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Jews in Milwaukee

March 19, 2023

The history of Jews in Milwaukee began in the early 1840s with the arrival of Jewish immigrants from German-speaking states and the Austro-Hungarian empire.[1] Throughout the 19th century, Milwaukee was the hub of Wisconsin's Jewish population with 80% of the state's Jews living there.[2] As of 2011, it is home to 25,800 Jewish people, or 78% of Jews in Wisconsin, and is the 42nd largest Jewish community in the United States.[3]

19th Century

Congregation Emanu-El B'ne Jeshurun, the first synagogue in Wisconsin, was founded as Congregation Imanu-Al in Milwaukee in 1850.[4] Two other congregations, Ahavath Emunah (1854) and Anshe Emeth (1855) would later merge into it.[5] During the 1860s, the majority of services were conducted in German with a few rare ones held in English. Plenty of the Jewish immigrants were atheists or secular: in 1859, only 50% of the families in Milwaukee belonged to the congregation.[4] Most of the German Jews in Milwaukee practiced Reformed Judaism, while the Jews from Eastern Europe practiced Orthodox Judaism.[5][6]

Due to an influx of immigrants from Central Europe fleeing discrimination, poverty and pogroms, the Jewish community increased from 70 families in 1850 to 2,074 in 1875. Russian Jews were an estimated 39% of the city's Jewish population.[7] Most German-speaking Jews settled in the downtown and East Side regions of Milwaukee.[8][2]

Jews dominated the city's clothing and footwear manufacturing. Of the fourteen merchant tailors and clothiers in Milwaukee in 1862, five were Jewish-owned and operated.[4] By 1895, nearly all of Milwaukee's clothing factories were Jewish-owned.[8] Many charitable and fraternal organizations were also established during the 1800s, such as the B'nai B'rith fraternal organization, the Milwaukee Jewish Mission and the Jewish Alliance School. Multiple relief organizations were created to aid destitute veterans and their families after the Civil War.[4] The Settlement Cook Book was compiled by Lizzie Kander in 1891 to raise funds for the Settlement House, a community center for children and adults.[6]

20th Century

Due to its religious tolerance, industry and German roots, the city was considered a good place for Jews. Many of the community's early Jewish founders had assimilated into the city's educated German elite. By 1912, the last German-language temple in Milwaukee voted to switch to English as a reflection of the community's adoption of English as the majority language.[9]

By 1925, the Jewish population in Milwaukee had grown to 22,000, which was eleventh largest concentration of Jews in the United States at the time.[8] Secondary waves of Jewish immigrants came to the city in the hundreds after the rise of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1930s and the end of the Soviet Union in the late 1970s into the 1990s.[7] These Eastern European immigrants settled on the West Side of Milwaukee in the Haymarket, Sherman Park, Upper East Side and Shorewood neighborhoods.[8][6]

Milwaukee was home to multiple Jewish newspapers, including two Yiddish newspapers: the Wochenblat (1914-1932) and the Yidishe Shtimme (1930-1931).[7][5] In 1921, the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle was founded as a newspaper that was published weekly and continues into the present day to be published online.[10]

Jews in Milwaukee became heavily involved in entrepreneurship in various industries, such as grocery stores, clothes-making, recycling, meatpacking and manufacturing.[1] Kohl's, ManpowerGroup, Master Lock, Sigma-Aldrich and the MGIC Investment Corporation were all founded in Milwaukee during this time. The Jewish Vocational Service, the first rehabilitation agency in the United States to help veterans retrain and find jobs, opened in 1938.[2]

By 1951, although Jews made up only 3% of Milwaukee's population, 20% of the doctors and 17% of the attorneys in the city were Jewish.[2] The Jewish population was estimated at 23,000 in 1968.[7]

The Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival, held annually in October to showcase local and international Jewish films, began in 1997.[11]

21st Century

In April of 2008, the Jewish Museum Milwaukee opened to the public. It grew out of the Milwaukee Jewish Archives and features oral histories, films, and artifacts related to the Jewish community in Milwaukee.[12]

A 2015 study by the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee estimated that there were approximately 25,800 Jewish people living in the Greater Milwaukee area in 2011, which is 1.8% of the general population. 24% of respondents never attended synagogue, 49% attended a few times a year and 8% attended about once a month.[13][14]

Hillel Milwaukee serves the community's young adult and student population.[15] There is also a Chabad center[16] and a Jewish Studies department at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.[17]

Relevant buildings

Notable Jews from Milwaukee

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Avner, Jane. "Jews". Encyclopedia of Milwaukee. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Cohen, Sheila Terman (25 September 2019). "What Happened To Wisconsin's Once-Thriving Smaller Jewish Communities?". WisContext. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  3. ^ Sheskin, Ira M.; Dashefsky, Arnold (2018). "United States Jewish Population, 2017". American Jewish Year Book 2017: The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities. American Jewish Year Book. 117: 179–284. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-70663-4_5. ISBN 978-3-319-70662-7. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Swichkow, Louis J. (1957). "The Jewish Community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1860-1870". Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society. 47 (1): 34–58. ISSN 0146-5511. JSTOR 43059005. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Hintz, Martin (2005). Jewish Milwaukee. Charleston, SC: Arcadia. ISBN 9780738539720.
  6. ^ a b c Cohen, Sheila Terman (2016). Jews in Wisconsin. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press. ISBN 9780870207457. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d Zaret, Melvin S. (2007). "Milwaukee". Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 261–263. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b c d "Jews in Wisconsin". Wisconsin Historical Society. 3 August 2012. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  9. ^ Byers, Steve (9 October 2019). "The cultural impact of "Americanization" on Milwaukee's original Jewish immigrant population". The Milwaukee Independent. Milwaukee Independent. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  10. ^ "About Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle". www.jewishchronicle.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  11. ^ "25th Annual Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival". JCC Milwaukee. Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  12. ^ "About Jewish Museum Milwaukee". jewishmuseummilwaukee.org. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  13. ^ Cohen, Leon (29 April 2015). "Revised community study finds fewer Milwaukee Jews". www.jewishchronicle.org. The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  14. ^ Miller, Ron; Kotler-Berkowitz, Laurence; Percy, Stephen. "2011 Jewish Study Greater Milwaukee (Revised March 2015)". www.jewishdatabank.org. Berman Jewish Databank. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
  15. ^ "About". HILLEL MILWAUKEE. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  16. ^ "Chabad at UW-Milwaukee". Chabad-Lubavitch of Wisconsin. Chabad.org. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  17. ^ "The Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies - UW-Milwaukee". The Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies. University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Jewish American Heritage Month". VISIT Milwaukee. Retrieved 1 August 2022.

March 19, 2023
jews, milwaukee, history, began, early, 1840s, with, arrival, jewish, immigrants, from, german, speaking, states, austro, hungarian, empire, throughout, 19th, century, milwaukee, wisconsin, jewish, population, with, state, jews, living, there, 2011, home, jewi. The history of Jews in Milwaukee began in the early 1840s with the arrival of Jewish immigrants from German speaking states and the Austro Hungarian empire 1 Throughout the 19th century Milwaukee was the hub of Wisconsin s Jewish population with 80 of the state s Jews living there 2 As of 2011 it is home to 25 800 Jewish people or 78 of Jews in Wisconsin and is the 42nd largest Jewish community in the United States 3 Contents 1 19th Century 2 20th Century 3 21st Century 4 Relevant buildings 5 Notable Jews from Milwaukee 6 See also 7 References19th Century EditCongregation Emanu El B ne Jeshurun the first synagogue in Wisconsin was founded as Congregation Imanu Al in Milwaukee in 1850 4 Two other congregations Ahavath Emunah 1854 and Anshe Emeth 1855 would later merge into it 5 During the 1860s the majority of services were conducted in German with a few rare ones held in English Plenty of the Jewish immigrants were atheists or secular in 1859 only 50 of the families in Milwaukee belonged to the congregation 4 Most of the German Jews in Milwaukee practiced Reformed Judaism while the Jews from Eastern Europe practiced Orthodox Judaism 5 6 Due to an influx of immigrants from Central Europe fleeing discrimination poverty and pogroms the Jewish community increased from 70 families in 1850 to 2 074 in 1875 Russian Jews were an estimated 39 of the city s Jewish population 7 Most German speaking Jews settled in the downtown and East Side regions of Milwaukee 8 2 Jews dominated the city s clothing and footwear manufacturing Of the fourteen merchant tailors and clothiers in Milwaukee in 1862 five were Jewish owned and operated 4 By 1895 nearly all of Milwaukee s clothing factories were Jewish owned 8 Many charitable and fraternal organizations were also established during the 1800s such as the B nai B rith fraternal organization the Milwaukee Jewish Mission and the Jewish Alliance School Multiple relief organizations were created to aid destitute veterans and their families after the Civil War 4 The Settlement Cook Book was compiled by Lizzie Kander in 1891 to raise funds for the Settlement House a community center for children and adults 6 20th Century EditDue to its religious tolerance industry and German roots the city was considered a good place for Jews Many of the community s early Jewish founders had assimilated into the city s educated German elite By 1912 the last German language temple in Milwaukee voted to switch to English as a reflection of the community s adoption of English as the majority language 9 By 1925 the Jewish population in Milwaukee had grown to 22 000 which was eleventh largest concentration of Jews in the United States at the time 8 Secondary waves of Jewish immigrants came to the city in the hundreds after the rise of the Nazi party in Germany in the 1930s and the end of the Soviet Union in the late 1970s into the 1990s 7 These Eastern European immigrants settled on the West Side of Milwaukee in the Haymarket Sherman Park Upper East Side and Shorewood neighborhoods 8 6 Milwaukee was home to multiple Jewish newspapers including two Yiddish newspapers the Wochenblat 1914 1932 and the Yidishe Shtimme 1930 1931 7 5 In 1921 the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle was founded as a newspaper that was published weekly and continues into the present day to be published online 10 Jews in Milwaukee became heavily involved in entrepreneurship in various industries such as grocery stores clothes making recycling meatpacking and manufacturing 1 Kohl s ManpowerGroup Master Lock Sigma Aldrich and the MGIC Investment Corporation were all founded in Milwaukee during this time The Jewish Vocational Service the first rehabilitation agency in the United States to help veterans retrain and find jobs opened in 1938 2 By 1951 although Jews made up only 3 of Milwaukee s population 20 of the doctors and 17 of the attorneys in the city were Jewish 2 The Jewish population was estimated at 23 000 in 1968 7 The Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival held annually in October to showcase local and international Jewish films began in 1997 11 21st Century EditIn April of 2008 the Jewish Museum Milwaukee opened to the public It grew out of the Milwaukee Jewish Archives and features oral histories films and artifacts related to the Jewish community in Milwaukee 12 A 2015 study by the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee estimated that there were approximately 25 800 Jewish people living in the Greater Milwaukee area in 2011 which is 1 8 of the general population 24 of respondents never attended synagogue 49 attended a few times a year and 8 attended about once a month 13 14 Hillel Milwaukee serves the community s young adult and student population 15 There is also a Chabad center 16 and a Jewish Studies department at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee 17 Relevant buildings EditCongregation Beth Israel Ner Tamid Conservative synagogue founded in 1884 Lake Park Synagogue Modern Orthodox synagogue Congregation Beth Jehudah Orthodox temple Harry amp Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center Jewish Museum Milwaukee Milwaukee Jewish Federation Rabbi Ronald and Judy Shapiro Museum of Judaica 18 Wisconsin Institute for Torah StudyNotable Jews from Milwaukee EditDick Chudnow comedian and co founder of ComedySportz Herb Kohl former Wisconsin senator and founder of Kohl s Golda Meir fourth prime minister of Israel Newton N Minow attorney and former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission Allan Selig baseball executive and former owner and team president of the Milwaukee Brewers Harry Soref founder of the Master Lock company Michel Twerski Hasidic rabbi Elmer Winter lawyer and co founder of ManpowerGroup Zucker Abrahams and Zucker comedy filmmaking trio best known for Airplane See also EditHistory of Milwaukee Germans in MilwaukeeReferences Edit a b Avner Jane Jews Encyclopedia of Milwaukee Retrieved 1 August 2022 a b c d Cohen Sheila Terman 25 September 2019 What Happened To Wisconsin s Once Thriving Smaller Jewish Communities WisContext Retrieved 1 August 2022 Sheskin Ira M Dashefsky Arnold 2018 United States Jewish Population 2017 American Jewish Year Book 2017 The Annual Record of the North American Jewish Communities American Jewish Year Book 117 179 284 doi 10 1007 978 3 319 70663 4 5 ISBN 978 3 319 70662 7 Retrieved 1 August 2022 a b c d Swichkow Louis J 1957 The Jewish Community of Milwaukee Wisconsin 1860 1870 Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 47 1 34 58 ISSN 0146 5511 JSTOR 43059005 Retrieved 2 August 2022 a b c Hintz Martin 2005 Jewish Milwaukee Charleston SC Arcadia ISBN 9780738539720 a b c Cohen Sheila Terman 2016 Jews in Wisconsin Madison Wisconsin Historical Society Press ISBN 9780870207457 Retrieved 2 August 2022 a b c d Zaret Melvin S 2007 Milwaukee Encyclopaedia Judaica 2nd ed Macmillan Reference USA pp 261 263 Retrieved 1 August 2022 a b c d Jews in Wisconsin Wisconsin Historical Society 3 August 2012 Retrieved 1 August 2022 Byers Steve 9 October 2019 The cultural impact of Americanization on Milwaukee s original Jewish immigrant population The Milwaukee Independent Milwaukee Independent Retrieved 1 August 2022 About Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle www jewishchronicle org Retrieved 1 August 2022 25th Annual Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival JCC Milwaukee Harry amp Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center 29 August 2022 Retrieved 31 October 2022 About Jewish Museum Milwaukee jewishmuseummilwaukee org Retrieved 1 August 2022 Cohen Leon 29 April 2015 Revised community study finds fewer Milwaukee Jews www jewishchronicle org The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Retrieved 1 August 2022 Miller Ron Kotler Berkowitz Laurence Percy Stephen 2011 Jewish Study Greater Milwaukee Revised March 2015 www jewishdatabank org Berman Jewish Databank Retrieved 1 August 2022 About HILLEL MILWAUKEE Retrieved 2 August 2022 Chabad at UW Milwaukee Chabad Lubavitch of Wisconsin Chabad org Retrieved 2 August 2022 The Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies UW Milwaukee The Sam and Helen Stahl Center for Jewish Studies University of Wisconsin Milwaukee Retrieved 2 August 2022 Jewish American Heritage Month VISIT Milwaukee Retrieved 1 August 2022 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Jews in Milwaukee amp oldid 1145469709, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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