The neighborhood at the edge of Carnegie Hill and what is now Spanish Harlem was then largely Jewish. More than fifty other families lived in the building, all of them immigrants representing the stratified Jewish world of Europe, with Germans at the top and Russians, Poles and Hungarians at the bottom. Harry's younger siblings, Samuel and Ruth, also lived in the apartment and worked in the deli, as would Harry's future wife, Lena, and her sister, Jean. Harry would prove himself an able provider, but by the time Jerome was born, the inherited dream of success had magnified beyond anything his lower middle-class father might have imagined. Like many of his generation, Jerry would embrace the idea of putting as much social distance as possible between himself and his origins.
At the age of twenty-four, Harry Rabinowitz had married Lena Rips, who lived just across the river in Jersey City. The nuptials took place on February 9, 1911. Cousin Viola Zousmer recalled, "Lena was my mother's best friend and introduced her to Harry. My mother's name was Honey Zousmer. My mother and Jerry's father were first cousins." Lena, the bride, was two years younger than her husband, and, according to relatives, she soon proved herself opinionated and outspoken on all domestic matters. She was also ahead of her husband in education, having graduated from high school and spent two years at a college in Des Moines, Iowa, and unlike her husband, she spoke English with perfect diction. On June twenty-seventh of the following year, Lena gave birth to their first child, Sonia.
The marriage made for a large extended family with strong ties to the Old World and the old ways. The Rips clan had immigrated from Minsk in the early 1890s and settled in the largely Jewish, Hudson City district of Jersey City, an area known as "the Heights." The family was devoutly Orthodox. Lena's father, Aaron Rips, worked as a cutter in the garment trade and later owned a candy store. He was also a founder of the local synagogue, Congregation Mt. Sinai. Lena's mother, Ida, helped establish the first Hebrew school in the district. She was a member of Hadassah and first director of the Hebrew Home for Orphans and Aged. Jerry's cousin, Jack Davenport, recalled that Ida "was one of the driving forces and founders of the Sherman Avenue Talmud Torah. Grandma Ida Rips was the energy and drive in the Jewish community in Jersey City."
After settling into the Jewish Community, The Rabinowitz family began to engage with other cultural families that had also immigrated. From my perspective there was a hierachy of amilies living in this building with Germans at the top and Russians, Poles and Hungarians at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteJerome's father Harry Rabinowitz married Lena Rips on February 9th in 1911. Her family were also immigrants who lived in Jersey City, just across the River from the Rabinowitz family. lena was a very dominating woman, who clearly expressed her opinions, however unlike his father Lena spoke fluent english with perfect pronunctiation. Just like the Rabinowitz family, The Rips family were also very much culturally oriented. Lena was a very educated woman, and her mother, helped establish the first Hebrew school in the district. Jerry's Grandma Ida, was a real comfort to the community that they lived in, and she encouraged and inspired many.
Robbins himself, went to a Hebrew school, as a child and described it as 'I hated it'. This magnified his decisions of seperating himself from the Jewish community, and wanting to explore the world to live his life to its full potential.
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