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The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008 Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland was the center of the Jewish community in the area.
Contents
History
Until 1880 Houston had a smaller Jewish population than Galveston Island, then the cultural center of the state. In 1844, a plot of land in Houston had been purchased for a Jewish cemetery. In 1850, the Jewish community in Houston had 17 adults and in 1854, the Orthodox Beth Israel Congregation opened in a former house that had been converted to a synagogue. By 1860 the number of Jewish adults grew to 68, and that year there were 40 Jewish children. In the 19th Century the Jewish population moved into the First and Second wards and later settled in the Third Ward. Congregation Beth Israel was first established in a frame building on LaBranch Street near the Third Ward settlement. In the 19th Century the Franklin and Navigation area in the Fifth Ward and the area around Washington and Houston street in the Sixth Ward received Jewish settlers from Eastern Europe. As of around 1987 the areas in the historic Fifth and Sixth Wards no longer have significant Jewish populations. Roselyn Bell, author of the "Houston" entry in The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights, wrote that the Houston Jewish community was "much more shtetl-like than it is today."
Beginning in 1880 many Eastern European Jews moved to Houston. They integrated with German Jews, differing from Eastern European Jews in the East Coast. Around that time the Russian-Polish Adath Yeshurun synagogue and the majority Galician Dorshe Tov synagogue, both Orthodox Jewish synagogues, had been founded. Adath Yeshurun merged into Congregation Adath Yeshurun in 1891. The Galveston Plan, an early 20th Century plan that called for sending Eastern European Jewish immigrants from heavily populated East Coast areas to less densely populated areas between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, sent many Jews to Houston. In 1903 a Zionist organization in Houston opened. In 1908 The Jewish Herald Voice began publication. In 1915 a Jewish Workmen's Circle opened.
In the 1920s Jews began to settle in the Washington Terrace and later the Riverside Terrace areas in the current Third Ward area. Many Jewish institutions such as synagogues remained there until the end of the 1950s. Jewish families moved to Riverside Terrace in the 1930s since they were not allowed to settle in River Oaks. Allison Wollam of the Houston Business Journal stated that, at one point, Riverside Terrace "was once on the same affluent level as the swanky River Oaks area." During that period the neighborhood hosted the houses of the prominent Weingarten, Finger, and McGregor families.
Around the 1874 Beth Israel became a Reform Judaism synagogue. Congregation Beth El was founded in 1924. It was the first Conservative Judaism synagogue founded in Houston. In 1925 it occupied the former Beth Israel building. Adath Yeshurun later merged with Beth El and became Congregation Beth Yeshurun. In the 1930s many Jewish refugees from Germany moved to Houston. In 1943 Temple Beth Israel announced that people who espoused Zionist ideals were not allowed to be members, so Emanu-El was formed by people who disagreed with the decision. After World War II, more Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe moved to Houston.
By the 1950s many Jewish families moved to Southwest Houston and Jewish institutions relocated there. The first subdivisions to receive Jews were neighborhoods along North Braeswood and South Braeswood. Subsequently Meyerland began receiving Jews. From 1955 to around 1987 the Jewish population in Houston increased by 300%. By the 1970s Jews moved to Fondren Southwest in Southwest Houston and the Memorial and Spring Branch areas. By 1987 there were around 42,000 Jews in Greater Houston and Jews were located in many areas of Greater Houston.
Jewish population
As of 1987, there were about 42,000 Jews in Greater Houston and about 2.5% of the City of Houston was Jewish. Houston Jews had origins from throughout the United States, Israel, Mexico, Russia, and other places. Because the population of Jews in Houston increased so severly between 1955 and circa 1987, many of the Jews in the circa 1987 count were new to Houston. Roselyn Bell, author of the "Houston" entry in The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights, wrote that this would make it, among other Jewish populations in the U.S., "medium-sized" and comparable to that of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia had a Jewish population more than five times larger than that of Houston, which had surpassed Philadelphia as the fourth largest city in the U.S. Bell wrote that the smaller relative population results in a combination of "the close-knit feeling of a middle-sized town with big-city sophistication and large-scale institutions."
Jewish communities
As of 1987 Jews lived in many communities in Houston. In 2008 Irving N. Rothman, author of The Barber in Modern Jewish Culture: A Genre of People, Places, and Things, with Illustrations, wrote that Houston "has a scattered Jewish populace and not a large enough population of Jews to dominate any single neighborhood" and that the city's "hub of Jewish life" is the Meyerland community. Bell wrote that Southwest Houston is the "Jewish core of town, if not exactly an ethnic stronghold" and that synagogues had opened in Clear Lake City, Kingwood, and The Woodlands.
Synagogues
As of 1987 there were over 20 synagogues in Greater Houston. As of that year Congregation Beth Yeshurun, a Conservative Judaism temple, and the Reform Judaism congregations Beth Israel and Emanu-El are the largest synagogues in Houston. The Orthodox Judaism congregations included several regular congregations, a Chabad Lubavitch center, and a Sephardic congregation. Roselyn Bell wrote that in Houston "Orthodoxy remains numerically small but varied". Houston also had a Young Israel congregation which, by 1987, had moved its congregation to a Fondren-area building that was newly established and was in the a process of establishing an eruv in the vicinity of its building.
Education
Houston has several Jewish elementary schools. The Conservative Judaism elementary school in Houston is the William S. Malev School at Beth Yushurun. The Reform Judaism elementary school is the Irvin M. Shlenker School at Beth Israel. Chabad Lubavitch sponsors the Torah Day School of Houston.
Emery/Weiner School is a Jewish secondary school in Houston. Around 1987 Bell wrote that the school, at the time I. Weiner Jewish Secondary School, had a "centrist" viewpoint. The Robert M. Beren Academy is a Modern Orthodox primary and secondary school. The school, previously named Hebrew Academy, is an independent Jewish school. Roselyn Bell, author of the "Houston" entry in The Jewish Traveler: Hadassah Magazine's Guide to the World's Jewish Communities and Sights, wrote that the Hebrew Academy has "Orthodox leanings".
Because of the large number of Jewish students, Bellaire High School historically had the nickname "Hebrew High."
Economics
Around 1987 Roselyn Bell wrote that most Houston Jews work in professional industries, and that there was "a strong concentration in business, including direct retail and businesses supporting retail." Around 1987 Bell wrote that economic anti-Semitism and hiring discrimination against Jews existed in Greater Houston due to the fact that many businesses in the oil industry city do business with Arab countries.
Mickey Leland founded the Youth Kibbutz Internship, which sends ten minority children to Israel during Summer periods. This was established to deepen relations between African-American and Jewish communities and to decrease anti-Israeli sentiment.
Media
The Jewish Herald-Voice is a Jewish community newspaper headquartered in Houston.
Institutions
The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston is headquartered in Houston.
The Jewish Community Center (JCC) has a main location on South Braeswood Boulevard and a Memorial-area west Houston branch. Within the Fondren area it operates the Bertha Alyce Early Childhood Center. The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston has its offices adjacent to the main JCC building. The Seven Acres Jewish Geriatric Center serves elderly populations.
The Houston Holocaust Museum opened in 1993.
Roselyn Bell wrote that synagogues and other major Jewish institutions in Houston "are built Texas-style; big, spread out, commodious, and pleasant to look at."