American Jewish Year Book 5675

Author : Amy Hill Shevitz
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 0813138434
Total Pages : 395 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (131 download)

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Download or read book Jewish Communities on the Ohio River written by Amy Hill Shevitz and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2007-08-17 with total page 395 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An engaging regional history with immense national significance . . . An excellent chronicle of the minority experience in small town America.” —Ava F. Kahn, author of Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush In Jewish Communities on the Ohio River, Amy Hill Shevitz chronicles the settlement and development of small Jewish communities in towns along the river. In these small towns, Jewish citizens created networks of businesses and families that developed into a distinctive, nineteenth-century middle-class culture. As a minority group with a vital role in each community, Ohio Valley Jews fostered American religious pluralism as they constructed a regional identity. Their contributions to the culture and economy of the region countered the anti-Semitic sentiments of the period. Shevitz discusses the associations among the towns and the big cities of the region, especially Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Also examined are Jewish communities’ relationships with, and dependence on, the Ohio River and rail networks. Jewish Communities on the Ohio River demonstrates how the circumstances of a specific region influenced the evolution of American Jewish life. “Far better composed and contextualized than most local histories of smaller Jewish communities now in print, Amy Shevitz’s book does a commendable job of detailing local developments in terms of the broader picture of both American Jewish history and Ohio Valley history.” —Lee Shai Weissbach, author of Jewish Life in Small-Town America: A History “Shevitz’s study provides both corroboration, and corrective, to the standard historiography of American Jewry . . . Shevitz provides a fascinating glimpse into the nature of small-town Jewish life, and the role Jews played in shaping their world.” —Ohio Valley Quarterly