'''Jewish Texans''' have been a part of the history of Texas since the first European explorers arrived in the region in the 1500s.<ref>[http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html Texas Almanac: Jewish-Texans]</ref><ref>[http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html Texas Almanac]</ref> In 1990, there were around 108,000 adherents to Judaism in Texas. <ref>[http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html Texas Almanac]</ref> More recent estimates place the number at around 120,000. <ref>[http://www.beth-elsa.org/sms043004.htm Temple Beth-El]</ref>

== History of Jewish Texans ==
thumb|right|1870 [[Congregation B'nai Israel Temple & Henry Cohen Community House in Galveston, Texas]]
thumb|right|Hebrew Benevolent Cemetery (Established 1852)
Spanish Texas did not welcome easily identifiable Jews, but they came in any case. Jao de la Porta was with Jean Laffite at Galveston, Texas in 1816, and Maurice Henry was in Velasco in the late 1820s. Jews fought in the armies of the Texas Revolution of 1836, some with James Fannin at Goliad, others at the Battle of San Jacinto. Dr. Albert Levy became a surgeon to revolutionary Texan forces in 1835, participated in the capture of Bexar, and joined the Texas Navy the next year. <ref>[http://www.texancultures.utsa.edu/publications/texansoneandall/jewish.htm University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures at San Antonio]</ref> The first families were conversos and Sephardic Jews.  Later settlers such as the Simon family, led by Alex Simon, came in the 1860s and contributed to the construction of synagogues and monuments such as the Simon Theatre.  B. Levinson, a Jewish Texan civic leader, arrived in 1861. <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/ccb1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref> Today the vast majority of Jewish Texans are descendants of Ashkenazi Jews, those from central and eastern Europe whose families arrived in Texas after the Civil War or later. <ref>[http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html The Texas Almanac]</ref> 

Organized Judaism in Texas began in Galveston with the establishment of Texas' first Jewish cemetery in 1852. By 1856 the first organized Jewish services were being held in the home of Galveston resident Isadore Dyer. These services would eventually lead to the founding of Texas' first and oldest Reform Jewish congregation, Temple B'nai Israel, in 1868. <ref> [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/TT/ivt1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>

The first synagogue in Texas, Congregation Beth Israel of Houston, was founded in  Brenham's B'nai Abraham in 1885. Temple Beth-El is known as one of the state's more contemporary Reform Jewish congregations due to their very open support of the Jewish  Orthodox synagogue. <ref>[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16126622&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6 Newswire]</ref> <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/ccb1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>

Between 1907 and 1914 a resettlement program, known as the East Coast cities.  Ten thousand Jewish immigrants passed through the port city of Galveston during this era, approximately one-third the number who migrated to Palestine during the same period.  Rabbi Henry Cohen, the rabbi of B'nai Israel at the time, is credited with helping to found the Movement. <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/umg1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>

== List of Jewish Texans ==
* J. William Boyar IV
* Henri Castro
* Rabbi Henry Cohen
* Danciger family
* Jacob De Cordova
* Kinky Friedman
* Martin Frost
* Anna Hertzberg
* Isaac Herbert Kempner
* Mayer Halff
* Dr. Albert Levy
* David Spangler Kaufman
* Jimmy Kessler
* Olga Bernstein Kohlberg
* Haymon Krupp
* Abraham Cohen Labatt
* Rabbi Shimon Lazaroff
* Stanley Marcus
* Levi Olan
* Rosanna Osterman
* Jao de la Porta
* Lois Roisman
* Hyman Judah Schachtel
* Simon family
* Samuel M. Stahl
* David E. Stern
* Adolphus Sterne
* Babe Schwartz
* Peter Tarlow
* Jacob Joseph Taubenhaus
* Leon Toubin
* Anthony Wolf
* Marvin Zindler

Gli '''ebrei texani''' hanno fatto parte della esploratori europei (nella specie, lo spagnolo Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca) arrivarono nella regione nel 1528. Nel 1990 sono stati stimati circa 108 000 aderenti all'ebraismo in Texas [http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html]. Calcoli più recenti  [http://www.beth-elsa.org/sms043004.htm] stabiliscono in 120 000 tale numero.

== Storia ==
Gli abitanti spagnoli del Texas non accoglievano a braccia aperte gli ebrei riconoscibili come tali, ma essi vi andavano ugualmente. conversi e sefarditi. Coloni successivi come la famiglia Simon, guidata da Alex Simon, arrivarono negli anni 1860 e contribuirono alla costruzione di monumenti come il Simon Theatre. B. Levinson, un capo della cittadinanza ebraico-texana, arrivò nel 1861 <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/ccb1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>.
La stragrande maggioranza degli ebrei texani odierni é costituita da ashkenaziti, discendenti di emigrati dall'Europa centro-orientale, le cui famiglie arrivarono in Texas dopo la Guerra civile americana  <ref>[http://www.texasalmanac.com/culture/groups/jewish.html The Texas Almanac]</ref>.

L'ebraismo organizzato nel Texas ebbe inizio a Galveston con l'istituzione del primo cimitero ebraico (1852). Nel 1856 le prime cerimonie ebraiche si praticavano nella casa di Isadore Dyer, che risiedeva a Galveston. Queste cerimonie avrebbero poi portato alla fondazione della prima e più antica congregazione — facente capo all'ebraismo riformato — il Temple B'nai Israel  (1868) <ref> [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/TT/ivt1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>.

La prima San Antonio, seguito dal ebraico ortodosso esistente nello stato <ref>[http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=16126622&BRD=2318&PAG=461&dept_id=484045&rfi=6 Newswire]</ref> <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/BB/ccb1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref> .

Tra il 1907 ed il 1914 operò un programma di re-insediamento ''(Galveston Movement)'' finalizzato a distogliere dalle affollate città dell' ''East Coast'' gli ebrei in fuga dalla Russia e dall'Europa orientale. Diecimila immigranti ebrei passarono per il porto di Galveston in questo periodo, approssimativamente un terzo del numero di quanti emigrarono in Palestina nello stesso periodo <ref>[http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/GG/umg1.html Texas State Historical Association]</ref>.

== Note ==
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== Ebrei texani celebri ==

* Henri Castro
* Rabbi Henry Cohen
* Famiglia Danciger
* Famiglia De Cordova 
* Kinky Friedman
* Anna Hertzberg
* Isaac Herbert Kempner
* Mayer Halff