Jewish Culture In Isaac Singer's Short Story 'Son From America'

Jewish cultural plays a big role in Isaac Singer’s short story, “Son From America”. Being a conservative Jewish family in Poland in the 20th century, the world does not revolve around money as it does in many other cultures. Berl and Berlcha live on a half-acre lot, and own a cow, goat, and some chickens. Their son Samuel had moved to America at the age of 15 to make money, to provide for himself and his family. After Sam made his fortune as a baker in the United States, he decided to go and visit his parents. When he arrived in Lentshin, Poland, he saw that his parents had not spent any of the money that he had given them. Since Sam had liven in America for so long, he was confused on why they did not spend the money to buy more land or cattle; however, as Sam stayed with them longer, he started to see that religion and family is more important than money and items. Researching the topic of Judaism, one may see that they have traditional foods and rules for the Sabbath; these same things are apparent in the literature in Isaac singer’s short story “Son From America.”
If someone is a dedicated follower of Judaism, they will normally tend to eat the same foods and follow the same strict rules on the Sabbath. First off, a common food for religious Jews to eat on the Sabbath is Gefilte Fish. The Jewish website, “Chabad.org” states that Gefilte Fish is eaten on the Sabbath because it full fills the three blessings of the creation of the world, “The first is regarding the creation of fish, the second regarding the creation of man, and the third regarding the Sabbath”. By eating fish on the Sabbath you are doing all three
The reader knows that Berl and Berlcha are traditional, religious Jews because of how the research and the story correspond. Berl and Berlcha both eat the traditional foods, and follow the Sabbath’s religious