Emanu – El

The development of Jewish landsmanshaftn - immigrant hometown associations – throughout American cities at the turn of the twentieth century provided means for Eastern European Jewish immigrants to adapt to American society. The arrival and subsequent work of the Ozersky Brothers in 1895 epitomized the experience of many Russian Zionists who struggled to establish communal networks for their landslayt. Nathan, Louis, and Emanuel Ozersky worked feverishly toward bringing over their oppressed Russian landslayt with the objective of creating a budding Russian Jewish community in Youngstown grounded in Zionism. The Ozersky brothers remained in constant communication with their landslayt, provided financial assistance for travel, housed the new arrivals, and offered employment at their bakery on Federal Street. Although the Ozerskys were not the only group of Eastern Europeans who worked to transport landslayt to Youngstown, no other family, or organization matched the Ozerskys’ fervor and success in the assimilation of immigrants. 

By 1904, the Ozersky Brothers efforts led to the formation of a second Orthodox congregation with a membership of twenty-six families. The new congregation, Emanu-El (God is With Us), focused their initial concerns on Theodore Herzl’s Zionist vision of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The congregants of Emanu-El supported Herzlian Zionism despite being “laughed at by the non-religious elements and frowned upon by their pious brethren.” Also in 1904, the leaders of Emanu-El established the first Zionist organization in Youngstown, Degel Tzion (Flag of Zion). Headed by Meyer Altshuler, an erudite Russian Zionist, Degel Tzion promoted Jewish National Trust and Colonial Trust campaigns for Jewish colonization of Palestine. [1]   

Within two years, Emanu-El organized a Ladies Zionist Society and Sons and Daughters of Zion chapters. After successfully establishing budding Zionist organizations, Emanu-El turned to the religious and educational needs of their congregants, and erected a Talmud Torah in 1908. Often referred to as the Youngstown Hebrew Institute, the school developed quickly, and by 1920, enrolled over one hundred and fifty students at a schoolhouse on Wood Street. Emanu-El’s leaders, confident in the school’s progress and the congregation’s continued advancements in the cause of Zionism, constructed a permanent place of worship in 1912 on East Rayen Avenue, just south of Smoky Hollow. It had a seating capacity of nearly eight hundred. Emanu-El’s advocacy of Zionism and strong emphasis toward an Orthodox religious education illustrated their desire to retain certain old-world religious traditions and political ideologies, which they viewed as essential components of Jewish life.[2] 

Ozersky Bros. Delivery Wagon. Acc. No. 2004.34.1 JA2004-2, MVHS Collections

Illustrations from 1931 Booklet showing the Temple and School. Acc. No. JA90-650P-23 pages 4 and 21, MVHS Collections

Emanu-El or Youngstown Hebrew Institute Class, circa 1934. Acc. No. JA89-650P-6, MVHS Collections

Carl Manello.Saul Silber. Illustrations from 1931 Emanu-El book, pages 26, 29. Acc. No. JA90-650P-23, MVHS Collections

Groundbreaking. Illustration from 1931 booklet, page 40.  Acc. No. JA90-650P-23

Dedication Ceremony, 1956. Acc. No. JA90-650P-35 MVHS Collections

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