Background

Scholar David N. Meyers posits that there are two primary characteristics that have defined the Jewish people throughout history. First, they are a people constantly in movement – a diaspora, spreading to all corners of the globe, constantly adapting to new circumstances and settings. Secondly, they are a people who have been consistently oppressed, marginalized, stigmatized, and attacked. These two characteristics make it seem nearly impossible for the Jewish people to have survived as a distinct culture, and yet they have, for far longer than most other cultures in the world. 

 

Those of Jewish faith believe that they are the Chosen People of God. According to the Torah, the Jewish patriarch Abraham was called by God to leave his home and journey to find a new settlement. Before making this journey, God made a covenant promise with Abraham: “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed.” (Genesis 26:4).  

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Ashkenazic Judaism

There are several subgroups of Jews with different culture and traditions – primarily, Ashkenazic and Sephardic. 

• Ashkenazic: Descendants of Jews from France, Germany and Eastern Europe 

• Sephardic: Descendants of Jews from Spain, Portugal, North Africa and the Middle East 

• Mizrahi: Descendants of Jews from North Africa and the Middle East 

• Other subgroups are Yemenite, Ethiopian and Oriental 

 

Tevye and his community are Ashkenazi Jews. Most American Jews today are Ashkenazim, descended from Jewish people who emigrated, like Tevye and his family, from Germany and Eastern Europe from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s. Today Ashkenazim constitute more than 80 percent of all the Jews in the world, vastly outnumbering Sephardic Jews.

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While their core beliefs are fairly identical, Ashkenazic Judaism differs from Sephardic Judaism in several ways. 

• Ashkenazi Jews speak Yiddish, based on German and Hebrew, while Sephardic Jews historically spoke Judeo-Spanish, based on Spanish and Hebrew.  

• Sephardic Jews have historically been more integrated into non-Jewish culture than Ashkenazic Jews, as there was less segregation and oppression in areas where Sephardic Jewish communities. 

• Sephardic Jews pronounce a few Hebrew vowels and one consonant differently. 

• There are different holiday customs and traditional foods. Sephardic Jews allow foods during Passover that Ashkenazi Jews do not allow (such as rice and corn) 

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Gender Roles 

In the areas of education, leadership, and religious expression, Jewish communities in Eastern Europe were strongly divided by gender. Seating in the synagogue was segregated. While women had some roles in religious ritual at the home, such as lighting the Shabbat candles and keeping kosher, men dominated the synagogues, and therefore dominated the community. Education was crucially important for men. Parents were expected to send their sons to heder, a primary school that taught Hebrew reading and the Torah text. From there the brightest would continue several years of further education. Even after formal education was complete, men were still expected to study the Torah. The education of daughters, on the other hand, was far less formal and extensive. Some girls, particularly from wealthier families, might learn to read Yiddish, but few learned to read Hebrew. Most girls remained illiterate, and learned from their mothers how to manage a household. The gender ideal for Jewish communities in Eastern Europe was of a learned elite male who was able to devote his full time to sacred study while his hard-working wife efficiently managed the household and worked in the marketplace to support the family. This differed from many other traditional gender roles in which men were breadwinners. This ideal, however, was very rarely reality. In most Jewish families, both men and women had to work hard to survive.  

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Shabbat

Each week, Jewish families recognize Shabbat, or Sabbath. The word comes from the Hebrew word meaning “to rest”, and commemorates the seventh day of the week on which God rested after completing the creation of the world. Shabbat looks different among each family and community. However, traditionally, Shabbat is ushered in on Friday evening, around twenty minutes before sunset, by the mother of the family lighting the Shabbat candles and praying over them. The family covers their eyes as the candles are blessed so that the first enjoyment of Shabbat light comes after the blessing. A traditional Shabbat meal is then served, with ritual prayers and hand-washing. The remainder of the evening is devoted to studying or relaxing. On Saturday morning, Jewish families attend a synagogue service to gather with the Jewish community. On Saturday night, Shabbat comes to a close with the havdalah ceremony where a benediction is recited over a cup of wine and a spice box (besamim). Some Jewish communities have strict rules prohibiting certain kinds of work during Shabbat – for example, no cooking, writing, buying, or selling. 

 

 Celebrations

• Rosh Hashanah: Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year and marks the beginning of the Jewish calendar. It begins a 10-day period of repentance and prayer which ends on Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur, there are special religious services. Apples dipped in honey are eaten to symbolize the hope for a sweet year to come. 

• Sukkot: Sukkot, the harvest festival, is named for the temporary dwellings, called Sukkot, that Jewish people set up to recall the tents or booths where the Jews lived during their journey from Egypt. The holiday is marked by processions with the lulav (palm branch with myrtle and willow) and etrog (citron).  

• Hanukkah: Hanukkah (also Hanukah, Chanukah, Khanike, or the Festival of Lights) celebrates an event in 167 BCE in which a Jewish revolutionary group known as the Maccabees led a band of Jews in a successful battle against the occupying Syrian-Greeks. After seeing the temple be desecrated and their people be massacred, the Maccabees revolted and drove the Syrians out of Jerusalem. According to the Talmud, one of Judaism’s most central texts, the Maccabees witnessed what they believed to be a miracle. Even though there was only enough untainted olive oil to keep the menorah’s candles burning for a single day, the flames continued flickering for eight nights, leaving them time to find a fresh supply. This is why Hanukkah lasts for eight days, the candles of the menorah are lit, and foods are fried in oil.  

• Passover: Passover celebrates the escape of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt. On the night the Jewish people escaped, the angel of death visited the houses of all Egyptians and killed their firstborn sons. The Jewish people were instructed by God to sacrifice a lamb and smear its blood on their doorframe so that the angel of death would “pass over” their houses and not harm their sons. This is where Passover gets its name. The Passover is celebrated with a special meal called a Seder in which traditional foods are eaten to commemorate the exodus from Egypt. 

• Purim: Purim celebrates the story of Esther, a young Hebrew woman who became the wife of the Persian king and prevented a massacre of the Jewish people. Purim is a joyful holiday in which gifts are exchanged, a festive meal is eaten, and costumes are often worn. Jews in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s also established special local Purims to commemorate the survival of specific communities and families in the face of destruction and annihilation. 

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Sources

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Ashkenazi". Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ashkenazi. Accessed 1 May 2023. 

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Sabbath". Encyclopedia Britannica, 18 Apr. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sabbath-Judaism. Accessed 1 May 2023. 

Faierstein, Morris M., and Wein, Berel. 2010. "Religious Year." YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Religious_Year (accessed May 1, 2023). 

Hyman, Paula E. 2010. "Gender." YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. https://yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Gender (accessed May 1, 2023). 

Myers, David N. Jewish History: A Very Short Introduction, Very Short Introductions (New York, 2017; online edn, Oxford Academic, 25 May 2017), https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199730988.003.0001, accessed 1 May 2023.