User:Moses
From The Peopling of Astoria, Queens
Moses Safdieh
My family basically summarizes the diversity and heterogeneity that typifies the cultural melting pot that is New York. Although the community I live in predominantly comes from the Syria, there I many exceptions within each family. My paternal grandparents came from Egypt and Syria. My father’s mother was orphaned at the young age of 9 in Egypt and lived in an orphanage home with her 6 sisters until they were able to travel to America in hope of economic relief in the 1940’s. My father’s father, a World War II veteran was born in New York to parents who came from Syria. From my maternal side, my mother’s father came to New York from Halab, Syria after an unconventional but heroic childhood. Growing up in a religious Jewish community, he developed a strong love for the land of Israel. When he was 13 he ran away from home to Palestine in hope to help create a Jewish country. As a young teenager he lied about his age so he could join the Palmach, the militia group that was responsible for Israel’s liberation. Throughout the war in 1948, my grandfather kept in touch with his parents on a very consistent basis and eventually learned that due to religious persecution and racist riots, the family was moving to a religiously tolerant America. My grandfather’s family had to abandon all of their wealth that they accumulated in Syria to start from scratch in America. When my grandfather was finished in Israel he traveled to South America and met my grandmother Miriam Faham who was living in Argentina. She followed him to New York to join my grandfather’s family in the mid 1950’s. My grandmother’s family soon followed and eventually along with the many other Syrian immigrants, established a tremendous community, which now consists of hundreds of families. Many of them have come to America for the same reason as my family did, religious freedom from the Syrians. Because of the way they left, my grandfather rarely talks about his childhood in Syria. Whenever, one of the kids naively mentions a trip back to his home country, my grandfather immediately dismisses the idea by saying that it was a cold and terrible place. My family has stayed in New York for many reasons. In America we are privileged to practice our religion freely without any worry of persecution. We are also part of a tightly knit community, who all practice Judaism in an orthodox manner. We all know that we originated from the same country and therefore we, for the most part only marry within our close community. My family has also stayed in this city for this long, because of the economic opportunity that this city brings. My grandfather started a successful jewelry business in the 70’s, which turned out to be the family business. Despite its closing a few years ago, we all managed to find jobs and are economically comfortable in the city. In conclusion, my family has come from all around the world. From South America to Syria and Egypt, my grandparents made there way to New York from their home countries because of its freedom and ability to be successful. They have taken advantage of this opportunity, and established a comfortable living environment for their children and grandchildren.
