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History of the Jews in Utah

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Jewish pioneers first arrived in Utah after the 1849 gold rush. The first instance of organized Judaism in Utah was the creation of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1864.

Early Jewish pioneers in Utah

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Jews first came to Utah Territory after the 1849 gold rush.[1][2] The trip was dangerous enough that insurance companies restricted activities of policy holders who wished to travel around the West. Jews who took the overland route included Solomon N. Carvalho, Julius and Fanny Brooks, Meyer Rosenberg, Berry Marks, Morris Rosenbaum, Nicholas S. Ransohoff, Eli Ransohoff, Samuel Kahn, Abraham and Adam Kuhn, Meyer Cohn, and Gumpert Goldberg. Other early Jewish pioneers went West by sea, landing in California before coming to Utah. Those early pioneers who took the sea included Abraham Watters, Aaron Greenewald and Charles Popper.[3] Later, organizations such as the Jewish Industrial Removal Office helped Jews relocate from the crowded cities of the East coast to places in the west.[4] Businesses founded by Jews did well and by 1878 many villages throughout Utah had at least one Jewish store.[5]

Many of the early Jewish pioneers in Utah were young, unmarried men. During the first years, these young men, who were often clerks or merchants, slept in narrow quarters in the back of their stores and did their own housework. They often ate at restaurants in the city. Keeping Kosher was very difficult, if not impossible, but they did the best they could to fulfill their dietary laws.[6] Two of the earliest Jewish merchants to come to Utah were Nicholas S. Ransohoff and Samuel Kahn. Ransohoff was a merchant, but he also freighted goods across the plains. He had close commercial relationships with several Latter-day Saint authorities and transacted business with Brigham Young several times. Kahn worked as a freighter as well, and eventually established one of the biggest wholesale grocers in Utah Territory.[7] The majority of the Jewish merchants who arrived in Utah in the mid-1860s had previously been settled in California mining camps, but as mining opportunities in California subsided, these merchants sought a better place for permanent settlement.[7]

Jewish activity in Utah

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The first instance of organized Judaism in Utah was the creation of the Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1864. Brigham Young deeded land to the Jewish community, and the first Jewish cemetery was founded in 1866. After the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, many more Jewish families came to Utah. The first Jewish congregation established in Utah was Congregation B'nai Israel, established in 1873 by Samuel Kahn, Louis Reggel, Isadore Morris, M. C. Phillips, Mr. Gansler, Isaac Woolf, and I. Watters.[8] Jewish service organization B'nai Brith founded a lodge in Salt Lake in 1892, as well as a sister chapter in 1923. The National Council of Jewish Women founded a chapter in Salt Lake in 1941. Hadassah founded a Salt Lake chapter in 1943.

Jews participated in several areas during the First World War, including in the armed forces, the Red Cross, and other supporting organizations. Jewish activity boomed in the World War II war effort. Jewish Utahns once again served in the armed forces, worked with the Red Cross, and sold savings bonds.

Jews in Salt Lake City

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The development of the Jewish community in Salt Lake City followed the historic national trend. The first Jewish couple to settle in Utah were Julius and Fanny Brooks, who settled in Salt Lake City in 1853. They came from Illinois in a company of wagons.[2]

Photographer and painter Solomon Nunes Carvalho arrived in Parowan, Utah, on 7 February 1854. A few weeks later he made his way to Salt Lake City. In order to fund his travel home, he set up a business as a portrait painter. He painted portraits of Brigham Young, Daniel H. Wells, James Ferguson, Seth Blair, Wilford Woodruff, A. O. Smoot, and Feramorz Little.[2]

Utah's Jews were active in community life. The Salt Lake City Directory published in 1874 listed ninety-one Jewish businesses. Fourteen of those had been in business since 1867.[5] In 1903, the Jews of the city and others who supported their cause met to pass a resolution against the Kishinev pogrom in Russia.[9]

Temple B'Nai Israel in September 2016

Congregation B'nai Israel was founded, first holding Reform services at the Odd Fellows Hall. In 1880, the congregation of St. Mark's Episcopal Church relinquished claim to a burial ground granted to them by the city so that Congregation B'nai Israel could use it.[10] In 1891, Temple B'nai Israel was built. Congregation Montefiore was founded in 1881. Congregation Sharey Tzedek broke off from Congregation Montefiore, and existed until the effects of the Great Depression forced it to close in the early 1930s. The Congregation Sharey Tzedek synagogue's dedication service on 28 March 1920 featured a speech by former Utah governor Simon Bamberger. Many of the members of Congregation Sharey Tzedek were recent Russian and Eastern European arrivals to the United States.[11] Congregations Montefiore and B'nai Israel merged in 1976.[12][13] The activities of the congregations are often featured in various newspapers, whether concerning High Holy Days or sermons. They have been featured in newspapers from the formation of the congregations to the present.[14][15]

Jews in Ogden

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Ogden was the route through which many new arrivals to Utah were routed after the completion of the railroad. Jewish immigrants often stayed in Ogden for a time before continuing on to their final destinations.[16]

The first Jewish congregation in Ogden was established in 1890, when Congregation Ohab Sholem was founded. There was no synagogue in Ogden at the time, so the congregation met in various places. The first meetings were held at 352 25th St, which was a clothing store owned by congregation member Ben Oppman.[17] The congregation was sustained throughout the twentieth century. During the community's celebration of Purim in 1911, plans to build a synagogue were announced. In 1917, the name of the congregation was changed to Congregation Brith Sholem. In 1921, the synagogue in Ogden was built.[18] At the laying of the cornerstone for the synagogue, the principal address was given by former Utah Governor Simon Bamberger.[19] The congregation was incorporated in 1922.[20] Congregation Brith Sholem started as an Orthodox congregation, but is now a Reform synagogue.[21] The synagogue suffered an arson fire in December 1989, but recovered with the help of the Ogden community.[22][23][24]

By the 1920s, between thirty to fifty Jewish families had settled in Ogden.[25] The number of Jewish families in Ogden presently are forty-five.[26] The Jewish population in Ogden has remained constant throughout the twentieth century.

Jewish congregations in Utah

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Salt Lake City

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Ogden

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Park City

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Jewish settlements in Utah

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Notable Utah Jews

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Utah History Encyclopedia". www.uen.org. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  2. ^ a b c Brooks, Juanita (1973). History of the Jews in Utah and Idaho. Salt Lake City, Utah: Western Epics. pp. 13–18. ISBN 9780914740124.
  3. ^ Watters, Leon L. (1952). The Pioneer Jews of Utah: Studies in American Jewish History. New York City, New York: American Jewish Historical Society. p. 4.
  4. ^ Harrison, Donald H. (Summer 2014). "Isaac and Sadie Wax: Pioneer Jews in Rural Utah". Western States Jewish History. 46 (4): 28–52 – via EBSCO.
  5. ^ a b Brooks, Juanita (1973). History of the Jews in Utah and Idaho. Salt Lake City, Utah: Western Epics. pp. 71–72. ISBN 9780914740124.
  6. ^ Watters, Leon L. (1952). The Pioneer Jews of Utah: Studies in American Jewish History. New York City, New York: American Jewish Historical Society. p. 30.
  7. ^ a b Watters, Leon L. (1952). The Pioneer Jews of Utah: Studies in American Jewish History. New York City, New York: American Jewish Historical Society. pp. 43–46.
  8. ^ "The Hebrew Congregations". The Salt Lake Herald. 13 September 1885. p. 12. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  9. ^ "Intervention Is Demanded". The Salt Lake Herald. 31 May 1903. p. 3. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  10. ^ "City Council". The Salt Lake Herald. 26 May 1880. p. 3. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  11. ^ "Ex-synagogue, current VFW post fights to hang on". The Salt Lake Tribune. 2 January 1994. p. 50. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  12. ^ Andersen, Rebecca (Winter 2010). "Zionism in Zion: Salt Lake City's Hadassah Chapter, 1943-1963". Utah Historical Quarterly. 78 (1): 39–57. doi:10.2307/45063231. JSTOR 45063231 – via EBSCO.
  13. ^ "S. L. Jews Unite in Congregation Kol Ami, 'All My People'". The Salt Lake Tribune. 22 July 1972. p. 6. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  14. ^ "Rabbi Delivers Initial Sermon". The Salt Lake Herald. 3 December 1904. p. 8. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  15. ^ Stack, Peggy Fletcher (9 October 2019). "Young, 'dynamic' Utah rabbi is bringing together Kol Ami's Jewish congregants". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  16. ^ Brooks, Juanita (1973). History of the Jews in Utah and Idaho. Salt Lake City, Utah: Western Epics. p. 145. ISBN 9780914740124.
  17. ^ O'Neil, Hugh F. (16 April 1939). "Jewish Church Begun in 1890". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. p. 13. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  18. ^ "Work Begun on New Synagogue". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. 29 July 1921. p. 6. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  19. ^ "Wotherspoon Will Talk at Dedication". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. 21 August 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  20. ^ "Brith Sholem Congregation, Notice". The Ogden Standard-Examiner. 29 April 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 6 December 2024.
  21. ^ "The History of Congregation Brith Sholem and Synagogue · 100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah · USU Digital Exhibits". exhibits.lib.usu.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  22. ^ "Flame of Unity Burns Bright After Ogden Synagogue Fire". The Salt Lake Tribune. 3 February 1990. p. 52. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  23. ^ "Jews Celebrate Reopening Of Synagogue". The Salt Lake Tribune. 18 September 1990. p. 13. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  24. ^ "Investigators Say Arson at Synagogue In Ogden May Be Religion-Motivated". The Salt Lake Tribune. 1 January 1990. p. 26. Retrieved 8 December 2024.
  25. ^ ""You can't get anywhere without coming to Ogden!" · 100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah · USU Digital Exhibits". exhibits.usu.edu. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  26. ^ "About Us » Congregation Brith Sholem". Congregation Brith Sholem. 2018-08-23. Retrieved 2024-12-02.
  27. ^ Ellsworth, S. George, ed. (2017). "Simon Bamberger: Jewish Governor of Utah". Western States Jewish History. 49 (2): 31–41 – via EBSCO.
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