Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Interesting article about the Seward Park area of Seattle: "AFFECTIONATELY CONSIDERED A SHTETL in the South End, Seward Park houses Seattle’s largest observant Jewish community. The eruv-bound neighborhood has five synagogues and a Kollel, and its main thoroughfare becomes a family parade on Shabbat and holidays. The neighborhood, which was established after the Jewish community of the Central District relocated en masse in the early 1960s, has a suburban feel — yet it maintains proximity to the wildlife wonderland of Seward Park and the bustling north-south Rainier Avenue corridor, with its public transportation, immigrant businesses, and the hip districts of Hillman City and Columbia City". Here is the link: https://mag.jewishinseattle.org/arti...-columbia-city
Seward Park, a shtetl? Hahaha. Yeah right.. That is one of the most affluent Jewish neighborhoods in the world. You got to pay to pray at the synagogues in Seward Park. I know, ive attended a couple of the very upscale Sefardic synagogues there. Now speaking of shtetls, my grandmother came from a real shtetl in Belarus. It was a real Jewish village (meaning of shtetl). In addition to being very poor, her shtetl endured horrible pogroms and was eventually exterminated by the Nazis when they invaded Belarus in WWII.
Seward Park, a shtetl? Hahaha. Yeah right.. That is one of the most affluent Jewish neighborhoods in the world. You got to pay to pray at synagogues in Seward Park. I know, ive attended a couple of the very upscale Sefardic synagogues there. Now speaking of shtetls, my grandmother came from real shtetl in Belarus. It was a real Jewish village (meaning of shtetl). In addition to being very poor, her shtetl endured horrible pogroms and was eventually exterminated by the Nazis when they invaded Belarus in WWII.
Mine too Rots, on my Dad's side (Mom's 100% Swiss German), from Ivano-Frankivsk, now Ukraine. I think the writer of this article is being a bit tongue in cheek with the "shtetl" usage.
Mine too Rots, on my Dad's side (Mom's 100% Swiss German), from Ivano-Frankivsk, now Ukraine. I think the writer of this article is being a bit tongue in cheek with the "shtetl" usage.
Yeah, I know the article was meant to be kind of a joke, but the irony is there are actually many Jewish communities even in the USA today that are more befitting of the "shtetl" label than Seward Park. There is actually many Chassidic communities in New York and some in New Jersey that still literally operating like a Yiddish shtetl. SOme of these little towns are almost completely Jewish, many of the people there speak Yiddish in their daily life. In fact, in some of these religious CHassidic communities, many people speak Yiddish as their first language and English as their second. My mother told me when she was visiting for her high school reunion and her and a friend drove through this Jewish village in New Jersey and people started throwing stones at their car because they were driving through the town on Shabbat.
An interesting article of a real American shtetl. Villages/Towns like Kiryas Joel, NY are as close as you will get to a shtetl in AMerica in 2019.
A much better comparison to Seward Park would be the Kazimierz neighborhood of Krakow, Poland, which at one time was the epicenter of all Jewish culture in Europe and the largest Jewish neighborhood in the world before the Holocaust. Of course, Seward Park is really pretty sterile and hardly very culturally Jewish in comparison to even Crown Heights, much less Kazimierz. Do they even have one kosher supermarket or deli in Seward Park? They didn't have anything of that nature when I was there. Vancouver, BC felt to have a much more Jewish feel in its Jewish areas than Seward Park or Mercer Island. I think the Jews in places like Seward Park are mostly affluent people and big business people. Yes, there are some Orthodox, but most are Modern Orthodox like the synagogue I attended. The main culture in Seward Park just seem to me to be your job and talking business, even on Shabbat..
To be honest, I did not enjoy Seward Park or like the community there. It's sad for me to say that. I found the Jewish neighborhood in SW Portland to be much more lively, friendly, down-to-earth and there was even a great diversity of Jewish communities there. The Jewish community in Portland felt more tight-knit. They even had some Jewish delis in Portland, as well as giant Jewish community center right on the main drag. Walking down on SW Vermont St in Portland felt like walking through a smaller version of Crown Heights with the large numbers of people in black hats walking up and down the street saying "Gut Shabbas" or "Shabbat Shalom". My parents live in this area and I always love to visit shuls in the area when I visit them.
You don't see much of that in Seward Park. There is no main drag or street of synagogues, they are intermixed throughout the neighborhood.
I also will say Denver has a much more tight-knit and vibrant Jewish community than Seattle. There are 20,000 more Jewish people in Denver than Seattle and it actually has quite a history with its Jewish community. That was surprising to me, as I didn't even know Denver really had much of a Jewish community before moving here. There are areas of Denver that remind me a little of Seward Park, that is synagogues intermixed with residential neighborhoods. But they are more laid-back, less pretentious and feel a bit more accepting and diverse.
Mine too Rots, on my Dad's side (Mom's 100% Swiss German), from Ivano-Frankivsk, now Ukraine. I think the writer of this article is being a bit tongue in cheek with the "shtetl" usage.
My maternal grandfather was from the Ivano-Frankivsk metropolitan area.
You want a real shtetl, you have to go to Mercer island.
My maternal grandfather was from the Ivano-Frankivsk metropolitan area.
You want a real shtetl, you have to go to Mercer island.
My paternal grandfather, Itzig and grandmother Chana, hailed from Odessa, Ukraine.. My mother's family were Polish/Russian Jews who immigrated to England before coming to the USA. Nice to met some fellow Ukrainian Yids.. I am Ukrainian, Russian, Belorussian, Polish Jew.. I am just a big mix of shtetls and cities of the Pale of the Settlement. One paternal Grandfather hailed from Lubavitcher villages of Belarus, the other hailed from the Breslov villages of Ukraine.
Mercer Island, a shtetl?? It use to be people dreamed of getting out of the poverty of the shtetl.. Now, I have to become a millionaire to get back into one.
This is teetering on the edge of stereotyping, people.
Seward Park is the focal point of Sephardic orthodoxy in Seattle. While of course there are many "modern" orthodox Jews in Seward Park, both Sephardi and Ashkenazi, the district is best known for its Sephardim, with the two biggest Sephardic synagogues in the region located about a mile from each other. At one point (and maybe still) Seattle had the highest ratio of Sephardic Jews to Ashkenazi Jews in the US. Sephardic Jews have played a key role in Seattle's history; see https://www.historylink.org/File/10778
There used to be a couple of kosher grocers and butchers in the Rainier Valley, but as with all things Seattle (and 21st century) this role has been superseded by big business. There's now a kosher grocery delivery service in south Seattle with Amazon-type prices, and the PCC branch in Columbia City stocks a reasonable selection of kosher foods (at typical PCC prices.) The main grocery action, however, is on Mercer Island, where the big QFC has taken over from the market-making kosher section at the now defunct Albertson's branch there (which even had a Glatt Kosher deli.)
The main nodes of Ashkenazi orthodox are Mercer Island, parts of Bellevue, and northeast Seattle. The main Chabad shul is in Wedgewood, and the University Village QFC is the go-to location for kosher foods in north Seattle.
There are two eruv districts in Seattle, one in Seward Park/Southeast Seattle and the other in NE Seattle.
This is teetering on the edge of stereotyping, people.
Seward Park is the focal point of Sephardic orthodoxy in Seattle. While of course there are many "modern" orthodox Jews in Seward Park, both Sephardi and Ashkenazi, the district is best known for its Sephardim, with the two biggest Sephardic synagogues in the region located about a mile from each other. At one point (and maybe still) Seattle had the highest ratio of Sephardic Jews to Ashkenazi Jews in the US. Sephardic Jews have played a key role in Seattle's history; see https://www.historylink.org/File/10778
There used to be a couple of kosher grocers and butchers in the Rainier Valley, but as with all things Seattle (and 21st century) this role has been superseded by big business. There's now a kosher grocery delivery service in south Seattle with Amazon-type prices, and the PCC branch in Columbia City stocks a reasonable selection of kosher foods (at typical PCC prices.) The main grocery action, however, is on Mercer Island, where the big QFC has taken over from the market-making kosher section at the now defunct Albertson's branch there (which even had a Glatt Kosher deli.)
The main nodes of Ashkenazi orthodox are Mercer Island, parts of Bellevue, and northeast Seattle. The main Chabad shul is in Wedgewood, and the University Village QFC is the go-to location for kosher foods in north Seattle.
There are two eruv districts in Seattle, one in Seward Park/Southeast Seattle and the other in NE Seattle.
I do admire that the Sephardim have established themselves so well in Seward Park. Many of them came to Seattle as fish merchants and were some of the oldest merchants at Pike Place Market. I was told that the original Jewish neighborhood in Seattle was the Central District before it transformed into an African American neighborhood, which later became gentrified and now is just an extension of Capitol Hill. The history is pretty fascinating and interesting to see how the Sephardic Jews were a big part of Seattle's history and one that is definitely forgotten.
A lot of Sephardic Jews in Seward Park hail from Rhodes, Greece, where a good majority of Jews there were killed in the Holocaust. There is a Holocaust memorial at one of the synagogues with the names of many of the people who were killed in Rhodes.
Of course, long gone are the humble roots of many of Seattle's Sephardim. Fish merchants have been replaced with IT workers, business tycoons, doctors, lawyers. I respect how successful of a community it is, but I was not welcomed because of my income level. People generally just ignored me in the synagogues because I couldn't keep up with the large fees and donations. Seattle's Jewish community as a whole was a tough one to break into. It is much easier for a Middle Class Jew like me to fit into the communities in Portland and Denver, where your income is not such a barrier to entry. Forget Mercer Island if you make under $200,000 a year. I attempted to join an Modern Orthodox shul there and once people found my income nobody ever invited to SHabbat dinner or would even talk to me afterwards. THey want to see you can be a contributing member or else they feel you are a burden, since operating a shul in a luxurious area like Mercer is not cheap. Mercer Island is the only place where everyone told me "excuse me, I have to go to my Shabbat dinner", rather than inviting me. I have zero affection for Mercer Island.
I also did attend the Lubavitcher synagogue (not a Chabad center) in Wedgewood.. You must be referring to Shaarei Tefillah. It is a pretty religious Ultra-Orthodox Lubavitcher shul. That little enclave of Wedgewood is a bit of a Chassidic neighborhood, but still doesn't have that "shtetl" vibe you will get from Jewish communities in the East Coast or Europe. A trip to Uman, Ukraine will give you about as much of a taste of old Chassidic/Yiddish world that you can get anywhere. Of course, Israel has some pretty traditional "shtetl" like communities
Many Chassidism truly yearn for the shtetl lifestyle and are trying to recreate it in various Jewish communities in the world. One of Chabad rabbis I know use to just glorify life in shtetls and had a lot of compassion for the Tsar (for some bizarre reason). He would never speak in English to his kids, but always Yiddish. His kids were fluent in Yiddish and it was their first language. THere is no where in Seattle you will ever get this type of lifestyle. Seattle is very much a big-business and more yuppie Jewish environment, even among the Orthodox.
The Bukharian community in Seattle is pretty interesting.. They are pretty religious and many live in Bellevue area, but have been relocating to Shoreline to attend the Russian Jewish community, since many are more fluent in Russian than English. I was attending the Russian Jewish community for a while, but I just wasn't religious enough to keep up with them. As well, most of it is Lubavitcher based and my minhag definitely leans more Mizrachi, which was not well received, esp having Lubavitcher lineage on my father's side.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hahaha. Yeah right.. That is one of the most affluent Jewish neighborhoods in the world. You got to pay to pray at the synagogues in Seward Park. I know, ive attended a couple of the very upscale Sefardic synagogues there. Now speaking of shtetls, my grandmother came from a real shtetl in Belarus. It was a real Jewish village (meaning of shtetl). In addition to being very poor, her shtetl endured horrible pogroms and was eventually exterminated by the Nazis when they invaded Belarus in WWII.
It use to be people dreamed of getting out of the poverty of the shtetl.. Now, I have to become a millionaire to get back into one. 
? All I did was post an interesting article.
