Your city's Jewish community

[Crawford]

It makes sense, as most U.S. Jews predate WW2 and are definitely European Jews, while Israel was largely populated by peoples displaced by newly formed post-colonial Islamic states.

Also, a LOT of U.S. Jews have Americanized Jewish names. All those Cohens and Levys were unlikely to have the same names in the Eastern European shetls.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by 3rd&Brown

This is interesting. The Iranians in Great Neck are Persian Mizrahi Jews. I knew from a former colleague who lives in Great Neck that there were a lot of Iranian Jews (apparently they converted a SFH next to her into a synagogue without proper approvals) but I didn't realize it was that many.

Great Neck has been Jewish for 60 years, but the Persian Mizrahi population has remade the area's traditional liberal-secular culture.

Even 10-15 years ago, downtown didn't shut down for Shabbat and the like. Now it's an increasingly Orthodox locale.

[Quixote]

Chabad of Oxnard marks 20 years with new waterfront center

Brian J. Varela
September 5, 2023

Rabbi Dov Muchnik moved from class to class at Lamplighters Jewish Academy in Oxnard with a ram’s horn in hand Wednesday morning.

Jewish communities customarily sound the horn, called a shofar, each day for a month leading up to Rosh Hashanah — the Jewish New Year ― in mid-September.

The quick and long blasts Muchnik produced were almost drowned out by the remaining construction on the school’s new building.

Chabad of Oxnard Jewish Center, which oversees the academy, held a grand opening on Aug. 27 for their new facility at 2860 Harbor Blvd. in Channel Islands Harbor. It combines the Jewish community center and the academy under one large roof.

The building, at about 10,000 square feet, is an upgrade over the center's previous 2,000-square-foot facility at Hollywood Beach.

The event also marked the center’s 20th anniversary of strengthening and growing the local Jewish community.

“My mission has always been to try to bring every Jew closer to their roots,” Muchnik said.

...

Small start

Muchnik opened the Jewish center in May 2003 in his Oxnard apartment with his wife, Racheli.

After two years, the center moved to a larger Oxnard facility to accommodate the growing congregation. It moved again seven years later to the Hollywood Beach site, where the Lamplighters Academy was housed in a similar-sized building near the harbor.

Chabad of Oxnard now operates out of a spacious two-story facility that overlooks docks studded with masts from an array of ships. The synagogue is regularly visited by about 100 families.

...

Jewish population grows with center

As the Jewish center grew throughout the years, Oxnard’s Jewish population increased alongside it, said Dekofsky of the county Jewish federation.

The ability for Jews to be able to experience and practice their faith in Oxnard drew families to the area, Dekofsky said. Although there are nearly 30 synagogues in Ventura County, Chabad of Oxnard is the only temple in the city, she added.

About 20 years ago when the Jewish center first opened its doors, Dekofsky said, there were a few hundred Jewish families in the Oxnard and Port Hueneme area. Now there are more than 1,000.

“Whenever there’s a Jewish presence in an area, the population does increase,” Dekofsky said.

Most of Ventura County's 50,000 or so Jews live in the east county, she said.

Racheli Muchnik, the rabbi’s wife, said in another 20 years, she hopes to see her kids — there are 10 of them ― and future grandchildren working in the facility. She envisions the Jewish center growing to encompass nearby buildings in the harbor in the coming decades. She’s also hoping for a yacht.

...

https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/lo...the%20facility

[montréaliste]

Originally Posted by Crawford

It makes sense, as most U.S. Jews predate WW2 and are definitely European Jews, while Israel was largely populated by peoples displaced by newly formed post-colonial Islamic states.

Also, a LOT of U.S. Jews have Americanized Jewish names. All those Cohens and Levys were unlikely to have the same names in the Eastern European shetls.

Those Cohen and Levy names are present all over Europe.

[Docere]

Ashkenazi dominate in the US and other anglosphere countries (and of course in Eastern Europe). Israel is split evenly between Ashkenazi and Sephardim.

[Quixote]

Most Israeli Jews that I’ve seen appear to have more stereotypical Levantine appearances; they look more “Middle Eastern” or Greek or Cypriot than the Ashkenazi Jews in the U.S. Fewer people that look like Lisa Kudrow or Ellen Barkin, although those two are probably phenetic outliers. Many Jewish New Yorkers could vaguely pass as Italian. That’s probably due to some social conditioning, as 1) many Jewish actors from NY/NJ have played Italian characters from NY/NJ, 2) there are lots of Italians and Jews in NY/NJ, and 3) Ashkenazi Jews supposedly derive most of their maternal lineage from Italian women during the Roman Empire.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Quixote

Most Israeli Jews that I’ve seen appear to have more stereotypical Levantine appearances; they look more “Middle Eastern” or Greek or Cypriot than the Ashkenazi Jews in the U.S. Fewer people that look like Lisa Kudrow or Ellen Barkin, although those two are probably phenetic outliers. Many Jewish New Yorkers could vaguely pass as Italian. That’s probably due to some social conditioning, as 1) many Jewish actors from NY/NJ have played Italian characters from NY/NJ, 2) there are lots of Italians and Jews in NY/NJ, and 3) Ashkenazi Jews supposedly derive most of their maternal lineage from Italian women during the Roman Empire.

Also, add to this that Italian-Americans are mostly from Sicily or southern Italy, so they tend to look a bit more Levantine than the average Italian.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

It makes sense, as most U.S. Jews predate WW2 and are definitely European Jews, while Israel was largely populated by peoples displaced by newly formed post-colonial Islamic states.

Also, a LOT of U.S. Jews have Americanized Jewish names. All those Cohens and Levys were unlikely to have the same names in the Eastern European shetls.

Or non-Jewish surnames. Plenty of Jews with surnames like Brown, Miller, Davis etc.

An odd phenomenon was second-generation Jews with "English" sounding given names. Names like Irving, Milton, Norman and Seymour ended up becoming "Jewish" first names.

The literary critic Irving Howe being a good example.

[Docere]

Montreal has about 90,000 Jews and it's increasingly francophone, Sephardic and Hasidim. Basically it filters toward religiosity and people who don't care about the English language one way or integrating into English-speaking society one way or the other. Even though Toronto has twice the Jewish population there may be more Kosher restaurants in Montreal due to a lot of French Sephardim coming from Europe.

[Crawford]

Montreal doesn't have a huge Jewish population, but it seems like one of the most overtly Jewish cities in North America. So many prominent Jews out of Montreal, cultural exports like the Montreal bagel and smoked meat, and strong connections to the Orthodox centers in NY/NJ. Toronto has a much bigger, more diverse population but somewhat more under the radar.

[Docere]

It is interesting that after the obvious contenders of NYC/Los Angeles/Miami, Montreal might be the most overtly Jewish city in NA, at least in its image. Even though it has about a third as many Jews as Boston and about half as many as Toronto.

Montreal has urban Jewish communities which are much more visible, such as in the Mile End and adjacent Outremont. These are Yiddish-speaking Hasidim, a community Toronto doesn't really have. Montreal is the NA Jewish community closest to the European model where traditional Judaism is stronger and the Reform movement is marginal. .

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Docere

Montreal is the NA Jewish community closest to the European model where traditional Judaism is stronger and the Reform movement is marginal. .

New York is very much like this as well now, though it's largely due to the loss of non-Orthodox Judaism due to suburbanization, outmarriage, and attrition.

I do not believe there is a single non-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood left in NYC proper. Forest Hills comes closest, but the Reform Jewish community there is being squeezed on both ends by a growing Orthodox community, as well as a growing Asian-American population.

[Crawford]

Forest Hills is very Orthodox now, but a pretty unique subset. Bukharan (Central Asian) Jews now predominate along the Queens Blvd. corridor from Lefrak City to Kew Gardens.

The more secular community has diminished so much that the huge Forest Hills Jewish Center was recently sold off for a condo tower. There are still Conservative and Reform houses of worship, and a smaller replacement Jewish center, but nothing like in past generations.

[Crawford]

Just looked it up, and the one remaining Reform temple in the Forest Hills area just sold off its property for a new condo development. It looks like they'll get space in the new development, though.

https://www.citylandnyc.org/city-cou...ills-rezoning/

There's still an enormous non-Orthodox community in the tri-state area, but basically now subsumed within (generally) affluent white areas. I guess the Upper West Side would be the closest thing to an urban, secular-leaning Jewish enclave. The Upper East Side, though stereotyped as WASPy, is probably almost as Jewish, and has almost as many Jewish institutions.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Just looked it up, and the one remaining Reform temple in the Forest Hills area just sold off its property for a new condo development. It looks like they'll get space in the new development, though.

https://www.citylandnyc.org/city-cou...ills-rezoning/

There's still an enormous non-Orthodox community in the tri-state area, but basically now subsumed within (generally) affluent white areas. I guess the Upper West Side would be the closest thing to an urban, secular-leaning Jewish enclave. The Upper East Side, though stereotyped as WASPy, is probably almost as Jewish, and has almost as many Jewish institutions.

I have heard there's a weird Jewish hipster subculture which is emerging within Crown Heights now. Crown Heights itself is of course mostly Hasidic. but Chabad is the least insular and reactionary of the Hasidic dynasties. I'm guessing this Jewish hipsterdom runs parallel to Chabad though, rather than within it.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I have heard there's a weird Jewish hipster subculture which is emerging within Crown Heights now.

Yeah, Crown Heights has an Orthodox hipster subculture. Not sure how big it is, but it's visible. There are a bunch of businesses that sorta bridge the cultures.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by eschaton

New York is very much like this as well now, though it's largely due to the loss of non-Orthodox Judaism due to suburbanization, outmarriage, and attrition.

I do not believe there is a single non-Orthodox Jewish neighborhood left in NYC proper. Forest Hills comes closest, but the Reform Jewish community there is being squeezed on both ends by a growing Orthodox community, as well as a growing Asian-American population.

I wouldn't quite say that. Montreal has few Reform Jews period - there's only one Reform temple in all of Quebec! Montreal's Jewish community is pretty much is Brooklyn-Queens in terms of religious profile.

NYC has lots of Reform Jews obviously - in Manhattan and in the suburbs. The Upper East Side for example may not be a Jewish neighborhood but it has lots of Jews (Reform, Conservative, Modern Orthodox and secular). In terms of percentage of the population, UES is probably as Jewish as many Jewish neighborhoods are (the threshold for "Jewish neighborhood" is likely higher in NYC given that it is such a Jewish place).

But it's true that NYC's Jewish population skews much more Orthodox/traditional/immigrant and Reform and liberal Jews are not the majority like they are in most NA cities.

[Docere]

Of Toronto's Jewish neighborhoods, only Forest Hill really has your "lox and bagel"/establishmentarian/mostly Reform and Conservative demographic.* The Jewish neighborhoods of North York and Thornhill skew Orthodox, traditional side of Conservative and immigrant.

* And even Forest Hill is probably as Conservative as Reform.

[Crawford]

The Upper East Side has Temple Emanu-El, which is likely the most prominent Reform congregation anywhere. It might be the most prominent Jewish house of worship on earth, or at minimum, outside of Israel. So there's still a robust community, just in the core and suburbs. UES is much more Reform than UWS, but still much less Reform than in other U.S. cities.

[Docere]

Originally Posted by Crawford

There's still an enormous non-Orthodox community in the tri-state area, but basically now subsumed within (generally) affluent white areas.

And a few Jewish suburbs here and there, like Scarsdale and Short Hills.

But yeah, places like Rye and Larchmont, which would still have been very "WASP" 50 years ago, have significant Reform and liberal Jewish populations.