The first Jewish immigrants to settle in the United States were 23 Sephardic Jews who arrived in New Amsterdam (later known as New York City) in 1654. Although this group of men, women, and children from Dutch Brazil initially encountered resistance from Governor Peter Stuyvesant. they were allowed to settle after the Jews in Amsterdam put pressure on the Dutch West India Company, Stuyvesant’s employer. In addition to Spain, Sephardic Jews came from various Mediterranean countries as well as from England, Holland, and the Balkans. The number of Jews in colonial America grew slowly but steadily, so that by 1776 there were about 2,500 Jews in America.
The wave of Jewish immigrants from Germany in the mid-nineteenth century was the first major explosion of the Jewish population in America. While there were only 6,000 Jews in the United States in 1826, by 1850 the number of American Jews exceeded 50,000 and only a decade later had risen to 150,000. German Jews actually came from Germany and other Central European countries, including Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia, and western Poland. Challenges to the monarchies of Central Europe in the 1840s caused considerable social unrest, especially in rural villages. While wealthy Jews could afford to escape the turbulence by moving to cities such as Vienna or Berlin, poorer Jews could not. Consequently, many chose to immigrate to America.
Jewish immigrants passed on Jewish traditions at home, but subsequent generations relied on religious schools to teach the traditions. These schools helped Jewish parents ensure that their children were exposed to Jewish traditions without interfering with their integration into American culture. Today, many Jewish children attend a parochial school several days a week for three to five years. During this time they learn Hebrew and discover the basic traditions and customs of Jewish culture.
Jewish traditions and customs come mainly from the practice of Judaism. The most important Jewish traditions derive from the mitzvot, which are the 613 sacred obligations contained in the Torah and Talmud. These commandments, consisting of 248 positive commandments (You shall) and 365 negative commandments (You shall not), fall into three categories: Edot, or “testimonies,” are rules that help Jews witness to their faith (such as wearing); Mishpatim (judgments) are rules of conduct found in most religions (such as the rule against stealing); and Hukim (statutes) are divine rules that people cannot fully understand (such as food rules). No one person can fulfill all 613 mitzvot because they include laws for different people in different situations. It is expected that even the most orthodox Jew these days will observe less than half of the obligations.
KITCHEN
There is no specific Jewish cuisine, only lists of allowed and forbidden foods for Orthodox Jews and others who observe kashrut. Kashrut, set out in the Book of Leviticus and dating back to 1200 BC. Kashrut is a system of dietary laws requiring the consumption of kosher foods and the avoidance of foods containing tref . Kosher foods are simply those that are legally appropriate for Jews; they include Fruit, vegetables, grains, meat from ruminants with bifurcated hooves (e.g., sheep, cows, goats), fish with scales and fins (e.g., salmon, herring, bass), poultry (e.g., chicken, turkey, duck.) ), as well as milk and eggs of kosher mammals and birds. Tref foods are forbidden by Jewish law simply because of biblical decree, not because such foods are unfit for human consumption; they include meat from non-kosher mammals (e.g. pork, rabbit, horse), birds of prey (e.g. owls, eagles) and aquatic animals that have neither scales nor fins (e.g. lobsters, crabs, calamari). Kashrut also prescribes that the slaughter of animals must be painless. Thus, the Jewish butcher ( shochet ) studies the anatomy of the animals in order to know the exact place where the killing can take place instantly. After the animal is slaughtered, the blood must be drained completely and any diseased parts removed. Finally, kashrut requires the separate storage of meat and milk. Because of the biblical commandment “not to boil a goat in its mother’s milk,” Jewish law has interpreted this to mean that meat and dairy products cannot be cooked or consumed together.