Rosh Hashanah Observed by Salem Merchants in 1923

In 1923 Jewish merchants made themselves much more visible in observing Rosh Hashanah.

In previous years there had been scattered closure announcements, but in 1923 there was an striking density of them.

September 11th, 1923

Page six had a cluster, and there were a few more on other pages also.

The paper also had a front page story.

September 11th, 1923

Significantly, the piece says that services will be held in the Derby building on Court and High. (Since demolished for the Transit Center and Courthouse Square.) It also lists officers of a "Salem association."

Derby Building on Court and High
(Salem Library Historic Photos, also here)

The brief history for Temple Beth Sholom suggests "Salem’s Jewish community began organizing in the 1930’s, holding its first meetings in private homes."

This looks like evidence for even earlier organizing.

March 28th, 1951

In fact, a brief news piece in 1951 suggests organized services started in 1919. Its description of "a rented hall on Court street opposite the courthouse" is consistent with a location in the Derby Building.

Another note from 1954 pushed it back to 1917 and gave a more recent location for services:

The congregation has been active in Salem for over 37 years...but a regular worship place was not constructed until 1947...Until the synagogue was erected, the congregation met on the third floor of the old American Legion Hall at N. Commercial and Chemeketa Streets....

Clearly there is more to learn!

The newspapers had had pieces about Rosh Hashanah nearly every year, if only to explain business closures to the largely Christian readership. But they incorporated materials from New York or Portland, did not much discuss anything local, and the stories were not on the front page.

Even just a few years before 1923 there wasn't much.

September 26th, 1919

September 29th, 1921

September 22nd, 1922

This evidence from 1923, a new local angle for the newspaper story as well as the density of ads, invites more research. There might have been other reasons for more ads: Changes in editorial interest at the paper and a push for ad sales immediately come to mind. There are other possible explanations also. Still, part of the context in 1923 is the increase in Klan activity, and increasingly visible organizing may not be a coincidence.

The old location
(Saffron Supply at Salem History Matters)

As the City works on the "Block 50" project, and includes historical materials on the State Insurance Building, the history of Saffron Supply next door should not be slighted. Isaac Safron was listed as Treasurer for the Association in 1923, and there must be more to say about all this in Salem history. (See also the piece at Salem History Matters on Saffron Supply.)