View source for History of the Jews in Chicago

At the end of the 20th century there were a total of 270,000 Jews in the Chicago area, with 30% in the city limits. <ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago>Cutler, Irving. "[http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/671.html Jews]." ''Encyclopedia of Chicago History''. Retrieved on March 4, 2014.</ref> In 1995 there were 154,000 Jews in the suburbs of Chicago. Of them, over 80% of the Jews in the suburbs of Chicago live in the northern and northwestern suburbs.<ref>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA165 165]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA166 166].</ref> In 1995, the largest Jewish community in the City of Chicago was in [[West Rogers Park]]. By 1995 the Jewish population within the City of Chicago had been declining, and it tended to be older and more well educated than the Chicago average.<ref>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA165 165].</ref> Jews in Chicago came from many national origins including those in Europe and Middle East, with Eastern Europe and Germany being the most common.<ref  name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

==History==

===Beginnings===
Jews arrived in Chicago immediately after its 1833 incorporation.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/> The [[Ashkenazi]] were the first Jewish group settling in Chicago. In the late 1830s and early 1840s a group of German Jews came to Chicago. Most of them were from [[Bavaria]].<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop123>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA123 123].</ref> On [[Yom Kippur]] (Day of Atonement) 1845 the first Jewish religious service in Chicago was held.<ref>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA123 123]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA124 124].</ref> Many Jews peddled items on streets. They later opened small stores, which were the basis of several companies.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

Originally the Jews lived in the Downtown area, but this changed after the [[Great Chicago Fire]] occurred in 1871. Many moved to lakeside communities such as [[Hyde Park, Chicago|Hyde Park]], [[Kenwood, Chicago|Kenwood]], and [[South Shore, Chicago|South Shore]].<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

===Immigration from Eastern Europe===
The first wave of [[Eastern Europe]]an Jewish immigration, with many coming from [[shtetls]]<!--the source uses "Shtetlach"--> in Poland and Russia, started in the 1870s. The Eastern European and German Jewish communities remained separate until the mid-20th century due to different cultural practices and religious practices. The Eastern European Jews originally moved to the Maxwell Street area in the [[Near Westside, Chicago|Near Westside]], which at the time was one of the poorest areas of Chicago. Many of the Jews worked as artisans, workers in factories, peddlers, and petty merchants. The factory workers were primarily in the clothing sector. In that community an outdoor market and 40 synagogues opened. Irving Cutler wrote that the Jews in the Maxwell Street area "created a community with some resemblance to the Old World shtetl with its numerous Jewish institutions".<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

By 1910 Eastern European Jews were moving to new communities due to educational opportunities and income from entrepreneurial activities. The largest group went to [[North Lawndale, Chicago|North Lawndale]]. Other neighborhoods receiving Eastern European Jews included northwestern communities such as [[Albany Park, Chicago|Albany Park]], [[Humboldt Park, Chicago|Humboldt Park]], and [[Logan Square, Chicago|Logan Square]]. Northern communities along the lake receiving Eastern European Jews included [[Lake View, Chicago|Lake View]], [[Rogers Park, Chicago|Rogers Park]], and [[Uptown, Chicago|Uptown]]. A group of Eastern European Jews moved into the German Jewish community on the South Side of Chicago.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

===Suburbanization===
In the post-[[World War I]] era a group of Jews, mostly consisting of descendants of immigrants from Germany, settled in the [[North Shore (Chicago)|North Shore]] of Chicago, including [[Glencoe, Illinois|Glencoe]] and [[Highland Park, Illinois|Highland Park]].<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/>

There were 275,000 Jews in Chicago by 1930, making it the third largest Jewish population after [[New York City]] and [[Warsaw]].<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop122>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA122 122].</ref> In that year, 80% of Chicago's Jews were of Eastern European heritage.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/> The Chicago Jews were 8% of the city's population.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop122/>

In 1950, 5% of the Chicago area Jews lived in suburbs. As part of the first wave of suburbanization, in the early 1950s Jews began moving to [[Lincolnwood, Illinois|Lincolnwood]] and [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]] because they had relatively inexpensive vacant land and because of the 1951 opening of the [[Edens Expressway]].<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/> Homebuilders, often Jewish homebuilders who advertised to Jewish communities, constructed single family houses in Skokie and Lincolnwood. Ultimately most northern suburbs were settled by Jews except those which Jews were barred from: [[Kenilworth, Illinois|Kenilworth]] and [[Lake Forest, Illinois|Lake Forest]] had prevented Jews from moving in.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA168 168]</ref> The number of Jews in the suburbs increased to 40% by the early 1960s.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/>

===Present Day===
In 1982 there were about 248,000 Jews in the Chicago metropolitan area, making up about 4% of the population. Due to a loss of Jewish identity, loss of immigration, low birthrate, some youth being alienated from the Jewish community, and intermarriage leading to assimilation, the Jewish population had declined. Households became smaller and overall the population had aged. Most suburban Jews no longer spoke [[Yiddish]].<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop169>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA169 169].</ref>

Synagogues and Jewish Organizations including The [[Rohr Jewish Learning Institute]] are working to show how Judaism is relevant to the present generation. <ref>{{cite news|last1=Wilkinson|first1=Phaedra|title=From the community: Exciting Class on Jewish Positive Psychology to be Presented in Northbrook|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/northbrook/community/chi-ugc-article-exciting-class-on-jewish-positive-psychology-2014-10-21-story.html|accessdate=16 November 2014|publisher=Chicago Tribune|date=October 21, 2014|location=Chicago|quote=The Jewish Learning Institute's (JLI) Newest Class Looks at Positive Psychology through the 3,000-year-old lens of Jewish thought.  Northbrook, IL - When Israeli-born psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar began teaching a class called Positive Psychology at Harvard in 2006, a record 855 undergraduate students signed up for his class. Droves of students at the academically-intense university came to learn, as the course description puts it, about "psychological aspects of a fulfilling and flourishing life."}}</ref>  <ref>{{cite news|title=Economic crisis from a Jewish perspective|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1N1-13C89A09D4D004A8.html|agency=The Sun - Naperville (IL) via HighBeam|publisher=The Naperville Sun (Chicago Tribune)|date=January 27, 2012|quote=Money Matters has been developed by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and will be taught in 300 locations throughout the world}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|title=Torah and Torts|url=https://www.jlicentral.com/news.php?task=fullstory&NID=141|agency=Archived article at JLI Central|publisher=Chicago Jewish News (original publisher)|date=February 20, 2009|quote=At a time when every other news story seems to involve a matter of ethics, Rabbi Meir Hecht is teaching his adult students - many of them lawyers - how to understand complicated ethical issues with help from the Torah.  Hecht is the coordinator for the Jewish Learning Institute, which is currently offering a class called "You Be The Judge," with Thursday morning and evening classes at Lubavitch Chabad of Skokie. (Childcare is available during the morning classes.) Lawyers can receive Continuing Legal Education and ethics credits through the class, but its lessons are for anyone - Jewish or non-Jewish-who is interested in pursuing the intersection between law and ethics, Hecht said in a recent phone conversation.}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|last1=Independent Press|title=Happiness and Positive living series starts Nov. 5 at Chabad of SE Morris County in Madison|url=http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2014/10/happiness_and_positive_living.html|accessdate=3 November 2014|publisher=New Jersey On-Line|date=October 26, 2014|quote=How Happiness Thinks was created by the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute- an internationally acclaimed adult education program running on over 350 cities worldwide, which boast over 75,000 students. This particular course builds on the latest observations and discoveries in the field of positive psychology. How Happiness Thinks offers participants the chance to earn up to 15 continuing education credits from the American Psychological Association (APA), American Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Open Source Contributor|title=Promoting Jewish Medical Awareness In Northbrook|publisher=Chicago Tribune|accessdate=October 8, 2013}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:20080909 K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple and Obama security detail.JPG|thumb|400px|[[K.A.M. Isaiah Israel Temple]] in the  [[Chicago]] neighborhood of [[Kenwood, Chicago|Kenwood]]]]
[[File:TemplesholomChicago.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Temple Sholom]] in [[Chicago]]'s  neighborhood of [[Lakeview, Chicago|Lakeview]]]]

In 1995, of the 248,000 Jews living in Chicago area, over 80% live north of Lawrence Avenue (4800 north) and over 62% of the entire population of Chicago area Jews lives in suburban communities.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166>Cutler, "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb,"<!--This is the ''article'', NOT the book--> ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait'', p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2JbU1d9Xil0C&pg=PA166 166].</ref> In 1995, [[Glencoe, Illinois|Glencoe]], [[Highland Park, Illinois|Highland Park]], [[Lincolnwood, Illinois|Lincolnwood]], and [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]] had estimates of being almost 50% Jewish. In that year, [[Buffalo Grove, Illinois|Buffalo Grove]] and [[Deerfield, Illinois|Deerfield]] had estimates of being over 25% Jewish. In the same year, [[Evanston, Illinois|Evanston]], [[Glenview, Cook County, Illinois|Glenview]], [[Morton Grove, Illinois|Morton Grove]], [[Niles, Illinois|Niles]], [[Northbrook, Illinois|Northbrook]], [[Wilmette, Illinois|Wilmette]], and [[Winnetka, Illinois|Winnetka]] had estimates of being 10-25% Jewish. In 1995, due to relatively inexpensive housing and vacant land, young Jewish families were moving into suburbs further away from the [[Chicago Loop]] in the northwest side. the suburban Jewish population "continues to be dispersed over a widening geographic area" which hampers the ability to supply certain Jewish-oriented services.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/> Cutler wrote that inter-suburban movement was occurring among Jews.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/>

In 1995 Irving Cutler wrote that the Jewish populations of Deerfield and Northbrook had recent growth, and he also stated that the Jewish community of [[Buffalo Grove, Illinois|Buffalo Grove]] was "large and growing".<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/> The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago estimated in 1975 that of the almost 70,000 residents in Skokie, Jewish people made up 40,000 of them. In 1995 Irving Cutler wrote that there had been a recent decline of Jews in Skokie due to children of post-World War II households growing up and moving out, and that there had especially been inter-suburban movement of Jews from Skokie.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/>

In 1995, 85,000 Jews lived in the City of Chicago, with 80,000 of them living in contiguous Jewish communities within the city and in a series of northside lakefront communities. The contiguous Jewish communities included [[West Rogers Park]]/[[West Ridge, Chicago|West Ridge]] and the lakefront area ranges from the [[Chicago Loop]] to [[Rogers Park, Chicago|Rogers Park]]. In that year, the [[Hyde Park, Chicago|Hyde Park]]-[[Kenwood, Chicago|Kenwood]] area has a population of Jews.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/> In 1995 Cutler wrote that in the city the Jewish population was being concentrated in fewer and fewer neighborhoods.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/>

Irving Cutler, author of the article "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb," stated that Jews living in southern and western suburbs of Chicago and in [[Northwest Indiana]] "often feel removed from the mainstream of Chicago Jewry" since they do not have Jewish services and have smaller numbers than the main group of Jews to the north.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/> In 1995, the [[Oak Park, Illinois|Oak Park]]-[[River Forest, Illinois|River Forest]]-[[Westchester, Illinois|Westchester]] area to the west had a Jewish community. In the same year, the [[Glenwood, Illinois|Glenwood]]-[[Homewood, Illinois|Homewood]]-[[Flossmoor, Illinois|Flossmoor]]-[[Olympia Fields, Illinois|Olympia Fields]]-[[Park Forest, Illinois|Park Forest]] area to the south had another Jewish community. In 1995, some Northwest Indiana cities such as [[East Chicago, Indiana|East Chicago]], [[Hammond, Indiana|Hammond]], and [[Michigan City, Indiana|Michigan City]] had Jewish populations in 1996; Cutler stated that the Northwest Indiana Jewish populations were "[s]mall and often declining".<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/>

==Institutions==
[[File:Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center A June 27 2009 003.jpg|thumb|400px|[[Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center]]]]
The United Hebrew Relief Association (UHRA) was founded in 1859. 15 Jewish organizations, including some [[B'nai B'rith]] lodges and some women's organizations, together founded the UHRA.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

The earlier German Jewish community founded the Drexel Home, a home for elderly Jews, the Standard Club, a civic and social club, and the [[Michael Reese Hospital]]. The Eastern European Jews founded the [[Jewish Training School]] in 1890, the [[Chicago Maternity Center]] in 1895, and the [[Chicago Hebrew Institute]] in 1903.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

The [[Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center]] is located in [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]].

==Education==
In 1995 Jews in Chicago attend universities at twice the rate of the overall population, and this contributes to the overall higher than average incomes.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop169/>

==Religion==
In 1995, there were about 24<!--two dozen--> Jewish congregations in [[Lincolnwood, Illinois|Lincolnwood]] and [[Skokie, Illinois|Skokie]]. Most of them are [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] or [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox-Traditional]] synagogues. One rabbinical college is in Skokie. In 1995 the [[North Shore (Chicago)|North Shore]] suburbs further from the [[Chicago Loop]] have mostly [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] congregations. In the same year, the following further-out suburbs with newer Jewish settlement have synagogues: [[Buffalo Grove, Illinois|Buffalo Grove]], [[Des Plaines, Illinois|Des Plaines]], [[Hoffman Estates, Illinois|Hoffman Estates]], [[Vernon Hills, Illinois|Vernon Hills]], and [[Wheeling, Illinois|Wheeling]]. In that year, Six synagogues are in the area around Buffalo Grove. In 1995 [[West Rogers Park]] in the City of Chicago has many elderly Jews and Jews born abroad, so it has larger groups of Orthodox synagogues.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop168/>

The first synagogue in Chicago was the Kehilath Anshe Mayriv (KAM), located at the intersection of Lake and Wells. [[Jews of Germany|German Jewish]] immigrants founded it in 1847. Kehilath B'nai Sholom, the second congregation, was founded by 20 [[Polish Jews]] in 1852. They were dissatisfied with KAM. Kehilath B'nail Shalom was more Orthodox than KAM. In 1861 the Sinai Reform Congregation formed, using a church near the intersection of LaSalle and Monroe as its place of worship. The founders were a group of former KAM members with Rabbi Bernhard Felsenthal as the leader.<ref name=CutlerEncycofChicago/>

In 1920 a synagogue opened in [[Glencoe, Illinois|Glencoe]]. This synagogue, the first synagogue in the [[North Shore (Chicago)|North Shore]], was a branch of the [[Sinai Congregation]] (Reform) synagogue of the [[South Side (Chicago)|South Side]] but it became the North Shore Congregation Israel, an independent synagogue. In 1952 the first synagogue serving Lincolnwood and Skokie, the [[Niles Township, Illinois|Niles Township]] Jewish Congregation, opened.<ref name=Cutlerethnicchicagop166/>

==Notable people==
* [[Rahm Emanuel]], [[Mayor of Chicago]]
* [[Henry Horner]], [[Governor of Illinois]]
*[[Jay Pritzker]]
*[[Henry Crown]]
*[[Saul Alinsky]]
*[[Mandy Patinkin]]
*[[Saul Bellow]]
*[[Studs Terkel]]
*[[Ernest Samuels]]
*[[Benny Goodman]]
*[[Mike Bloomfield]]
*[[Albert Grossman]]
*[[Jill Stein]]
*[[Warren Zevon]]
*[[Jack Ruby]]
*[[Arthur Goldberg]]
*[[Gene Siskel]]
*[[Bob Balaban]]
*[[William S. Paley]]
*[[Mel Torme]]
*[[Penny Pritzker]]
*[[Sam Zell]]
*[[Morey Amsterdam]]
*[[Ephraim Epstein]]

==In the Media==
The history of Jewish migration to Chicago and within its neighborhoods, including Douglas Boulevard, Maxwell Street, Lawndale, Austin, and Hyde Park, are presented in <i>[[Never Split Tens]]!</i>, a novel based on the life of pioneering blackjack probability theorist [[Edward O. Thorp]], by gambling writer [[Les Golden]] of Oak Park, Illinois, published in 2017 by Springer.  Major figures in the novel, including Bernard Kurtzman and Thorp's associate Julian Braun, were Chicago natives.

==References==
* Cutler, Irving. "The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb" (Chapter 5). In: Holli, Melvin G. and Peter d'Alroy Jones. ''Ethnic Chicago: A Multicultural Portrait''. [[Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing]], 1995. Start page 122. {{ISBN|0802870538}}, 9780802870537.

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* Bregstone, Philip P. ''Chicago and Its Jews: A Cultural History''. Philip P. Bregstone, 1933.
* Brinkmann, Tobias. ''"Sundays at Sinai" A Jewish Congregation in Chicago''. Chicago: [[University of Chicago Press]], 2012. {{ISBN|9780226074542}}.
* ''Chicago Jewish History''. Chicago: [[Chicago Jewish Historical Society]], 1989—current.
* ''Chicago Sinai Congregation: A Pictorial History''. Chicago: [[Chicago Sinai Congregation]], 1986.
* Cutler, Irving. ''The Jews of Chicago: From Shtetl to Suburb''. [[University of Illinois Press]], 1996. {{ISBN|0252021851}}, 9780252021855. 
* Cutler, Irving. ''Chicago's Jewish West Side''. [[Arcadia Publishing]], 2009. {{ISBN|0738560154}}, 9780738560151.
* Cutler, Irving. ''Jewish Chicago: A Pictorial History''. [[Arcadia Publishing]], 2000. {{ISBN|0738501301}}, 9780738501307.
* Meites, Hyman Louis (editor). ''History of the Jews of Chicago''. Chicago Jewish Historical Society, 1924. {{ISBN|0922984042}}, 9780922984046. 1990 reprint available.
* Rosen, Rhoda (editor). ''The Shaping of a Community: The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago''. Chicago: [[Spertus Press]], 1999.
* Roth, Walter. ''Looking Backward: True Stories from Chicago's Jewish Past''. [[Academy Chicago Publishers, Limited]], 2005. {{ISBN|0897335406}}, 9780897335409.
* ''The Sentinel's History of Chicago Jewry'', 1911-1986. Chicago: [[Sentinel Pub. Co.]], 1986.
* ''Synagogues of Chicago''. Chicago: Chicago Jewish Historical Society, 1991.

==External links==
* [http://www.juf.org/ Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago]
* "[http://www.spertus.edu/subject-guides/chicago-jewish-history Chicago Jewish History]." [[Spertus Institute|Spertus]].
* [https://maxwellhalsted.uic.edu/home/alien-colonies/russian-hebrew-americans-maxwell-street Russian-Jews on Maxwell Street, University of Illinois Chicago] 
{{Wikidata|Q16197391}}


[[Category:Demographics of Chicago]]<!--for the religion aspect-->
[[Category:Historic Jewish communities in the United States|Chicago]]
[[Category:History of Chicago|Jewish]]
[[Category:Jewish history by city|Chicago]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Chicago| ]]
[[Category:History]]