In the late 19th century, a Jewish resident in the small Romanian town of Husch received a letter from a friend in America. "If you want to be poor all your life", the writer admonished, "go to New York". Otherwise, he advised, "go to the other side", meaning California, where the 1848 discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills unleashed a massive migration from Europe, Asia and the eastern United States. From these early days forward, the state's Jewish community has challenged cultural assumptions almost entirely based on the experience of east coast Jews. The union's 31st state emerged early as one of the nation's most diverse. Because of its Catholic missionary history, eastern-style Protestantism did not dominate Gold Rush California, permitting a more rapid and inclusive immigrant acculturation process. And, unlike their eastern counterparts, California Jews were often among the first settlers to establish a west coast community. Jewish immigrants to California took advantage of its physical environment, ethnic diversity and cultural distinctiveness to fashion a form of Judaism unique in the American experience.
California Jews enjoyed unprecedented access to political power a generation earlier than their New York counterparts. They thrived in the multicultural mix, redefining the class back-white racial binary by forging relations with a variety of religious and ethnic groups in both San Francisco and Los Angeles. This illustrated volume takes a look at a variety of issues that have shaped California Jewry over its 150-year history. Essays discuss Jews and the gold rush, Latino-Jewish relations in Los Angeles, the Jewish community of Venice, kibbutzniks in San Fernando, Hollywood's Jewish organizational leadership, Jewish response to Japanese incarceration during World War II, post-war affiliations between Jews and Catholics in the Bay area, Jewish women's activism, the California counter-culture and the birth of the Brandeis Camp Institute. The title also includes two photo essays that capture different styles of California Jewish art.