A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life

Rating:
Summary: Facinating History of a Dynamic Jewish Community
Review: At important times in early American history, the largest and most important Jewish Community was in Charleston, South Carolina. Unlike many parts of the world where Jews were then treated as a dispised or distrusted minority, relegated to the fringes of community life, these Jews (like their neighbors in Georgia) were an integral and valued element in the colony form its earliest time. The were truly "a portion of the people." Here Jews blended in and prospered and Judaism flourished. The first Jew was elected to a legislature in modern times in the Revolutionary War period there. Jews fought along side their fellow citizens as colonists, in the Revolutionary War, and in the Civil War. A number of nationally prominent Jewish figures (including one of the first two Jewish Senators, the first Jew nominated to the US Supreme Court, prominent business men and cabinet officials) trace their heritage to this part of the South.
And the authors tell of the cradle of Reform Judaism in Charleston where the first prayer book and hymnal were written. The reforms that were to make Reform Judaism the largest denomination, such as services in English, an important role for women, and full integration into the community, were established there. Beth Elohim, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in America, is located here.
The authors have put together a good set of photographs of people and places and interesting text on this little known chapter of American and Jewish history.

Rating:
Summary: Facinating History of a Dynamic Jewish Community
Review: At important times in early American history, the largest and most important Jewish Community was in Charleston, South Carolina. Unlike many parts of the world where Jews were then treated as a dispised or distrusted minority, relegated to the fringes of community life, these Jews (like their neighbors in Georgia) were an integral and valued element in the colony form its earliest time. The were truly "a portion of the people." Here Jews blended in and prospered and Judaism flourished. The first Jew was elected to a legislature in modern times in the Revolutionary War period there. Jews fought along side their fellow citizens as colonists, in the Revolutionary War, and in the Civil War. A number of nationally prominent Jewish figures (including one of the first two Jewish Senators, the first Jew nominated to the US Supreme Court, prominent business men and cabinet officials) trace their heritage to this part of the South.
And the authors tell of the cradle of Reform Judaism in Charleston where the first prayer book and hymnal were written. The reforms that were to make Reform Judaism the largest denomination, such as services in English, an important role for women, and full integration into the community, were established there. Beth Elohim, the oldest synagogue in continuous use in America, is located here.
The authors have put together a good set of photographs of people and places and interesting text on this little known chapter of American and Jewish history.