Interviews for an Oral History of
Judaism in the Ozarks
Brief History
We don't know when the first Jewish families arrived in Springfield, Missouri. By the 1880's there was already a small community of German Jews living in town. They had come mostly from the Rheinland, were shopkeepers, and left us no evidence of their religious organizations. However, by 1890 Jews of eastern European extraction were beginning to appear in the Ozarks. Perhaps it was the arrival of their poor cousins that caused the German Jews of Springfield to organize a synagogue in 1893, Temple Israel.
During the first years of the twentieth century the Jewish community in Springfield grew large enough to split into two congregations, Temple Israel kept its membership in the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (the organization of American reformed Judaism), while Sha'are Zedek became the focus of eastern European and orthodox Judaism in Springfield. The two congregations cooperated to purchase and maintain a cemetery, members intermingled in fraternal Jewish organizations, and generally got along well, although there was a sharp social distinction between the two groups.
Though Springfield was segregated and a hotbed of Ku Klux Klan activity, the Jewish population seems to have been hardly touched by anti-Semitism between the wars. Several of our respondents told stories about their fathers being asked to join the Klan by Klansmen oblivious to their organization's anti-Semitism. The truth is more complex. The Jewish population consisted of independent shopkeepers and businessmen who, after World War I, were joined by factory managers from Jewish owned companies in St. Louis. There were few Jewish professionals nor did many Jews find employment in other areas of the Springfield economy. The Jews of Springfield quietly accepted the social constraints which were a part of American life until recently.
In 1933 the wealthy but aging German Jews built a modest synagogue with seats for about one hundred twenty worshippers. They never could pay off the mortgage. During World War II, the two congregations were forced by circumstance to cooperate on a more intimate basis. After the war Sha'are Zedek paid off the mortgage, and joined Temple Israel creating United Hebrew Congregations. The new congregation was wealthy enough to hire a part time rabbi, and construct a large social hall in 1952. However, the fifties were the twilight of "classical" Springfield Judaism. The old German families had nearly disappeared, and the local retail economy was replaced by the strip mall centered franchising system. By the 1970s many Jews in town wondered whether Springfield Judaism had any future left. Attendance was so poor in 1975 that UHC was forced to hold joint Friday evening orthodox/reform Sabbath services. The idea expressed by some of our respondents that these were conservative is not entirely accurate. A UAHC trained rabbi using the Reform prayer book and service regularly preached to small groups of largely orthodox worshippers. During the period bebween Shavuot and the High Holidays when the rabbi was on vacation, these same worshippers would conduct their own services with a conservative siddur in the orthodox style.
Starting at about the same time, Jewish professionals, physicians, college professors, lawyers, many with East coast backgrounds, began arriving in Springfield. They revitalized the congregation which grew from about 70 families in 1970 to 130 today. This group constructed a new suburban facility in 1996, and renamed itself Temple Israel.
The congregation's centennial in 1993 was the occasion for a look back to the past. One part of that celebration was an oral history project. Julie Henigan, an oral historian, and I put together a grant application to take histories from a set of the older members of the congregation in order to preserve what they might know about the past. We constructed a set of questions to explore the development of the social and religious life of the community. Our respondents were carefully chosen to offer as many perspectives as possible. Sadly, there was not a single respondent available with ties to the old German community. Some of the respondents were more talkative than others, but all of them offer valuable insights. Readers should understand that our respondents told us the truth as they understood it. Hence the interviews offer not a history, but an individual perspective on the past which historians will find useful in reconstructing events and attitudes. The Missouri Humanities Committee generously supported us with a substantial grant. The full transcriptions of our work are to be found by clicking the appropriate buttons to the left.