By: Lissette Perez
Between the
years
1881&1900,
675,000 Jews
came to
America from
Eastern Europe
Ellis Island
was the
port of
entry
In the late
1800s, Jews
came to
America to
have a better
economic
status
Jews also
came to
escape
persecution
 Poor living conditions and not enough
money
 Assimilation… Getting used to a different
atmosphere surrounded by other cultures
 Isolation from religion
 Jewish women not having their own stand
and freedom
According to the online source www.350th.org :
• In the late 1800s, many Jews settled in Manhattan’s Lower Eastside.
• Here, East European Jewish culture took the form of Yiddish for instance in
theatre and in newspapers.
• The Lower Eastside Jews came for a better economic status, but many of
them remained very poor, for their jobs didn’t pay much.
• Most of them were physical laborers working in tailoring.
• Due to their lack of money, Jewish families lived in crowded small apartment
buildings called tenements.
• Like Jacob Riis portrayed it in his book How The Other Half Lives and in his
photographs, the tenements were dangerous and unsanitary to live in.
• Riis wanted people to be aware of these conditions so that they could help
make a difference for those living in these slums.
• According to www.history.com , typical tenement buildings had 5-7
stories and there was less than a foot of space between buildings
which didn’t allow for much ventilation and light to enter the
tenements.
• With the Tenement House Act of 1867, construction regulations for
tenements were imposed which consisted of one toilet for 20 people
which is very unsanitary.
• Jacob Rii’s book mentions facts such as how twelve adults slept in one
room and how the infant death rate in tenements was 1 out of 10.
These disturbing realities exposed by Riis is what called out for a
major reform.
• It was in 1901 that the Tenement House Law was finally passed. This
law outlawed the construction of tenements on 25-foot lots and
demanded better sanitary conditions as well as fire escapes and
access to light.
By Jacob Riis
Unlike the tenements from the
late 1800s, this tenement had
a fire escape because of the
Tenement House Law of 1901.
• For many Jewish immigrants it was very difficult to be in a
country in which adaptation is key for survival and therefore
their cultural values were put in jeopardy.
• Assimilation in America for some Jews came easily, but for many
it never came.
• Even though many Jews preserved their culture, there were
many that felt that they had to leave their Jewish ways behind
in order to fit in and succeed in America.
• They wanted to feel superior to their own kind.
• Many no longer wanted to speak Yiddish and dressed
differently. Many cut off their Payos. Many only spoke to their
children in English so that they could grow up completely
Americanized. They were embarrassed of the Jewish culture.
They lost self identity and that is the sad part.
• Many Jews didn’t leave behind their religion but there were
some that did.
• There were some Jews that started viewing religion as nonsense
when it was once something that meant so much to them back in
their countries.
• There were Jews that stopped wearing a Kipa on their heads
and that no longer prayed.
• Being in America made it okay for many men to see other
women even though they had a wife and even though it was an
offense to their religion to do so. For them it was “the American
way.”
• It’s as though the only thing they praised was the American flag.
• Many Jewish women were kept naïve by their husbands.
• Husbands wouldn’t really allow their wives to go outside and
explore America for themselves. They wanted their women to
remain naïve towards this new land in order for them to be in
control and have advantage towards them.
• Meanwhile they saw other women, their wives had to stay stuck
at home cooking for them and doing the house chores.
• Men just wanted to feel proud at the fact that they had a
decent wife at home while they could keep doing whatever they
wanted outside of home.
• Many women remained shelled up, but there were also some that
didn’t swallow up demands and stood up for themselves.
• A clear example is Mrs. Kavarsky, Gitl’s neighbor in Hester Street.
• She teaches Gitl to dress more American not really to please her
husband but rather to let Gitl know that she is a woman that is free to
dress and act however she wants the same way men do.
• In the film, Mrs. Kavarsky tells Jake “You can’t pee on my back and
make me think it’s rain.” She is letting him know that she is no easily
manipulated woman that takes anything from him just because he is a
man.
• She is this dominant figure that represents an outbreak in the
reserved women society of the time.