Jewish Political Involvement

Jewish immigrants in America brought with them a sense of involvement in political action far stronger than many other immigrant groups. Large numbers of early immigrants either imported or adopted an interest in Socialism as a political system that promised alleviation of social and economic injustice. But it was the post-1900 generation of Eastern European Jews--actively persecuted and severely restricted in movement and most freedoms in Russia, Poland, the Ukraine, and other locales--who raised the level of activism in America, often being forced to take action against German Jewish immigrants who owned the large factories in which they labored. On emigrating to America they found that their marginalized status and restricted opportunities continued the need for political action while, at the same time, greater freedom in most respects allowed greater scope for, and increased the effectiveness of, political initiatives.

At first the political impulse was expressed toward targets most immediately in need of attention. Organizing labor to battle the horrifying conditions in urban sweatshops became the focus of political attention. Although labor activism continued to be necessary on and off until World War II, many Jews also turned to the Socialist party as a means of developing a voice in the broader political arena. Labor activism, Socialist affiliation, and Zionism were the predominant characteristics of specifically Jewish political involvement. But the practi

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more in the light of a good break for American Jewry than as an infringement on Goldman's First Amendment rights (297). The anarchists were, however, widely regarded by Jewish immigrants as an aberration. The connection between the state of people's economic prospects and their degree of political activism--rather than commitment to specific ideology or, with the anarchists, generalized aggressive opposition--points up how practical most Jewish political affiliation was. The arrival of economically unstable times always tended to bring with them an increase in nativist anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic behavior and, taken together, the need to protect themselves as well as their economic interests motivated greater involvement in politics. As Hyman points out, the broadly politicized nature of Jewish immigrants led to an interplay among those with various political affiliations and interests to which "the compartmentalization of the immigrant community by historians into Orthodox, socialist and anarchist, and Zionist sectors does not do justice" (143). The extent to which Jewish immigrants were politicized can be seen in the 1902 Consumer Boycott of kosher meat suppliers (the Meat Trust, so-called). Action was organized against

Category: Government - J