How Cincinnati Became the Forgotten Birthplace of Modern Judaism in America!!
Rabbi Richard Sarason, Ph.D., Director, Pines School of Graduate Studies; The Deutsch Family Professor of Rabbinics and Liturgy
“Without Cincinnati, the Jewish community as it stands today throughout the United States would not be what it has become. It’s simply undeniable.”
When you think about the major epicenters of Jewish America, your mind probably jumps to New York, Miami, or Los Angeles. But in the early 19th century, the true gateway to the West—and the birthplace of modern American Judaism—was actually that bustling river city on the Ohio/Kentucky border: Cincinnati.
Host Brad Pomerance welcomes Rabbi Richard Sarason, Ph.D., to reveal the fascinating frontier history of the Cincinnati Jewish community and how this Ohio River town birthed the largest movement in modern Judaism in North America and built a world-class archive that historians and genealogists rely on to this day.