lly; rather, they were strongly encouraged to excel in education and assimilation into American culture. It was the prime objective of Jewish parents to provide ways for the betterment of their children’s lives and education was seen as the key to success.Despite the small numbers of strict Jewish practices, most Jewish immigrants sought to shed their cultures and quickly become adapted to American way of life. “Greenhorns”, as new Jewish immigrants were referred to, struggled to break down the barriers between themselves and “native” Americans so that soon, the Jewish immigrant and “native” American would become difficult to separate. “Oisgrinen zikh- to cease being greenhorns-was a common motivation” of the arriving immigrant. (American Identity Explorer, CD-ROM) In his article “The Russian and Polish Jew in New York”, Edward Steiner made the following statement in regard to Jewish immigrants: “The more English they can display the smarter they are, and usually in two years the “greener” has mastered this difficult language.” (American Identity Explorer, CD-ROM) The Jewish immigrants who successfully created equilibrium between the past and the present displayed what was known as “Yiddishkeit”, a mixture of East European Jewishness and American way of life. Despite the pressures to assimilate, a tight family network was maintained that supported both change and the preservation of native beliefs.Italians comprised another large immigrant group journeying to America during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Although they inhabited many large U.S. cities, a majority settled in the Mulberry Street district of lower Manhattan. Here, Italian communities developed similar to many Jewish neighborhoods in which Italian businesses and residences lined the streets of this district. “Each village cluster attempted to reproduce the...
