[Miriam Shoshannah]

Thousands of years of history are difficult to just put away in a drawer. The reason I think many Jews identify their ethnicity as Jewish rather than Russian/Polish/German is because for millenia Jews were not allowed to be citizens of the countries in which they lived. They were always seen by the ruling class as resident aliens who could be kicked out of the country at the whim of the rulers. For many years Jews in Russia and parts of Poland were forced to lived in an area called the Pale of the Settlement (if you have seen the movie Fiddler on the Roof they lived in a shtetl [Jewish village] in the Pale of the Settlement). Jews had to have special permission to travel to Moscow. Anytime the Czar wanted to divert the attention of Russian citizens from their own suffering he would encourage the Russian peasants to have a pogrom (riot) on the Jewish villages. Even as recently as the late 19th Century, in many European countries the only way a Jew could become a full citizen of the country in which he/she lived was to convert to Christianity. This was particularly true in Germany; thus that is why Heine, Mendelsohn and others converted to Christianity. I don't know if that answers your question but I hope it helps in some small way.

User Detail :  

Name : Miriam Shoshannah, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Religion : Jewish, Age : 39, City : St. Louis, State : MO Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Author]

Posts