In remote North Dakota, endless sky, a few gravestones, and the remnants of a little-known Jewish history
While most Jewish immigrants flocked to urban centers, a few — like the Greenbergs — tried their luck as homesteaders
North Dakota
The Latest
-
Culture -
News For the first time, there are literally no synagogues legally open in America
Updated April 28 When the coronavirus starts to recede, Jewish life across the United States will look a lot like it already does in Fargo. Only 150 Jews live in the biggest city in North Dakota, but it’s one of the few places in the country where the governor hasn’t ordered people to stay home,…
-
News Revealing The Hidden Jews Of North Dakota
This story began in 1858 with the birth of my great-grandfather in a Russian shtetl. But the most recent chapter began six years ago at the Ashley Jewish Homesteaders Cemetery in Ashley, North Dakota. My great-grandfather, a Russian-Jewish immigrant turned first-time farmer on the Dakota plains, is buried there, along with other members of the…
-
Fast Forward Charlottesville Marcher Denounced By Entire Family In Hometown Newspaper Op-Ed
The father of one of the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va. last week has written a letter to his hometown newspaper denouncing his son and saying he was no longer welcome home until he renounced his bigotry. Pearce Tefft of Fargo, N.D. wrote to the local newspaper The Forum after his son, Peter,…
-
Fast Forward Zuckerberg Ditches Goggles In North Dakota Oilpatch Tour
Mark Zuckerberg toured a North Dakota drilling rig on Tuesday. The Facebook boss peppered industry workers in the No. 2 U.S. oil-producing state with questions about automation, safety and fracking — but forgot to wear his goggles. The visit to North Dakota, which pumps about 1.1 million barrels of oil per day – more than…
-
Fast Forward North Dakota Jewish Pioneer Cemetery Makes National Register
(JTA) — North Dakota’s oldest Jewish pioneer cemetery has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Sons of Jacob cemetery in Garske, in the state’s northeast, served a community of about 100 Jewish homesteaders from Eastern Europe. A group of descendants and locals applied to the state historical society for the national register; their application was approved by…
-
News Jewish History On The Prairie Lures Scores To A North Dakota Graveyard
Amid the rolling prairie, under the vast Dakota sky, a small fence encloses 20 headstones with surprising Hebrew markings in a field outside the town of Ashley, population 750. Local farmers pass it as they drive for groceries into the town, which has no Jews among its residents. But the graveyard’s most frequent mourners are…
-
Fast Forward Which States Had The Fewest Anti-Semitic Incidents? The Answer May Surprise You
The Anti-Defamation League’s annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents was released on Monday, and came with some saddening statistics. Incidents spiked by one-third in 2016, with more than 1,200 reported acts of vandalism, harassment and assault. Things got even worse this year, with anti-Semitic events spiking 86 percent in 2017’s first quarter. Such hate crimes happened…
Explore
Most Popular
- 1
News No Jews allowed: White supremacists are building a segregated community in Arkansas, but is it legal?
- 2
News Zohran Mamdani has represented Astoria’s Jews for 4 years. What do they think of him?
- 3
News Curtis Sliwa has a plan to beat Zohran Mamdani in NYC mayor’s race — and it starts with apologizing to Jews
- 4
News What Zohran Mamdani has actually said about Jews, Israel and antisemitism
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Melbourne protesters chant ‘Death to the IDF’ days after attacks on local synagogue, Israeli restaurant
-
News He wrote the book on American Jewish history. Stepping back from teaching, Jonathan Sarna says he has plenty of chapters still to go.
-
Fast Forward Trump says he didn’t know antisemitic history of ‘Shylock’ when he criticized bankers using the term
-
Fast Forward Most New Yorkers deterred by Zohran Mamdani’s support for Israel boycott, but 1 in 3 see it as a boon, poll shows
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
