Aris Bayandorian E.

Kronbeck Ethnic Studies 111 April 16, 2012 My Reflections on Rachel Calofs Ordeal Rachel Calofs Story was tremendously enlightening, and I am grateful beyond words for having been assigned this book. The most interesting aspect of her slow, but steady rise to prosperity is how meager an existence the three families had when they first started out. I am no stranger to the American Dream, the idea that one can be born poor but die rich, but I never imagined that this is what it meant to be born poor. During one Winter, the Calofs had to fit five people, two dozen chickens, and a calf inside their tiny 12 x 14 shack. The highlight of Rachels first years on the prairie is sharing a simple meal with her husband, consisting of mushrooms, garlic, freshly baked bread, and a boiled barley drink. Wood is so expensive and difficult to find, and space is so scarce, that even when Abraham makes crude furniture, at least one side of the furniture, be it a bench, a bed, etc., is nailed to the wall in order to conserve wood. At the end of a particularly rough winter season, the families completely ran out of food, and if it were not for Abraham returning at the right time, they would have died in a few days. When they say that these people started with nothing and ended with something, they really started with nothing. The life that the three families lived during their first years on the prairie is not worthy of humankind, and no one should have to live in such squalor, with the despair and anxiety of having to scrape by like that. If I had been told about these struggles without reading about it from an individuals perspective, it would not hit home in the same way that it did. This book gave the struggle of life on the prairie a human element, and made it more real. Rachel Calofs struggle to live a fruitful life draws several parallels between what we have learned in class. Like many poor immigrants, Calof came to America mostly due to push

factors, the primary one being her socioeconomic status in the Ukraine. Being an orphan, not having a dowry, and being a housemaid all limited her opportunities. Marrying a person of status was out of the question because of who she was. Had she stayed in the Ukraine, she would be doomed to the petty existence of being a maid, or a similar lifestyle. She was pushed into America by the prospect of marriage, and the opportunity to be successful. Although the lack of opportunity is a prime reason for immigrants coming to America, getting married strikes me as being less common. Rachel Calof was practically a mail-order bride, who agreed to marriage after only seeing a photo of Abraham, her future husband. Overwhelmingly, Calof was pushed into America because of a lack of opportunity, not pulled in by her own will. While Calof is similar to many other Jews in this time period, in that she came to America seeking a better life, the similarities end there. Calofs existence in America was markedly different from the average Jews. A significant part of Jews in America lived in big cities and urban centers, worked in factories and commerce, and were involved in community organizations. In this way, being up to ones neck in American culture would slowly but surely make the Jewish immigrants assimilate into American culture. The Calof families were not exposed to American life like the stereotypical Jewish immigrants were, they lived on the prairie, where there were no other people for miles. They went to town before winter to buy supplies and sell their harvest, and Rachel went to town several times to get help with giving birth, but besides that, the Calofs were on their own. Only after being successful did the Calofs open a schoolhouse, start their yearly Jewish gatherings, and become involved with their community. The assimilation process of the Calof family was limited up to this point, and so they kept their cultural traditions. A testament to these traditions is Rachels own memoir, which she wrote in

Yiddish, and was then translated to be made into a book. This isolation from American culture is probably why her story is so unique and endearing. Words: 713