And I Will Dwell in Their Midst: Orthodox Jews in Suburbia

“Suburbia may not seem like much of a place to pioneer, but for young, religiously committed Jewish families, it’s open territory.” This sentiment — expressed in the early 1970s by an Orthodox Jew in suburban Toronto — captures the essence of the suburban Orthodox Jewish experience of the late twentieth century. Although rarely associated with postwar suburbia, Orthodox Jews in metropolitan areas across the United States and Canada have successfully combined suburban lifestyles and the cult...