Understanding Jewish Divorce In 1884

How did a small fur trading post deep in the American Midwest that had recently grown into a small but thriving town understand Jews and Orthodox Judaism? With hostility? Curiosity? A mixture of both? And what does this question have to do with Jewish divorce?

 

How did Americans in a small Midwestern town in late 19th century understand Jews and Orthodox Judaism? With hostility? Curiosity? A mixture of both?

Grand Forks, North Dakota was officially incorporated in February 1881. It's population in 1880 was 1,701. (It would grow to 4, 979 by 1890.)

By 1891 the tiny Jewish community of Grand Forks would have its own rabbi and would, for the first time, organize a synagogue. A year later it also had a heder teacher who doubled as the shamas of the synagogue and the ba'al shacharit on Jewish holidays.

Three years after its incorporation, the little Midwestern town already had two newspapers. One of those papers, the Grand Forks Herald, printed human interest stories about Jews and Judaism.

Here is one of those stories from its March 27, 1884 edition:

Related Post: Rabbi Acquitted On Mikva Assault Charge.

Comments

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

The last 3 stories onFM are marriage or divorce stories.
Shmarya, what's on your mind?
שבת שלום

[chained to filth!]

I wish the Beth Din where I live would make my life simpler and follow the torah not thier pig headed minds and help me free myself from the abusive so and so that won't give me a get!They are athiests, they only care about thier gaaver not following the laws of the torah!

[Moshe in Israel]

Shmarya,

I really like these historical articles. The language used at the time is rich. In this article it refers to the Get being written on paper of foolscap size.

And YES this is a reference to a Fools Cap.

Foolscap was named after the fool's caps and bells watermark commonly used from the fifteenth century onwards on paper of these dimensions (17 in x 13 ½ in)

Keep these articles coming.

שבת שלום

[reconstruct yiddishkiet]

Here on Failled Messiah final Halacha rulings will be decided.
Wow.

[MarkfromShortHills]

Fascinating. Please publish more of these historical articles.

[Lubavitchers Are Christians]

The best part:

'The woman is called a "gresha".'

That tells you this rabbi was hungarian. Only the hungarians call her a "gresha". Everyone else calls her a "grusha".

[Wigmore]

As a New Yorker, I am wondering where this "sea" is that he speaks of. And the Hudson River only traverses part of the city. I guess there are do divorces if you live in Brooklyn.

Who writes like this?

[Jake]

Shmarya
Thanks for the article.

There are some interesting insights in it.
But one must be familiar,a bit, with laws of gittin.

It appears in those days they also gad women who refused to receive a aghet.

Also showed that even in those days a ghet was not automatically written on demand.

I suppose that America could further enlighten itself and have divorce by postcard. In the former Soviet Union and perhaps even now when you wanted a divorce you sent a form or post card to the authorities and you were considered divorced.

[spacedout BT]

In 1884 Brooklyn, Queens and Staten island were yet to be incorporated into boroughs of New York City. Hence the city was defined as being by the body of water the Hudson River.