Glimmers of Jewish Glory Days in Baltimore

GEOGRAPHY

The once-vibrant Jewish community of Baltimore, Maryland, is on the rebound. Jewish identity is being rediscovered by institutions as varied as the busy Jewish Museum of Maryland and the delis of “Corned Beef Row.” (New York Times)

Use MapMaker Interactive to help students trace their own “personal journeys.”

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit.

Baltimore is home to one of the oldest standing synagogues in the U.S., the Lloyd Street Synagogue.Photograph by Shir Kalmanson — Baltimore is home to one of the oldest standing synagogues in the U.S., the Lloyd Street Synagogue.
Photograph by Shir Kalmanson

Discussion Ideas:

The article on Baltimore’s Jewish heritage is classified as a “Personal Journey.” The writer traces her grandparents’ and other ancestors’ Jewish identity by exploring the history of the urban geography of Baltimore. People have many identities (religious, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, etc). If students were to create a “Personal Journey” to trace one of these identities, where would they go? (It could be down the street or across the world.) What sorts of geographic features would they investigate?
- physical geography. The writer of the article on the Jewish community in Baltimore does not focus on physical geography, but it may be important to other personal journeys.
  - landscape. How did the landscape (mountains, lakes, etc.) influence the identities pursued in students’ personal journeys?
  - climate. How did weather and climate influence the identities pursued in students’ personal journeys?
- human geography. The writer focuses on a small section of Baltimore that was home to the city’s thriving Jewish community. What institutions, cultural markers, or other aspects of human geography influence the identities pursued in students’ personal journeys?
  - food. Corned Beef Row was the nickname of the restaurants and delis that served Baltimore’s Jewish community. What foods or restaurants are associated with the identity pursued in students’ personal journeys? How have people adapted those foods in new places? (Read our article on food in New Orleans, and how it has been influenced by European, South American, and African communities.)
  - clothes. Do the identities pursued in students’ personal journeys have unique costumes or fashions? How did they develop? Do they have practical, cultural, or spiritual associations? (Read our “media spotlight” on hijab, the Muslim concept of modesty expressed mostly in women’s clothing.)
  - religion. Are there religious or spiritual aspects to the identity pursued in students’ personal journeys? (Read our article on the Crypto-Jews of the Americas, whose long history has been traced to the 15th-century Spanish Inquisition.)
  - migration and immigration. Is immigration a part of the personal journey pursued by students? If so, what factors influenced this immigration? How did this immigration influence their identity? How did they maintain their identity in their new home? (Read our lesson on the “Lost Boys,” who faced a wide variety of cultural and economic challenges after immigrating from Sudan to the U.S.)
  - language. The writer uses a number of Hebrew and Yiddish terms in her article, from shul to mitzvah to macher. Does the identity pursued in students’ personal journeys have its own language or dialect? (Read our article on the dialect of Tangier Island, Virginia, and how isolation helped create an unusual linguistic identity.)
- political geography. Political geography is broadly defined as the study of how spatial relationships influence government or social policy. Migration or immigration can be a part of the political geography of a student’s personal journey, as well as its human geography. What are some other aspects of political geography?
  - education. Many cultures have schools to help young people understand the traditions of their ancestors. The writer mentions cheders, or Jewish schools, for instance. Do cultural groups associated with the identities pursued by students in their personal journeys offer formal or informal educational opportunities for members?
  - intra-group conflicts and cooperation. The writer talks about a “rift” that grew between the founding members of Baltimore’s Jewish community and the community’s newer immigrants in the 1870s. Has intra-group conflict helped shape the identities pursued by students’ personal journeys? Has intra-group cooperation strengthened these identities?
  - inter-group conflicts and cooperation. The writer mentions that Corned Beef Row was adjacent to African American and Italian communities in Baltimore. How did the identities pursued in students’ personal journeys interact with other groups? What are some instances of conflict or cooperation?

Use our MapMaker Interactive to map students’ personal journeys. The map’s zoom feature can focus on a specific area, and use the “Link” feature in the “Markers” tab to customize the personal journey map with explanations, images, and links. Review this blog post to understand this tool.
- Students can map the physical geography of their journey. They may mark landscape features that were important to the identity being explored—an area where a natural hazard forced migration, for example.
- Students can map the human geography of their journey. They may mark places where religious or cultural institutions were located—a church that served as a meeting place for civil rights activists, for example.
- Students can map the political geography of their journey. They may mark places where intra-group or inter-group conflict or cooperation occurred.