Essay On Jewish Acculturation

Another aspect that lent itself to the acculturation of Jews was the fact that Jewish members of society were usually unidentifiable by their dress and physical features. The reason why this helped the Jews assimilate into society is because they did not appear as outsiders within the region in which they lived. Normally, Jewish males had a dress code that consisted of a head covering, the tzitzit, and grown facial hair, but during the Middle Ages, the rabbinic debates told Jewish males that they did not have to follow these customs depending on where they lived. By wearing clothes similar to those around them, medieval Jews demonstrated their acculturation into society because wearing the same dress indicated a tie with the community. By wearing

At a young age, boys were taken to the temple and were taught how to read the Hebrew alphabet (Marcus, 2001). Often times children were rewarded with honey and sweet treats as a means to not only positively reinforce their actions but also so that they could associate goodness with their religion and thus grow up to be proud members of the community. Moreover, in addition to boys learning how to read and write in Hebrew, they also were taught about the Torah, and some boys were given the opportunity to travel and study their religion away from home. For girls, however, they were too sometimes taught literacy, but it was not an obligation for girls to learn like it was for boys. Despite this, some girls still learned how to read and write and excelled in the field. For instance, Rashi, a famous Jewish rabbi, taught both of his daughters’ literacy in the Hebrew language. Furthermore, even if girls were not taught how to be literate, girls were still educated on how to be good members of Jewish society. Therefore, literacy for boys and the basic education of Judaism that boys and girls are both taught demonstrates the creation of a separate identity because we are able to see that they are learning about the non-secular world, which alienates and sets them apart from some of their