The Jewish Oregon Story, 1950-2010

The Jewish Oregon Story traces the history of diverse Jewish Oregonians and their communities during a period of dramatic change. Drawing on archival sources, including a collection of over 500 oral histories, the book explores how Jewish Oregonians both contributed to and were shaped by the “Oregon Story,” a political shift that fueled Oregon’s—and particularly Portland’s—emerging reputation for progressivism and sustainability.

Six chapters examine a community grappling with, and increasingly embracing, change, from the dramatic national shifts in women’s roles and inter-group relations, to local issues such as the razing of the historic South Portland Jewish neighborhood. An original community musical frames the creation of a new Portland Jewish identity, emerging out of the ashes of South Portland and tapping ethnic expression as an antidote to suburbanization and assimilation. A peek behind the scenes exposes the crucial role of women’s voluntarism, and traces the impact of women entering the workforce and winning acceptance as equals in organizational and ritual life. Chapters on involvement in liberal politics and advocacy for Israel explore communal engagement that reflected national trends, but, beginning in the 1980s, were increasingly shaped by emerging local progressivism. A final chapter charts recent shifts in Oregon Jewish geography, demographics, and organizational life, exploring the rebirth of smaller communities and the embrace of post-denominational Jewry, spirituality, and an ethos of environmentalism and inclusion.

The Jewish Oregon Story will appeal to readers of American Jewish history and Oregon/western history, particularly those interested in questions of ethnicity and identity. Drawing on extensive archival sources and recent scholarship, the book aims to engage both academic audiences and general readers.
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Ellen Eisenberg holds the Dwight and Margaret Lear chair in American History at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where she has taught since 1990. She is the author of Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, 1882-1920 (1995), The First to Cry Down Injustice? Western Jews and Japanese Removal during WWII (a 2008 National Jewish Book Award finalist), and Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America’s Edge (2010), co-authored with Ava F. Kahn and William Toll. The Jewish Oregon Story is the second of her two books on Jews in Oregon. The first, Embracing a Western Identity: Jewish Oregonians, 1849-1950 was published by Oregon State University Press in 2015.
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