Jewish History
Small Town Field Trip for Fort Worth Teens
One of the foundational ideas behind the ISJL is that mid-size and large congregations should build connections to smaller Jewish ...
Blessings & Curses: Moments of Misunderstanding
“Jews are dogs, killers of Christ!”The shouts came from an irate woman as I was walking into one of our ...
Denouncing Germany’s Haman from Harlan, Kentucky
Few places in America are more remote than southeastern Kentucky. Back in the early 20th century, a handful of Jewish ...
My Problem with Martin Luther King Jr. Day
The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most compelling chapters of American history. State and federal governments were right ...
From the Collection: When Life Gives You Wood, Make Ducks
I was in North Mississippi, visiting my husband’s family for the first time over Thanksgiving when I first heard about ...
Recalling a Flood and Its Aftermath
Last week, we added the final (for now) video clip to the Oklahoma section of the Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish ...
From Stanislawow to Beach Music
My parents left the United States in 1973 to retire in Bat Yam, Israel, the country in which they met ...
The Workmen’s Circle in Birmingham
The Workmen’s Circle—Arbeter Ring in Yiddish—is a Jewish fraternal organization devoted to progressive politics, the labor movement, and Yiddish language and culture. In its ...
Spend a Summer in the South
Devoid of a Southern accent, people often ask me where I’m from. They are surprised that I’m from Connecticut. The ...
“An enduring monument to the Enterprise and Liberality of Our Israelitish Citizens”: A Beautiful Kentucky Synagogue
Recently, I have started my research into the Jewish communities of Kentucky for our Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities. A ...
No Middle Range
“Jews don’t have a middle range,” I said to my friend and colleague.He was telling me about his experience teaching ...
Historical Sources for Small Communities
Many of the Jewish communities that I research and write about for our Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities are quite ...