History of the Jews in Baltimore
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Few Jews arrived in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...
, in its early years. As an immigrant port of entry and border town between
North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...
and South and as a manufacturing center in its own right, Baltimore has been well-positioned to reflect developments in
American Jewish American Jews or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by religion, ethnicity, culture, or nationality. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who descend from dias ...
life. Yet, the Jewish community of Baltimore has maintained its own distinctive character as well.


Earliest Jews in Baltimore

The 1906 '' Jewish Encyclopedia'' states: In 1781 Jacob Hart, father-in-law of Haym Salomon, headed a subscription of £2,000 ($10,000) loaned to Lafayette for the relief of the detachment under his command.
''Jewish Encyclopedia'' bibliography: *Archives of the congregations; *files of the Occident and of the local newspapers; *personal reminiscences of older members of the Jewish community; *'' Publications of the American-Jewish Historical Society'', No. 1, pp. 21, 22; **No. 2, pp. 65, 66; **No, 4, pp. 94–96.


Jewish cemetery in 1786

The existence of a
Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot' ...
in 1786 indicates a Jewish community of some size. How long previous to that year the cemetery had been established is not known. The earliest mention of it occurs in a document (the document was in the possession of Mr.
Mendes Cohen Mendes Israel Cohen (1796-1879) was a Jewish American politician, traveler and businessman who lived in Baltimore, Maryland. Early life Cohen was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1796, one of nine children of Israel I. Cohen and Judith Solomon Co ...
of Baltimore), dated July 12, 1786, headed "Mr. Carroll's /nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton.html" ;"title="Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton.html" ;"title="/nowiki> /nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton">Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton">/nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton/nowiki>_claims"._It_is_a_"list_of_the_names_of_the_Persons_who_occupy_the_ground_(supposed_to_be_about_2_acres)_on_the_east_side_of_ /nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton">Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton.html"_;"title="/nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton">/nowiki>Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton/nowiki>_claims"._It_is_a_"list_of_the_names_of_the_Persons_who_occupy_the_ground_(supposed_to_be_about_2_acres)_on_the_east_side_of_Jones_Falls">Jones's_Falls,_._._._with_an_account_of_the_improvements"._One_of_the_items_is_"The_Jews_burying-ground,_1_small_lot_enclosed",_situated_in_Ensor's_Town,_near_Monument_Street.html" ;"title="Jones_Falls.html" ;"title="Charles Carroll of Carrollton">/nowiki>Charles Carroll of Carrollton">Charles_Carroll_of_Carrollton.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Charles Carroll of Carrollton">/nowiki>Charles Carroll of Carrollton/nowiki> claims". It is a "list of the names of the Persons who occupy the ground (supposed to be about 2 acres) on the east side of Jones Falls">Jones's Falls, . . . with an account of the improvements". One of the items is "The Jews burying-ground, 1 small lot enclosed", situated in Ensor's Town, near Monument Street">East Monument street. A deed dated Dec. 26, 1801, conveys this same burying-ground from Charles Carroll to Levi Solomon and
Solomon Etting Solomon Etting (28 July 1764 – 6 August 1847) was a Jewish merchant and politician in Baltimore, Maryland. Before moving to Baltimore in 1791, Etting lived in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Maryland banned non-Christians from holding office ...
, for a consideration of five shillings; and another, dated Dec. 29, 1801, for a consideration of $80, conveys it to the same parties from Wm. McMechen and John Leggett. Interment has been made in it as late as 1832, the same year in which the oldest Jewish cemetery now in use was established. No indications can be discovered of the removal of remains buried in it when the cemetery was abandoned. According to the 1906 ''Jewish Encyclopedia'':


The Etting family

With the advent of the Etting family, the history of the Jewish community in Baltimore becomes better documented. It is uncertain when the Etting brothers, Reuben and
Solomon Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
, together with Levi Solomon, their uncle, came to Baltimore from York, Pa. On Jan. 4, 1796, Solomon Etting's name appears in the "''Advertiser''" as one of five persons authorized "to receive proposals in writing for a house or suitable lot" for a bank to be established in Baltimore Town. But there are indirect indications that the family settled in Baltimore before 1787. In the list of stockholders of the same bank, published at the end of 1796, appear the following names: Solomon, Kitty, Reuben, Shinah, and Hetty Etting; Jacob F.,
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...
, Benjamin, and Hetty Levy; and Levy and Myer Solomon. In the first directory of "Baltimore Town and
Fell's Point Fell's Point is a historic waterfront neighborhood in southeastern Baltimore, Maryland. It was established around 1763 along the north shore of the Baltimore Harbor and the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. The area has many antique, music, ...
", also published in 1796 – the year of the incorporation of Baltimore as a city – there are, in addition to the above, two Harts, three
Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ...
s, Philip Itzchkin, – Kahn, Benjamin Lyon, Solomon Raphael, and Isaac Solomon; and in the lists of letters remaining at the post-office occur the names of Hhym Levenstene and Benjamin Myers. Accordingly, the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' estimates the Jewish population of Baltimore in 1796 at fifteen families.


Jews elected to City Council

In 1798 the Collmus family arrived from
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
; and in 1808 the six sons of Israel J. Cohen came, with their mother, from Richmond, Va. The Cohens and the Ettings played a prominent part in the history of Baltimore Jewry, and in that of the city also. Both families acquired an enviable reputation for integrity and business tact; and their members were honored with offices of trust, by corporations and in the city government. Their names figure most prominently in the emancipation struggle of 1818–26, during which time the "
Jew Bill The Jew Bill (more formally, "An Act to extend to the sect of people professing the Jewish religion, the same rights and privileges enjoyed by Christians") was passed in 1826 by the Maryland General Assembly to allow Jews to hold public office ...
" was debated in the legislature of Maryland. This bill proposed "to consider the justice and expediency of extending to those persons professing the Jewish religion the same privileges that are enjoyed by
Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
". Immediately upon its passage, and its ratification in the
legislative session A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two electio ...
of 1825–26, it was applied practically in the election of Solomon Etting and Jacob I. Cohen, JR., to seats in the city council of Baltimore. In more recent times, the 5th District has been represented by two Jews, first by Rochelle "Rikki" Spector from 1977 to 2016, and then by Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer since 2016, who is the second openly Orthodox Jew to hold office in Baltimore City.


Organization of Religious worship

After 1826 the recorded history of the Jews of Baltimore ceases to be the history of prominent individuals, and becomes that of a community. Almost coincidentally with the removal of civil disabilities occurs the first of a series of regular meetings for religious services, whose continuity has been uninterrupted. According to the recollections of one participant, this meeting took place in Holliday street, near Pleasant street, at the house of Zalma Rehiné, a former resident of Richmond, Va., and an uncle of Isaac Leeser. According to the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', this may possibly have been the beginning of the congregation Nidche Israel, later known as the " Baltimore Hebrew Congregation," or as the "Stadt-Schul", probably because almost simultaneously with its origin another settlement of Jews, at Fell's Point – an outlying and at first separate district – began to crystallize into a congregation, called the "Fell's Point Hebrew Friendship Congregation", and regularly organized since 1838. The Nidche Israel soon found it necessary to rent rooms on North Exeter street, near what is now Lexington street. Thence the congregation moved to a one-story dwelling off High street, near the bend between Fayette and Gay streets, or near what is now Lexington street, the entrance being through a narrow alley. In 1837 a three-story brick building was bought, at the southwest corner of Harrison street and Ætna lane. In 1845 the congregation removed to Lloyd and Watson streets, the new synagogue being dedicated by the Rev. S. M. Isaacs of New York and the Rev. Isaac Leeser of Philadelphia, together with the ministers of the congregation, A. Rice and A. Ansell (Anshel). Here it worshiped until April 6, 1889, when a new building was erected on
Madison avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Str ...
and Robert street. The date of the congregational charter is Jan. 29, 1830 (supplementary act, 1851). The incorporators were Moses Millem (Mulheim), Joseph Osterman, John M. Dyer, Louis Silver, and Levi Benjamin. The first rabbi of the congregation was the above-mentioned Abraham Rice (Reiss), whose piety and character have left a lasting impress upon the community, especially through his influence upon the youths he taught, some of them later becoming its leaders. Rice established a school for instruction in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
in 1845, and he officiated as the rabbi of the congregation from 1840 to 1849, and again from the spring of 1862 to Oct. 29 of the same year, the date of his death. Other rabbis of the congregation have been: Julius Spiro, in conjunction with Mr. Rice (1846–47); Henry Hochheimer (1849–59); B. Illoway (1859–61); Abraham Hofman (1868–73); Maurice Fluegel (1881–84); A. S. Bettelheim (1886–90); and Adolf Guttmacher (1891). The burial-ground belonging to the congregation was bought in 1832, at which time it covered three acres. Rabbis of the Fell's Point Congregation, later worshiping on Eden street, have been: Aaron Günzburg (1848–56); Henry Hochheimer (1859–92); W. Willner (1892–94); Clifton H. Levy (1894–96): and M. Rosenstein (1896). This congregation, as well as the one or two ''chebrot'' of which records up to 1842 have been preserved, had separated from, or organized themselves independently of, the mother congregation, Nidche Israel, only for reasons of convenience, on account of the extended space over which the community was scattered. In 1842 the desire for a radical change in the liturgy resulted in the formation of the Har Sinai Verein, whose rabbis have been: Max Sutro (about 1842); Moritz Brown (about 1849–55); David Einhorn (1855–61); S. Deutsch (1862–73); Jacob Mayer (1874–76);
Emil G. Hirsch Emil Gustav Hirsch (May 22, 1851 – January 7, 1923) was a Luxembourgish-born Jewish American biblical scholar, Reform rabbi, contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), anfounding member of the NAACP Bio ...
(1877–78); S. Sale (1878–83);
David Philipson David Philipson (August 9, 1862 – June 29, 1949) was an American Reform rabbi, orator, and author. The son of German-Jewish immigrants, he was a member of the first graduating class of the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. As an adult, ...
(1884–88); Tobias Shanfarber (1888–98); and Charles A. Rubenstein (1898). The congregation later erected a new house of worship on Bolton and Wilson streets. In 1873, a new charter was granted and the name was changed from Har Sinai Verein to
Har Sinai Congregation Har Sinai Congregation ("Mount Sinai Congregation") is a Reform Jewish synagogue located in Owings Mills, Maryland. Originally established in 1842 in Baltimore, it is the oldest congregation in the United States that has used a Reform prayer rite ...
.


"Oheb Shalom" Congregation

A similar desire for a revised liturgy, but along more conservative lines, led to the formation of the Oheb Shalom Congregation in September of 1853, on the part of a number of dissidents from the original body. Rabbis of this congregation, whose new synagogue on Eutaw place and Lanvale street was considered one of the most beautiful structures in the city, have included the following: – Salomon (1854); S. M. Landsberg (1856–57);
Benjamin Szold Benjamin Szold (15 November 1829 in Nemes-Kürt Kingdom of Hungary, (now Zemianske Sady, Slovakia), – 31 July 1902 in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia) was an American rabbi and scholar. Szold studied under Rabbis Jacob Fischer of Sha ...
; and William Rosenau (1892). Alois Kaiser, known as a composer of synagogue music, was the cantor of this congregation. This was followed by the formation of three Orthodox congregations, the earliest of which was the Bikur Cholim Congregation, incorporated in 1865. The Chizuk Emoonah Congregation was formed in 1871 by dissidents from the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, which had begun to introduce innovations into the synagogue service. The rabbi of the Chizuk Emoonah was Henry W. Schneeberger, who occupied the rabbinate beginning in 1876. A new synagogue was later built by the congregation at McCulloh and Mosher streets. In 1878, the Shearith Israel Congregation was formed by the consolidation of two small congregations. Schepschel Schaffer was its rabbi from 1893 to 1928. Since then, in the organization of twenty other congregations in Baltimore – only eight of which having a house of worship of their own – the determining factor, in a few cases, has been convenience of locality, but more frequently the bond of national affiliation brought from European countries and reinforced by conservatism in religious sentiment. An attempt was made in 1856–59 to hold services according to the liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese
Sephardim Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
, of which
Solomon Nunes Carvalho Solomon Nunes Carvalho (April 27, 1815 - May 27, 1897) was an American painter, photographer, author and inventor. He may be best known as an explorer who traveled through the territory of Kansas, Colorado and Utah with John C. Frémont on his f ...
was the chief promoter. The congregation was regularly organized in 1857, under the name "Beth Israel", with Jacob M. De Solla as minister. Of the eight large cemeteries in the city, one, called "Rosedale", was used by seven congregations and three societies; another, on the
Philadelphia road Maryland Route 7 (MD 7) is a collection of state highways in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for much of their length as Philadelphia Road, there are five disjoint mainline sections of the highway totaling that parallel U.S.&nb ...
, by eight congregations and two societies; and a third, on the Washington road, by three congregations and one society. Each of five congregations, the Baltimore Hebrew, the Fell's Point, the Har Sinai, the Oheb Shalom, and the B'nai Israel, had a cemetery of its own. Besides, there was a small cemetery, now disused, on the Philadelphia road, which was formerly maintained by what was called, for unknown reasons, "Die Irische Ḥebra". The Cohen family and the Etting family owned private cemeteries.


Charitable societies

The first charitable association was the Hebrew Assistance Society (1843?), incorporated in 1856 as the "Hebrew Benevolent Society of Baltimore". In the latter year was founded also the Hebrew Ladies' Sewing Society, which, though an independent body, has always adapted its activities to those of the general organization. The building of the Hebrew Hospital and Asylum Association – a society for the care of the sick and the shelter of the aged – was dedicated in 1868, the first steps toward this end having been taken in 1859; and in 1872 the Hebrew Orphan Asylum was established. Both these institutions had active auxiliary organizations. The other charitable institutions with permanent homes were the Hebrew Friendly Inn and Aged Home, established in 1891, and the Working Girls' Home, founded in 1899 by the Daughters in Israel, and supported by that association. There were, besides, two Hebrew free burial societies, a Hebrew free loan association, the Daughters in Israel of Baltimore City (a personal service sisterhood with various activities), and a number of mutual benefit and relief associations. The Baron de Hirsch Fund from the first established a local committee in Baltimore whose affairs have been administered by Dr. A. Friedenwald.


Educational establishments

Congregational schools, at which daily instruction was given in Hebrew and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
, and later in English, flourished until after 1870. The most successful were conducted by Joseph Sachs and Jonas Goldsmith. The Society for Educating Poor and Orphan Hebrew Children (later named "Hebrew Education Society of Baltimore") was founded in 1852, and incorporated in 1860. In 1901, it had two schools, a daily
Hebrew school Hebrew school is Jewish education focusing on topics of Jewish history, learning the Hebrew language, and finally learning their Torah Portion, in preparation for the ceremony in Judaism of entering adulthood, known as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Hebr ...
, and a weekly mission school for religious instruction, whose work was supplemented by that of the Frank Free Sabbath School, established and supported by Mrs. S. L. Frank. The first Sunday school, patterned after the one founded by Miss Rebecca Gratz in Philadelphia, was opened in 1856. In it a large number of children were taught during the years preceding the establishment of congregational religious schools. The
Talmud Torah Talmud Torah ( he, תלמוד תורה, lit. 'Study of the Torah') schools were created in the Jewish world, both Ashkenazic and Sephardic, as a form of religious school for boys of modest backgrounds, where they were given an elementary edu ...
School, with a building of its own, was established in 1889, and the Hebrew Free
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
and Day Nursery in 1895. The organization known as "The Maccabeans" maintained an evening class and a library for the use of boys and young men; continuing in a measure the work begun by the Night School, existing from 1889 to 1899 under the auspices of the Isaac bar Levison Hebrew Literary Society, and supported in part by the Baron de Hirsch Fund, for the purpose of teaching English to immigrants. At three different times short-lived attempts have been made to maintain Young Men's Hebrew associations, the first of which existed from 1854 to 1860. There were three
Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
societies; a branch of the Alliance Israélite Universelle; a section and a junior section of the Council of Jewish Women; six lodges of the Independent Order B'nai B'rith; three of the Independent Order B'rith Abraham; one of the Independent Order Free Sons of Israel; three of the Independent Order Free Sons of Judah; four of the Independent Order Sons of Benjamin; five of the Order Ahawas Israel; seven of the Order B'rith Abraham; and one of the Order Kesher Shel Barzel.
Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
continues the legacy of
Jewish education Jewish education ( he, חינוך, ''Chinuch'') is the transmission of the tenets, principles, and religious laws of Judaism. Known as the "people of the book", Jews value education, and the value of education is strongly embedded in Jewish cu ...
in Baltimore.


Newspapers

The Jewish newspapers published in Baltimore have been: "''Sinai''" (a German periodical devoted to interests of radical reform, edited by Dr. David Einhorn, 1856–61, and one year in Philadelphia); "''The Jewish Chronicle''" (1875–77); "''Der Fortschritt''" (
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
, June–July, 1890); "''Der Baltimore Israelit''" (Yiddish, 1891–93); "''Ha-Pisgah''" (Hebrew, 1891–93, continued in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
); "''Jewish Comment''" (1895); "''Der Wegweiser''" (Yiddish, 1896); and the '' Baltimore Jewish Times''.


Public and professional life

The Jews of Baltimore have participated fully in the civic life of the town and the state, and have taken some part in national affairs. In the city, Jews have filled numerous minor offices, notably as councilmen,
justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or '' puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission (letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sam ...
, supervisors of elections, and in the city
law department Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
, as well as on boards and special commissions. Myer Block was judge of the
Orphans' Court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts ...
in Baltimore; Jacob H. Hollander was secretary to the International Bimetallic Commission, and the first
treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...
of Porto Rico under American jurisdiction.
Isidor Rayner Isidor Rayner (April 11, 1850November 25, 1912) was a Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1905 to 1912. He also represented the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland from 1887 to 1889, and ...
served as representative in the fiftieth, the fifty-second, and the fifty-third
congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
es, after having sat in the House of Delegates and the Senate of the state; later he was attorney-general of the state. Among the state senators have been Jacob M. Moses and Lewis Putzel; and among the delegates: Mendes I. Cohen, Martin Emerich, Harry A. Fuld, M. S. Hess, Emanuel H. Jacobi, Martin Lehmayer, Lewis Putzel, and Charles J. Wiener. In the business world the Jews of Baltimore have occupied an important position. To a great extent they controlled the manufacture of wearing apparel for men. Several of the largest department stores were conducted by Jews; and as
financiers An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Typ ...
they bore an enviable reputation for probity and for a spirit of far-sighted and cautious enterprise. Baltimore Jews have had prominent representatives in all the professions. Jewish
physicians A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
, men and women, have occupied positions as professors in the medical colleges, including: A. B. Arnold, Joshua I. Cohen, Aaron Friedenwald, Harry Friedenwald, and Julius Friedenwald. Jews have devoted themselves to the writing of medical and legal works. There were
Jewish journalists Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
on the editorial staffs of several of the daily newspapers. The following Jews have been connected with
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...
in the capacity of professors and instructors:
J. J. Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership ro ...
, Fabian Franklin, Abraham Cohen,
Maurice Bloomfield Maurice Bloomfield, Ph.D., LL.D. (February 23, 1855 – June 12, 1928) was an Austrian-born American philologist and Sanskrit scholar. Biography He was born Maurice Blumenfeld in Bielitz ( pl, Bielsko), in what was at that time Austrian Si ...
, Cyrus Adler, J. H. Hollander, Simon Flexner, Caspar Levias, and William Rosenau. In the public schools upward of sixty Jewish teachers were employed.
Ephraim Keyser Ephraim Keyser (October 6, 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland – January 26, 1937) was an American sculptor. Biography He was educated at the City College of Baltimore and studied art in the Maryland Academy of Arts in 1871-72. He went to Munich ...
has won reputation as a
sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, and Mendes Cohen as a
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
. The wider educational life has found promoters among the Jews. Jacob I. Cohen, JR., was active in the establishment of the public-school system of Baltimore; and his nephews were instrumental in placing in the Johns Hopkins University the "Cohen Collection of Egyptian Antiquities", collected by his brother, Col. Mendes I. Cohen, in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
. At the same university Leopold Strouse established a rabbinical library, to which he made annual additions; Mrs. S. L. Frank and Albert W. Rayner have founded a Semitic fellowship in memory of their father, William S. Rayner; and Henry and Mrs. Sonneborn have presented the university with a collection of Jewish ceremonial objects. At the Cohen residence was a library valuable to
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...
students, collected by Dr. Joshua I. Cohen (a catalogue of this library, compiled by Cyrus Adler, was privately printed in 1887).


Military services

Jews enlisted from Baltimore for service in each of the national wars. Nathaniel Levy fought under Lafayette in the campaign of 1781; and Reuben Etting (not the one mentioned above) was taken prisoner by the British at Charlestown. Among the defenders of
Fort McHenry Fort McHenry is a historical American coastal pentagonal bastion fort on Locust Point, now a neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It is best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attac ...
, near Baltimore, during the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
, were the brothers Mendes I. and Philip I. Cohen. In the Mexican war, Moritz Henry Weil served as a
private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
in
Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...
A, Third Regiment, United States Artillery, and Louis Hamburger as a private in Company C, Baltimore Battalion. According to the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', " company of militia composed entirely of Jews was formed, with Levi Benjamin as
first lieutenant First lieutenant is a commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces; in some forces, it is an appointment. The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations, but in most forces it is sub-divided into a ...
; but it is not probable that it saw active service". In the
Civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...
there were as many Baltimore Jews in the Confederate as in the Federal army. Leopold Blumenberg served as brevet
brigadier-general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed t ...
,
United States Volunteers United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, or other variations of these, were military volunteers called upon during wartime to assist the United States Army but who were separate from both the Regular Army and t ...
, Fifth Maryland Infantry (see S. Wolf, ''The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen'', pp. 199, 200, 412). To the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
, Baltimore Jewry sent its due quota of soldiers (see ''
American Jewish Year Book The ''American Jewish Year Book'' (AJYB) has been published since 1899. Publication was initiated by the Jewish Publication Society (JPS). In 1908, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) assumed responsibility for compilation and editing while JPS ...
'' 5661, pp. 563–565). A few street names reveal the early presence of Jews: According to the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', there were two alleys, each called "Jew alley", one in the eastern section of the city, on which the old burying-ground is situated; and the other in the western section, probably deriving its name from residences of Jews on
Eutaw street Eutaw Street is a major street in Baltimore, Maryland, mostly within the downtown area. Outside of downtown, it is mostly known as Eutaw Place. The south end of Eutaw Street is at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. After this point, the street continue ...
; Abraham street, in close proximity to the old burying-ground; Cohen alley, so named from the residence of one of the Cohen brothers on Mulberry street; and Etting street, of obvious derivation.


Statistics

In 1825, while the "Jew Bill" was under discussion, Solomon Etting computed the number of Jews in Maryland to be 150. A directory of 1835 gives the names of 40 householders in Baltimore, identified as Jews by a Jewish resident whose memory goes back to that year. To these can be added at least 15 more names culled from the records of the Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, making a Jewish population of about 300 souls, bearing such names as Cohen, Dyer, Friedenwald, Horwitz, Kayton, Keyser,
Preiss Preiss is a Germanic surname, and may refer to: * Ferdinand Preiss (1882–1943), German sculptor * Balthazar Preiss (1765-1850), Austrian naturalist * Ludwig Preiss (1811–1883), German naturalist * Wolfgang Preiss (1910–2002), German actor * ...
, and Rosenstock, whose descendants continued to be prominent in Baltimore and other cities. In the "'' Occident''" of Dec., 1856, an anonymous correspondent put the number of Jews then residing in the city at 8,000 – an exaggerated estimate according to the ''Jewish Encyclopedia''. In 1901 estimates of the Jewish population varied from 35,000 to 40,000, in a total population of 508,957.


Notable Jews from Baltimore


Deceased

* Rosalie Silber Abrams * Bernard Ades * Larry Adler *
David Bachrach David Bachrach, Jr. (1845–1921) was an American commercial photographer based in Baltimore, Maryland. He made contributions to the technical, artistic, and professional advancements in the field as well as being the founder of a photographic dy ...
*
Jacob Beser Jacob Beser (May 15, 1921 – June 16, 1992) was a lieutenant in the United States Army Air Forces who served during World War II. Beser was the radar specialist aboard the ''Enola Gay'' on August 6, 1945, when it dropped the Little Boy atomic b ...
*
Elsbeth Levy Bothe Elsbeth Levy Bothe (October 17, 1927 – February 27, 2013) was an American attorney and judge. Bothe was one of the first women to begin law school at the University of Maryland School of Law. Biography She was born into a large German-Jewis ...
* Leo Bretholz * Gustav Brunn * Meyer Cardin *
Solomon Nunes Carvalho Solomon Nunes Carvalho (April 27, 1815 - May 27, 1897) was an American painter, photographer, author and inventor. He may be best known as an explorer who traveled through the territory of Kansas, Colorado and Utah with John C. Frémont on his f ...
*
Cass Elliot Ellen Naomi Cohen (September 19, 1941 – July 29, 1974), known professionally as Mama Cass and later on as Cass Elliot, was an American singer and voice actress. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group brok ...
* Andy Cohen *
Jacob I. Cohen Jr. Jacob I. Cohen Jr. (born September 30, 1789, in Richmond, Virginia; died April 6, 1869, in Baltimore, Maryland) was an American banker, railroad executive, and civic leader in Baltimore who helped win the right for Jews to hold public office in Ma ...
*
Syd Cohen Syd or SYD may refer to: *Syd (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Syd.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Hans Sydow (1879–1946), German mycologist * Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ** IATA code for Sydney Airport, New Sou ...
*
Cone sisters Claribel Cone (1864–1929) and Etta Cone (1870–1949), collectively known as the Cone sisters, were active as American art collectors, world travelers, and socialites during the first part of the 20th century. Claribel trained as a physician an ...
* Moses H. Cone *
Paul L. Cordish Paul L. Cordish (1909–2003) was an attorney and a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, he was also a businessman who worked for the Cordish Company and the founder of the Cordish Law Firm. Early life and education Cordish was born in Ba ...
* Martin Dannenberg *
Daniel Ellison Daniel Ellison (February 14, 1886 – August 20, 1960) was a U.S. Representative from Maryland. Born in Russian Empire, Ellison was brought to the United States by his parents as an infant. He attended the public schools of Baltimore, Maryland ...
*
Walter M. Elsasser Walter Maurice Elsasser (March 20, 1904 – October 14, 1991) was a German-born American physicist, a developer of the presently accepted dynamo theory as an explanation of the Earth's magnetism. He proposed that this magnetic field resulted fr ...
* Martin Emerich *
Solomon Etting Solomon Etting (28 July 1764 – 6 August 1847) was a Jewish merchant and politician in Baltimore, Maryland. Before moving to Baltimore in 1791, Etting lived in York and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Maryland banned non-Christians from holding office ...
*
Jane Frank Jane Schenthal Frank (born Jane Babette Schenthal) (July 25, 1918 – May 31, 1986) was an American multidisciplinary artist, known as a painter, sculptor, mixed media artist, illustrator, and textile artist. Her landscape-like, mixed-media ab ...
* Joseph H. Flom *
Samuel Friedel Samuel Nathaniel Friedel (April 18, 1898 – March 21, 1979), a Democrat, was a U.S. Congressman who represented the 7th congressional district of Maryland from January 3, 1953 to January 3, 1971. Born in Washington, D.C., to Russian-Jewish ...
* Jacob Glushakow * Philip H. Goodman * Brooke Greenberg *
Norman Hackerman Norman Hackerman (March 2, 1912 – June 16, 2007) was an American chemist, professor, and academic administrator who served as the 18th President of the University of Texas at Austin (1967–1970) and later as the 4th President of Rice Universi ...
*
Willard Hackerman Willard Hackerman (October 6, 1918 – February 10, 2014) was an American businessman, long-time CEO of a major construction firm, and philanthropist based in Baltimore, Maryland. Biography Willard Hackerman was president and CEO of The Whiting-T ...
*
Jacob Hollander Jacob Harry Hollander (1871–1940) was an American economist. Biography Hollander was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a BA in 1891, and a PhD in 1894. He became associate professor of finance there. I ...
*Hochschild family, important merchants *Hutzler brothers, important merchants * Alois Kaiser *
Ephraim Keyser Ephraim Keyser (October 6, 1850 in Baltimore, Maryland – January 26, 1937) was an American sculptor. Biography He was educated at the City College of Baltimore and studied art in the Maryland Academy of Arts in 1871-72. He went to Munich ...
*Kohn family, important merchants * Rose Kushner * Edgar M. Lazarus * Morris Louis *
David Macht David Israel Macht (February 14, 1882 – October 14, 1961) was a pharmacologist and Doctor of Hebrew Literature, responsible for many contributions to pharmacology during the first half of the 20th century. Born in Moscow in 1882, Macht moved to ...
*
Marvin Mandel Marvin Mandel (April 19, 1920 – August 30, 2015) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th Governor of Maryland from January 7, 1969, to January 17, 1979, including a one-and-a-half-year period when Lt. Governor Blair ...
*
Joseph Meyerhoff Joseph Meyerhoff (April 8, 1899 – February 2, 1985) was an American businessman, fundraiser, and philanthropist based in Baltimore, Maryland. His son is Harvey Meyerhoff. Biography Meyerhoff was born in Poltava in what is now Ukraine, the ...
* Abbie Mitchell * Moses Cohen Mordecai * Victor Posner *
Arlene Raven Arlene Raven (Arlene Rubin: July 12, 1944, Baltimore, Maryland – August 1, 2006, Brooklyn, New York) was a feminist art historian, author, critic, educator, and curator. Raven was a co-founder of numerous feminist art organizations in Los ...
*
Isidor Rayner Isidor Rayner (April 11, 1850November 25, 1912) was a Democratic member of the United States Senate, representing the State of Maryland from 1905 to 1912. He also represented the Fourth Congressional District of Maryland from 1887 to 1889, and ...
* Adrienne Rich *
Arnold Rice Rich Arnold Rice Rich (March 28, 1893 – April 17, 1968) was an American pathologist. Career Born March 28, 1893, in Birmingham, Alabama, Rich attended the University of Virginia, majoring in biology, and then the Johns Hopkins Medical School ...
* Martin Rodbell * Carroll Rosenbloom *
Mike Schemer Michael Schemer (November 20, 1917 – April 22, 1983), nicknamed "Lefty", was an American professional baseball player whose eight-year (1940–1942; 1944–1948) career included 32 games played in Major League Baseball for the – New York G ...
* Max Scherr *
Karl Shapiro Karl Jay Shapiro (November 10, 1913 – May 14, 2000) was an American poet. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1945 for his collection ''V-Letter and Other Poems''. He was appointed the fifth Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the ...
* Chip Silverman * Simon Sobeloff * Gertrude Stein *
Henrietta Szold Henrietta Szold ( , ; December 21, 1860 – February 13, 1945) was a U.S. Jewish Zionist leader and founder of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America. In 1942, she co-founded Ihud, a political party in Mandatory Palestine d ...
* Leon Uris * Sam Warner * David E. Weglein * Harry Benjamin Wolf


Faculty of

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

* Cyrus Adler *
Maurice Bloomfield Maurice Bloomfield, Ph.D., LL.D. (February 23, 1855 – June 12, 1928) was an Austrian-born American philologist and Sanskrit scholar. Biography He was born Maurice Blumenfeld in Bielitz ( pl, Bielsko), in what was at that time Austrian Si ...
* Simon Flexner * Arthur Grollman *
Frederick Jelinek Frederick Jelinek (18 November 1932 – 14 September 2010) was a Czech-American researcher in information theory, automatic speech recognition, and natural language processing. He is well known for his oft-quoted statement, "Every time I fire a ...
*
James Joseph Sylvester James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership ...


Rabbis


= Conservative

= * Jacob B. Agus *
Moshe Cotel Moshe (Morris) Cotel (February 20, 1943 – October 24, 2008) was a pianist and composer whose music was strongly influenced by his Jewish roots. Cotel moved from his Jewish roots to focus on music for most of his life, and received his rabbinic ord ...
*
Arthur Hertzberg Arthur Hertzberg (June 9, 1921 – April 17, 2006) was a Conservative rabbi and prominent Jewish-American scholar and activist. Biography Avraham Hertzberg was born in Lubaczów, Poland, the eldest of five children, and left Europe in 1926 with ...


= Orthodox

= * Mordechai Gifter * Avigdor Miller *
Abraham Rice Abraham Joseph Rice (born Abraham Reiss) (c. 18001862) was the first ordained rabbi to serve in a rabbinical position in the United States. Rice was born in 1800 or 1802 at Gochsheim, near Schweinfurt, Lower Franconia. An injury in infancy left ...
* Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman


= Reform

= * David Einhorn *
Emil G. Hirsch Emil Gustav Hirsch (May 22, 1851 – January 7, 1923) was a Luxembourgish-born Jewish American biblical scholar, Reform rabbi, contributing editor to numerous articles of ''The Jewish Encyclopedia'' (1906), anfounding member of the NAACP Bio ...
* Jacob Mayer * William Rosenau *
Benjamin Szold Benjamin Szold (15 November 1829 in Nemes-Kürt Kingdom of Hungary, (now Zemianske Sady, Slovakia), – 31 July 1902 in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia) was an American rabbi and scholar. Szold studied under Rabbis Jacob Fischer of Sha ...


Living

* Dalya Attar *
Elise Burgin Elise Burgin (born March 5, 1962) is a retired American tennis player. She achieved WTA rankings of 22 in singles and 7 in doubles. Personal life Burgin, who is Jewish, was born in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in Maryland. Tennis career Befo ...
*
Allan Burns Allan Pennington Burns (May 18, 1935January 30, 2021) was an American screenwriter and television producer. He was best known for co-creating and writing for the television sitcoms ''The Munsters'' and ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Early life ...
* Ben Cardin *
Josh Charles Joshua Aaron Charles (born September 15, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for the roles of Dan Rydell on '' Sports Night; '' Will Gardner on '' The Good Wife'', which earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations; and his early wo ...
* Jeff Cohen *
Liebe Sokol Diamond Liebe Sokol Diamond (January 10, 1931 – May 17, 2017) was an American pediatric orthopedic surgeon and an inductee of the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. Biography Diamond was born in 1931 at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, the only chil ...
* Barry Farber *
Gary Gensler Gary Gensler (born October 18, 1957) is an American government official and former investment banker serving as the chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Gensler previously led the Biden–Harris transition's Federal Reserve, B ...
* Ira Glass *
Philip Glass Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive ...
* Tamir Goodman * Brian Gottfried * Martin Greenfield *
Robert Hormats Robert David "Bob" Hormats (born April 13, 1943, in Baltimore, Maryland) is Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates. Immediately prior he served as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment (at the time, entitled Und ...
* Marsha Ivins * David Jacobs * Anya Kamenetz *
Rodger Kamenetz Rodger Kamenetz (born 1950) is an American poet and author best known for '' The Jew in the Lotus'' (1994), an account of the historic dialogue between rabbis and the XIV Dalai Lama. His poetry explores the Jewish experience and in recent years ...
*
Mark A.R. Kleiman Mark Albert Robert Kleiman (May 18, 1951 – July 21, 2019) was an American professor, author, and blogger who dealt with issues of drug and criminal justice policy. A professor of public policy at New York University, in 2015, Kleiman became th ...
* Yaphet Kotto * Brian Kowitz *
Steve Krulevitz Steve "Lightning" Krulevitz (born May 30, 1951) is an American- Israeli former professional tennis player, and current coach. Playing for UCLA, he was an All-American. He won gold medals for the United States in singles and doubles at the 197 ...
*
Jay Landsman Jay C. Landsman is an American retired homicide detective and actor. He was featured in David Simon (writer), David Simon's 1991 book about the Baltimore homicide unit ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets''. According to the book, Landsma ...
* Barry Levinson * Margo Lion *
Y-Love Yitz Jordan (born January 5, 1978), better known by his stage name Y-Love, is an American hip hop artist. An Orthodox Jew, Jordan was formerly Hasidic.Jerry Portwood"Y-Love is Ready for Love,"'' Out'', May 15, 2012. He is a web developer, activis ...
* Jamie McCourt * Laura Miller * Alfred H. Moses * Ken Mehlman * Laura Miller *
Joseph Parnes Joseph Parnes (born November 23, 1946) is an American businessperson and registered investment advisor notable for his involvement in short selling. He is president of Technomart Investment Advisors and editor of the market letter ''Shortex''. Hi ...
* Paul Israel Pickman * Rain Pryor * Samuel I. Rosenberg * John Rothman * Thomas Rothman *
David Rubenstein David Mark Rubenstein (born August 11, 1949) is an American billionaire businessman. A former government official and lawyer, he is a co-founder and co-chairman of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group,Stephen H. Sachs Stephen Howard Sachs (January 31, 1934 – January 12, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician in the state of Maryland. He served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 1979 to 1987. He was noted for prosecuting the Catonsville Nine in 196 ...
*
David I. Saperstein David I. Saperstein (born 1941) is an American entrepreneur and founder of Metro Networks. Biography Saperstein was born to Jewish parents in Baltimore. He dropped out of college to sell used cars. When he got stuck in a snowstorm he came u ...
* Elissa Silverman * David Simon * Alix Spiegel *
Bert Vogelstein Bert Vogelstein (born 1949) is director of the Ludwig Center, Clayton Professor of Oncology and Pathology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at The Johns Hopkins Medical School and Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. A pio ...
*
Wendy Weinberg Wendy Weinberg (now Wendy Weinberg Weil; born June 27, 1958) is an American former competition swimmer who was an Olympic Games, Pan American Games, and Maccabiah Games medalist. Swimming career At the 1973 Maccabiah Games in Israel, she won a ...
* Matthew Weiner * Jason Winer * Joanna Zeiger


Rabbis


=

Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal () is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, ...

= * Arthur Waskow


= Orthodox

= * Aharon Feldman * Yissocher Frand *
Yaakov Menken Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...
* Shlomo Porter *
Jonathan Rosenblatt Jonathan I. Rosenblatt (born August 31, 1956) is an American Modern Orthodox rabbi, teacher, lecturer, and counselor. Biography A native of Baltimore, Rosenblatt served for more than thirty years as the Senior Rabbi of the Riverdale Jewish Center i ...


Fictional Jews from Baltimore

*
Jay Landsman Jay C. Landsman is an American retired homicide detective and actor. He was featured in David Simon (writer), David Simon's 1991 book about the Baltimore homicide unit ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets''. According to the book, Landsma ...
, a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams. * Maurice Levy, a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael Kostroff. * John Munch, a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer first appearing on the NBC crime drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street.


Notable Jewish buildings and structures in Baltimore

* Baltimore Hebrew University * Jewish Museum of Maryland * Sinai Hospital * Yeshivas Ner Yisroel * Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association Building


Notable Synagogues in Baltimore


Conservative

*
Beth Am Beth Am is a Conservative synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland. The congregation is located in Baltimore's Reservoir Hill community, and is considered to be one of the city's historic synagogues. It is one of two non-Orthodox synagogues in Baltimore' ...
*
Chizuk Amuno Congregation Chizuk Amuno Congregation (Hebrew: ק"ק חזוק אמונה) is a large Jewish house of worship affiliated with Conservative Judaism. It is located in Pikesville, Maryland. The congregation's name comes from the Hebrew "Chizzuq 'Emunah", meaning ...
* Beth El Congregation


Orthodox

* Shearith Israel * B'nai Israel Synagogue * Congregation Arugas Habosem * Congregation Shomrei Emunah * Congregation Tiferes Yisroel *
Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue Shaarei Tfiloh Synagogue is a historic synagogue located on Druid Hill Park at Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The synagogue is significant due to its association with the immigration of Russian and Eastern European Jews to Baltimore. It is a ...


Reform

* Baltimore Hebrew Congregation * Temple Oheb Shalom


No longer active as Synagogues

*
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, now known as Berea Temple Seventh Day Adventist Church, is a historic synagogue building located in the Madison Park neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The former synagogue, built as an ...
* Lloyd Street Synagogue


Further reading

* Fein, Isaac M. ''The making of an American Jewish community; the history of Baltimore Jewry from 1773 to 1920'', Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society of America, 1971.


External links


Baltimore Jewish Council website

Guide to the Etting Family of Baltimore and Philadelphia Collection
at the American Jewish Historical Society.
The Jewish Community of Baltimore
The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot


References

{{Ethnicity in Baltimore
Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
.
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...