Jews of 21st-century Baltimore live all over the Charm City region.
It must be something in the water.
For generations, the conventional wisdom about Baltimore Jewry has been the following: nobody ever leaves.
Of course, we know that’s not true. Plenty of Jews who grow up in Charm City somehow manage to slip away and forge new lives elsewhere.
But plenty of ‘em stick around, too, for all kinds of reasons — family, friends, employment opportunities, affordability, manageable living, familiarity, great sports teams, etc.
But then, the other prevailing fallacy is that Jews in the Baltimore metropolitan area, by and large, live exclusively in the northwest corridor. Translation: Pikesville, Upper Park Heights, Owings Mills and Mount Washington. Some half-jokingly call it “the shtetl,” or village, and attribute this phenomenon to an ethnic and religious comfort zone, as well as the residue of residential discrimination policies and proclivities of a bygone era.
While it’s true that a good chunk of Jewish Baltimore remains concentrated in the northwest, demographic studies and anecdotal information in recent years show that Jews are increasingly residing in other parts of the area once considered devoid of any signs of Jewish life. Nowadays, it’s not unusual to meet Jewish folks who dwell in such “far-flung” places as Towson, East Baltimore, the I-83 corridor, Hampden and Medfield, Catonsville, Howard County, Midtown, Hamilton and Parkville — you name it!
For our cover story, Jmore offers examples of Jewish families and individuals who live in different sections of this area and what they love about their homes and communities.
Where Upside Down Feels Right — Dr. Rebecca Dezube and Scott Goldman
‘Feels Like a Hug’ — Wendy and Michael Appleby
Let There Be Light — Jon Adler Kaplan
Led by local Israel-American cellist Amit Peled, the Mount Vernon Virtuosi aims to inspire people beyond musical enjoyment.
A former college campus activist, Veksler will speak at Chizuk Amuno on June 8 at the Ruth and Jay Lenrow Visiting Scholar-in-Residence for Combating Antisemitism.
A lifelong Baltimorean, Judge Rosenberg served as a U.S. magistrate judge from 1973 to 1998.
A former resident of Baltimore and central Florida, Ritt was active in the Soviet Jewry movement of the 1970s and 1980s.