On Middle Ground: A History of the Jews of Baltimore

398 Pages·2018·21.578 MB·English

by  Eric L. Goldstein, Deborah R. Weiner

On Middle Ground

On Middle
Ground
A History of the Jews of Baltimore
Eric L. GoLdstEin and dEborah r. WEinEr
Published in Cooperation with the Jewish Museum of Maryland
Johns Hopkins University Press
baLtimorE
© 2018 Johns Hopkins University Press
All rights reserved. Published 2018
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Johns Hopkins University Press
2715 North Charles Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363
www.press.jhu.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Goldstein, Eric L., author. | Weiner, Deborah R., author.
Title: On middle ground : a history of the Jews of Baltimore /
Eric L. Goldstein and Deborah R. Weiner.
Description: Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, [2018] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017018080 | ISBN 9781421424521 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781421424538 (electronic) | ISBN 1421424525 (hardcover : alk. paper)
| ISBN 1421424533 (electronic)
Subjects: LCSH: Jews—Maryland—Baltimore—History. |
Baltimore (Md.)—Ethnic relations.
Classification: LCC F189.B19 J53 2018 | DDC 975.2/6004924—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017018080
A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Frontispiece: The bar mitzvah of Louis Stein (detail), 1908. Jewish Museum of Maryland.
Special discounts are available for bulk purchases of this book. For more information, please
contact Special Sales at 410-516-6936 or [email protected].
Johns Hopkins University Press uses environmentally friendly book materials, including recycled
text paper that is composed of at least 30 percent post-consumer waste, whenever possible.
To two products of Jewish East Baltimore:
Albert Goldstein (1911–1986) and
Sylvia Feldman Goldstein (1912–2008)
May their memory be for a blessing
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
One. Baltimore’s First Jews 17
Two. A “City and Mother in Israel” 53
Three. The Great Wave Hits Baltimore 104
Four. Bawlmer Jews: The Interwar Years 179
Five. From Baltimore to Pikesville 244
Epilogue. The Challenges of a New Century 301
Notes  321
Index  369
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Acknowledgments
During the many years we have each been researching and writing about the history
of Baltimore Jews, we have relied on the support and assistance of numerous indi-
viduals and institutions. First and foremost, we wish to thank the Jewish Museum of
Maryland (JMM), which has served as the home base for this project. Former execu-
tive director Avi Y. Decter helped us envision the book and harnessed the resources
that made it possible. Deborah Cardin, our liaison with the museum, smoothed the
way through the many stages of our work. Joanna Church carried out the massive
task of assembling images and obtaining the necessary permissions. Thanks also to
current executive director Marvin Pinkert, who joined the JMM after the project
was under way.
The following donors provided generous funding to the JMM to underwrite the
publication of this book: the Richard and Rosalee C. Davison Foundation, Willard
and Lillian Hackerman, the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, the Leonard
and Helen R. Stulman Charitable Foundation, and the Joseph and Harvey Meyer-
hoff Family Charitable Funds. Additional financial support for the project was pro-
vided by the Southern Jewish Historical Society and the Tam Institute for Jewish
Studies at Emory University.
We owe a particular debt of gratitude to Gilbert Sandler, the keeper of the mem-
ory of Baltimore Jewry. Gil has inspired us with his keen eye for history and his gift
for storytelling. We have learned much from his many publications and appreciate
the enthusiastic support he has given to our work. The book also owes much to
former JMM leaders who pioneered in exploring Baltimore Jewish history and built
the collections on which our research is based. We particularly wish to recognize
the late Isaac M. Fein, a founder of the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland (the
JMM’s predecessor) and author of an important institutional history of Baltimore
Jews, The Making of an American Jewish Community (1971); and Bernard Fishman,
the JMM’s first professional director, who transformed it into one of the nation’s
leading Jewish history museums and archives. We also must acknowledge the late
ix