Jewish_Family

Jewish Family This novel is about a young girl in a Jewish family who struggled to free herself from her father’s obsolete teachings and beliefs. Coming to America at around the early 1900’s, the family found out the cruelty of the land of capitalism and faced the financial difficulties experienced by most immigrants. Everyone but the father adapted to the hardships and went out to earn a few cents. The father, Reb Smolinsky, was a rabbi and devoted himself totally to religion. As a matter of fact, he did not want to have his holiness contaminated by earthly worries; he expected his wife and four frail daughters to put food on the table. Somehow, he was completely blind to the poverty and, getting the largest share of meals, thought everyone had enough to eat. Thinking he was the head of the family, Smolinsky controlled the future of his daughters. Wanting quick money so that he could pray all day, the father did not agree to let a young man marry his oldest daughter Bessie, who assumed the financial burden and gave all her wage to Smolinsky. The young man promised to support Bessie and asked for no dowry. However, the rabbi saw smolinsky, sara, young, rabbi, college, father, family, dollars, daughters, after, world, reb, out, money, man, few, end, york, wife, widow, three, thinking, support, store, school, people, old, new, never, mother, job, hundred, however, hard, girl, four