Customer Reviews

Jewish Communities on the Ohio River: A History (Ohio River Valley Series)

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Jewish Communities on the Ohio River chronicles the establishment, rise and decline of the Jewish community on the banks of the Ohio River. In the introduction, Shevitz says that her research focuses on twenty-four communities. The two most different seem to be the communities in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Shevitz takes readers through the duel challenges of "frontier" life and being a minority community (sometimes unwelcomed) in small-town America during pre-modern times. Along the way, readers witness the pressures of assimilation, the reinterpretation of self and the evolution of Judaism in American life, and the not always peaceful co-existence of different religious beliefs along the Ohio River. Readers also learn of the economic opportunities that presented themselves as a result of the changing economic and political climate (such as the advent of the railroad and the changing colonial influences in the region).

In addition to the external factors, readers learn about the opportunities that the Jewish communities created for themselves (through their structure, closeness through communications, self-reliance, and redefined sense of identity). Stories of the families who lived through these times humanizes the entire experience, and help readers appreciate the various forces that sometimes draw the community apart and sometimes create solidarity with the community.

Shevitz describes the Jewish experience of being part of a community within a community, being different from mainstream Americans, and trying to find one's voice within the Jewish community and within the larger community. She narrates the community's self-reliance, but self-reliance has both positive and negative effects. While it makes towns more independent, it also isolates different sub-populations. The latter would create a sense of "other" for the Jews, and may breed anti-Semitic sentiments among non-Jews.

The experiences related here can be applied to other minority communities in the United States. The treatment of Japanese-Americans after World War II is one such example. In recent times, our attitudes towards American Muslims in general, and Arab-Americans in particular come to mind.

While Shevitz has penned a historical account, it is hoped that we learn from the lessons that history holds for us, and that Shevitz and other have portrayed for us.

Armchair Interviews agrees.

I am part of the Jewish commmunity that once flourished in Marietta, Ohio.
Mrs. Shevitz has written a book about the HISTORY of Marietta Jewry, but
she does not know the intricacies of life there. I was born in the 30's, grew up in Marietta in the 40's and 50's, and can say that I never once had an incidence of anti-Semitism, nor did I ever feel any discrimination toward the Jewish population. In fact, the Gentiles seemed to respect us very much, and we were sometimes asked to explain our Holidays. All of us integrated into the Marietta population very seamlessly, and I don't want the readers of Ms. Shevitz's book to think otherwise. The Jewish students in the schools all excelled, they took off for the Jewish holidays, asking for assignments in advance. In all my years of living in Marietta, I never felt uncomfortable being of a different religion from the mainstream. We were all part of the most wonderful town in the most wonderful era. Marietta was populated by
fine, Christian, upstanding educated people who apparently had no prejudice toward the 20 to 50 Jewish families who were there during the
1920's to 1940's. As the children grew up, they left for colleges in bigger cities and didn't return to live in Marietta, so by attrition, the
Jewish community dwindled away. But anyone who grew up there, Jew or Gentile, has the fondest memories of Beautiful Marietta, my home town.
I am proud to have grown up Jewish in Marietta, and have nothing but the happiest memories of those years.