By Eric George Tauber
CINCINNATI, Ohio — There are Jews here. This can be a simple statement of fact, but it is often phrased: There are Jews here?! Small towns are not where we usually expect to find Jewish communities. Such small town shtiebels are the subject of a documentary film, There Are Jews Here through America Reframed and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
As older generations pass from this world and young families move to cities, it can be tough for small town synagogues to even make a minyan… even when counting women. As memberships and dues dwindle, how do you keep a rabbi? How do you even keep the lights on? Often you don’t. Then, the synagogue and Jewish cemetery are simply abandoned.
If you are a member, you might find yourself becoming the leader because there’s just no one else to do it. This was the case for Nancy Oyer when she found herself leading services at Temple B’nei Israel in Butte, Montana. She wasn’t ordained, but she had a guitar and heart for Judaism. Likewise, Uri Drucker seems a bit young for a synagogue president, but he stepped up to the plate at Agudas Achim in Laredo, Texas. One visual image that struck me is how, when you have ten people occupying a building that seats a hundred, half of them still sit in the back. They aren’t implementing social distancing guidelines. That’s just where they’ve always sat, so that’s where they sit.
There are other issues that come with. Finding a suitable spouse in a small town can be tricky as there are only so many people to choose from. That gets even trickier when you belong to a minority and you’re already related to more than half the congregation. This makes interfaith marriage inevitable. So how do you raise the kids? Trying to do half-and-half usually winds up with all of nothing. Yet, when one spouse converts, their family often feels betrayed.
Yet it’s not all bad news. Folks can get creative. Dothan, Alabama, “the Peanut Capitol” has a population of 68,000 but a Jewish population of only 143. The board of Temple Emanu-El knew that they had to do something drastic. Through the generosity of local philanthropist, Larry Blumberg, they offered grants of $50,000 to each family that relocated to Dothan and joined the temple. For a family struggling to pay their rent and dues in Los Angeles, this was bashert.
We’re not all cut out for big cities and small-town life still has its charms. It’s nice to be able to afford a house with a yard on a quiet street as opposed to a cramped apartment next to a freeway. It’s also nice to know the names of the people you meet in the market and watch your children form lifelong friendships with their classmates. It’s not always easy belonging to a minority in such places, especially when they ask you where you go to church and they want your child to participate in the Christmas pageant. But wherever there are Jews, there is Jewish community. And where there is community, there is fellowship and strength.
There Are Jews Here can be viewed via this link.
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Eric George Tauber is a freelance writer based in Cincinnati who specializes in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com