The Story of the Hollywood Jews
Before Jews built "an empire of their own," before there was a Hollywood, before there were talkies, before the silent movies, before Louis B. Mayer, Samuel Goldwyn, Warner brothers, Al Jolson, Lewis Milestone, Sonya Levien, Alla Nazimova, among many others who would cross each others paths, there was the story of their journeys. Stories that explain the hardships that most went through, what brought them to Hollywood, and how they affected the already established Los Angeles Jewish Community.
Their stories began in the Russian Empire, where most immigrants left their homes searching for a better life. Their life in the Russian Empire and their journeys to the United States shaped the type of people they would become, eventually shaping their social, cultural, and in some cases religious connections to Judaism. This is an attempt to connect their journeys to their beginnings in the Hollywood Film Industry.
Most tried to leave their past behind, changing their names, birth places, and in some cases birthdays. Yet no matter what changes they tried to make, they could not get away from their past completely. Looked down upon by Western European Jews as not assimilated enough, and branded by Eastern European Jews as not religious enough, Hollywood Jews had to make a niche for themselves within the Los Angeles Jewish Community. Instead these Hollywood Jews transformed the Jewish community, and helped bridge all sides closer together, even as they continued to face divisiveness among each other.
