Today around 13-14 million people admit to believing in Judaism, 80% of those people live in Israel and the United States. Judaism has many different beliefs and values, but the traditions vary between families, between synagogues, and between towns. Judaism relates to the short story “The Son from America” because of the way that the family celebrates the Sabbath and the way they practice praying each day.
The Jewish faith consists of many different elements, beliefs, and traditions based on their heritage. The Sabbath is a very important time of the week for Jews because it is a time of religious observance. Believers celebrate the Sabbath on Friday and Saturday of each week. On the Sabbath you aren’t allowed to deal with …show more content…
In “The Son From America” Berl and Berlcha are Jewish and they eat gefilte fish and carrot stew on the Sabbath. “Berlcha had prepared gefilte fish, chicken soup with rice, meat, carrot stew” (Singer 164-165). They also celebrate the Sabbath and worship on the Sabbath through rest. They are the parents of Samuel and are very strong believers, so they follow the rules and regulations of the Sabbath. They never spent money on anything except on the Sabbath each week when they buy three tallow candles at the store. Prayer is also very important to the family, so they pray and worship in the synagogue like other fellow believers. “Once in a while when Berl came home from the synagogue after evening prayers, he brought news to his wife” (Singer 162). Even though Berl was sometimes judged by the way he prayed out loud; he continued to do it. The family lives a very simple life and their whole life is centered on their faith. Berl and Berlcha are both content with how they live, and they love Samuel and their faith. They never deal with money on the Sabbath because they believe that if you deal with money on the Sabbath then you will be stressed and then you aren’t focusing on rest. They also spend a lot of time at the synagogue praying because it is so important to them. “In the synagogue the Jews recited “Let Us Exult” and “Come, My Groom” (Singer 164). People such as Berl and Berlcha and