Jews in both Western and Eastern Europe experienced a time of flourishing without persecution and living during peaceful times with the government who presided over each European country. The only real disagreement was between the Jews themselves with regard to their religion as with many things taking place at that time. This time it was about whether to continue being Orthodox which was still something they could realistically do with the way times had changed for the better for them. There were many Jews that didn’t think being an Orthodox Jew was relevant then so they formed an alternate branch of Judaism called Reform which was much less observant in the ways Orthodox Jews practiced. There were also all Jews who were not followers of either one of these movements as they viewed their observances somewhere in the middle this was the Conservative movement of Judaism.
Jews went back to all kinds of jobs not having to worry about being forced out of their jobs as before. They were factory owners, workers, teachers, shopkeepers, artists and inventors. Some were rich, some middle class and some even got back into being a part of the government. The kids were allowed back into public schools and started to adopt the culture, language, fashion and patriotism. They basically assimilated and intermarried, which was one of the reasons for splits between the Jews and producing three branches of Judaism. But with Eastern Europe the emergence of the middle class was stopped.
Polish Jews had three parts, where Jews lived in Prussia/Germany, Russia and Austria. The Poles lived under 150 years of Russia, Germany and Austria rule. During the Crusades many Jews fled Germany to go eastward to where Poland is and they took with them the medieval Germany vernacular. From this and with mixing Russian with German and Hebrew the language Yiddish was formed.
The biggest differences were in how they observed Judaism and how the social classes were established. In the film ‘Fiddler on the Roof’, they lived in Eastern Europe where they lived in peace but had the government looking over them all the time. The Jews were much more religious in Eastern Europe. Judaism wasn’t just a religion for them it was their culture and ethnicity, Yiddish was how they all could be one even in different countries. They were all working class farmers and shop owners. Many of the Poles had dreams of making Israel their homes again and becoming a Zionist. Also like in the movie when things got bad for the Jews the Polish government or Russian government told them to move out of the country.
Jews in Central Europe and England were granted most civil rights and ghettos were taken down. German Jews wanted to be accepted so they embraced German culture, the language, literature, history, sciences and philosophy. Most German states permitted Jews to do business with the gentile world on the same footing. It gave Jews entry into growing trade and manufacturing activities. The revolution in production required modernization of business methods like finance and banking. Jews were then middleman, traders, storekeepers and men who understood investments and the raising of capital were in demand. Jews saw this as an opportunity to get out of poverty and be middle class. The Jews replaced Yiddish with German, got into their literature and arts, changed their mode of dress like the Germans and eventually they became less religious. They also supported liberal politicians.
Western Europe is where more of the Reform and less observant Jews lived. They were wealthy and had assimilated into the culture through intermarriage. The Reform movement made prayer books with German translation in it and had less dietary restraints. It was really for public acceptance from the other Germans more than just trying to do less. The prayers of the Messiah and the Jews return to Israel were eliminated. They didn’t remove ethical requirements but Jews had a hard time following laws that came from the past and were not considered as appropriate for their current situation. During World War I Jews fought alongside Christians for their countries. As long they helped fight Germany’s enemies the Germans hatred towards them wasn’t as bad. It was the Weimer constitution that granted Jews legally and officially complete equality. But some Jews were considered aliens and could never be true Germans in the German’s minds with the old government still in power and that anti Semitism would not fade from public life.
Half of the German Jews waited too long or could not find a nation to accept them to save their lives in time. Jews loved where they lived, the culture, financially and medically, it was hard for them to leave and believe that Hitler was just a radical political leader and a murderer, so they didn’t leave and we all know what unfortunately happened then.