Jewish communities and families in America are the product of a long line of mass immigration from Europe, for many reasons ranging from better work opportunities, education, and escaping persecution. Regardless of the reason, Jewish individuals, families, and communities in America share a common challenge, with that being weather or not to assimilate into American society. This also comes with another set of problems, namely how the people around them feel about their connection to the Jewish faith. While there is freedom of religion in America, Jews still come into these types of conflicts with others within their own background and surroundings. Others may argue that assimilation into American society is good for Jews as awhole and unites them through unique experiences. In the short stories “Eli the Fanatic” by Philip Roth and “What Must I Say to You” by Norma Rosen, the authors utilize the protagonists to argue that assimilation into American society directly challenges traditional Jewish faith and culture, and the divide that assimilation creates proves to be a main source of contention in Jewish families and communities in America.The theme of assimilation in the short story “What Must I Say to You” by Norma Rosen is represented through the disagreement between the protagonist and her husband over the use of the mezuzah on the door. For some context, the unnamed protagonist, who we’ll refer to as “wife”, is a Jewish American woman that is married to a Jewish man born and raised in Europe as an Orthodox Jew. The wife, in contrast, comes from a family of multi-generational American Jews, meaning that her family has been in America for generations already, unlike her husband. Although the two are both Jewish, they were raised differently, come from different

Jordi Mendez-ParisProfessor NochomovitzFIQWS 101153 December 2023background5555specifically beliefs about their Jewish identity and observance, where the true conflict arises. The conflict of the mezuzah represents the wife’s anxiety with her Jewish identityand her husband insisting on raising their daughter, Susan, to be more observant like he is.In a deeper analysis of the wife and her family in “What Must I Say to You” by Norma Rosen, it is evident that there is more to the story than the wife simply feeling insecure about her identity. Factors such as immigration, ancestry, upbringing, societal expectations and even fear all come together and influence the wife’s choices and reasons to assimilate and her husband’s reluctance to be as she is. The wife is scared to let anyone know that she is Jewish, which is first hinted by her interactions with Mrs. Cooper, the family’s maid. Since Christmas is coming up, she worries about Mrs. Cooper’s reaction will be once she notices and realizes what the lack of a Christmas tree in her home means. In a conversation with her husband about this worry, she says “I don’t feel like making any announcements…but I suppose I should. She’ll wonder… ”, to which her husband replies by saying he believes she doesn’t need to, but she ends up changing her mind in order to be honest (Rosen 206). She tells Mrs. Cooper, “We don’t attend church. We go—at leastmy husband goes—to a synagogue. My husband and I are Jewish” (Rosen 206). On the surface, the situation is presented as something light, but not too serious, however the language and tone used reveals that the wife is clearly worried enough about the topic of her religion to warrant all the thinking she did, even if Mrs. Cooper didn’t mind at all. Her insecurities are revealed to be completely focused on her Jewish identity and how people will react to it.

Jordi Mendez-ParisProfessor NochomovitzFIQWS 101153 December 2023To continue, the wife and husband’s divide over the Jewish faith can also be influenced by the treatment of Jews in Europe(Holocaust). While she personally hasn’t been affected by the event, she does feel frightened by it. While her husband is reading the bible passages explaining the Jewish tradition of the Mezuzah to her aloud, she thinks to herself “The words might move me if I allowed them to, but I wil not allow them to.”(211). The fear she has runs deeper thanIn “Eli, the Fanatic” by Philip Roth, the theme of assimilation is explored through the tension between the Jews assimilated into the Protestant community and Orthodox Jews that moved into Woodenton and Eli’s mind. The Orthodox Jews in this story are displaced persons from Europe just trying to find a new place to settle and continue their lives, but the assimilated community ofWoodenton are uncomfortable by their way of life, attempting to find a way to get them out or toabandon their way of life. Even though the Orthodox Jews were driven out of Europe because society was against them, the community, as well as Eli, a Jewish lawyer, decide to do anything they can do to force them to assimilate or leave. This ultimately results in Eli facing a personal battle about the morality of his actions and even his identity as he ends up realizing what he was trying to accomplish wasn’t right. The conflict of assimilation in “Eli, the Fanatic” is introduced by the situation between Eli and the Orthodox Jews. In Eli’s letter to headmaster Leo Tzuref, he states “It seems to me that what most disturbs my neighbors are the visits to town by the gentlemen in the black hat, suit, etc. Woodenton is a progressive suburban community whose members, both Jewish and Gentile, are anxious that their families live in comfort and beauty and serenity. This is, after all,

Jordi Mendez-ParisProfessor NochomovitzFIQWS 101153 December 2023the twentieth century, and we do not think it too much to ask that the members of our communitydress in a manner appropriate to the time and place.” (Roth 261). In this letter to Tzuref, Eli is direct in telling the Orthodox Jews that the community doesn’t agree with his lifestyle and practices, and to stop since it makes them uncomfortable. To further add onto the situation, Eli goes on to propose a compromise for them to settle on that mostly works in favor of the residentsof Woodenton. Eli states “For this adjustment to be made, both Jews and Gentiles alike have had to give up some of their more extreme practices in order not to threaten or offend the other. Certainly, such amity is to be desired. Perhaps if such conditions had existed in prewar Europe, the persecution of the Jewish people, of which you and those 18 children have been victims, could not have been carried out with such success—in fact it might not have been carried out at all” (Roth 262). The divide between the Orthodox Jews and the assimilated Jews can be represented by the hositlity Eli and the people have against the Orthodox Jews can be highlightedby this phrase, as it was not necessary to bring up the serious trauma the Jews had just escaped from even if they did seem strange to the town. It’s also important to note that up until this point,there has been no hostility from the side of Mr.Tzuref in any way, shape, or form. Eli continues on in the letter to explain that if Tzuref doesn’t comply with the demands of his people being” attired in clothing usually associated with life in the 20th century.” and keeping religious, social, and educational acitivities confined to the Yeshivah, that he’ll enforce zoning ordinances, forcingthem to leave. With little to no options, Tzuref is forced to comply after some back and forth with Eli. Tzuref pleads with Eli to not have to force the unnamed man in the hat to change out of

Jordi Mendez-ParisProfessor NochomovitzFIQWS 101153 December 2023his rleigious clothing, as it is all he has. Tzuref even emphasis not only would that be wrong to ask of him for his religion, but also because he literally has nothing else and no money to buy anything. During this confrontation, Tzuref says “To take away the one thing a man’s got? Not take away—replace” (Roth 264). Tzuref’s words show that he understands what Eli wants him and his people to do, but that requesting this is going too far. The man’s religious clothing clearly represents his identity, his beliefs, and his past and Tzuref realizes that Eli is essentially trying to strip him of that and mold them into people that aren’t who they are. This is emphasizedby the tone in which it is said, pausing before saying replace. Since replacing the man’s clothes is replacing his identity with an assimilated American identityDespite the differences in plot and characters, these two short stories clearly represent thedivide in Jewish America through the European Jew and the assimilated Jew albeit a bit differently. For “What Must I Say to You” by Norma Rosen, the situation is confined to identity and familial relationships, though it can be applied in a bigger aspect if we take into consideration the fact that there are very likely many people with this feeling. In “Eli, the Fanatic”, the divide is shown to have an effect on their identity, familial relationships, and how they behave and react in society. Once Eli recognizes that what he’s attempted for the man in thehat to do—stripping him of his religion and replacing it, he faces an internal struggle with his own identity as a Jewish man. He even seems regretful of what he’s done, trying to defend them from Ted’s comments, saying “The point is you won’t know… This isn’t so simple, Ted. People are involved–.”(276) He puts on the clothes that the man left on his doorstep and begins

Jordi Mendez-ParisProfessor NochomovitzFIQWS 101153 December 2023walking around town, to the shock of everyone including himself, as he feels strange but thinks that he needs to do so, even forgetting the birth of his child.The stories “Eli the Fanatic” by Philip Roth and “What Must I Say to You” by Norma Rosen present complex viewpoints on the complex interactions that exist between cultural heritage, traditional Jewish faith, and assimilation. Through the experiences of their protagonists,both authors navigate the complex terrain where the pursuit of assimilation into American society collides with deeply rooted Jewish traditions. The experiences between the more observant Jews and the “assimilated” Jews clearly portray the clash as a great divide, generating contention within Jewish families and communities. The stories compel readers to reflect on the multifaceted challenges of identity and belonging that people face . Roth and Rosen both explorethe dynamics of cultural assimilation, through the wife’s struggle to provide a profound understanding of the enduring tension between embracing the new and preserving the old within the context of America.