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In Search of Jewish Life Outside of
New York:
The
Orthodox Union offers
a
meeting place for New Yorkers (and others too) to
discover
out-of-town places
to live in, at their second Emerging
Jewish
Communities
Fair
By
Judah S. Harris
Originally
published in June 2009
I learned
a lot during my undergraduate years at Yeshiva University, but it was
during the three years
that followed, while employed as an Assistant
Director of Undergraduate Admissions, that I finally got to know
Jewish America.
I didn’t get to
know all of Jewish America, but through personal
experience - which means lots of
traveling during that time - I grasped
that there was a Jewish
America; there was life outside of the New York
area, diverse communities that offered
Jewish opportunity. For sure,
these places were in part comprised of transplanted New Yorkers, but
often there were many natives who were born
there,
grew
up
there,
and
had
stayed
-
or left but then came back after their schooling in New
York or anywhere else.
The New York area,
I’m sure rightfully so, was long ago crowned the
center of American Jewish Life, and with
that, smaller communities,
stylistically different and often having less Jewish “abundance” to
offer their residents, received the long-lasting title “out-of-town.”
Whether 40 families or even 4000 families, they have not been able to
shake it, and many residents of these places remain pleased and
proud
enough not to want to, though in some more modestly sized communities
they
still
dream
of
an
additional
kosher restaurant, or an easier time
getting a minyan weekday mornings, not to mention a Jewish high school
option for boys or girls, or both.
Actually, although I feel like one, I don’t think I can call myself a
native New Yorker. I didn’t grow up in Manhattan or Queens, or in a
Flatbush neighborhood with a letter-named street a half a block away. I
only got to Teaneck in the mid-70s, and for a couple of years prior to
that, home was in the Pelham Parkway section of the Bronx.
My trek started
north of here, out-of-town in a place called Rochester,
NY. Up there alongside Lake Ontario. I was born there, lived the first
five years of my life there, and after that, our family made a stop in
Philadelphia for a few years. My dad was teaching in university, so we
got to move around a bit. Each time we changed places, I made new
friends. And I helped unpack my toys. Our family’s travel itinerary
were summer vacations along
the East Coast, no further south than one
summer trip to Virginia Beach (Florida was not part of our experience),
and we did get to Detroit a couple of times to see cousins. My
post-high school year in Israel was my first real time away away. The
rest of Jewish America? I knew about it, but it wasn’t familiar to me.
That changed
somewhat during college, as I participated as an adviser
on some youth programs, and then, exponentially, when I started to
travel as one of the Assistant Directors of Admissions at YU to speak
to students, their parents, and the Jewish high school faculty about
Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women. The “Admissions Years”
were
when I got to know Jewish America. Knowing means appreciating. For
three years, I visited the schools, met the families, ate in the
restaurants, if they had
them, drove the roads and
highways, and spoke
to community rabbis and school principals. Los Angeles was different
than Kansas City, and Seattle was not Chicago.
Those specific
cities weren’t present this past Sunday, but a large
group of 22 established or
“emerging” Jewish communities from across
the country did arrive in Manhattan to meet with families, as well as
individuals, looking for a new home and job opportunities outside of
our area. The OU’s Emerging Jewish
Community Fair (this is the second
year), which took place June 14th at Lander College for Women in
Manhattan, drew more than 1000 people over the course of a full
afternoon, and each had a chance to meet with community members, shul
rabbis, school principals,
and even real estate specialists, to learn
about life on the West Coast, down south, or even an hour or two drive
from New York.
The motivation for exploring was job opportunity, affordable housing,
lower tuition costs, a change of lifestyle, a chance to see and
experience a different place, be with different types of people, and
feel a more active part of the community.
Amy and Jordan
Hiller of North Woodmere
had
come
to
the
fair
for
at
least some of these reasons. They visited many of the community booths
(actually tables), though I first caught up with
them
as
they
were
in
discussion
with
Rabbi Chaim Silver of B’nai Israel Congregation of
Norfolk, VA. According to a medium-sized sign mounted on an easel, you
can live in Norfolk for peanuts, and to reinforce that point Rabbi
Silver was giving out souvenir sponge peanuts, stress-relievers that
you clench in your hand, as he spoke animatedly
about the community
located in the Ghent neighborhood, and all it has to offer Jewish
families; something he personally discovered when he arrived in
Norfolk, after spending nearly 10 years in a different climate as Rabbi
at the Young Israel of Phoenix.
Jordan is an attorney
and
has
worked
in
real
estate
management, and Amy
is a teacher but presently spending time at home with their three
children, ages 2 to 7. Both are from the New
York area but they don’t
feel they have to stay here.
I ask them
whose
choice
it
was
to
come
today? Amy points a finger
verbally: “Jordan’s always been interested in seeing what’s out there,”
she says. Jordan suggests they both have it in them.
He tells about when they first got
married: “We took a few road trips.
We had opportunity to see some of the Jewish small communities.” He
identifies special things in these communities. “It’s nice for kids to
grow up out of town… From my experience, the people I've met in New
York who are from out-of-town and small communities have a different
set of values and a different comfort level with themselves and with
their Judaism.” This impresses Jordan and he’d like to bring his family
a lot closer to the source, wherever that might be on the map. Amy
appreciates this, but needs more convincing, for a reason heard so
often: “I am very attached to family.”
More than 1000
miles away, but only a number of seconds of carpet
walking on this particular afternoon, Rabbi Uri Topolsky stands by the
New Orleans booth. He and a number
of individuals
have
come
to
greet
the
fair
attendees
and to speak about the rebirth of the Jewish
community as a component of the general rebirth of the New Orleans area
after Katrina. Rabbi Topolsky and his wife Dahlia, and their two boys,
are recent arrivals in New Orleans, having settled there only two years
ago. Before that they spent time in Riverdale, where he was the
Associate Rabbi of the Hebrew Institute, working alongside Rabbi Avi
Weiss. This relationship, and Rabbi Topolsky receiving his smicha from
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, an institution known for instilling strong
commitments to Jewish activism in its graduates, directed him to an
area of the country that still needs lots of help. “My wife and I were
looking for a place out of New York. New Orleans is one of the only
places you can go right now, where you can reshape the community,
rebuild the synagogue, and be a part of an entire city.” After Katrina
many of the shul families, who had located elsewhere, initially for
temporary shelter, never returned. “We lost about a third of the
population… the housing shortage is still here.”
But Rabbi Topolsky, upbeat, sounds some very positive notes: “The
Jewish community is very much back on its feet. They’ve done strategic
planning, and (something that will certainly peak the attention of
ambitious families looking for this type of opportunity) the city is
teeming with entrepreneurs.”
At the Detroit table, the communities of Southfield and Oak Park were
giving away individual chocolates. I reach into the glass bowl, past
the miniature Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and take a miniature
Hershey’s Dark Chocolate, and then another. I stop after three, but I
continue listening to David Sklar, who together with his wife have come
as part of the area’s volunteer team for today’s program. He’s a
therapist in private practice; she’s a journalist formerly with the
Detroit Free Press and now working on a freelance basis. They joined
the Oak Park community 12 years ago, and credit Rabbi Steven Weil, the
OU’s incoming Executive Vice President, but then the Rabbi of the Young
Israel of Oak Park, for enabling their Jewish growth. “We moved because
of Rabbi Steve Weil,” says David. “We had just gotten married and
decided to notch up our observance. We were very impressed with Rabbi
Weil.”
Detroit also has an established yeshiva community along with the more
Modern Orthodox one. Its assets include the Akiva Hebrew Day School, a
nationally known Vaad Horabonim, and a serious appreciation for Israel.
Many community members, says David, choose to make aliyah. “It’s a
strong Zionistic community… It’s a nice place to raise a
family.”
Still, these days,
Detroit might have more chocolate to offer than
economic opportunity. The automobile industry is clearly shaking.
But
David,
who’s
spent
his
entire
life
in town, even if not in the suburbs,
feels secure. He sees “a lot of possibilities for Detroit in the
future” and believes
strongly
that
there’s
going
to
be
a “paradigm
shift,” basic attitudinal
changes that will probably envelop all
communities and not just his. In the immediate,
he points out, for
potential
newcomers the “housing is dirt cheap.”
Interestingly,
Hershey’s chocolate figures into another community’s
presentation. Bryan Reid, a physician from Harrisburg, thinks
that
their
Jewish
community,
with
a
population
of 6000, has become known in
part because of travelers making Sukkot visits to Hershey Park, just
20 minutes away. “It’s in our backyard,” he says. It’s also on route to
many driving destinations. “Everybody comes through Harrisburg – It’s
1.5 hours to Philly, 1.25 to Baltimore, and 3 hours to New York.”
Rabbi Akiva Males
of Kesher Israel Congregation, with 175 families,
echoes that, and calls Harrisburg a “full-service community,
close
enough
to
keep
in
touch…”
but
with a cost of living that’s a lot lower
than other options.
Another
Pennsylvania community, but one even closer to New York, is
Allentown. Driving time used to be two
hours,
but
when
a
section
of
Interstate
78 opened up in the area in 1989, the commute was cut by a
half-hour, making it more reasonable for many.
Alan J. Wiener’s family has seen seven generations in Allentown, those
before him and also his kids and grandkids, he tells me. Billy Joel’s
1982 hit song, laments the fall of the steel industry in the area
(though Levittown, Long Island, where the singer grew up, was the
original title and focus - until Joel, stuck on what to say about his
hometown, read about Lehigh Valley’s plight), and the theme still bears
truth. “Industries have evaporated and there’s no more textile
manufacturing,” says Alan, “but medicine is a growth area.” He stresses
the community’s involvement with one another - across the religious
spectrum. “The school is a community school, the
mikvah is a community
mikvah… there’s frequent interaction between the synagogues.”
Alan’s own
synagogue, Congregation Sons of Israel, is looking for a new
spiritual leader. Rabbi Mordechai Torczyner, who’s been at the shul
since 2001, and who offers Torah education online via a couple of
original websites, will be leaving (he explains why on his blog, The
Rebbetzin's Husband: “That my family
is leaving is largely a
function
of the absence of a Jewish high school, but for those for whom high
school is not yet a factor, Allentown is worth a look, and then
some!”). The shul is now interviewing candidates. Other families
have also left, but to Israel. “Three or four families are commuting,”
Alan explains. “They have their own businesses.” This interesting
scenario is a relatively recent phenomenon that’s become available, or
necessary, for some aliyah-minded families. Work is here, but the
family life they want is found there.
For those who’d like to keep at least part of the New York name on
their return address labels, the Upstate communities of Albany,
Schenectady and Troy offer solid job markets, ample kosher food, Jewish
Day School education, and a good drive time to the larger communities
of Boston, New York, and Montreal. In addition, there’s history, 170
years of it.
Albany’s Modern Orthodox Congregation Beth Abraham-Jacob was founded in
1838 and has been under the leadership of Rabbi Dr. Moshe Bomzer since
1984, nearly a quarter-century. “What’s kept you there?” I ask him as
he approaches the table where I’ve been catching up with a college
friend, Rabbi Moshe Mirsky from Congregation Beth Israel in
Schenectady. He offers an unexpected answer: “A lovefest,” he says.
Rabbi Bomzer is a community rabbi, a chaplain, a Jewish educator for
all age levels, and a rabbinical personality known well beyond the
Upstate NY region.
Corporations such as GE and AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), which is
involved in microchip manufacturing, offer thousands of job
opportunities in the sciences and engineering. But with new momentum,
there’ll be real need for non-technical employees in a whole range of
support services too.
For recreation,
Rabbi Mirsky suggests the nearby Adirondacks. “Lake
George is an hour away. Frum people go there in the summer.”
Folks
looking for other scenery options can consider Denver and its
unique mountain vistas. Susie Sharf is originally from Flatbush, but
together with her husband, moved to Denver in 2000. She contrasts it
with New York, and stresses the benefits of raising kids there, not
having to deal with New York driving, and the opportunity to be
involved.
Out of town, she
says, “you’re on three boards, there’s no sitting back
and letting the community run
by itself.” Her husband, Joshua, is an
MBA grad and made a run for local office. Susie has shunned
campaign posters, but is active in fundraising for the school and also
involved with the local mikvah. In her professional life, she’s a web
designer, and we talk for a brief moment about Flash websites (which
Susie doesn’t favor except for headers or select parts of the site).
She introduces Rabbi Daniel Alter, a RIETS graduate, and formerly
Assistant Rabbi in West
Orange, NJ. He’s 10 years in Denver and the
founding rabbi of the DAT Minyan, that’s based in the Denver Academy of
Torah day school (where Rabbi
Alter is also Head of School) and has
hopes to build on the same campus. There are “from jeans to streimels
in our shul,” says Susie, and
even beyond the shul walls, “the
denominations all get along.” “For the most part,” she quickly adds.
Susie points out Scott Friedman, a real estate broker with the Herman
Group, who’s standing behind a table talking to some prospects. She
mentions that families have moved from California, New York, and New
Jersey. “You can get a house here for $300,000 – three bedrooms, two
baths – and that’s inside the eruv!” She pulls over a one-sided color
sell-sheet with six listings. The one on the top right, at $267,500,
catches my eye. It’s a turn of the century farmhouse. 1770 sq. ft, with
four bedrooms, two baths. Later I read the fine print; “it needs
mechanical and cosmetic updates… Priced accordingly.” There are also a
couple of Tudors on the page (in the $875,000 range). I’ve always liked
Tudors.
Not everyone attending The OU’s Emerging Jewish Communities Fair was
there to consider relocation or to offer a nice place to do so. Some
were there to assess if this fair would be a right venue for their own
community to display at the next time around.
One such
person was Rachel Horwitz who’d walked over to the San
Francisco table. A young woman in her mid-20s, she’d accepted an
assignment from her parents who are active in Wynnewood, PA (just
outside the Philadelphia city line) at Congregation Beth Hamedrosh.
Their shul is looking to grow, so today Rachel is doing some scouting,
and also shares that on a personal level she’s looking for a job. She’s
an architect, interested in finding something in city planning, and
presently living in Washington Heights (which was not represented at
the fair, though it’s probably still “emerging” – at least for the
hundreds of recent orthodox college grads that are drawn to the more
affordable options in Northern Manhattan compared to the pricier ones
found on the Upper West Side).
Rachel is speaking with Jonathan Esensten, a med student and today’s
San Francisco rep, who’s happy to tell about the place where he lives
and equally glad to have been chosen for “a free trip to New York.”
Rachel moves a table away to Dallas, where David Zoller (originally
from New Orleans, and you can hear it a little bit in his voice) is
listing statistics. There are 60,000 Jews in Dallas, 200 Modern
Orthodox families, 180 yeshiva families, and six kosher restaurants.
David works in commercial real estate, he’s been in Dallas since ’89,
so he knows the place. “We have 31 flavors of Judaism… we coexist in
every beautiful way.”
Rachel listens and watches as David turns on the small monitor to play
a school video that was made by one of the junior high school students,
an 11 year old. It’s hard to hear (I couldn’t), but his display is an
impressive one, though most of the community tables had adequately
impressive printed materials. His was not the corrugated board variety
of display, rather a sturdy crafted one, the foldable, transportable
kind you see at real trade shows.
“Kiruv – What do you do in terms of outreach?” Rachel asks him. She
wants to know, because her parents’ shul is looking to get very
involved in kiruv, seeing it as an important synagogue activity and
also a chance to strengthen the shul financially, to build a stronger
base.
In reality, each one of the many communities represented at the OU’s Emerging Jewish
Communities Fair was here to do outreach. They’d come
to New York to introduce, educate, inspire - and “at the end of the
day,” attract Orthodox families and individuals to a place they believe
in. At the same time, they were looking to help themselves become
stronger as a community, to find not just new residents to live in
their neighborhoods, but hopefully some new and motivated builders to
join them as they create an even better home.
The OU 2011
Emerging Jewish Communities Fair will be held on March 27th in NYC. To
pre-register or find out more, please visit:
OU Community
Services | Emerging Jewish
Jewish Communities Fair
Judah S.
Harris is a photographer,
filmmaker, speaker and
writer. He
photographs family celebrations and a wide range
of corporate, organizational and editorial projects in the US, Israel
and other countries. Judah's photography has appeared in museum
exhibits, on the Op-Ed Pages of the NY Times, on the covers of more
than 40 novels, and in advertising all over the world. His work can be seen in
a frequent email newsletter that circulates to thousands of
readers who repeatedly praise the quality of Judah's photography and
writing. To learn more about Judah S. Harris, visit www.judahsharris.com/visit.
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