Monday, August 4, 2008

Today in Jewish History

Today is 3 Av on the Jewish calendar and Aish.com notes how on this date in 1881, the first shipload of Russian Jewish immigrants arrived in New York City. Over the next 50 years, more than 2 million Jews would flee pogroms in Russia, my father's family among them. The folks at Aish.com didn't happen to mention that factoid and I didn't expect them to. I do, however, think they could have a bit more precise about noting:
"This influx indelibly altered the demographics of American Jewry; according to the U.S. census of 1940, 1.75 million Jews spoke Yiddish at home."
Spoke Yiddish at home? I've only heard it screamed and yelled.