Bread Givers Response

           Bread Givers centers on the conflict between the old world of Russian Jewish rigidity and the new world of American ideals concerning success, love, happiness, and fulfillment.  Caught between a traditionalist father and the voice of the American models around them, the four Smolinsky daughters must decide whether they will adhere to the ways of the old country or the new.  Although each daughter has the opportunity to embrace the American ideal, only Sara is able to actually free herself from the customs of her severe father. She accomplishes this through hard work, a college education, and refusal to marry for any reason but love. 

            

          At the heart of the conflict is Reb Smolinsky and his strict devotion to the words of the Torah and his Russian Jewish heritage. This devotion causes him to study and pray constantly. He sees this as his work and refuses to take a job like other immigrants around him.  His wife and daughters are supposed to provide the family with means for survival.  This is the way life was in Russia and Reb Smolinsky expects life to continue the same way in the new country. 

           

          At first as I read Bread Givers, I was angered by the Reb Smolinsky’s behavior.  To my American perception, he is unjust in the way he treats his family.  I saw this mainly in the way he expects to receive the best portions of the food his wife and daughters work so hard to earn and marries Fania and Mashah to men he thinks will be able to provide his family with money.  In his mind, everything he does is right, even when he purchases and tries to unsuccessfully run a store. However as I continued reading, I realized that he does not act in this cruelty for the sake of hurting his family.  Rather, he genuinely believes that the Torah is to be obeyed in its description of men as the head of the household.  He believes that through his study, he is a light to those around him and protects his family by providing a way for them to also go to heaven.   

            

          In some ways, Reb Smolinsky is to be respected because of his unwillingness to compromise his faith. For instance, his anger was aroused when the Jewish landlady disrespected the Torah by stepping on it and he disapproved of Mashah’s piano player friend for practicing on the Sabbath.  Although he often approaches it in a legalistic and wrong way according to an American view, he is trying to live a set apart life in agreement with his beliefs.

As a Christian living in the ever-changing American culture, I also have this decision to make concerning how I live out my faith.  Certainly, Christianity is practiced differently by the millions of Christians in the country today.  Some would tend towards the legalistic approach of Reb Smolinsky, vehemently attacking culture when it goes against Scripture.  On the other end of the spectrum, others will try to adapt to what the culture teaches like Sara.  I believe that it is important to engage the culture by living a set apart life as a representative of Christ and sharing His love with those in the American culture. It is a balance between what might be considered the old ways of Christianity and the new.