Jewish+Differences

Throughout American history and especially during the time of the depression, Jews struggled to survive in society; They were looked down upon so much that they were eventually considered unequal. In the story //Jews Without Money,// the “Jews” were a family living on the East Side of New York during the depression. The country believed that “Jews” had caused the stock market crash. The family in the story consists of a husband and wife with their three children. They are trying to survive through their faith. Here I will be explaining how the “Jews” of the era in America and in the novel were shunned because of their Yiddish sayings, phrases and references, and discuss the theology of tributes to the synagogue and the angel of death. In New York during the depression Jews were misunderstood and belittled. Certain stereotypes became popular- stereotypes that said Jews were rich misers, Christ killers, etc. Jews were also belittled for their different sayings, practices, and phraseology such as the use of a Golem. A Golem in Yiddish is an “artificial figure in human form that Rabbi Low of Prague created in sixteenth century to frighten the enemies of the Jews” (1659). The most relatable Golem in American culture is the farmer's scarecrow. Gold's Golem comes in the form of a snow man in the middle of a winter setting. This description is especially effective because the family of Jews in this story live in a poor, urban area. In such a rundown area, and with so many aforementioned "enemies" or persecuters, this Golem serves to protect the poor, working class Jews. It also represents the continual strife between the Jews and the "goyim" or gentiles. The boys who built this snowman were most likely just having fun, but Gold sees something else. The next day when the children came outside to look at the Golem it was strangely altered. Either it didn’t ward off bad spirits or it simply was a victim of similar persecution by surrounding neighbors. Other Yiddish phrases that set the family apart from their surrounding neighbors and community members were words such as //dreck, tochess, and pfoo.// These words are not only different from everyday language but they are also negative phrases. Dreck as used on page 1661 was used by the mother to tell the manager of a steak restaurant that their food tasted like feces. The average gentile wouldn’t know what “dreck” means, therefore they would not be offended. If the manager knew what it meant, on the other hand, the mother probably would have been thrown out of the building.

Another phrase used in the story is “tochess” (translated as “ass”). Using it in its context makes its meaning clear: “you can kiss my __ass (tochess)__.” This phrase was used by the mother Mrs. Tennenbaum to tell the landlord that she wouldn’t be paying the rent and that the landlord could kiss her tochess (1662)!

The last phrase used in the story was “pfoo.” This word in the Yiddish language is slang for “//I spit on.”// Here this phrase was used by the landlord in regards to Mrs. Tennenbaum’s reaction to the rent strike. The landlord says “I pfoo on your rights.” Here we can see that the landlord uses a phrase instead of the actual meaning to get his point across. Everyone present is Jewish so they obviously understand.

The last idea that sets the Jews apart from the rest in the story is the use of Jewish references. The Jewish references used in the text are “skull cap and Angel of Death.” The use of the reference “Angel of Death can be found on page 1663 where Mrs. Tennenbaum tells the landlord that the Angel of Death will come after him one day and take all of his money. She said this because he refuses to admit that he is a filthy and selfish miser who only looks after himself. She infers that he is not living by the laws of the Torah, so he will recieve an evil angel instead of an holy angel.

The last Jewish reference in the story is “skull cap.” “Skull cap” in Yiddish means a Yarmulke or a piece of cloth cap worn by Orthodox Jewish males to express their knowledge that God is always watching from above. It is symbolic of their religious practices. This phrase was used to describe the lanlord's appearance as he examines Katie's ring. Here another stereotype is present: by having the rich Jewish man look at the jewelry to appraise it, one can infer that Jews are rich and shrewd. In actuality, Gold is correcting this stereotype because the majority of the Jews in this story aren't rich.