History of the Jews in San Francisco

Last updated
Congregation Emanu-El on Sutter Street (1866-1926), San Francisco Jewish Synagogue, Congregation Emanu-El. Sutter Street, San Francisco, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views.jpg
Congregation Emanu-El on Sutter Street (1866–1926), San Francisco

The history of the Jews in San Francisco began with the California Gold Rush in the second half of the 19th-century.

Contents

The San Francisco Bay Area has the fourth largest Jewish population in the U.S. [1] behind the New York area, southeast Florida and metropolitan Los Angeles. Jewish San Franciscans played a significant role in the economic and cultural development of San Francisco and California. As of 2011, some 6% of the city's residents are of Jewish descent. [2]

History

Congregation Emanu-El (2006) on Lake Street Congregation Emanu-El.jpg
Congregation Emanu-El (2006) on Lake Street

19th-century

The small Mexican settlement of Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco in 1847 and quickly became the most important city in the American West. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought many people to San Francisco, including Jews. One of the first Jewish synagogues to be formed was the Congregation Sherith Israel, in 1849, which also constructed a cemetery. [3] That same year, Congregation Emanu-El began as a minyan at Lewis Abraham Franklin's tent store on Jackson Street at Kearny Street, with 30 Jews from Poland, Prussia, Bavaria and the Eastern United States, and it was initially Orthodox. [4] [5] [6]

Temple Sherith Israel in 2011 Temple Sherith Israel, 2266 California St., San Francisco, CA 6-12-2011 4-37-46 PM.JPG
Temple Sherith Israel in 2011

In 1851, Congregation Emanu-El and Congregation Sherith Israel of San Francisco were joined as a single synagogue; but soon after they split into two congregations. [7] Congregation Emanu-El was mostly Bavarian German immigrants, [5] and Congregation Sherith Israel was mostly immigrants from Eastern Europe, Poland, and England. [4]

San Francisco's Jewish population was the second largest Jewish community in the country by 1880. [4]

Home of Peace Cemetery, also known as Navai Shalome, was established in 1889 for Congregation Emanu-El; [8] [9] and Hills of Eternity Memorial Park cemetery was established in 1889 for Congregation Sherith Israel. [8] [10] Both Jewish cemeteries were founded in San Francisco, and later moved to nearby Colma, California, which has a total of four Jewish cemeteries. [11]

20th-century

On April 18, 1906, an earthquake and subsequent fires devastated over 80% of San Francisco. The destruction affected all its citizens, including the nearly 30,000 Jews who lived in the city. [12] A Jewish newspaper, Emanu-El, was the first weekly newspaper to get back into publication after the quake, which helped people find each other after the devastation. [13]

The first Sephardic synagogue in San Francisco, Magain David Sephardim Congregation, was founded in 1935. [14] The Synagogue's president wrote an article called "The Fate of European Jewry Hinges on the Turn of the Spanish Revolution" and the congregation hosted anti-fascist and anti-Nazi meetings. [15]

The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, originally founded as the Young Men's Hebrew Society in 1877, was formally incorporated in 1930. [16] In the late 1930s, refugees arrived in San Francisco from Germany, Austria, Poland, Spain and Czechoslovakia, and the center offered them free memberships and English classes. By the 1950s, the JCCSF was "a polyglot mixture of people, activities, services and programing" whose members came from diverse cities across the United States and many other countries. [17] Louis Blumenthal was its' executive director from 1925 until his death in 1959, and his wife, Ema Loewy Blumenthal, its' associate director from 1925 until her retirement in 1964.

In the 1980s, thousands of Jewish refugees from Russia arrived in the city, and by 2021, they had started a Russian Jewish non-profit organization and purchased a building to be used as a community center. [18]

21st-century

A 2018 study on Jews in the ten counties comprising the San Francisco Bay Area said many Jews had left the city of San Francisco for other parts of the Bay Area, but that 17% of this population still lived in the city. The San Francisco Bay Area contains the 4th largest population of Jews in the United States, compared to other metropolitan areas. The Bay Area Jewish population is younger, more ethnically diverse, more educated, and more likely to be LGBTQ than Jews in other metropolitan areas. [19]

Notable Jewish people from San Francisco

Aaron Fleishhacker

Aaron Fleishhacker was a German-born American businessman who founded the San Francisco-based paper box manufacturer, "A. Fleishhacker & Co." Fleishhacker was also active during the Gold Rush with the formation of Comstock silver mines in Nevada. [20] Fleishhacker was a founding member of Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco and a local philanthropist. [21] His son Herbert Fleishhacker continued his father's legacy.

Florence Prag Kahn

Florence Prag Kahn was the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress for California's 4th district. [22] [23] Her family moved to San Francisco, California in 1869, when she was child. She graduated from the San Francisco Girls' High School, before attending University of California, Berkeley.

Julius Kahn

Julius Kahn was a United States Congressman in California's 4th district and served 12 terms, after his death his wife Florence served in his former office. [24] He has been described by the American Jerusalem as "among the most influential Jews in San Francisco—as well as national–civic life, from the middle of the 19th century into the 1930s". [25] Representative Kahn authored the Kahn Exclusion Act, ultimately enacted as the Chinese Exclusion Act, a United States federal law that that prohibited all immigration of Chinese laborers. [24]

Levi Strauss

Levi Strauss left New York for San Francisco in order to supplied gold miners with sturdy denim pants. In 1853, Levi Strauss & Co. was founded as "David Stern & Levi Strauss" and was located at 90 Sacramento Street near to the docks of San Francisco. The world-renowned blue jeans were invented by Latvian Jew Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss, who patented their design in 1873.

Adolph Sutro

Adolph Sutro was the first Jewish mayor of San Francisco from 1895 until 1897. At one time Sutro owned one-twelfth of the acreage of San Francisco. He purchased the Cliff House in the early 1880s, and one thousand acres of land facing the ocean, now called Sutro heights. [26] The Sutro Baths, located on the north side of Ocean Beach, south of the Golden Gate Bridge, opened as the world's largest indoor swimming complex in 1896.

Others

See also

Related Research Articles

The Western Jewish History Center existed as part of the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley, California, from 1967 to 2010. It is now the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, administered as part of the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Prag Kahn</span> American politician (1866–1948)

Florence Kahn was an American teacher and politician who in 1925 became the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress. She was only the fifth woman to serve in Congress, and the second from California, after fellow San Franciscan Mae Nolan. Like Nolan, she took the seat in the House of Representatives left vacant by the death of her husband, Julius Kahn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Emanu-El (San Francisco)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in San Francisco, California, United States

Congregation Emanu-El is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 2 Lake Street, in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Founded in 1850, the congregation is one of the two oldest Jewish congregations in California, and one of the largest Jewish congregations in the United States. A member of the Union for Reform Judaism, Congregation Emanu-El is a significant gathering place for the Bay Area Jewish community.

Jewish Texans have been a part of the history of Texas since the first European explorers arrived in the region in the 16th century. In 1990, there were around 108,000 adherents to Judaism in Texas. More recent estimates place the number at around 120,000.

Dallas is the second-largest city in Texas and has one of the largest Jewish communities in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in the American West</span>

The 19th century saw Jews, like many other people, moving to the American West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Temple Sinai (Oakland, California)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in California, United States of America

Temple Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 2808 Summit Street in Oakland, California, in the United States. Founded in 1875, it is the oldest Jewish congregation in the East San Francisco Bay region.

Congregation Am Tikvah is a combined Conservative and Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue located at 625 Brotherhood Way in San Francisco, California, in the United States. The congregation was formed in 2021 as the result of the merger of the Conservative B'nai Emunah and the Reform Beth Israel Judea congregations, with the latter formed in 1969 through a merger of the Conservative Congregation Beth Israel and the Reform Temple Judea. The congregation is affiliated with both the Union for Reform Judaism and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

Joseph Asher (1921–1990) was an American rabbi born in Germany, known for his advocacy of reconciliation between the Jews and the Germans in the post-Holocaust era, and for his support for the civil rights movement in the United States. He was senior rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco for 19 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congregation Sherith Israel (San Francisco, California)</span> Reform Jewish synagogue in San Francisco, California, United States

Congregation Sherith Israel is a Reform Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in San Francisco, California, in the United States. Founded in 1851 during California’s Gold Rush period, it is one of the oldest synagogues in the United States. In more modern times, the congregation widely known for its innovative approach to worship and lifecycle celebrations. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, its historic sanctuary building, completed in 1905, is one of San Francisco's most prominent architectural landmarks.

Rhoda Haas Goldman was an American billionaire in San Francisco, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Rosenbaum</span> American historian

Fred Rosenbaum is an American author, historian and adult educator, specializing in the history of the Jewish community of the San Francisco Bay Area. Rosenbaum has been called a "superb storyteller". He is a founder and the director of Lehrhaus Judaica in Berkeley, California, described as "the largest Jewish adult education center in the western United States".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Houston</span>

The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.

Aaron Fleishhacker was a Kingdom of Bavaria-born American businessman who founded paper box manufacturer, A. Fleishhacker & Co. He had been active during the Gold Rush with the formation of Comstock silver mines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hills of Eternity Memorial Park</span>

Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, also known as Giboth Olam, is a Jewish cemetery founded in 1889, and is located at 1301 El Camino Real, in Colma, California. This cemetery is owned by Congregation Sherith Israel of San Francisco. It is one of four Jewish cemeteries near the city of San Francisco and it shares an adjacent space next to the Home of Peace cemetery. At Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, Jewish burials are traditionally done side-by-side, which means there is a need for larger grounds and ground maintenance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home of Peace Cemetery (Colma, California)</span> Jewish cemetery in San Mateo County, California

Home of Peace Cemetery, also known as Navai Shalome, is a Jewish cemetery established in 1889, and is located at 1299 El Camino Real in Colma, California. The cemetery contains the Emanu-El Mausoleum, owned by and serving the Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco. It is one of four Jewish cemeteries near the city of San Francisco and it shares an adjacent space next to the Hills of Eternity Memorial Park.

Martin Abraham Meyer was an American rabbi.

References

  1. ↑ "Portrait of Bay Area Jewish Life depicts one of America's most diverse Jewish Populations". 14 February 2018.
  2. ↑ "The History and Diversity of the Jewish Community in San Francisco". Chicago Jewish News. 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  3. ↑ Benjamin, Israel J. "Jewish Life in San Francisco". Jewish-American History Foundation. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Lattin, Don (1999-09-10). "S.F. Jews' 150 New Years / Oldest synagogues in city stem from celebration of High Holy Days during Gold Rush". SFGATE . Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  5. 1 2 "Emanu-El's pedigree: a towering presence". J. weekly. 1999-10-08. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  6. ↑ "Our City, Our Story: The Franklin Brothers of San Diego". San Diego History Center, San Diego, CA. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  7. ↑ "Congregation Emanu-El of San Francisco". Jewish Museum of the American West (JMAW). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  8. 1 2 Peterson, Nancy Simons (2011). Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research. California Genealogical Society. Oakland, California: California Genealogical Society. p. 22. ISBN   978-0-9785694-5-7.
  9. ↑ Cantalupo, Barbara; Harrison-Kahan, Lori (2020-11-03). Heirs of Yesterday. Wayne State University Press. ISBN   978-0-8143-4669-3.
  10. ↑ Cantalupo, Barbara; Harrison-Kahan, Lori (2020). Heirs of Yesterday. Wayne State University Press. ISBN   978-0-8143-4669-3.
  11. ↑ Smookler, Michael (2007). Colma. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 48–49. ISBN   978-0-7385-4727-5.
  12. ↑ Gurock, Jeffrey S. (1998). Anti-semitism in America. ISBN   9780415919456.
  13. ↑ Fishkoff, Sue. "How This Newspaper Kept Jews In Touch After the 1906 Earthquake". JWeekly.
  14. ↑ "Magain David Sephardim". Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Magain David History". Magain David. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  16. ↑ Irwin, Mary Ann. "Sex, War, and Community Service: The Battle For San Francisco's Jewish Community Center". Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. 32 (1): 36–70. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  17. ↑ Kupfer, David. "Jewish Community Center". FoundSF. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  18. ↑ Esensten, Andrew. "San Francisco Russian Jewish Community Gets Its Own Center". Weekly. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  19. ↑ Ghert-Zand, Renee. "Vast Young Jewish San Fran Jewish Community Is Growing--but Unaffiliated". Times of Israel. Retrieved December 29, 2023.
  20. ↑ Zinko, Carolyne (2016-08-03). "Delia Fleishhacker Ehrlich, noted SF philanthropist, dies at 85". SFGATE . Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  21. ↑ "Aaron Fleishhacker & Sons, Mortimer & Herbert: Jewish Pioneer Merchants, Manufacturers, Bankers and Philanthropists of San Francisco". Jewish Museum of the American West (JMAW). Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  22. ↑ "Florence Prag Kahn". JewishVirtualLibrary.org.
  23. ↑ "KAHN, Florence Prag, US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov.
  24. 1 2 Eskenazi, Joe (2018-05-04). "Why change playground name? Answer lies in early SF Jews' racism". J. weekly. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  25. ↑ "The Kahn and Prag Families". American Jerusalem.
  26. ↑ "Adolph Sutro 1830-1898".

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.