Jewish Culture and Languages, two scientific papers

4.1 Yiddish in the United States in the 19th and 20th Century

But what is it that justifies New York's reputation as "the most multilingual city in the world" (García 3)? As most immigrants from Europe first arrived in New York naturally many searched for jobs and remained in the city, especially if they had no resources which allowed them to travel and settle somewhere farther into the country.

The first wave of Jewish immigrants were not Ashkenazim but Sephardim in the 17th and 18th century (Schiff 205). Only between 1840 and 1880 the first major wave of Ashkenazim with more liberal views compared to the Sephardim and German and Hebrew as their sermon language arrived. A second wave arrived from 1880 to 1920 as result of the discrimination Jews encountered in Europe. While in 1880 100.000 Jews were counted in 1960 the census already stated 500.000 Jews (Schiff 206-207). Dubnov states the folowing numbers of immigrants to the United States at the end of the 19th century:

"In 1881 there were 8193 emigrants; in 1882, 17,497; in 1883, 6907. During the following three years, from 1884 to 1886, the movement remained practically on the same level, counting 15,000 to 17,000 emigrants annually. But in the last three years of that decade, it gained considerably in volume, mounting in 1887 to 28,944, in 1888 to 31,256, and in 1889 to 31,889."

This proves early on enough Jewish immigrants had arrived in the United States for a Jewish culture to spring forth. In early times of immigration, mainly the 17th and 18th century, only enough Hebrew was taught for ceremonies, barmitzvahs, and basic bible reading (Schiff 209). Only with the arrival of East European Jews Hebrew publishing started in the United States of America in the later decades of the 19th century (Schiff 218). In comparison already in 1870 Di Yiddishe Tseitung, the first Yiddish newspaper in the United States, followed the mass immigration from Europe (Goldberg 513). Especially the second wave of immigrants arrived in New York and could already rely on a newspaper which offered them information about their new home, a job and housing market, as well as all the important institutions of the public sector in their own language. For this first generation of immigrants who often never became fluent in English the Yiddish newspaper was vital and its popularity lasted28. Though most of them did not regularly speak Hebrew some Hebrew ads appeared in the soon established Jewish press as well and a Hebrew grammar book was published (Schiff 206). The role these newspapers played for first generation immigrants is apparent. The ones who did not speak English were still involved in society and could learn news from their community and the ones who did not speak Yiddish in their daily lives could still maintain their Yiddish skills by reading.

Kliger & Peltz explain that for many living within a Jewish community in New York creates a unique Jewish experience for its citizens which links them together (Kliger & Peltz, 94). New 'Jewish' names were given to streets and regions, usually plays on pronunciation and similar sounding words, in order to create a sense of home, especially in Brooklyn29. Jewish clubs which were bound to a certain hometown could be found, some of which are probably still running in private (Kliger & Peltz, 97-99). Yiddish-speakers, literati, theater, and a library offering books and periodicals could be found in Brooklyn and influenced the region (Kliger & Peltz,101). This new coziness did not remain without consequences. The same problems which had already plagued the relationship between Jews and Christians in Middle Europe surely enough also emerged in the United States after some time. As already mentioned where many Jews lived in close quarters they tented to give new names to landmarks and regions in their neighborhood. But it did not stop there and especially in Brooklyn's Yiddish neighborhoods fights between different Hasidic and Ultra Orthodox groups as well between Yiddish speaking groups and other ethnic groups flared up. The trigger for the latter was when ads for apartments in Brooklyn were only distributed in Yiddish newspapers, naturally in Yiddish and many claiming to have found apartments and jobs due to their language skills in Yiddish (Kliger & Peltz, 110-111).