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The Jewish Home | MAY 19, 2022 The Jewish Home | MAY 19, 2022
The Wandering
Jew
Texas – The Lone Star State By Hershel Lieber
With Texas Rangers
I
t is the largest state in the contiguous Unites States and for a decade was an independent country. It is known for its hot weather, BBQ, the Alamo and has three of the top ten most populous cities in the country. It conjures up images of cowboy hats and leather boots, horses, vast ranches with longhorn cattle, and, of course, Wild West rodeos. By now, you know that I am referring to state of Texas. Jewish life in Texas is identified strongly with the port city of Galveston on the Gulf of Mexico. It was there that many Jewish immigrants arrived starting from the 1850s and began to spread out to nearby Houston and further north to San Antonio and Dallas. There was a concerted movement to bring Jewish immigrants
Stockyard in Ft. Worth
to Galveston between 1907-1914 to divert Jews from the crowded immigrant cities of the Eastern seaboard. As in most American cities back then, many Orthodox synagogues eventually realigned themselves with the more popular Reform and Conservative movements. With the phenomenal growth of the baal teshuva movement over the past four decades, and with the institutions that promoted their expansion (kollelim, Chabad, shuls and schools), there are significant Orthodox communities in all of the larger Texan cities. We left New York on Sunday, May 17, 2009, and arrived at our airport motel near Dallas at midnight. In the morning after davening and a quick breakfast, we
In front of the infamous Texas School Book Depository
Austin, Texas State Capitol
At the River Walk in San Antonio
drove three and a half hours to Austin, the state capital. We parked near the Capitol building and toured this magnificent edifice, which is reminiscent of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C., only it is a bit taller. Texas style! When we finished touring, we were treated to a Mariachi band concert in the building’s rotunda. A few blocks away, we visited the Texas State Museum, which featured an excellent IMAX film detailing, “Everything you wanted to know about Texas, but was afraid to ask.” From there, we took a street trolley to Congress Street and walked up and down the block, stopping into shops that specialize in Texan clothing. From cowboy hats to boots to belts to leather jackets and vests, this was the place that
Remember the Alamo
had it all. I enjoyed trying on the ten-gallon hats, though I did not think I could possibly wear them in my shtiebel back home. Many shops boasted weird items, but the blocks were colorful and full of life. From there, we went to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The oasis of tranquility at the University of Texas was the relaxation that we needed after a hectic day. We ended our visit to Austin by going out to eat at the Madras Restaurant. This pareve-only restaurant served Indian cuisine and had a reliable hechsher from the Dallas K. I remember the masala dosa and sweet chutney, but we could not identify the contents of the twelve little bowls of appetizers that accompanied our main dish. After a filling meal, we headed
Pioneer home in Congress Park, Dallas
