1. How and why did the Jewish population increase so rapidly in the 19th century?
A combination of factors are the reasons for why the Jewish population grew so rapidly in the 19th century. One of the main factors was that the Jewish population was being assimilated into the middle class. During the 18th century the Jews had to live in such a poor lifestyle that it was hard for them to be successful and healthy. Once assimilated into the middle class the birth rates went up and the death rates went down. Living a better lifestyle that was healthier and safer made it easy for the population to grow.
2. Why did Jews move to cities and which cities became large Jewish centers?
The author uses the term "metropolization" to describe why Jews moved to cities. A lot of the Jews were kicked out of their land in the 18th century and during the 19th century cities became more prominent than farm life. Jews were some of the first people to urbanize and move to cities in great numbers. Cities like Amsterdam, Berlin and Salonika were some cities that Jews went to in large numbers.
1. Yet the Jewish population rise was higher than other people in the middle class, and this big population increase was also true in eastern Europe, where there weren't large numbers of Jews becoming middle class.
ReplyDelete2. This is leaving out the attraction that cities had for Jews.
Grade: B