Jewish immigrants arrived in the Oregon Territory as early as 1849, before Oregon was granted its statehood in 1859. The first Jews who settled there were mainly of German origin, and largely practiced Reform Judaism. By the mid-1850s, Oregon had a number of Jewish communities in small towns, including Jacksonville in southern Oregon,[1] and later Burns, Heppner, and Baker in eastern Oregon. Portland, the state's largest city, served as a hub for Jews due to its larger Jewish community. The Reform Congregation Beth Israel, which founded the state's first synagogue in Portland in 1861, is one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the western United States, and its cemetery has the distinction of being the oldest continually running Jewish cemetery in the country.[2]
Early European Jewish immigrants rarely faced antisemitism in the Oregon American frontier, as other settlers tended to consider them as fellow white pioneers.[3] The Jewish populations' engagement in town building, involvement in pack train operations, and battling in Oregon's American Indian Wars further ingratiated them into their respective communities.
Beginning in the 1880s, an influx of Eastern European Jews from Russia, Ukraine, Poland entered Oregon, many of whom were conservative ideological socialists who practiced Orthodox Judaism. This led to some friction between the established American Jews in the state, who founded programs promoting Americanization to the communities of Eastern European newcomers, as they felt their Old World customs could potentially stoke antisemitism. In the early 20th-century, the expansion of Portland as a major city resulted in many Jewish Oregonians relocating there and establishing new communities. From the midcentury onward, the Jewish population in Oregon steadily increased, with new congregations being founded in numerous cities throughout the state. The Orthodox Jewish population in Portland in particular has increased since 2005.[4]
^Nudelman, Geoff (September 29, 2017). "How Jewish Pioneers Helped Shape Oregon". Travel Oregon. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024.
^Bergen & Davis 2021, p. 148.
^Cite error: The named reference enc was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Binder, Melissa (October 21, 2015). "Orthodox Jews streaming into Portland, thanks to new infrastructure". The Oregonian. Archived from the original on May 25, 2017.
and 26 Related for: History of the Jews in Oregon information
arrived intheOregon Territory as early as 1849, before Oregon was granted its statehood in 1859. The first Jews who settled there were mainly of German...
The 19th century saw Jews, like many other people, moving to the American West. Inthe nineteenth-century, Jews began settling throughout the American...
undeclared and non-practicing Jews, a great number deciding to intermarry with non-Jews. Later on, the vastly more numerous Ashkenazi Jews that came to populate...
As of 2022, New York State is home to over 2.2 million Jews, making Judaism the second-largest practiced religion inthe state. In New York City alone...
ThehistoryoftheJewsin South Florida dates back to the 19th century. Many South Florida Jews are Ashkenazi (descendants of Russian, Polish, and Eastern...
Jewsin Los Angeles comprise approximately 17.5 percent ofthe city's population, and 7% ofthe county's population, making the Jewish community the largest...
Jewsin Philadelphia can trace their history back to Colonial America. Jews have lived in Philadelphia since the arrival of William Penn in 1682. Jewish...
Jews have been living in Metro Detroit since it was first founded, and have been prominent in all parts of life inthe city. The city has a rich Jewish...
city. At the end ofthe 20th century there were a total of 270,000 Jewsinthe Chicago area, with 30% inthe city limits. In 1995, over 80% ofthe suburban...
ThehistoryofJewsin San Diego dates to the middle ofthe 19th century. Home to a Jewish community of around 100,000 people, around 3% ofthe metropolitan...
ThehistoryoftheJewsin Alaska began before the Alaska Purchase in 1867. Jews from Imperial Russia lived there periodically as fur traders, and a Jewish...
ThehistoryofJewsin Milwaukee began inthe early 1840s with the arrival of Jewish immigrants from German-speaking states and the Austro-Hungarian empire...
Marylanders are Jewsof color, including Black Jews, Asian Jews, Latino Jews, Indigenous Jews, and other non-white Jews. Sephardic Jews and Mizrahi Jews may or...
Jews comprise approximately 16% of New York City's population, making the Jewish community the largest inthe world outside of Israel and the world's...
ThehistoryofJewsin Ohio dates back to 1817, when Joseph Jonas, a pioneer, came from England and made his home in Cincinnati. He drew after him a number...
represent the remainder of those original American Jews along with an array of other Jewish communities, including more recent Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Beta...
II, many Jews moved east into Bexley, Berwick, and Eastmoor, where many Jews and Jewish organizations remain today. Between 1975 and 2000, the Jewish population...
The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008, Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the...
Jews participated in many important events in Southern history, such as the Civil War, the World Wars, and the civil rights movement. The first Jew to...
Global Information