Success became dependent on maintaining a sense of pragmatism in order to be
successful with the Christian majority. In violation of Jewish tradition, it meant keeping a shop open on
Friday evening or all day Saturday. It might also meant observing the Jewish Sabbath alongside the
Christian Sabbath on Sunday, or working longer hours during the first 4 days of the week in order to be
closed on Friday evening and Saturday. Synagogues would offer services on days that weren’t
technically the Sabbath in order to keep the fledging community together. Forming an American
identity allowed for faster integration into society and the middleclass.
Two different Jewish religious views arrived in the United States in the mid 1800s: the more
orthodox Eastern Europeans and the more reformist Germans. At first there was solidarity despite the
difference in religious view. This changed over time as younger generations were more inclined to seek
a balance between living in Christian Boston and being a Jew. It was difficult with Massachusetts Blue
Laws to succeed in business and the resolutions to those problems of survival were often met with
arguments over staying true to being a religious and pious Jew. While it was important to remain as a
tight knit group, differing sects started to call for a split between the members of the temple. This led to
the creation of Adath Israeli a more ‘modern’ and reformist temple. Today, there is still a line dividing
Because of the insular views of the old Boston society, Jewish charitable associations were
created in which older immigrants would help new immigrants due to the banking industries AntiSemitic refusal to lend money to Jews. Many of these charitable associations would grant no-interest
loans and credit for groceries to Jewish families until they were able to start earning an income and pay
back the loan. These charitable organizations were also willing to help settle gentiles and did so on a
regular basis. One look through the records of the Jewish settlement houses show names that are
Italian, Irish, English, and Chinese. Paradoxically the success of the community as a whole was just as
important as the success of the Jewish community, and these early beginnings set the stage for the
success of Jewish charity in helping any number of ethnic groups many years later. The clubs included
The Elysium Club, the Clio Club, the Progress Club; “all of these organizations highlighted a community
redefining itself by voluntary associations, by specific interests, and increasingly by class and wealth.”
(Smith pg 57) It would be these same Jewish charitable organizations that would later help the elderly
and indigent relocate when many of the old neighborhoods would be abandoned for the pastoral setting
of the suburbs in the 1960s and 1970s. Records indicate that those who traveled to Boston already had
family living in the city and surrounding towns. Both men and women were likely to be young and after
arriving and securing work would then look into marriage. A main goal was to secure the continuation
of Jewish culture and religion. The best way to do this was to establish ones self financially and then to
start a family. The family unit worked together to succeed economically and through intellectual
Any discussion of American Jewish family life as an institution must view it
within the context of contemporary American social, economic, and political life. All
contemporary American Jews are "Jews by choice" in that their relationship with the
Jewish people, Judaism, and its institutions is voluntary. They have freedom and feel
part of mainstream American life. (Gelden)
BY adapting to the culture around them many Jews in Boston helped to define what the culture of the
city was. They found their American identity and maintained their cultural Jewish-ness through the
creation of social clubs, educational institutions, charitable organizations, and religious organizations.
Excluded from many mainstream Boston establishments and businesses, the Jews of Boston chose to
create structures to preserve their own identity, even as they emulated and assimilated the larger
culture in many ways. (Smith, pg 57)
LASTING INFLUENCE
In many ways the Jews of Boston established themselves as true Americans while they were
held at bay for a long time by the snobbery of the Boston elite. This changed as Jews ‘proved’
themselves to be just as refined wealthy and educated. They did this through the pursuit of attending
and creating institutes of higher learning including Harvard and Yale. Working together in trade allowed
them to unite and collectively act as a group to call for change in working conditions as well as political
reforms. They realized they had power within their own community as well as the greater community.
They expressed this power through the creation of movements like Zionism, while controversial, is a
powerful movement for a Jewish Homeland that might not have had much attention paid to it if not for
the power and influence in American culture that Jews have today.
Works Cited
Howard, Brett. Boston, A Social History. New York: Hawthorn, 1976. Print.This book contains
information on social mores of Boston. It also includes information on culture, food,
perceptions, educational and religious institutioons. Despite it's publication date this book had
relevant information that was incredibly useful on Boston Society.
"Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. Ed. Arden J. Geldman and Rela
M. Geffen. Virtual Jewish Library, 2008. Web. 23 May 2012.
<http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/>.This article helped to understand the American Jewish
family and how it transformed from the traditional generational family to what it is today.
PBS. "The Jewish Americans." PBS. PBS. Web. 23 May 2012.
<http://www.pbs.org/jewishamericans/>.Website with video and articles to accompany the
docu-series The Jewish Americans. Included useful information including historical through
modern day. Delved into the development of Jewish American identity. Provided a resources
page with access to other websites of institutions.
Puleo, Stephen. A City so Grand: The Rise of an American Metropolis, Boston 1850-1900. Boston:
Beacon, 2010. Print.Gave a history of Boston that was detailed and informative. It provided
limited information for this project but helped to understand the overall issues of Boston during
the time period.
Sarna, Jonathan D., and Ellen Smith. The Jews of Boston: Essays on the Occasion of the Centenary (18951995) of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. Boston: Philanthropies, 2005.
Print.Extremely helpful compilation of essays on Jewish history in Boston spanning the colonial
era to present day. Well researched and also interesting to read.