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And I Will Dwell in Their Midst: Orthodox Jews in Suburbia

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Etan Diamond provides a thought provoking in-depth analysis of the development of the Orthodox Jewish Community in North American suburbia. The author draws upon the experience in the Toronto community to show the transformation of the immigrant community to a fully integrated suburban community through synagogue development, youth organizations and consumer consumption of kosher products.

The text is well organized, easy to follow and provides the user with extensive footnotes for additional research opportunites. The depth of the research effort is quite impressive with the author taking advantage of the available public records in Canada that are not available in the United States concerning Jewish residents.

Readers with interest in the area will find this text to be a valuable addition to their collections.

Which is to tell a story of the obvious: that Orthodox Jews actually exist and thrive in suburbs.

In addition, Diamond's chapter on Jewish day schools (i.e. full-time parochial schools, as opposed to the afternoon-only "Talmud Torahs" that were common in the first half of the 20th century) does go beyond the obvious. I had always thought that the growth of day schools was a fairly recent trend: but Diamond points out that day school education has been growing regularly by the decade. At the start of World War II, there were only a few dozen day schools in North America. This total had risen to 132 by 1950, 265 by 1960, and 550 by the 1980s. Diamond suggests that the day school experience is why Orthodox Judaism was more successful in retaining people who grew up Orthodox in the second half of the 20th century than it was in the first half.

Diamond focuses primarily on the Orthodox experience in Toronto, mainly because the Canadian census collects data on religion (thus allowing researchers to know the number of Jews in a neighborhood).

After reading this book, a few questions came to mind:

*Why did suburbanization happen when it did in the 1950s? Diamond refers to "the growing housing shortage" in Toronto, without much explanation. Why wasn't there more housing built in older areas of Toronto? Was there a highway program comparable to that of the United States?

*Was suburbanization more or less extensive in Toronto than in other North American cities? Diamond focuses on North York, an inner ring suburb of Toronto. At North York's zenith in 1971, 70,000 of greater Toronto's 106,000 Jews lived there. Where did the other 36,000 go? By 1991, 95,000 Jews lived outside of North York. Where did they live?

*Is there a point where suburbanization and Orthodoxy don't mix? In parts of Atlanta, two-acre lots are the norm and sidewalks the exception- obviously not an environment where anyone can walk to synagogue as Orthodoxy requires. Is there a density threshold that is required for an Orthodox community to function?

I hope that someone will build on Diamond's research by addressing these issues.