Tobias Brinkmann speaks about Chicago’s Jewish community from the founding of the United Hebrew Relief Association in 1859 to the creation of Jewish Charities of Chicago in 1923, a time when organizations that served “German” (Central European) Jews merged with those that served “Russian” (Eastern European) Jews. Dr. Brinkmann’s discussion assessed the highly charged conflicts between established members of the community and more recent immigrants, conflicts that had much to do with social status and assimilation and little to do with actual origins.

Dr. Tobias Brinkmann is Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Penn State University. He is a member of the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society and the Board of the Leo Baeck Institute in London. His most recent publication is Sundays at Sinai: A Jewish Congregation in Chicago.

Recorded live Saturday, April 21, 2013 at Spertus. 

Download a PDF of Dr. Brinkmann’s presentation below.