Acknowledgmentsix
Introduction1
One. Baltimore's First Jews17
Two. A "City and Mother in Israel"53
Three. The Great Wave Hits Baltimore104
Four. Bawlmer Jews: The Interwar Years179
Five. From Baltimore to Pikesville244
Epilogue. The Challenges of a New Century301
Notes 321
Index 369
A model of Jewish community history that will enlighten anyone interested in Baltimore and its past.
Eric L. Goldstein is the Judith London Evans Director of the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University, where he is an associate professor of history and Jewish studies. He is the author of The Price of Whiteness: Jews, Race, and American Identity. Deborah R. Weiner is an independent historian who works as a consultant with museums, historical societies, and other institutions. She is the author of Coalfield Jews: An Appalachian History.
On Middle Ground provides a holistic approach to chronicling
Baltimore's Jewish community. Drawing upon rich sources spanning
over 250 years—including manuscript collections, oral histories,
and newspaper accounts—this history is told in concert with the
history of Baltimore's Jewish institutions, and its diverse ethnic
community bringing them to life in a way that is unique to
Baltimore. On Middle Ground is a foundational work that uses
Baltimore as a historical case study to analyze some of the
influential culminations of American Jewish life.
—Charles L. Chavis Jr., The American Jewish Archives Journal
Eric L. Goldstein and Deborah R. Weiner trace the history of the
Jews of the city of Baltimore from colonial times through the
present, providing one of the few comprehensive histories of an
American Jewish community outside of New York City. In addition to
telling the story of the American Jewish experience at a local
level, the authors ask how a variety of different
factors—particularly geography, class conflict, and racial
dynamics—have shaped the contours of American ethnic identity.
—Lawrence Charap, Journal of American History
[On Middle Ground] offers an outstanding model of deeply researched
local ethnic history.
—Joshua Furman, Rice University, Journal of Southern History
As award-winning historians sponsored by the Jewish Museum of
Maryland, Goldstein and Weiner write as both insiders and
outsiders. Community members will see names and institutions
acknowledged, and scholars will find informed argument. Anecdotes
enliven the social history . . . Goldstein and Weiner argue for
Baltimore's place as a "city and mother in Israel" among the
foundational communities of American Jewry. In so doing they ask us
to rethink our assumptions. Engagingly written, cogently argued,
this book, like Baltimore itself, deserves a place among the
exceptional Jewish histories of Boston, Cincinnati, and New
York.
—Leonard Rogoff, Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina,
American Jewish History
On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore offers a
prodigiously researched and highly nuanced history of Baltimore
Jewry. Readers unfamiliar with the contours of American Jewish
history will find myriad connections to topics important in African
American, ethnic, labor, political, and urban history.
—Mark Greenberg, Western Washington University, Journal of Southern
Religion
The history of Baltimore Jews, as Goldstein and Weiner so deftly
show, often proves to be exceptional, challenging accepted
narratives of American Jewish history. On Middle Ground
persuasively demonstrates the value of a Jewish urban history that
draws heavily on urban social, economic, and political studies of
the past several decades.
—Deborah Dash Moore, University of Michigan, Southern Jewish
History
Goldstein and Weiner detail every aspect of Jewish life, including
day-to-day economic obstacles and opportunities, long-term
political struggles, religious observance, and efforts to build
communal and social institutions. In all of these spheres,
Goldstein and Weiner highlight the influence of a succession of
Jewish immigrants, from a variety of locales, with diverse
religious and cultural practices . . . On Middle Ground provides a
comprehensive biography of the city itself and all of its ethnic
and religious communities.
—Toni Pitock, University of Delaware, Reviews in History
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