This book brings together six articles the author has published in recent years on the development of the Orthodox Jewish community in Cleveland, Ohio. While a number of scholars have ably presented important parts of the history of Jewish Orthodoxy in Cleveland, Ohio, this book is a first attempt to deal comprehensively with the story of Cleveland Orthodox Judaism. Chapters one and two, taken together, present a connected narrative history of the evolution of the Jewish Orthodox community in Cleveland, Ohio from its beginnings to the early twenty-first century. The succeeding chapters present in greater detail persons and institutions of great importance to the historical development of the Orthodox community.

Ira Robinson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University, where he taught for 42 years. Robinson has written, edited, and translated nineteen books, as well as over seventy articles. He served as the Chair of the Department of Religion and Director of the Concordia University Institute for Canadian Jewish Studies. He is past president of the Canadian Society for Jewish Studies, the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies, and the Jewish Public Library of Montreal. He is the 2013 winner of the Louis Rosenberg Canadian Jewish Studies Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Canadian Jewish Studies.

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“Scholarly interest in North American Orthodox Judaism has grown considerably in the past few decades and Ira Robinson has made a seminal contribution to this field. His work, which is predicated on deep erudition and meticulous archival research, stands out for introducing figures and local communities outside the massive concentrations in the greater New York region to the overall story. Indeed, in his examination of the trajectory of Cleveland Orthodoxy, not only does he bring to light fascinating episodes and personalities, each chapter offers a point of departure for identifying how this smaller but significant collective colors the broader narrative of the dynamic and increasingly influential Orthodox religious stream.”

— Adam S. Ferziger, Professor and holder of the Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch Chair for the Study of the Torah and Derekh Erez Movement, Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry, Bar-Ilan University

“The Cleveland Orthodox community is privileged that Professor Ira Robinson brought his abundant talents as a researcher, comfortable with multiple Jewish languages, and willing to wade through dusty archival documents and synagogue records that were ignored by others to bring to life the development over a century of an intriguing Jewish group. In focusing on a mid-size Jewish community—whose story is very different from that of Orthodoxy’s New York epicenter—the field of American Jewish history is privileged by an outstanding work that broadens the geographical scope of our discipline. Scholars will embrace his important labors. General audiences will find that his accessible prose makes for enjoyable reading.”

— Jeffrey Gurock, Libby M. Klaperman Professor of Jewish History, Yeshiva University

“With precision and perspicaciousness, Dr. Ira Robinson has produced a case study of Orthodox Judaism in Cleveland that’s much more than a local history. In Cleveland, Ohio, Robinson has found a dynamic religious history that deepens our understanding of migration; denominational fluidity and rigidity; and the role of rabbinic authority in dictating the contours of religious change in the United States. This book is a model for how to negotiate the ‘micro’ and the ‘macro’ of Jewish history, full of new material and ideas that will engage scholars and all interested readers.”

— Zev Eleff, President of Gratz College and Professor of American Jewish History