The Miracle of Intervale Avenue: The Story of a Jewish Congregation in the South Bronx Book

Many white Americans have relatives who participated in white flight to the suburbs. But as they move back into cities, it's clear that the city changed in the meanwhile.

This book covers a good amount of that "meanwhile," focusing on a congregation consisting largely of elderly Jewish holdouts in the Bronx, as well as an assortment of newcomers. The ethnography covers a delightful array of congregants and illuminates the various challenges that the synagogue faced, without resorting to especially many stereotype cliches, except as espoused by congregants.

For my taste, though, there was a bit too much free narration from the congregants, and not enough about the broader situation of the synagogue. I'm sure there's other ethnographic literature out there on the South Bronx and on American Jewish communities, and it wasn't always clear what---beyond a reader's common sense and preconceptions---made this book's shul special.