# Jews — How the Other Half Lives character guide

> Jews in How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Jews, the Polish Jews, many Russian Jews, themselves

**First appearance:** 0014-x-jewtown

## Snapshot

Russian and Polish Jews pack the tenements between Rivington and Division Streets, carrying their slums with them and rising, Riis insists, only by compulsion.

## Who they are

In Riis's racial map of the Lower East Side, the Jews are the gray tide overrunning Jewtown and the sweater shops, disputing every back alley with the Italians. He grants them thrift and rabbinical discipline, yet faults them for dragging their old-world squalor along instead of shedding it at the dock. Their crowding sets the terms of the tenement problem his early chapters keep circling back to.

## In the story

### [How the Other Half Lives](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/how-the-other-half-lives)

Jewish immigrants are depicted as part of the overcrowded tenement population, facing poverty and harsh living conditions.

### [I: Genesis of the Tenement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/i-genesis-of-the-tenement)

Not directly mentioned in this chapter excerpt.

### [The Mixed Crowd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/iii-the-mixed-crowd)

Russian and Polish Jews are described as aggressive in overrunning tenement districts, carrying their slums with them.

### [The Italian in New York](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/v-the-italian-in-new-york)

Contrasted with the Italian in terms of learning English; the Polish Jew learns English as an investment.

### [VI: The Bend](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/vi-the-bend)

Jewish presence is noted on Bayard Street, the border of Jewtown, with Hebrew signs and chatter marking the transition to the Italian district.

### [X: Jewtown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/x-jewtown)

The Polish and Russian Jewish community is the central focus, depicted as hardworking, thrifty, and crowded into tenements.

### [XI: The Sweaters of Jewtown](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xi-the-sweaters-of-jewtown)

Polish Jewish immigrants are the primary workforce in the tenement sweatshops, arriving in droves and working under oppressive conditions.

### [XII: The Bohemians—Tenement-House Cigarmaking](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xii-the-bohemians-tenement-house-cigarmaking)

Mentioned as the landlord-employers who often exploit Bohemian tenants, contrasting with the earlier depiction of Polish Jews.

### [XIII: The Color Line in New York](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xiii-the-color-line-in-new-york)

Mentioned as one of the low European types compared unfavorably to Black tenants in terms of cleanliness and orderliness.

### [XIV: The Common Herd](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xiv-the-common-herd)

Mentioned in the context of the 'Poor Man's Court' and the broader tenement population.

### [XIX: The Harvest of Tares](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/xix-the-harvest-of-tares)

A Jewish pedlar is robbed and assaulted by the Montgomery Guards; the narrator notes the victim was badly hurt.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/endnotes)

Referenced in endnote 14 regarding the Tenth Ward and contiguous wards.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/characters/jews
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/characters