The Synagogues of Kentucky: Architecture and History

Lee Shai Weissbach’s innovative study sheds light on the functioning of smaller Jewish communities in a state representative of many in the Midwest and South. The synagogue buildings of Kentucky tell much about the experience of Kentucky Jewry. Synagogues, especially in smaller towns, have often served as the only setting available for a wide variety of communal activities. Weissbach outlines the history of every congregation established in Kentucky and every house of worship that has served Kentucky Jewry over the last 150 years, considering such issues as the financing of construction, the selection of architects, the way synagogue buildings reveal congregational attitudes, and the way local synagogue design reflects national trends. Eighty-two photographs show every one of Kentucky\u27s synagogues, including buildings that are no longer standing or have been converted to other uses. This pictorial record documents the variety, distinctiveness, and significance of these buildings as a part of the Commonwealth\u27s architectural, cultural, and religious landscape. Enriches our understanding of southern Jewish life and heightens our appreciation of the cultural diversity of the region. -- Journal of Southern Historyhttps://uknowledge.uky.edu/upk_architecture/1000/thumbnail.jp

The (Dis)similarity of a Minority Religion to Its Broader Religious Context: The Case of American Jews

While much research shows the relationship between individual-level variables, such as Jewish background, education, age, and income and an individual’s Jewish identity, very little research has systematically addressed the question of community context, either general or Jewish, as a factor influencing Jewish religious or ethnic identity. This lack of research has been partially a result of the lack of an adequate data set to facilitate such analysis. Using the newly-aggregated Decade 2000 data set, with its 19,800 cases spread across 22 Jewish communities, we find that despite the anecdotal evidence and the logic that suggests that environment impacts behavior, the environmental impact on Jewish identity is clearly weak. Individual characteristics are much stronger than community context in explaining variations in the strength of Jewish identity

The Relationship of Jewish Community Contexts and Jewish Identity: A 22-Community Study

This paper explores the manner in which Jewish community contexts relate to Jewish identity. We employ the Decade 2000 Data Set that contains almost 20,000 randomly selected Jewish households from 22 American Jewish communities interviewed from 2000 to 2010. Because of the large sample size, and its incorporation of community infrastructure data, this research also is able to examine various influences on Jewish identity that have not been definitively addressed in previous research, including the manner in which characteristics of Jewish community infrastructure are related to individuals’ Jewish identity. The Decade 2000 Data Set used for the analysis is described and some of the methodological considerations involved in its use are presented. Jewish identity is conceptualized as multidimensional, and a factor analysis results in four Jewish identity factors: a communal religious factor, a private religious factor, a broader ethnic factor, and a local ethnic factor. Multiple regressions for each of the Jewish identity factors are related to Jewish community characteristics; more commonly researched individual-level variables (Jewish background and connections, family status, socioeconomic status, demographic/geographic characteristics); and survey-level variables (such as size of sample and year of study) are also controlled. Surprisingly, except for the local ethnic factor, Jewish community characteristics have little relationship to individual Jewish identity. The contributions to a “sociology of Jewish place” and suggestions for further research are also discussed