In the United States, Jews have found a degree of social acceptance unparalleled in their long history. But the openness of American society has proven to be a double-edged sword. While American Jews experience unprecedented opportunity for advancement and inclusion, they also face the challenge of ever-diminishing numbers and the fear of extinction as an identifiable group.
This very real decline is largely due to assimilation, a process which accompanies social mobility in an open society. The term is often used by sociologists in reference to the process of leaving one’s ethnic identity behind as one joins more fully in the majority culture. One becomes progressively less Jewish, either religiously or culturally, and ultimately leaves the fold altogether. While Jews have always lost members through attrition, assimilation has become a significant threat to the community in the modern period. For a people that had been historically defined as outsiders and as the pariahs of society, the opening of the ghetto gates released a flood of assimilatory energy. But throughout the 19th century, as Jews rushed to participate more fully in European society, they were often met by social resistance. Later, this resistance evolved into the anti-Jewish movement called antisemitism.
The Church was the center of village social life. Monasteries preserved ancient documents and provided education and health services. Popes gained political power.
