ompounding this aspect was the way in which Americans reacted to the growing number of foreigners inhabiting American cities. Every immigrant group endured the barriers of stereotypes, discrimination, and intolerance in their assimilation and enculturation into American way of life.Examining the experiences of two specific immigrant groups provides a clear illustration of the experience of immigration. Two of the largest groups to immigrate to the United States include the Italians and the East European Jews who mostly moved to the streets of New York with families that had already established a permanent place to live. Both these groups shared similar encounters in their struggles to adjust to their new surroundings and in their attempts to form new identities. Creating close-knit neighborhoods, educating their children, preserving their ethnic cultures, and striving to create an equilibrium between past and present worlds were just a few of the ways in which these groups faced their transitions.Family and friends awaiting the arrival of East European Jewish immigrants generally met them at Ellis Island. From there, the families welcomed the new comers into neighborhoods that resembled much of what they left behind. Road signs were written in Hebrew, congregations of people spoke Yiddish, and generally, an ambiance of security surrounded them. During this time, landsmanshaftn societies formed to ease the immigrant’s transition. These societies “assisted the new arrivals, loaned money for the passage of relatives to the U.S., offered insurance against sickness, and provided opportunities for Old World sociability.” (American Identity Explorer, CD-ROM)In addition to the landsmanshaftn societies, many other facilities developed to aide immigrants in the transition to America and to create a Jewish community offering support and assistance that was comparable to old world ties. Since the majority of Jews coming ...
