October 28th answers

1) The Jewish population increased so rapidly because of high birthrates and low death rates of Jews. Because of increased education of Jews, infant mortality rate dropped significantly. Jews were also healthier than most of the non-Jewish population of Western Europe: there were almost no alcoholism among the Jews, they had fewer children to divide resources for, Jewish mothers breast fed their infants for much longer, Jewish mothers were around the house more to tend to their children. Many healthy Jews and Jewish babies contribute to a high Jewish population growth.

2) Jews moved into cities because cities contained much better educational and economic opportunities. There were better schools in cities as well as many more job options and availabilities. Many Jews moved to St. Petersburg and Warsaw. Many more moved to cities such as Bialystok, Berdichev, Grodno, Pinsk, Lvov, Lodz, Lublin, Cracow, and Vilna by 1900. New York’s Jewish population skyrocketed into the largest Jewish urban center in history. Almost all Australian Jews moved to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Half of Argentina’s Jews immigrated to Buenos Aires. Brazilian Jews settled in Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paulo. Uruguay’s Jews moved to Montevideo. This shows a great desire for the Jews as a people to become strong and integrated into modern urban society.