Syrian Jewish Immigration

In the early 20th century, Syrian Jewish immigration to the Americas and other states was largely the result of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Numerous Jews fled to America to skirt conscription into the army the Young Turks, the ground that rebelled against the Ottomans. Additionally, economic opportunities in became increasingly scarce in Syria as a result of a worldwide depression and sluggish recovery, driving many to the Americas for opportunity and wealth of Western civilization. Lastly and most importantly, Syrians Jews looked to flee rampant persecution in the region, which was predominantly influenced by the Muslim majority’s response to the growing popularity of Zionism, or the establishment of an independent Jewish state in
immigration discussed in Nancy Foner’s book From Ellis Island to JFK: New York’s Two Great Wave of Immigration. In the book, Foner discusses the idea of ethnic niches or enclaves, which are areas that have a distinct cultural identity and high ethnic concentration. In the case of the Syrian Jewish community of Midwood Brooklyn, this idea of an ethnic niche is a prominent one. Even when compared to other Sephardic Jews, Syrian Jews have distinct differences from them, especially in the manner they recite chants on the Sabbath and the interpretations they have of when sundown is for the beginning and ending of various Jewish holy days. One of the women who we interviewed, Diane Chabot, simply put it, “We’re not completely different, the basic conceptions are the same, but customs are different, melodies are different, shul is different.” Additionally, the community has remained fairly ethnically isolated largely because of strict attitudes towards conversion and intermarrying with Gentiles or non-Jews. When Ness and I visited Shaare Zion, a local synagogue, Ness showed me where it had escribed on the door a Hebrew phrase which meant something along the lines of, “We will not conduct marriages involving non-Jews.” As a result of a 1940s edict, this rule is reinforced of annually in synagogues to feed fear that intermarrying would lead to illegitimate conversions and be a detriment to the cultural and religious integrity of the Syrian Jewish community. Consequently, the immigrant community has assimilated little into mainstream American culture in terms of customs and social attitudes, effectively creating an ethnic enclave in