Arts & Culture
The Protocols: Like Medieval Poland, the American South is Desperate for Jews
By Rachel Shukert / September 24, 2008
Well folks, my summer of traveling just ended with a brief visit to my ancestral home of Omaha, Nebraska. Despite the fact that I was there for ostensibly professional reasons (I was honored to participate in the fantastic annual Omaha Lit Fest, which is turning into quite a major event) the trip was fraught as usual with the ghosts of the past; despite the disconcerting presence of a new American Apparel, it’s still my hometown, and being there, I couldn’t help but reflect on my childhood and adolescence, and for probably the millionth time, what it was like growing up Jewish in a place where being Jewish is still at least semi-weird. I’ve written extensively about this (it’s so comfortable to revisit postions we’ve already taken, isn’t it?) and I’m not going to go into my personal experience here; if you’re interested, you can read my book. But being home reminded me of a strange little news item I caught sight of a couple of weeks ago, and have since meant to call to your attention. Blumberg Family Jewish Community Services is offering Jewish families as much as $50,000 to relocate to Dothan, Alabama—a town of 58,000 known as the Peanut Capital of the World (although I think a few towns in Georgia might dare to differ). It’s a kind of yiddische Homestead Act set smack in the cradle of Dixie, and the terms are simple: the families stay at least five years, become active in the local synagogue, Temple Emanu-El, and the money never has to be repaid. Jews in the South are nothing new, and historically, were in some ways more visible and prominent than their co-religionists in the North. The oldest continual Jewish community in the United States is in Charleston, South Carolina, where a group Portuguese Jews first settled 300 years ago. Judah Benjamin, Secretary of State of the short-lived Confederate States of America was a Jew (a fact conveniently forgotten by so many of today’s good ol’ boys who proudly emblazon the Stars and Bars on the sides of their pick-up trucks and semi-automatic weapons); and during my stopover in the Memphis airport on my way back to New York, I counted as many yarmulkes as one might see in, if not New York, than certainly Chicago.
Today, more Jews than ever—almost 400,000—are making their homes in the South, but they tend to be Northern transplants clustered in urban areas like Atlanta and Birmingham (rather than in the kinds of towns we Yankees are used to viewing in sepia toned movies, accompanied by haunting shots of live oaks draped in Spanish moss and the sound of somebody throatily humming the word “Jesus” over and over again off screen—a sure sign in the language of film that something bad, sinister, and racially tinged is about to happen.) As a result, small-town synagogues are closing, and once close-knit communities have dissolved. In the article I read, a woman named Thelma Nomberg, who grew up in nearby Ozark and was the only Jewish student in the region’s public schools in the 1940’s put it simply: “We are dying.” This is undoubtedly true and painful to the men and women watching their communities wither and disappear, and the Blumberg organization is to be commended for their attempt to recognize and revitalize the history and heritage of the Jewish South.
That said, I can’t help but feel that the city elders of Dothan, who have expressed enthusiasm about the plan, have slightly different motives here. As someone who grew up in a rural state (admittedly not Southern, but a population of 58,000 is practically a megalopolis for some parts of Nebraska), I feel I can safely say that the death of small town America is hardly an exclusively Jewish problem. Jews may have disappeared from small towns, but so have people. As big-box retailers curtail and eventually murder local businesses, as factories shut down, as opportunities grow ever scarcer, talented and ambitious young people take flight, seeking their fortunes elsewhere, and never come back.
They call it the brain drain. Left behind are the elderly and those with few other options. To survive, such towns (and I’m not speaking of Dothan in particular, but depressed areas in general), require new residents with the skills and energy to attract business rather than drive it away, and in some cases, radically remake the fabric of the community. In the Midwest, a new influx of Latino immigrants has helped to correct some of the imbalance, bringing new vitality to stagnant areas, but in the conservative South where xenophobic fervor tends to run high, this option is perhaps seen as less tenable. You need a middle class? Bring in the Jews. Any student of Jewish history might feel a faint quiver of recognition. In the twelfth century, when Jews were massacred and eventually expelled from England and France, the Polish prince Boleslaus III had an idea: why not invite them to Poland? He was struggling to transform his country into a mercantile culture, Jews were educated and good with money and needed a place to live. At the time, Lithuania, which comprised much of Poland was still officially a pagan state (it would remain so until 1386, when Poland offered its crown to the Lithuanian Grand Duke, and was the last country in Europe to Christianize); there would be no significant religious obstacle from its people. Rich in resources and underdeveloped, Poland was ready and waiting for the beleaguered and brainy Hebrews.
As they say in Fiddler on the Roof, it was a perfect match. Over the next two hundred years, Jews flooded into Poland, almost exclusively forming the middle class—a liaison between the agrarian peasants and the cultured aristocracy. The odd flare-up of anti-Semitic violence certainly occurred, but compared to the horrors Jews had endured in Crusades-mad Western Europe, these hardly seemed reason for pause. In 1264, Boleslaus the Pious issued the Statute of Kalisz, which officially granted all Jews the freedom of worship, travel, and most importantly, trade. Poland became the center of Jewish life in Europe, culminating under the beloved proto-liberal Casimir the Great (1303-1370) who expanded Jewish rights and protection to such an extent that he was known as “Casimir, King of the Serfs and Jews.” Unfortunately, if you’ll remember, it went downhill, or we’d all be speaking Polish right now. Thus far, Dothan has not proved nearly as attractive to urban Jews as medieval Poland, and unless the approximately seventeen gentiles in Great Neck lose their minds and start a riot against the Silvermans next door, this seems unlikely. But the Jews who have settled in Dothan seem to find an extremely hospitable place. As Rabbi Lynne Goldsmith of Temple Emanu-El points out: “The Northeast has a very warped perception of what the South is all about….the South is a wonderful place to be. The people are warm and friendly. There’s very little traffic, and best of all, there’s no snow.” Let’s just hope she’s singing the same tune 500 years from now.
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Florida may be "in the South" but it is far removed from typical southern culture in comparison to Mississippi or Alabama. I don’t think I even saw a shuffleboard table where I grew up in MS, for example. Maybe in the real small town, swampy areas there are some true "southerners" but the rest is a lot more modern.
Sounds good to me. Dothan could really use the economy brought by some more people. It’s true that many northerners seem to have a warped perception of the south. For the record I was bord and raised down here right near to Dothan, and I’d consider myself a libertarian and an atheist. Were not all religous nuts. =)
I am a still young New York native who successfully transplanted my family to Dothan 20 years ago. One of the main reasons our once fervent Jewish community’s numbers drastically declined during the last decade was due to several poor choices we made when choosing a new rabbi. Commensurate with the Blumberg family’s program, our Temple Board hired a new Reformed rabbi, Lynne Goldsmith, who, in approximately 18 months has singlehandedly! increased our numbers by almost 30%. Jews from a radius of fifty miles have been coming out of the woodwork to attend religious services and Torah study, as well as a host of various educational and inter-faith programs she has organized. Let’s give credit where credit is due! This past week we had 103 participants at our community Seder — and even when it was complete, no one wanted to leave. Growing up in New York City I have always understood the elitism that came with living in the heart of America’s culture, couture, and cuisine capital etc., but as time goes on I’ve had an increasingly hard time understanding the narrow minded provincialism of those individuals still basing their opinions of the South on old stories about George Wallace and the KKK. These must surely be the same individuals still listening to cassettes on their Sony Walkman.
JB
Mia ;)
I grew up in Birmingham a Catholic. Is there a higher Jewish population in Birmingham than in most other southern cities?
I’ll agree with a previous post, the North’s image of the South is what the North wants it to be; backward, racist, and generally inferior, and certainly above all, prejudice, as if these are ills exclusive only to the South. I hope the readers here can pick up on the unintended irony of this article’s statement ending "so many of today’s good ol’ boys who proudly emblazon the Stars and Bars on the sides of their pick-up trucks and semi-automatic weapons" in that it’s meant to accuse us of being prejudice, by relying on prejudice itself. I, and most people here I know, have all of my teeth. I wear shoes as well.
The Wall Street Journal placed the US Southeast as the 3rd largest economy in the world, behind only the U.S. as a whole, and Japan. And in Bimingham you will find Jews figure prominently into two of our big economies here, development and medicine. Its not like they’re holding hands at the Country Club (a horrid institution in any state), but Jews and protestants both share afluence and show little division in the community. Yey!! The problems in the South, like many parts of the US, relate to racial tension. Judiaism; not a race.
True; Southern Baptists will tell you you’re going to hell for not buying into Jesus (or for eating him. Catholics!), but will embrace you as their neighbor at the same time. It’s strange, yes. But it’s these differences that make us a resourceful and great society.
I think your religion is really great! And regarding the whole Jesus thing, you’re probably right about that. But whatever. I. Love. Christmas. (except for the rampant commercialism.) In the south many of us are level headed "normal" people, not looking to lynch. It’s true. Some of us even drive biodiesel VWs. I’m happy to share and live with my fellow countrymen, whether they are Jewish or not. I, as a southerner, love and embrace everyone. Except Auburn fans.
The northeast’s perception of the south is almost fifty years out of date. When you say "Atlanta" in New England, and white people will associate the city with the KKK, not recognizing the city has been 80 – 90% black, and has been for decades. We cling to the outdated image of barbaric racist Southern culture in order to feed our own sense of superiority, and partly to obscure the fact that there are probably even more bigots north of the Mason-Dixon line than below it. George Wallace knew it, but we’re just a tad slow to come to grips with it.
If y’all are really interested in helping out Southern Jews, you should look into the Institute of Southern Jewish Life http://www.isjl.org
Dear Gentile,
The Florida panhandle is still the South, but the rest of Florida may as well be the 6th borough of New York. You’re right, there are tons of Jews there; all the old bubbies and zeities from NYC who retire to the sunshine filled retirement homes so they can wear white belts and shoes and play shuffleboard all day. South Florida isn’t full of delicatessens because it’s the South. It’s full of delicatessens so transplanted New York Jews can enjoy 72 degree weather and still get matzo ball soup and corned beef on rye.
More from Rachel Shukert! I love everything she writes!
he married a non-Jew and was not exactly Joe Lieberman in his ethnic pride. And his southern contemporaries were more, not less anti-Jewish than those now wearing that flag.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7DC113EF93BA15751C0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
Having spent a simchat torah in Birmingham, I will say that Dixie’s a pretty damn cool place for everybody – long as you’re white and religiously identified. The Sunday paper actually has a "Religion" section, where you’re likely to see a Rabbi and his/her spouse/kids on the front page around the High Holiday season, along with a recipe for raisin challah.
It was kinda weird. Our East Coast papers don’t have "Religion" sections, and I kinda like it that way…
It’s called Flordia.
Also, lest we forget that mellifluous trisomy of evil, the KKK makes its nest in the South. Anyone remember the Greensboro Massacre of ’79?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_massacre
I love this column! Keep ‘em coming, it makes me feel smarter.
There have been Jews in the South for quite a long time (the name Judah P. Benjamin mean anything to anyone?), and, in fact, Jews were generally treated pretty well down there (as the southern branch of my family would attest). Indeed, as to anti-Semitism, a case can be made that New England has had a good deal more than the states south of the Mason-Dixon line.
Tiresome northern stereotypes notwithstanding, the south really is a charming place to live (ask the folks from the Savannah Kollel).
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