IN Jewish History

Matt Reiswerg was an American soccer player and coach who was born and raised in Indianapolis and played for Indiana University. He had a professional career with the Cincinnati Riverhawks and the Indiana Blast. In 2005, he won a silver medal with Team USA at the Maccabiah Games in Israel. In this episode of IN-Jewish History, Matt shares the story of his grandfather, Rube Reiswerg, who was a prof...

In this episode of the IN-Jewish History Podcast, we speak with Rabbi Michael A. Davis, who has strong roots in Indiana. His grandfather, Rabbi Abraham Cronbach, was born in Indianapolis, and his father, Maurice Davis, served as the Rabbi of the Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, where Rabbi Michael grew up. Starting in 1995, Rabbi Michael became the spiritual leader of Congregation Emanu-El. As a...

Professor Shelly Tenenbaum is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the undergraduate concentration in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University. Her publications include A Credit to Their Community: Jewish Loan Societies in the United States, 1880–1945. Jewish immigrants often needed access to capital to start a small business. This led to various loan societies and later t...

Rabbi Moshe, also known as Roosevelt Solomon Jr., was born in 1952. Much of his career has been in Kokomo, Indiana. Initially, he grew up to become a Baptist minister. During his time in the pulpit, he traveled to Israel and experienced a vision that established a personal connection to Judaism. Following this revelation, he converted to Judaism under the guidance of Manhattan’s unaffiliated New S...

In this podcast episode, we talk to Professor Timothy Quevillon, Western Kentucky University, Founder and Director of the Riverlands Jewish Archive, who describes his work and research as a partner with the Indiana Jewish Historical Society and some of the fascinating history he has discovered over the past year.

Margarita Rayzberg was born in Perm, toward the end of the Soviet Union. Her family came to America, and she attended Jewish day school and later became a professor of Sociology. She is a Professor of Sociology at Valparaiso University and lives in Gary, Indiana, in the Miller Beach neighborhood. In this episode, Margarita discusses unique aspects of the Sociology of Jews from the Soviet Union and...

We're joined by Adam B. Shapiro, who has become a prominent actor in Yiddish theater and has worked in both movies and television. He's originally from Indianapolis and graduated from Ball State University. Adam discusses his early challenges and his unlikely rise to stardom in the Yiddish theater.

Richard Glazier was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to a family that had grown up in a small Jewish enclave on the city’s South Side. In this podcast, we discuss his family’s struggles with poverty and its eventual successes. Richard began studying piano at the age of six. When he was nine, he watched the 1943 film "Girl Crazy,” which featured a score by George and Ira Gershwin. Enthralled by...

In this episode, we join Olga Chernyak, who discusses her Jewish journey of growing up in Moscow in the USSR, immigrating to Ohio, and later moving to Indiana, and her family’s struggles and successes on the way to reclaiming the Jewish traditions and maintaining Jewish memory from generation to generation.

Learn how Dee Schwartz and her family were rescued from the Holocaust by Cantor Myro Glass, living in Indianapolis.

In this episode of In Jewish History , Michael sits down with Ross Melnick to discuss Sid Grauman—the Hoosier Jewish showman who helped shape Hollywood’s golden age. Melnick is a professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was named an Academy Film Scholar and an NEH Fellow for his acclaimed book, Hollywood's Embassies: How Movie Theaters Projected Am...

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Michael interviews the first Jewish Mayor of Indianapolis, Stephen Goldsmith.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Michael decodes the Sydney Pollack story.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Kenneth Turchi speaks about his book " Looking Forward, Giving Back: T he history of Jewish Merchants in Downtown Indianapolis."

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Vincennes historian Richard Day talks about the history of the Gimbel Buildings and other early Jewish settlements in Vincennes, Indiana.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Dr. Alex Kor of Candles Holocaust Museum and Education Center in Terre Haute, Indiana, discusses his book “A Blessing, Not A Burden.”

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Rabbi Dennis Sasso discusses the history of Beth El Zedeck.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Rabbi Sue Silberberg talks about her journey and how she created a home away from home for Jewish students.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Trent Pendley, author and former President of the Indiana Jewish Historical Society, talks about his book and project "A Jewish History ofIndiana’s Dunelands."

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Harriet Miller revisits her work on the “Biography of Minette Baum,” a project she published 50 years ago. She explores Minette Baum’s vital role in aiding Jewish immigrants in Fort Wayne and her lasting contributions to Jewish community building.

In this episode of “In Jewish History,” Rabbi Ron Klotz discusses the significance of Jewish camps in shaping spiritual lives and fostering Jewish identity. He explores how these camps provide a unique environment for religious growth, cultural connection, and community building among Jewish youth.

In this episode of "In Jewish History," Emily Reuben discusses her documentary project Troubled Waters: The Integration of the Riviera Club . This project covers the Bates v. Riviera Club Inc. court case, in which Emily's father was an attorney who fought for African-Americans and Jews to gain admittance into a club that discriminated against racial and ethnic minorities in Indianapo...

In this episode of "In Jewish History", Mark Lavie reflects on his career as a journalist and his life in Israel. Lavie discusses Israeli politics and culture, meeting various Israeli politicians, and his experience moving from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Israel as a young man.

In this episode of "In Jewish History", Lou Kaplan talks about the Jewish community in Whiting, Indiana, his family's life in Whiting after they came to the United States from Russia, his childhood, the Arbiter Ring (Workmen's Circle), and the future of Jewish Whiting today.

In this episode of "In Jewish History", Dr. Wendy Soltz, an Assistant Professor of History and the Director of the Public History Program at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, discusses the creation of the Indiana Synagogue Mapping Project, an interactive map featuring information about and images of Indiana synagogues from 1865 to 2015. Dr. Soltz talks about the research that wen...