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Advocating for peace and security for Israel through education, information and community action.
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Confronting prejudice and respecting diversity in the classroom and in the community.
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The Jewish community connection to social justice advocacy and community service.
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Dedicated to working with law enforcement to keep our community safe.
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History of the Jewish community in the Upper Midwest
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The establishment of Mount Zion Hebrew Association would mark the beginning of organized Jewish life in Minnesota, one year before the frontier territory achieved statehood in 1857.
As the new state experienced explosive growth in the latter decades of the nineteenth century, Jewish communities would take root all across Minnesota--- in the boom town of Minneapolis, in the iron mining region near the port city of Duluth and in the small out-state farming centers like Albert Lea and Mankato.
Sadly enough, organized Jewish life has pretty much faded away in Minnesota’s small rural towns, but active, vital Jewish communities are flourishing today in Duluth to the north, in Rochester to the south, and in the state’s dominant center, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, where the vast majority of Minnesota’s roughly 50,000 Jews now live.
Today, this metropolitan region of 2.6 million is unique because it is anchored by two central cities of almost equal size. While they may be known as the Minnesota Twins, the two cities, separated mainly by the Mississippi River, are anything but identical. Each has its own distinct character and personality.
The appearance of the two cities points up their differences. Minneapolis’ skyline is filled with architecturally impressive skyscrapers, giving it the look of other western big cities like Denver and Seattle. St. Paul has something of a European feel, with a skyline dominated by the twin domes of the Catholic Cathedral and the Minnesota State Capitol, each on its own hill overlooking the downtown area.
Like the broader communities in which they live, the Jews of Minneapolis and St. Paul have maintained their own separate identities and their own institutions, whose roots extend back for nearly 150 years.
Click below to read more of "The Jews of Minnesota" by Iric Nathanson
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