Who is the Amish?

by reut ashkenazy

Artwork: Yael prebor and Reut ashkenazy

Joined May 2020
Published Books 1

The Amish live in the USA( but their English is not so well). They also called Amish Mennonite but most of them became Protestant( members of a Christian group). The Amish originally came from Germany and Switzerland. There life stlye is very different than ours, different tradition. In the next pages we will tell you more about the Amish, and in the end of the book you will finally get who is the Amish.

The Amish lived in Germany and Switzerland until the 17th century. In 18th century most of the Amish emigated to Pennsylvania (USA) for a variety of reasons. After few years they spread out to 22 states in the USA and little part of Canada.

Because they go to their own school, they don’t learn regular English, but they speak English mixed with German and a littel bit of Swiss( Pennsylvania German language, Swiss German Language).

In Germany and Switzerland the Amish were Mennonites (stream in Christianity). When they came to the USA they became Protestant. But there religious customs are different than most Protestants. They don’t have a church or any building. Every second Sunday they go to a different house and praying by singing.

The Amish used to get married only on Tuesdays or Thursdays in later fall after the harvest. But now it’s different and they can get married all year. the brides don’t wear a white dress, they just buy a now one. All the family of the groom and the bride wear the same color.

The Amish have their own schools.They believe strongly in education, but only provide formal education ontill eighth grade. The schools concentrates on the basic reading, writing and math skills, along with vocational training and socialization in Amish history and values.

Many of the Amish school teachers are young women who are just a few years out of school themselves. They take turns serving as a teacher for a few years before marrying.

The Amish believe in separation between them and the outside world so they can be cluser to their family and their community. They want to live in the simple way of lifes.

They believe in their way so hard that if someone who was Amish and choose not to be they confiscate him.

But they still believe that you should choose to be Amish. When they become 16 they are going to the outside world for 2 months, after 2 months they decide if they want to stay Amish.

If they decided to be Amish they have a ceremony thet called pumspring. In that Ceremony they assume on themselves: values, customs and religion.

the Amish don’t have clothes with zippers.

The women clothes is plain and simple like there life style.

Amish women typically make their own dresses, from fabric they buy in their village peddled by Amish folk. The colors range from dark and light blue to pink, and sometimes black if a relative has died. The dress can’t be high enough to show off the legs.

The women wears kind of a hat that called a Kapp. they start to wear a kapp when they are teenagers. usually they wear a black kapp except when they go to church they wear a white kapp.

The men clothes is plain and simple like the women.

The men wear what’s called broad fall trousers, so called because they have a fall that runs from hip to hip. They don’t wear belts they wear suspenders (you might call it shleykas). They wear plain button down shirts, the shirts are permitted in different colors, ranging from blue, to light blue, to dark blue, sometimes even green. They also come in short- and long-sleeved varieties. They have suits for special events, the suit called The mutza suit. One of the dead giveaway of an Amish man is the straw hat. The straw hat is whipped out in warmer weather conditions. It also just looks fly as a kite.