For more than 135 years, Jews living in and around Knoxville, Tennessee, have maintained the rituals that define them as a separate people, even as they managed to blend quietly with their Christian neighbors. Surprisingly, the Jews of this area have often wielded an influence on local affairs that far outweighed their tiny numbers.

Wendy Lowe Besmann paints a vivid portrait of this small community, showing the complex bonds of kinship, ethics, and culture that unite its many intriguing characters. Using interviews and documentary sources, she describes how successive waves of immigrants...

An insightful and well-written book. One of the best studies of local Jewish history extant. Leonard Dinnerstein, University of Arizona
For more than a century and a half, the Jewish citizens of the area in and around Knoxville, Tennessee, have maintained the rituals and traditions that define them as a separate people, even as they have blended quietly with their non-Jewish neighbors.
Wendy Lowe Besmann paints a vivid picture of this community, bringing alive the stories of merchants, grocers, immigrants from Eastern Europe, and scientists and university professionals who have come...