It is impossible to "explain" something that is a sweeping statement that may or may not be true to the extent you are making it. There are a lot of variables. The biggest mass immigration of Jews was around the turn of the 19th century wasn't it? When we saw a large influx of poor Eastern European Jews. These people were largely poor uneducated "peasants" (ironically, not too different than those fleeing Central America today). But they didn't "make it" in just one or two generations. A good many were born in, lived in and died in the "ghetto". They worked in the garment industry, the created a rich culture in the areas they lived in, with Yiddish news, signs, and Kosher markets. In that sense they aren't much different than other immigrant groups.
The other you ignore is they had help from wealthy Jewish aid organizations that helped "Americanize" them, taught them the customs and language and educated them. Their success was not entirely on their own.
These factors you leave out. I'm not disputing that as a people they have been very successful, but how many never made it out of the ghetto? What if they hadn't had any help?
But you’re wrong, and that’s because the facts don’t fit with the liberal narrative you want to believe.
The fact is that, YES…..they DID make it in just one or two generations. Poor, uneducated Jews immigrated en masse during The Great Immigration, fleeing European and Russian persecution, settling into cold-water tenements, and the VERY NEXT GENERATION, their kids were college-educated professionals, living in large suburban homes.
As far as having “wealthy Jews” Americanize them, that’s largely false. The earlier immigrants from Germany did not want much to do with the poor, illiterate Jews. You’re just assuming that because it fits with your liberal narrative - that rich people have to help poor people.
Nope. What happened is that poor arrivals from a few years before set up Ulpans for the new arrivals to help them learn English. IOW, poor Jews - who had been in America long enough to learn the language and get a job in a sweatshop, helped other poor Jews do the same.
Jews were resourceful, as they adapted to an unfamiliar country, and without an extra penny to spare. They banded together to help one another - and with great outcomes. The next generation: their children went to college or learned a business - and bought nice, upper-middle class homes.
Generation 1: Illiterate, impoverished immigrants fleeing persecution
Generation 2: Large, single-family homes and successful professional or business careers
