What is it like to be Jewish in the Minneapolis suburbs? (Minnetonka: house, neighborhood)

[yourpalincal]

Are people accepting of people of other religions?
Do people sense that some are not from Minnesota by the way the talk?

[Minnehahapolitan]

That depends very much on what suburb you are talking about and where you sound like you're from. Everyone will be accepting of you, but that doesn't mean that you would necessarily be warmly welcomed in some areas. Most area Jews in Minneapolis live in Saint Louis Park, Minnetonka, Hopkins and nearer Lake Calhoun. In Saint Paul, most live in the Highland Park neighborhood of Saint Paul or suburban Mendota Heights.

[Mr Maps]

I'm not religious but as a foreigner I found the local population to be generally fairly open-minded to all/everyone's circumstances and ideas. This is probably stems from the prevailing German/Scandinavian culture of social support and the top-notch public education system.

Keep in mind, however, that most jews in Minneapolis come from a relativity recent immigration wave from Soviet Union in 1980s and may not necessarily mingle well with their American counterparts.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Mr Maps

I'm not religious but as a foreigner I found the local population to be generally fairly open-minded to all/everyone's circumstances and ideas. This is probably stems from the prevailing German/Scandinavian culture of social support and the top-notch public education system.

Keep in mind, however, that most jews in Minneapolis come from a relativity recent immigration wave from Soviet Union in 1980s and may not necessarily mingle well with their American counterparts.

I have to disagree, the Jewish population in MN has been around for a very long time, much longer then the 1980's.

Most people in MN are not going to care one way or another if you are Jewish, suburbs or city alike. Some of the suburbs that have a higher Jewish population are actually very accommodating, especially with the school system. I graduated from Sibley High School which has a large Jewish population. While we didn't have any of the Jewish Holiday's off for school, the students that were Jewish were allowed to take those days off as if it were a school holiday, meaning they were not considered absent and didn't have to make up the work. This was quite a while ago so I don't know if it still is that way.

Most of our friends that are Jewish choose to live either in Mendota Heights, Highland Park or St. Louis Park because those areas are closer to their Temple and will have neighbors that are Jewish, but not all of them.

[Minnehahapolitan]

Umm...there has always been a population of Germanic Jews in Minneapolis and Saint Paul -- beginning at early settlement. Russian Jews started immigrating in the 1880s, not the 1980s. They were poorer than their established counterparts and were a large population on the northside of Minneapolis until well into the 1960s.

[uptown_urbanist]

I'm chiming to echo the point that there is a long history of Jews in the Twin Cities. Parts of North Minneapolis were historically very Jewish, and the Uptown area of Minneapolis was home to two synagogues until the 1990s (one has since moved to Minnetonka, closer to where a majority of its members live). Some suburbs have a higher number of Jewish residents, of course, but I can't imagine it would be that unusual to be Jewish anywhere. St. Louis Park is particularly well known (aka "St. Jewish Park", as I've sometimes heard my Jewish friends call it) for its Jewish population.

I think overall the Twin Cities are very tolerant when it comes to religion.

There's a local historian (can't remember the name) who has written a series of illustrated books about Twin Cities Jewish history, if you're interested. They're published by Arcadia Publishing, and you can probably find them by searching their website.

As for telling if you're a Minnesota-born Minnesotan by how you talk, depends on what kind of an accent you have. Maybe, maybe not. For most people it will probably depend more on situation. If you order a "soda' instead of a "pop" people will peg you as probably from somewhere else originally, for example.

[DaPerpKazoo]

Originally Posted by yourpalincal

Are people accepting of people of other religions?
Do people sense that some are not from Minnesota by the way the talk?

I would say that you would find some prejudice against Muslims from some people in some of the more conservative suburbs. I doubt you would find much anti-semetic prejudice anywhere in the Twin Cities. As already mentioned, Hopkins, St. Louis Park and the areas along the west side of Calhoun have very large Jewish populations.

If you have a significant accent, yes, people will know you aren't from Minnesota. Will they discriminate against you because of that? Probably not.

[uptown_urbanist]

It's worth pointing out on this thread that Minnesotans voted for the first Muslim in the US House of Representatives: Congressman Keith Ellison of the 5th District (which includes Minneapolis and some of its suburbs). Not that there isn't some predjudice (and I assume that Muslims probably have it worst than most religions), but overall it's a pretty tolerant place as far as religion goes.

[Duk123]

I agree that the Twin Cities metro is very accepting as a whole. But I don't think many people realize that the area is home to multiple hate groups.
SPLCenter.org: Hate Groups Map

An one of the largest White Power record labels is/was based in Newport, MN
Panzerfaust Records - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

While I don't believe that the Metro is a hotbed of hate I don't think that many people don't realize some of the racism that is here.

[tindo80]

Everywhere has idiots, and you cannot escape a few crazy bigots anywhere in America. That being said, Minneapolis has a noticeably large jewish populations dispersed throughout the metro, mainly in the St Louis Park area.