Jewish Baltimore In Images Of America
"The Jewish Community of Baltimore" (2008) shows an infectious enthusiasm both for Baltimore and its Jewish community. Written by Lauren R. Silberman, education and program coordinator of the Jewish Museum of Maryland with a Foreword by Avi Y. Decter, executive director of the Museum, the book is part of the Images of America series of local American pictorial histories. It offers a brief visit through time to Baltimore and its Jewish community from the late 18th to the early 21st Centuries.
In her Foreword, Avi Decter explores how the Baltimore Jewish community is both like and unlike other American Jewish communities, many of which have their own histories told in Images of America. She points out that American Jewish communities were composed of immigrants who "went to work, established businesses, started families, organized themselves in congregations, clubs, and social service agencies, and celebrated life." The community was lively, visible, and mobile.
The Baltimore Jewish community also has features which set it apart. Most obviously, it is part of life in Baltimore. a unique and eccentric old American city. The community is also distinctive because it is close-knit, with perhaps half of its members having long roots in Charm City. Yet, even those new to the city remark on the strong organization of Baltimore's Jewish community and the communal character of Jewish life. Baltimore is also unique in the high percentage of Orthodox Jews in its midst. According to Decter, more than 20 percent of the community identifies as Orthodox, roughly 33 percent identity as Conservative or Reform, and the remaining 10 percent identify as secular or cultural Jews. The high percentage of religious Jews suggests community closeness and a high level of religious observance.
In the text, Lauren Silberman follows through on showing the factors which make Baltimore's Jewish community both universal and unique. The book shows the streets,houses and buildings of Baltimore, from push carts and outdoor fruit stands to large imposing businesses, community institutions, and synagogues. It has a feel of people living their lives.
The book consists of six chapters, with the opening chapter describing the city's early pioneers up to about 1825 when Maryland passed a law removing disabilities against Jews in the State's Constitution, with images of Baltimore streets, people, and synagogues through the mid-19th Century. The second chapter covers the Port of Baltimore and early immigration, with portaits of Fells Point on the Chesapeake Bay, early immigrants, and the development of community service associations even at an early stage. The third chapter, "From Little Jerusalem to Corned Beef Row" has wonderful old images of the Jewish community with "Corned Beef Row" on early Lombard Street, with its synagogues and communal institutions. The Lombard Street community is no more as Jews moved and settled into downtown annd uptown Baltimore, as shown in chapter 4, which features images of spiritual leaders, congregants, and synagogues.
Chapter 5 of the book, "Making a Living" ranges from mom and pop clothing, grocery, and tobacco stores to saloons, theaters, restaurants, ice cream manufacturers, breweries, large department stores and much more. It offers a nostalgic look at enterprise and activity in the Jewish community and in the city. Chapter 6, describes the civic commitment of Baltimore's Jewish community, both to Jewish people and to Baltimoreans as a whole. It offers inspiring images of people and places dedicated to making the community a better place.
Baltimore and its Jewish community have been written about extensively over the years, beyond the limits of a short pictorial history. The book concludes with a good bibliography which allows interested readers to pursue the history in greater detail.
Although I have not lived in Baltimore, I am familiar with people within its Jewish community who have been an inspiration to me. Baltimore in its diversity and grittiness is a city I have grown to love. It was moving and a delight to vist Baltimore and its Jewish community in this book.
