Orthodoxy Out of Town: The Growth of Out-of-Town Orthodoxy post WWII

• In Event: Jews, Institutions, and Confronting 20th Century Dilemmas

Abstract

During the postwar suburban boom and throughout the late 20th century, Orthodox communities increasingly sprouted up across the country with vastly different dynamics than better-studied Orthodox communities, primarily in the NYC area but also in other large cities.

I have identified three primary origins for these communities. Some became more firmly Orthodox as the denominational boundaries between Orthodoxy and Conservative solidified, such as Kenneseth Israel in Minneapolis. Others, such as Beth Jacob in Atlanta, grew from a schism within a shul that moved more towards Conservative. Finally, some developed from scratch to deliberately develop an Orthodox community where none existed, such as in Dallas. All three of these communities are now thriving and growing.

My paper will look at how these communities started and developed, comparing them to other similar synagogues in those cities to analyze what makes an out-of-town Orthodox community thrive. Minneapolis had several other Orthodox synagogues during the era of study, yet none survived the Cold War era. Atlanta's Orthodox community survived several decades solely at Beth Jacob, without the schisms that typically develop and new synagogues that are founded as a result. Dallas had an attempt to build an Orthodox community fail in the late 1960s, before seeing a successful community founded in the 1980s. These all presented different challenges requiring different solutions that can give more insight into how small Orthodox communities succeed or fail.

These smaller communities also face different challenges from larger Orthodox communities. Especially before the boom in kosher products, kashrut presented many challenges as the local communities worked to get food produced locally under kosher supervision. Eruvin were nonexistent, and their development resulted in rising home prices that have influenced communal development and spread. There was also some strife with other segments of the Jewish community, such as conflict over kashrus in shared Jewish spaces or the opening of JCCs on Shabbos.

As smaller Orthodox communities are often understudied, this paper presents an important look into a growing segment of American Jewry and how they have developed through the years to become what they are today.

Author

• Adam Davies, Southern Methodist University