Are Jews more likely to live in MD or DC than VA?

[Anonymous]

Yes, definitely. I grew up in VA and there was maybe one Jewish person per class and a half Jewish person. In MD my friends got off from school for Jewish holidays-it was on the school calendar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some truth to this--just like there are some areas with higher African American populations or Korean populations, etc...

I think the main reason though that there are more Jewish in MD than VA is because the MD suburbs have been more "developed" for a longer period of time than the VA suburbs--this is just my perception though.

On another note though, most of the synagogues in DC are in upper NW--which is geographically closer to many MD communities compared with VA communities.

Yeah but even Dan Snyder was at the Washington Hebrew Congregation yesterday. Jews from all over the region were there. Except any from Va.

If you drive by a synagogue in northern Virginia you would have seen primarily Virginia plates. People go to synagogue in their own community, generally. And I don't know of anyone who goes to a different one for the high holy days (unless you are out of town). In fact, it can be difficult to get tickets for high holy day services if you're not a member of a synagogue.

I so think there are more Jews in Maryland just because there are, but I wouldn't base your conclusion on the plates you saw in a temple parking lot in upper northwest DC.

[Anonymous]

I'm a NoVa Jew (transplant) and there are several large Jewish congregations in NoVa (for instance, Rodef Shalom, Reform). I wouldn't go by plates in the parking lot in DC. Why would Virginians go into DC for services?

[Anonymous]

I belong to a synagogue in DC and our rabbi lives in Arlington and our cantor also lives in VA. We also have many members who live in Arlington. On the whole, however, the majority do come from DC and MD.

[Anonymous]

States with the highest proportion of Jews[from adherents.com]
Rank State Percent Jewish
1 New York 9.1
2 New Jersey 5.5
3 Florida 4.6
4 District of Columbia 4.5
5 Massachusetts 4.4
6 Maryland 4.2
7 Connecticut 3.0
8 California 2.9
9 Pennsylvania 2.7
10 Illinois 2.3

[Anonymous]

Here in MoCo, there are some areas that are heavily Orthodox Jewish. There are a few pockets of kosher restaurants/shops. And Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are school holidays in the public schools.

I don't know about the rest of MD or VA.

[Anonymous]

Traditionally, there weren't too many Orthodox and Conservative congregations in VA. I don't know what the situation is these days, but I know that it's not as saturated as the MD suburbs and DC. There are a fair number of Reform synagogues out here, though.

[Anonymous]

Random question, but I thought Jews were supposed to walk to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Or is this only Orthodox Jews? And would more people tend to do so on Yom Kippur anyway? I live in a heavily Jewish area and see men and boys walking to synagogue every Saturday, which is why I'm asking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:States with the highest proportion of Jews[from adherents.com]
Rank State Percent Jewish
1 New York 9.1
2 New Jersey 5.5
3 Florida 4.6
4 District of Columbia 4.5
5 Massachusetts 4.4
6 Maryland 4.2
7 Connecticut 3.0
8 California 2.9
9 Pennsylvania 2.7
10 Illinois 2.3

You realize this doesn't answer the OP's question at all, don't you? Virginia's population is quite a bit higher than Maryland, so it could have a smaller proportion of Jews but still a higher number altogether. I don't believe that's the case, but the list you posted is not relevant to the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there is some truth to this--just like there are some areas with higher African American populations or Korean populations, etc...

I think the main reason though that there are more Jewish in MD than VA is because the MD suburbs have been more "developed" for a longer period of time than the VA suburbs--this is just my perception though.

On another note though, most of the synagogues in DC are in upper NW--which is geographically closer to many MD communities compared with VA communities.

Yeah but even Dan Snyder was at the Washington Hebrew Congregation yesterday. Jews from all over the region were there. Except any from Va.

Yom Kippur is going to be one of the most well-attended days at any synagogue anywhere in the world. It does not mean that people are traveling from far and wide to go to a particular synagogue, it just means that more of the people who live nearby are attending. I guarantee you every synagogue in the country was packed yesterday, that's just how it works.

I have no idea what Dan Snyder has to do with anything, but I can only guess that if he was at WH then he is probably a member or a guest of a member. Which makes sense, because he probably lives in Maryland, no?

[Anonymous]

Ok, here's the thing. In America, we've been an urban people. Because of its industrial roots, Baltimore has had large-scale Jewish immigration and an established community infrastructure for many years. As a non-industrial city, DC had a smaller community downtown since the 19th century that slowly moved further NW, from what's now Penn Quarter to Lanier/ Mt. Pleasant in the '20s (Al Jolson, originally from downtown DC, bought his dad a house there when he made good) to the upper 16th St. area in the '40s/'50s, and on into MD during the "white flight" years. I believe that restrictive selling policies kept most of us out of the upper NW 'hoods for some time (no literal hoods there, unlike in VA, but plenty of "there goes the neighborhood" when blocks were busted). Then America had its suburban fling during the middle decades of the 20th century, plus Jewish business were heavily damaged during the riots, so the Jewish community very naturally moved into MD. At that time, much of NOVA was very blue collar and more culturally southern than it is today. Given that the extreme west of DC was off-limits, and that VA was relatively inhospitable, the pattern of movement into MD made perfect sense.. at least while living in the 'burbs was the 'mercan dream. Similarly, the pattern of moving back into the District or relocating from another city into the District makes sense now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, here's the thing. In America, we've been an urban people. Because of its industrial roots, Baltimore has had large-scale Jewish immigration and an established community infrastructure for many years. As a non-industrial city, DC had a smaller community downtown since the 19th century that slowly moved further NW, from what's now Penn Quarter to Lanier/ Mt. Pleasant in the '20s (Al Jolson, originally from downtown DC, bought his dad a house there when he made good) to the upper 16th St. area in the '40s/'50s, and on into MD during the "white flight" years. I believe that restrictive selling policies kept most of us out of the upper NW 'hoods for some time (no literal hoods there, unlike in VA, but plenty of "there goes the neighborhood" when blocks were busted). Then America had its suburban fling during the middle decades of the 20th century, plus Jewish business were heavily damaged during the riots, so the Jewish community very naturally moved into MD. At that time, much of NOVA was very blue collar and more culturally southern than it is today. Given that the extreme west of DC was off-limits, and that VA was relatively inhospitable, the pattern of movement into MD made perfect sense.. at least while living in the 'burbs was the 'mercan dream. Similarly, the pattern of moving back into the District or relocating from another city into the District makes sense now.

Thank you. That was the answer I was looking for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Random question, but I thought Jews were supposed to walk to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Or is this only Orthodox Jews? And would more people tend to do so on Yom Kippur anyway? I live in a heavily Jewish area and see men and boys walking to synagogue every Saturday, which is why I'm asking.

Usually only Orthodox Jews walk to synagogue on Shabbat; they are not supposed to drive or work or use power; they live in areas that are near their synagogues.

[Anonymous]

I believe that restrictive selling policies kept most of us out of the upper NW 'hoods for some time (no literal hoods there, unlike in VA, but plenty of "there goes the neighborhood" when blocks were busted).

The developers of Chevy Chase DC and MD (Francis Newlands and others) and the developers of Spring Valley and some of AU Park (WC and AN Miller) included restrictive covenants in the original deeds to these homes that prohibited resale to Jews, among other minorities. These covenants were passed along with each home sale for a few decades. This was also true in Shepard Park.

[Anonymous]

Restrictive covenants were also used in Kenwood (CC, MoCo), I believe.