the turn of the century. Anti-Semitism follows Jews around; it is not part of a community unless Jews live with them in that community andthe gentiles don't want them there. Jews were informally ostracized from clubs and resorts, and were denied entrance to colleges and other institutes of higher learning. Moreover, it was a common practice to not employ Jews in particular professions and basic industries. Between World War I and World War II the United States placed limits on the number of Jews allowed in per year. Zionism, the movement formed by Jews to get themselves to a land that they can call their own, had a definite impact on American Jewry during Zionism's times of development and execution. American Zionism was affected by German and East European Jews coming to America.. Although the small membership of the American Zionist movement was almost completely East European at first, many of its leaders came from the older German group. By 1915, Zionism began to attract prominent American-born figures, such as Louis D. Brandeis, who is most famous as being the first Jew toserve on the Supreme Court. Brandeis and his associates added adistinctly American note into Zionism, rejecting the belief thatthe diaspora was a form of exile, and also that Zionism tried toaddress the dangerous problem of dual loyalty for patriotic JewishAmericans. For Brandeis, American and Zionist ideals reinforcedeach other. The occurrences of intermarriage (a Jew marrying a gentile) wasnot only extremely rare in the first generation of American Jews,it was also unheard of and rarely talked about. Today, lovecommonly crosses the borders of religion; intermarriages arecommon. Although divorce is allowed by the Jewish religion, italso happened once in a blue moon in those times. In Americatoday, every other marriage ends in a divorce. The parents tried to push their children for them to have a better life (i.e., material wealth), a better job, and a better...
