Jewish history in North America goes back more than 350 years. All see it as a model for the Jews\u2019 successful integration into non-Jewish society. A number of factors were at play here. The United States was the first country in the world to grant equal rights to Jews\u2014as early as the eighteenth century\u2014and to open its gates to immigrants. Alongside the vast economic opportunities it offered, the separation of religion and state made a full Jewish life possible. There is no doubt that the United States smiled on the Jews, and that the Jews smiled back. The Jewish contribution to the country\u2019s development was felt from the earliest years, in all spheres of society. Even today there are cities, buildings, and even mountains named for Jews who were very important in the development of the country that eventually became the strongest in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ever since the first 23 Jews reached New Amsterdam in 1653, the Jewish community of what is now the United States has evolved and developed, acquiring unique characteristics that shaped its identity in the light of American values: democracy, cultural pluralism, equality, and freedom of religion. American Jewry coalesced as a community in the wake of the mass immigration from Central and then Eastern Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The newcomers made a major contribution to the development of a rich and unique Jewish culture that has left its imprint on American culture as a whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The present volume can offer only a small taste of Jewish life in each of the 50 states. The fact that Jews were present even before the country gained its independence made it possible for them to integrate into every stratum of American society and to take on the unique characteristics of each state. Although Israelis often think that America is all the same, there are major social and cultural differences between one state and the next; the several communities have different natures and their own stories. The Jews of New York are very different from those of Montana, those of Montana are not the same as those of New Mexico or Arkansas, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Idea behind this Project<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As indicated by its title, this website is intended to serve as a first introduction to the American Jewish communities, expanding Israelis\u2019 knowledge about them and extending it beyond the best-known communities of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami. Its goal is to acquaint Israelis with less-familiar Jewish places, through a capsule account of their history and members, a description of daily life, and their ties with the State of Israel. We believe that when Israelis know more about how Jews live in all 50 states and learn about the diverse views, cultures, and identities of these millions of Jews, the link between Israeli and American Jews will grow stronger. Unfortunately, in recent years the discourse about American Jews and their relationship with Israel has focused on emergencies and crises, or on their criticism of Israel. These topics have a dominant presence in the Israeli media\u2019s coverage of the clashes between the two countries\u2019 communities and of their divergent perceptions. At the same time, the mutual ties, similarities, reciprocal commitments, and American Jews\u2019 identification with Israel are swept under the rug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope this website will open a small window on the fifty communities and, taken together, offer a glimpse of one of the most successful, strongest, and influential Jewish communities in history. It is vital for Israelis to learn about and understand the challenges that the American Jewish community must deal with and make an effort to strengthen ties with Jews in the Diaspora and especially in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How this project Was Written<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most of the work on this website was accomplished at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis that has had a devastating effect on the Jewish communities in the United States and around the world. The material, statistics, and information were taken from online sources open to the general public, including research institutes, the archives of Jewish institutions, synagogues and federations, academic studies, public opinion polls, newspapers and magazines, and online encyclopedias.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The material was collected and the text written between March and August 2020. Despite the efforts to ensure that the information be as accurate as possible, it is likely that some of the numbers it have changed since then as a result of the pandemic, which has caused Jewish institutions to modify their activities. In a few places more recent information was added during the editorial process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Structure of the Website<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like the country itself, this website is divided into geographical regions: (1) Northeast, (2) Southeast, (3) the Middle West, (4) the Pacific Coast, (5) the Mountain States, (6) the Southwest, (7) the noncontiguous states of Alaska and Hawaii. The following information is presented about each state<\/p>\n\n\n\n Statistics and Methodology<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Jewish Population Today<\/p>\n\n\n\n All figures about the current Jewish population of states and cities are taken from the American Jewish Yearbook 2019 (Bibilography below). That publication estimates the country\u2019s total Jewish population is about 7 million and provides a full breakdown of the Jewish populations in each state. It needs to be remembered, however, that the United States is a federation with no internal boundaries; hence many Jews live in one state but conduct much of their professional, social, and personal lives in another state. Note too that there are other approaches to counting the Jewish population of the country, ranging from the broad definition of Prof. Leonard Saxe of Brandeis University, 7.5 million Jews in America, to the more conservative approach of the Israeli demographer Prof. Sergio DellaPergola, which counts only 5.7 million Jews and has been adopted by the Israeli government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Information about the Jewish federations and community centers in each state is taken from the websites of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the JCC Association of North America (JCCA). We have also included several prominent community centers that define themselves as such but are not members of the JCCA. Is important to understand that a federation or community center located in one state may serve Jews who live in a nearby state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Synagogues and Chabad Centers: The figures for the number of synagogues are based on the number of active houses of worship affiliated with the four main streams of Jews in America: the Union of Reform Jewry (URJ), United Synagogue of Conservative Jewry (USCJ), the Orthodox Union (OU), and Reconstructionist Judaism. The count does not include the synagogues, shtiblach, and batei midrash of the extremely diverse and insular Ultraorthodox sector. Some independent congregations and humanistic congregations that hold regular services have also been counted. In states with a large Jewish population and many independent congregations, it is hard to arrive at a precise figure and we have had to make do with an estimate. The numbers reported for Chabad Centers in each state are taken from the official Chabad website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ties with Israel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The figures on the number of permanent Israeli emissaries (shlichim) in each state were provided by the Jewish Agency\u2019s Shlichim Department and refer to the situation before the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, the figures for the number of Jewish counselors sent to summer camps in each state were provided by the Jewish Agency and apply to the time before the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 The site was initiated by the Ruderman Family Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All rights to the images belong to the rights holders, as mentioned next to the image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n * <\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ira M. Sheskin and Arnold Dashefsky. \u201cUnited States Jewish Population, 2019,\u201d in Arnold Dashefsky Jewish history in North America goes back more than 350 years. All see it as a model for the Jews\u2019 successful integration into non-Jewish society. A number of factors were at play here. The United States was the first country in the world to grant equal rights to Jews\u2014as early as the eighteenth century\u2014and to open its gates to immigrants. Alongside the vast economic opportunities it offered, the separation of religion and state made a full Jewish life possible. There is no doubt that the United States smiled on the Jews, and that the Jews smiled back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"2":"type-page","4":"hentry"},"yoast_head":"\n
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and Ira M. Sheskin.(Editors) The American Jewish Year Book, 2019, Volume 119 (2019).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"