History of the Jews in Ohio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 Early 19th century
2 Late 19th century
3 Early 20th century
4 Late 20th century and present-day
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early 19th century

Jews first settled in Ohio in 1817 when Joseph Jonas, the pioneer, came from England and made his home in Cincinnati. He drew after him a number of English Jews, who held Orthodox-style divine service for the first time in Ohio in 1819, and, as the community grew, organized themselves in 1824 into the first Jewish congregation of the Ohio Valley, the B'ne Israel. This English immigration was followed in the next two decades by the coming of German immigrants who, in contrast, were mostly Reform Jews. A Bavarian, Simson Thorman, settled in 1837 in Cleveland, then a considerable town, which thus became the second place in the state where Jews settled. Thorman was soon followed by countrymen of his, who in 1839 organized themselves into a congregation (the first in Cleveland, and the second in Ohio) called the Israelitish Society. The same decade saw an influx of German Jews into Cincinnati, and these in 1841 founded the Bene Yeshurun congregation. To these two communities the Jewish history of Ohio was confined for the first half of the 19th century. In 1850 Ohio had six congregations: four in Cincinnati and two in Cleveland.

[edit] Late 19th century

[edit] Population growth

After the middle of the 19th century, congregations sprang up throughout the state. In the statistics published by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations in September 1880, Ohio was credited with a Jewish population of 6,581, which seems to be too low an estimate. The number of Jews in Ohio in 1904 was supposed to be about 50,000. This estimate made the Jewish community of Ohio one of the largest in the country, surpassed in numerical strength only by New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Massachusetts. The Jews of Ohio formed a little over 1 per cent of the total population, which was 4,157,545.

[edit] Cincinnati and Cleveland

About two-thirds of the Jews lived in Cincinnati and Cleveland, the Jewish population of the former city being estimated at 15,000, and that of the latter at between 15,000 and 25,000. These two cities are not only the most important numerically; they are the seats of all Jewish educational and charitable organizations and of the Jewish press of the state. The activity of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati, and the location of the Hebrew Union College there, as well as of the other major institutions of Reform Judaism such as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the Hebrew Sabbath-School Union, and the National Jewish Charities, have made Ohio prominent in Jewish affairs.

See Jewish history in Cincinnati and Jewish history in Cleveland for further details.

[edit] Other cities

According to the American Jewish Year Book of 5662 (1902), almost every town of importance had some Jewish organization. The two largest communities now had 12 congregations in Cincinnati and 14 in Cleveland. In 1901 18 cities and towns had one or more Jewish institutions, 16 of them having 50 regularly organized congregations. The following cities also had Jewish organizations as of 1902:

Akron has the Akron Hebrew Congregation, organized in 1865 (rabbi, Isador Philo). It has also the Francis Joseph Society, a charitable organization, and an Orthodox congregation.
Bellaire has three congregations, Agudath Achim founded in 1850 (rabbi, Becker), Moses Montefiore, and Sons of Israel, the last-named organized in 1896. It has further a Young Men's Hebrew Association, and a Ladies' Auxiliary Society.
Canton has a congregation and a Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society.
Chillicothe has a Jewish Relief Society.
Circleville has a congregation, Children of Israel.
Columbus, the capital of the state, has a Jewish population estimated between 22,000 and 25,000. It has 3 Reform congregations, Temple Israel (rabbi, Misha Zinkow), Beth Tikva (Rabbi Gary Huber) and Beth Shalom (Rabbi Howard Apothaker), along with two Conversative synagogues , Agudas Achim (Interim Rabbi) and Tifereth Israel (Rabbi Harold Berman). Columbus also has 3 orthodox synagogues, Beth Jacob (Rabbi Naphtali Weisz), Ahavas Sholom (Rabbi Friedman) and Torah Emet (Rabbi Howard Zack).
Dayton is also the seat of a considerable Jewish community. It has three congregations, Bnai Yeshurun, founded in 1854 (rabbi, David Lefkowitz), and two orthodox congregations, one of which, the House of Jacob, was founded in 1886.
Fremont has a congregation.
Hamilton's Congregation B'nai Israel (rabbi, L. Liebman) was founded in 1866.
Ironton and Mansfield have each a congregation.
Lima has a Jewish community of thirty-five families.
Marion has a Jewish Aid Society and a Hebrew Sabbath-school.
Piqua's congregation, Anshe Emeth, was founded in 1858.
Portsmouth's Congregation Bench Abraham (rabbi, Louis Kuppin), was organized at around the same time and also has a Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society.
Springfield has two congregations, Chesed Shel Emeth (rabbi, H. Arnofsky) and Ohev Zedakah (founded in 1866).
Toledo has one of the largest Jewish communities in Ohio. Its oldest religious institution is a chevra kadisha, Beni Israel, founded in 1867. It has three congregations, Bnai Israel (rabbi, Joseph Levin), Bnai Jacob (rabbi, Herz Benowitz); founded in 1870), and Shomer Emonim (rabbi, Charles Freund; founded in 1870, dissolved in 1874, and reorganized in 1884).
Youngstown has two congregations, Children of Israel (rabbi, J. Friedman) and Rodef Sholem (rabbi, J. B. Grossman; organized in 1867). Youngstown has also a Ladies' Aid Society and a Hebrew Charity Society.
Zanesville has two congregations, Beth Abraham and K'neseth Israel.

Holy day services are held in Bowling Green, Chillicothe, East Liverpool, Findlay and Marion. In addition, five cities have sections of the Council of Jewish Women, four have nine Zionist societies, and eight have fifty-two lodges (comp. "American Jewish Year Book," 5662, p. 146).

[edit] Distinguished Jews

The Jews of Ohio have taken a significant part in the public life of the state. In the American Civil War, 1,004 Jews were enrolled for Ohio, a number exceeded only by the Jewish contingent of New York. This fact points also to the relative size of the Jewish communityof Ohio at that time. One of these soldiers, Marcus M. Spiegel, rose from the ranks to a colonel, and but for his untimely death would have become a brigadier-general, for which rank he had been recommended. Four others, David Orbansky, Henry Heller, Abraham Grunwalt, and Isaac Gans, received "medals of bravery" for their gallantry in action.

In political life also the Jews have been active. Joseph Jonas, Jacob Wolf, William Bloch, Daniel Wolf, Caspar Lowenstein, Harry M. Hoffheimer, Fred A. Johnson, Frederick S. Spiegel, Charles Fleischmann, Henry Mack, Alfred M. Cohen, and Max Silverberg have served in the state legislature. Julius Freiburg was a member of the convention to change the constitution.

Jews have filled also many local offices, judicial and administrative, both through election and appointment. Of federal office-holders may be mentioned: Nathaniel Newburgh, appointed by President Cleveland as appraiser of merchandise, and Bernhard Bettman, appointed by President McKinley as collector of internal revenue.