Only a fraction of Texans are Jewish, yet Texas rabbis are among 
the most influential, colorful, and celebrated figures in the state's 
history and culture. In Jewish Stars in Texas Hollace Ava Weiner 
examines eleven rabbis whose wisdom and leadership extended 
throughout their communities.

    In Texas, there was little entrenched Jewish tradition, and as a 
result, Judaism in Texas developed with elements of the Old West 
as well as the Old Testament.

    Jewish Stars in Texas covers a time span from the first large 
wave of Jewish immigrants in the 1870s, through those who came 
to Texas in the 1920s.

    The influence of these Texas rabbis—whether it involved 
fighting the Ku Klux Klan or founding a symphony—can be 
appreciated by everyone who benefited from the causes they 
championed, the works they commissioned, and the religious and 
social harmony for which they strived.

_________________________________________________________

HOLLACE AVA WEINER, a native of Washington, D.C., 
graduated from the University of Maryland and was a journalist 
with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Her research into Texas 
rabbis has been published in American Jewish History, and 
Quiet Voices: Southern Rabbis and Black Civil Rights.


Number Eighty-Four: Centennial Series of the Association of 
Former Students, Texas A&M University


What people are saying about this book

"These biographies engage not just because they record a Jewish 
heritage that might otherwise be lost; they command our attention, 
rather, because they frequently speak of heroism, of people who 
chose to act rather than simply to accept the status quo."—Choice