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    Jewish West Virginia
    Jewish West Virginia
    Jewish West Virginia
    Ebook197 pages51 minutes

    Jewish West Virginia

    By Julian H. Preisler

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    About this ebook

    West Virginia has a unique history of Jewish settlement dating back to 1849 when the first Jewish organization in the state, a Jewish burial society, was established by a small group of German Jewish immigrants in the city of Wheeling. From modest beginnings, Jews settled in towns and cities and established businesses and communal organizations. Since that time, the Jews of the Mountain State have been an integral part of the state s economic, cultural, and political life. Though always relatively small in size, West Virginia s Jewish population has been a strong advocate for the state and gained prominence in many areas. Readers will recognize images of well-known institutions such as Shoney s, Cohen s, Frankenberger s, Embee s, and others that bring back fond memories. Despite declines in Jewish population numbers, today s Jewish community remains active and involved in the life of the state.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 2, 2010
    ISBN9781439626290
    Jewish West Virginia
    Author

    Julian H. Preisler

    Julian Preisler is a researcher, genealogist, and author residing in the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. A graduate of the University of Florida and Mary Washington College, he has a broad background in archives and history and has been a professional genealogist and researcher for over 18 years. The son of Holocaust Survivors from Germany and the Czech Republic, Preisler is a native of Detroit, Michigan and has had an interest in Jewish history/genealogy and synagogue architecture for over 25 years. He has published several books and has written articles for a variety of Jewish and non-Jewish newspapers. Preisler has also been in involved in photographing and indexing U.S. Jewish cemeteries for many years.

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      Jewish West Virginia - Julian H. Preisler

      appreciation.

      INTRODUCTION

      The first official Jewish organization in West Virginia was a Jewish burial society established in Wheeling in 1849 by a small group of German-Jewish immigrants. A few Jews lived and traded in what is now West Virginia on a temporary basis as early as the late 18th century, but it was not until around 1843 that Alexander Heyman of Wheeling is documented as making West Virginia his permanent home. By 1846 there were apparently enough Jewish residents (minimum ten men for a religious quorum for communal prayer) to hold religious services for the High Holy Days as reported in The Occident Jewish newspaper. The official community did not get its start until the small group in Wheeling decided to procure land for Jewish burials, organize a burial society, and shortly thereafter organize the first Jewish congregation in the state, Congregation L’Shem Shomayim (For the Sake of Heaven). An earlier Jewish burial ground was begun in Charleston in 1836, but the B’nai Israel Congregation in Charleston was only informally organized in 1856 and not legally chartered by the state as the Hebrew Educational Society until 1873. The Charleston cemetery and religious group is today’s Temple Israel. Wheeling’s Congregation L’Shem Shomayim is today’s Temple Shalom.

      Because there were good retail and merchant opportunities in Wheeling, the Jewish community grew quickly. Family members from Europe and from other parts of the United States were encouraged to settle in Wheeling by their relatives already living in the state. As various industries, especially coal mining, grew in West Virginia, opportunities for work and advancement, primarily as merchants and retailers, became plentiful. This was the primary reason more Jews came to West Virginia and settled in a variety of small towns and cities throughout the state.

      As the Jewish population grew, the need for communal and religious organizations became more apparent. Jewish Communities were established throughout the state in Beckley, Bluefield, Charleston, Clarksburg, Fairmont, Huntington, Keystone, Kimball, Logan, Martinsburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Weirton, Welch, Wheeling, and Williamson. In addition, small numbers of Jews also settled in the towns of Grafton, Harper’s Ferry, Keyser, Montgomery, Mount Hope, Oak Hill, Piedmont, Romney, Thomas, and other locations. Though their population numbers in these towns were never high enough to warrant establishing formal congregations, many formed local chapters of Jewish fraternal and charitable groups such as B’nai B’rith and Hadassah. In the larger Jewish communities of Wheeling, Huntington, and Charleston, members of the Jewish community helped to organize social and business clubs. Jews were also members of the established fraternal, commerce, and community groups in each community.

      The Jews of West Virginia have, since they began settling in the state, been involved in all aspects of wholesaling and retailing. In most cities and many of the small towns, a large percentage of the stores were Jewish owned and operated. Jewish names were found on retail businesses throughout the state. It was not uncommon for the few Jewish residents of a small town to be well-known and respected. In some cases these were the first Jews that the towns’ predominantly Gentile populations ever met. Jews also were involved in manufacturing and distribution, but on a smaller scale than their representation in the retail sector. Jewish pharmacists, doctors, attorneys, and dentists could also be found, even in some of the small towns. As the various Jewish communities grew and generations became settled and prosperous, Jews in West Virginia became very active in all aspects of life in the state including commerce, culture, politics, philanthropy, and even sports. West Virginia Jews have always fiercely defended their state and because West Virginia has been good to them, they are eager to give back as much as they can and promote all that is good in the state.

      The Jewish population of the state has declined over the last 30 years due to declines in industry in the state and because of changing retail and business patterns. As many families prospered in business and were able to send their children to college, many did not return to West Virginia, preferring to live in larger and less isolated Jewish communities in other states. This was not always the case though, and many young people returned to West Virginia to raise families and continue a family business or strike out in their own careers. Today, dedicated Jewish communities can still be found in many areas of the state. Larger Jewish communities exist in Charleston, Huntington, and Morgantown, with smaller Jewish communities in Beckley, Bluefield, Parkersburg, and Wheeling. Charleston has a reform temple and a Traditional synagogue. It is the largest Jewish community in the state and has a stable community life with diverse religious services and a variety of Jewish community organizations. Temple Israel and B’nai Jacob Synagogue are well recognized institutions in the city. Huntington has a magnificent and historic synagogue building, several auxiliary Jewish organizations, and continued Jewish involvement in civic and business life in the city. The Tree of Life Synagogue in Morgantown is growing because of its location near West Virginia University. Morgantown is the only college or university in the state to have a local chapter of Hillel, the Jewish student group associated with B’nai B’rith.

      West Virginia possesses a rich and varied Jewish past and a hopeful Jewish future. The Jewish population of the state

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