Bread Givers

However, Father soon learns that he was horrible mistaken. The Smolinsky family realizes that the land of freedom and opportunity comes with a price, and they are no longer living lavishly. Yezierska scholar Gay Wilentz claims:.
             While the desire to assimilate was strong - especially for those coming from restricted shtetls - the immigrants were aware that attempts to assimilate into the dominant culture often precluded adherence to a centuries-old culture which has existed only because of its adherents. (33).
             In addition to this now non-adherence to old culture, not only do the Smolinskys need to alter their lifestyles in order to assimilate, but also, since the values of the Old Country are not the same in America, Reb Smolinsky is faced with the problem of rebuilding his now worthless status. Living in poverty on Hester Street, Reb Smolinsky is no longer considered a man of stature. For, in America, religious leaders were not important. Religion did not dictate law, and the Holy Torah was not respected. .
             The promised land, as Mary Antin hopefully called it, turned out for many to be a furthering of cultural isolation and poverty. For the men of stature - that is, the scholars of the community - life in America was poverty without the status of community leader and spiritual guide. The dominant capitalist culture hardly prized a learning of Torah or .
             the scholar's position as community exemplar. Nevertheless, Reb Smolinsky held on to these values and traditions. (Wilentz 35).
             This lack of reverence is clear through the interactions between Reb Smolinsky, the spiritual leader, and the people of the community, part of a capital materialistic America. .
             Max Goldstein says it best when he claims, "It's money that makes the world go round" (Yezierska 199), and, "Money making is the biggest game in America" (Yezierska 196). Father is steadfast in his belief in religion, the prime value of his past, and cannot abandon it.