Traditional Jewish teaching encourages an individual to study the week’s Torah portion three times throughout the week- twice in Hebrew, and once in translation. Why in translation? Because though Hebrew is the original language of the Bible, we understand that not all Jews speak it fluently. Therefore, Judaism recognizes that you should study additionally in the language in which you are most comfortable.
This chapter of God in Chinatown also addresses the topics of language and understanding. As Fuzhounese immigrants came to the United States, they were thrown into a world of predominantly Cantonese speaking Chinese. Reverend Liu Yangfen, Chen Shufan, and other Fuzhou natives recognized this dilemma and created a congregation, named The New York Christian Church of Grace to the Fujianese. Through the use of the unique Fuzhou dialect in its worship, this church created a more comfortable religion and communal environment for recent Fuzhounese immigrants, and also projected the Fuzhounese identity into the wider Chinatown community.
St. George’s Episcopal Church, which has been the focus of my fieldwork in this class, also emphasizes the importance of language. Every Sunday, it offers worship in English, in Spanish, and in Chinese (where there was once only English mass) so that each member of the diverse Flushing Christian community can feel comfortable in their prayers and in the church environment.
Sociologist Steven Warner suggests that “because religion is so important to an immigrant group, and because the group’s circumstances have been changed so drastically by migration, the religion must take on new forms to be capable of survival in a new land” (157). All three of these religious communities recognize this fact and have thus adapted to the changing times and peoples. I believe it is through such analysis and adaptation that such communities and religions will remain strong.
