DAYTON
How Dayton’s dailies covered Jewish life here, long before we had local Jewish papers
Dayton Metro Library
By Marshall Weiss Reprinted with permission from Ohio Genealogy News On the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 7, 1863, Dayton’s 40-plus Jewish families held a grand celebration: the dedication of the first synagogue building in this city of approximately 20,000 people. Holy Congregation B’nai Yeshurun, now known as Temple Israel, had purchased the building at the northeast corner of Fourth and Jefferson Streets from a Baptist church. Two local daily newspapers, the Dayton Journal (Republican) and The Daily Empire (Democratic) presented vivid accounts of the proceedings in their issues the next day. Because of the Journal, we know the procession to the new synagogue included “a large number of pretty little girls, dressed in white, beautifully decorated, and they were marching in couples, then young ladies charmingly costumed, and exquisitely decked with head dresses and scarfs, succeeded them.” We also know from the Journal that “prominent members” of the congregation followed them, carrying three Torah scrolls, “covered with the richest velvet cloth, with crowns in decoration, followed under a canopy.” “The Jews may well be proud of their beautiful place of worship,” The Daily Empire pro-
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B’nai Yeshurun dedicated the first synagogue building in Dayton, Oct. 7, 1863 at the northeast corner of Fourth and Jefferson Streets
nounced to its readers. Over the next few days, each newspaper ran corrections about the event. Both had listed the name of the congregation’s new rabbi, “Rev. Mr. Delbanco,” incorrectly. It’s possible the congregation printed his name wrong in the event program, and the papers likely followed suit. Not only did The Daily Empire run this correction, it reprinted the entire article with two items not mentioned in the first version: a notation that “the eldest members of the congregation” carried the Torah scrolls in the procession to the new synagogue building, and that the
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mayor and city council were in attendance. This revised version of the article begins with a clear explanation: “By request of our Jewish friends we republish the account of the dedication of the Synagogue…for the purpose of correcting errors which were made in the original.” More than 150 years later, I am glad The Daily Empire did so, not only to clarify the record but to add even more detail to help later generations better visualize the scene. It’s also the first of numerous examples in Dayton’s daily newspapers — and across party lines — of their interest in and Continued on Page Four
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The pandemic has brought difficult times to so many. This has also played out in Jewish journalism. With ad revenue sinking, even Jewish papers in America’s largest cities have been felled. First, the Canadian Jewish News closed Marshall its doors. Then the New York Jewish Week Weiss ended its print edition as did The Jewish Advocate in Boston, followed by the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles. In Dayton, our ad revenue and page counts are also down. But not precipitously. We continue to bring you the in-depth coverage we always have. How are we still here? We are the beneficiaries of a rare arrangement: at the same time that we are a nonprofit published by our Jewish Federation, the Federation has always respected and protected our charge to operate as a journalistic enterprise. That’s not an easy or comfortable task. We’re here because for nearly 25 years, the Federation has championed the importance of local Jewish journalism, because of the support of our advertisers, and most importantly, because you continue to support us. We’re still here.
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THE DAYTON JEWISH OBSERVER • NOVEMBER 2020
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