I have seen these same Jewish girls go with gentile fellows and
it is nothing but if any other girl goes with a gentile, why
they are considered the worst girls in town. - Excerpt from a
letter to Teddy Levine from Molly Zeitman, Feb. 25, 1912
Throughout the 20th century, there is a noticeable rise in
intermarriages that may be attributed to four specific factors.
The first is a stress on assimilation. Since Eastern European
Jews felt anti-Semitism upon their entrance into the United
States, they worked doubly hard to assimilate into American
society. Some of the most prominent methods of assimilation were
schools and clubs that introduced genteel ideas to Jewish
children. Secondly, Jewish communities attempted to work closely
with the gentile community and this increased interaction
between Jewish and gentile children. With increased interaction
came relationships between Jews and gentiles that ranged from
friendship to courtship. Also, as Jewish youth found out, the
small communities where children were bei