Jewish Culture In Isaac Singer's Short Story 'Son From America'

Jewish cultural plays a big role in Isaac Singer’s short story, “Son From America”. Being a conservative Jewish family in Poland in the 20th century, the world does not revolve around money as it does in many other cultures. Berl and Berlcha live on a half-acre lot, and own a cow, goat, and some chickens. Their son Samuel had moved to America at the age of 15 to make money, to provide for himself and his family. After Sam made his fortune as a baker in the United States, he decided to go and visit his parents. When he arrived in Lentshin, Poland, he saw that his parents had not spent any of the money that he had given them. Since Sam had liven in America for so long, he was confused on why they did not spend the money to buy more land or cattle; however, as Sam stayed with them longer, he started to see that religion and family is more important than money and items. Researching the topic of Judaism, one may see that they have traditional foods and rules for the Sabbath; these same things are apparent in the literature in Isaac singer’s short story “Son From America.”
If someone is a dedicated follower of Judaism, they will normally tend to eat the same foods and follow the same strict rules on the Sabbath. First off, a common food for religious Jews to eat on the Sabbath is Gefilte Fish. The Jewish website, “Chabad.org” states that Gefilte Fish is eaten on the Sabbath because it full fills the three blessings of the creation of the world, “The first is regarding the creation of fish, the second regarding the creation of man, and the third regarding the Sabbath”. By eating fish on the Sabbath you are doing all three
of these “blessings”. Common foods on the Sabbath also consist of bread, chicken noodle soup, stew, and ritual wine. Other than eating specific foods, the Sabbath contains strict rules. The “Jewishfaq.org” states that Jews cannot bake, cook, kindle a fire, write, knead, or touch money, etc. on the Sabbath. They basically cannot do any chores or work. They cannot even tie their own shoes! Since Jewish people cannot cook food on the Sabbath, they pre-cook their food on Friday during the day and keep it warm by putting it on a belch or a stove “Jewishfaq.org”. Conclusively, Judaism is a very traditional religion that involves many rituals and practices on there special day, called the Sabbath.
Throughout the short story, “ Son from America”, there are many instances of Berl and Berlcha being quite religious. One reason that Berl and Berlcha are most likely religious Jews is because they make all the Jewish traditional foods. Singer states, “Berlcha had prepared gefilte fish, chicken soup with rice, meat, and carrot stew” (Singer 164-165). These are traditional foods that most religious Jews make for the Sabbath. Other than making the traditional Sabbath foods, Berl and Berlcha also follow the Sabbath rules. One of the first times when the reader gets a hint of what you can and cannot do on the Sabbath is when Berlcha starts to precook all the food. Singer states, “ ‘It’s Friday, I have to prepare for the Sabbath’. Yes, she had to knead the dough and make a larger Sabbath stew. The winter day is short, and she must hurry” (Singer 163). Samuel knows that she has to finish all of the cooking before the sun sets, so he helps his mom. Another way that the story shows one of the Sabbath rules is when Berl says, “One is not allowed to touch money on the Sabbath, but I will show you” (Singer 165). Since Berl In conclusion, Berl and Berlcha are religious and partake in all the Sabbath traditions and rules.

Conclusively, The short story, “The Son From America” directly relates to the research of Jewish foods and traditions on the Sabbath.
The reader knows that Berl and Berlcha are traditional, religious Jews because of how the research and the story correspond. Berl and Berlcha both eat the traditional foods, and follow the Sabbath’s religious
rules.