Secrets of a Neighborhood

On a warm mid-September morning, more than 40 members and friends of B'nai Israel gathered for breakfast and a presentation by historian Fred Shoken.  It was the first public event of B'nai Israel's Descendants' Day Project, and perhaps most remarkable was how much everyone seemed to enjoy meeting each other.  The ease and warmth with which strangers met and conversed created an atmosphere where a diverse group of folks were joined by a common love of the old neighborhood and shared family history.

The composition of the attendees ranged from people with just a couple years at B'nai Israel to those with family who were active in the shul a hundred years ago; from regular attendees of B'nai to folks long separated from the old Jewish neighborhood of southeast Baltimore.  Sollins, Wolpert, Zerwitz, Bernstein - the names of families in the hall invoked decades of devotion to B'nai Israel and Jewish Baltimore.

Many of the people in the room had only become known to us after we found their ancestors in worn old ledgers and documents.

The above is an exhibit displaying some of the materials from the
late 19th century and early 20th century used in Descendants' Day research.

Fred Shoken's presentation drew a picture of the neighborhood over generations that focused not only on the few examples of old Jewish southeast Baltimore that can still be seen, but the less visible and even vanished buildings; even the unique ways to "read" a building. One example was of a building still often taken by passers-by to be an old synagogue because it is adorned with Hebrew and the Star of David. As Fred pointed out, if you look closely you also see a quote from The Book of Matthew on the building and Greek letters inside the star representing the name "Jesus".  The building was, in fact, the headquarters of a group that tried to convert Jews to Christianity.  In another part of the presentation he detailed a story linking a rabbi once called the Chief Rabbi of Baltimore by J. Edgar Hoover (he wasn't, of course) and the Jewish anarchist Emma Goldman.  The stories behind the stories.  However, sometimes the connection was more personal than historic. As Fred opened one image a woman called out, "That's my mother."

The post-presentation debrief with some of Fred's fans
 

The ancestry table with Descendant's Day Project researcher Talia Smith was a popular post-presentation stop.  Many people got to see some of our research, their family trees, and materials we had collected.

The children loved the harp 

Perhaps one most of all

Many thanks to Yonatan and Denise Leiman for sponsoring the breakfast.

This program is generously supported
by the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Fund of The Associated