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Pioneers |
The opening of the frontier in America coincided with political upheaval in Germany, and the first great wave of German/Central European immigration to America. By 1877, eight percent of American Jews lived in the West. Jews in Germany were attracted to the American West by travelers' accounts published in German, which painted romantic portraits of the frontier landscape, the open social atmosphere and opportunities for a quick profit.
A strong cultural attachment to Germany - expressed through participation in German clubs and societies of every sort - separated this group of immigrants from other Jews. Disgruntled with the language and ritual in American synagogues, German Jews in most cities broke away and formed new congregations. At the same time, they established national fraternal organizations such as the National Council of Jewish Women and B'nai B'rith. Critical to sustaining identity for Jews in isolated areas of the West and Midwest, these organizations embodied an emerging version of Jewishness - one that rested more firmly on social and political affiliation than on religious faith.
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