The Lower East Side Tenement
Museum, New York City
Jewish educational projects in
North America — the
Museum of the Southern
Jewish Experience. Started in
1989 with a grant from the
Plough Foundation of
Memphis, the museum dis-
plays its collections in two
locations. Its main site is in
Utica, near Jackson, the state
capital. Its historic synagogue
is in Natchez. The museum
explores past and present chal-
lenges of Jews living in the
South, including long-range
planning assistance to rural
congregations. For informa-
tion, call (601) 362-6357.
Corned beef locator: Grits
are everywhere; corned beef is
hard to find.
the first elected Jewish governor
in the U.S. Governor
Alexander's house and retail
store are listed in the Idaho his-
toric registry. Alexander House
is located at 304 State St.;
Alexander's Retail Store
is at 820 Main. For
information, call the
synagogue at (208)
342C- 07 r2, e7d.
beef
locator: Save
your cravings;
these are wide
open spaces.
MIDDLE AMERICA:
Chicago, Denver
Chicago has the largest Jewish
population in middle America
at about 250,000 and the
burly, crude and intolerant lot. The
largest concentration of Jewish
singles, about 70,000 between the ages town of Leadville had many successful
Jewish prospectors, including the
of 21 and 65.
More than 6,000 Russian Jews have Guggenheims.
Denver's Larimer Square had a
settled in this vibrant, hard-working
host of Jewish merchants in the early
city in the last decade. Of special
20th century. A visit to
interest is the Spertus Museum,
Denver needs to
housed in the Spertus Institute of
t... include the spectacu-
............0,---..„0,
Jewish Studies, 618 S.
lar Rocky Mountains.
Michigan Ave., which
To follow a Jewish pathway
_.......eyr
has archaeological as
v.,._,-- -- to the great outdoors, there
well as ceremonial
is the Million Dollar
Jewish artifacts. There
is a hands-on simula-
--- ■■ , Highway in the San Juan
Mountains, located in Mesa
tion of an archaeological
Verde National Park. The
dig for children of all ages.
scenic road stretches from
For information on hours,
Ouray to Silverton and includes the
exhibits and fees, call (312)
hip resort town of Telluride. This
922-9012.
highway was built by "the Hebrew
Two architectural gems in this city
pathfinder," Otto Mears, a German
noted for great architecture are North
Jewish immigrant who was reputed to
Shore Congregation Israel, 1185
speak Ute with a Yiddish accent. See
Sheridan Road, Glencoe, designed by
the stained glass windows in the
Minoru Yamasaki; and North
rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol
Suburban Synagogue Beth El, at
building honoring two Jewish
1175 Sheridan Road in Highland
Coloradans, Mears and Francis
Park, designed by Percival Goodman.
Weisbart Jacobs, who was an organizer
Corned beef locator: Jewish neigh-
of the National Jewish Hospital for
borhoods in the city limits are in the
treatment of respiratory diseases.
West Rogers Park section and the area
Corned beef locator: The city's
around Devon and Touhy avenues,
Jewish population is very well inte-
also the North Shore suburbs from
grated but a Chasidic community
Evanston to Highland Park and west
exists on Colfax Avenue.
from Skokie to Deerfield.
Jews lived, worked and conducted
services in practically every Colorado
mining town during the boom days,
even though miners tended to be a
7/9
1999
106 Detroit Jewish News
An image from Birobidzhan, from the
"Stalin's Forgotten Zion" exhibit at the
° Spertus Museum, Chicago
NORTHWEST:
San Francisco, Boise, Colma
Boise's Jewish population dates back
to 1861. Jews came as miners, mer-
chants and federal officers protecting
the wagon trains that streamed into
this new territory.
Temple Beth Israel, 1102 State St.,
built in 1895, is the oldest synagogue
in continuous use west of the
Mississippi. Its Romanesque-Moorish
architecture, its beautiful stained glass
windows and rough-hewn shake shin-
gles, make a striking and unique blend
of European tradition with the style of
the American frontier.
It is a short walk from the syna-
gogue to see the house of its first pres-
ident, Moses Alexander, who was also
In 1860, when there were
150,000 Jews in the entire
U.S., there were 5,000 in San
Francisco, totaling 10 percent
of the city's population. Many
of the city's most successful
retailers, with names like
Magnin and Strauss, were ped-
dlers who braved a difficult journey,
either sailing around Cape Horn or
crossing the Rockies, to service the
needs of the miners during the gold
rush.
The city, then and now, is noted for
its natural beauty, its low-key atmos-
phere and its liberal attitudes. Because of
this, San Francisco never had a designat-
ed Jewish neighborhood like eastern
cities. Yet there are plenty of sights that
reflect the importance of Jews in this
city's past and present.
In the downtown financial area is a
plaque marking the first Gold Rush,
located on the eastern facade' of the
old Transamerica Building on the cor-
ner of Montgomery and Washington