Customer Reviews

They Came for Good - A History of the Jews in the United States - Taking Root, 1820-1880

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This hour-long video is the second part of a two-disc series on the history of Jews in the United States. The first part, "Present at the Creation," covers the period from 1654 to 1820, and this part, "Taking Root," covers the period from 1820 to 1880. Both parts are informative and interesting.

Chapter titles:
- Jewish peddlers serve rural America
- Good immigrants - bad immigrants
- Levi Strauss founds pants empire
- Judaism splits into orthodox and reform
- Jews take sides in the Civil War
- The career of Judah P. Benjamin
- Seligman Bros. and "Our Crowd"
- In 1881 pogroms begin in Russia
- Emma Lazarus pens "The New Colossus"

Another good video on Judaism in the U.S. is "A Life Apart: Hasidism in America." And an excellent book on the history of Judaism in the U.S. is Jonathan Sarna's "American Judaism: A History."

No human, no group of humans, is perfect. Jews are, when one gets right down to it, first of all, Human beings. Anti-semites seem to have the false impression that Jews are worse than other human beings, and what I term "Super-semites" seem to think that Jews are better than other human beings. Both of these impressions are obviously false, and I truly wish people could get beyond both impressions.

This 2-part series, "They Came For Good -- A History of the Jews in the United States", if shown to someone of either of the above groups, would, I believe, give a more realistic picture of how Jews came, took root, and flourished in the U.S.A. It also re-affirms the ideas of what I like to call "rational people", who already see Jews as simply what they are -- Human Beings! There is much information in this series, and watching it increases one's knowledge of the subject, no matter how much one thinks she or he already knows. I know I learnt a lot from it! Most documentaries on the Jewish people truly embarrass secular-but-still-rspectful-of-those-who-cherish-these-things, Jewish people like me. This documentary did NOT make me any less secular -- but it also did NOT embarrass me!

In engrossing narrative and archival film, (and film predominates here, in this second volume/segment of the series, the way it could not -- because of the earlier time covered -- be shown in the first volume/segment), the continuing story of the Jews in the U.S.A. is simply and realistically told. There are no maudlin segments, and no false criticism, either -- simply the facts are shown. This is a series for all to enjoy and learn from. Other racial and religious groups have contriuted to the U.S. -- they too were made up of Human beings! This series shows what the Jews have done -- for themselves and for the country at large. It's real, it's unbiased, it's mesmerizing! It's not just a story of the Jews in the USA -- it's a story of all imigrant groups, (with variations), in microcosim!

The one criticism I have is that the series stops at this second part. Many things have happened to everyone in the USA since 1880!
I definitely hope for a contination of this series, into the present day. (Or, perhaps, I should actually hope that FUNDS can be found for the contiuation of this series into the present day?)
Until it is continued, do watch this second volume, which is closer n time to our own than the first volume, and perhaps thus has more immediate impact. And see the first volume too, if you can. This even-handed, non-biased, truth-telling mini-series deserves more publicity, and a wider audience.

I ordered this for one of our troops that I support and he was delighted I could find it.