Old World Solutions to New World Problems

With many young Jews immigrating to America from other countries, they began to experience a whole new world of problems in America. The Bintl Briv was set up in Forvet’s as sort of a “Dear Abby” for this Generation in transition. At first I asked myself why these people weren’t turning to Rabbis, like many Jews in the Old Country did when problems arose.

But I soon realized that these problems were secular. Not the type of situation a Rabbi was used to handling. These people were seeking to problems that no other Jew ever experienced before. For some of these Jewish men and women writing these letters, it was their first time living and working in a world with non-Jews. They were faced with new issues, such as the conflict of a young girl who wanted to obey her parents but at the same time help to support her family. Another letter written to the editor was from a man who was struggling with the fact that he was expected to send a portion of his earnings in America to his father back in his homeland.

The interesting part of these letters is the answers that the editor presented to the writers. The editors are giving an Old World answer that one might expect from their Rabbi, with a new world spin. Readers are told to follow and respect their parents, no matter what it is they say. So the young girl who wanted to drop out of school to earn a salary to support her ever growing family was told to stay in school as her parents suggested. The young man, who was wavering between sending his earnings back to his homeland to help support his aging father, was also reminded of his obligation to family. Support and respect for ones family, especially parents, is a key foundation in the Jewish religion.