Ohio
Where America’s leaders are born.
Columbus · Cleveland · Cincinnati · Dayton
The Journey
Ohio is one of those states we have visited more than once, usually as part of life rather than as travelers.
In Columbus, we visited the Statehouse, continuing our journey through every capital in America. The building immediately stands out because it has no traditional dome, sitting right in the middle of the city with a character very much its own.
We also spent time at the Columbus Zoo, where the girls saw a polar bear for the first time. With all the animals around us, that was the one they could not stop talking about.
In Cleveland, we visited family friends and experienced another side of Ohio, a major American city shaped by industry, immigration, music, and Lake Erie.
We also visited the James A. Garfield National Historic Site in Mentor. Garfield was one of seven presidents born in Ohio, but his story has always interested me especially because he did not spend his life chasing the presidency. When duty called, he took it on.
Our family even owns a letter Garfield wrote from Mentor in September 1880, during the presidential campaign, with the words, “We can win the fight if our friends do their utmost.” More than a century later, I still find something encouraging in that sentence.
Cincinnati felt different again, older, hillier, and filled with neighborhoods and architecture that reminded us how long people have been building lives along the Ohio River. And, of course, we made sure to enjoy some great kosher food while we were there.
That became part of what interested me about Ohio. So much of the larger American story somehow passed through this state.
Presidents, astronauts, inventors, industry, music, sports, and generations of immigrants all left something behind.
Jewish Ohio
Ohio has one of the deepest Jewish histories in the Midwest, and today it is still home to some remarkably vibrant communities.
In Cincinnati, we visited Shearith Israel and experienced the Jewish community firsthand. The city has played an unusually important role in American Jewish history. K.K. Bene Israel, today Rockdale Temple, was organized in 1824 and remains the oldest Jewish congregation in Ohio.
Cincinnati later became home to major Jewish institutions and thinkers who helped shape Jewish life far beyond the state itself.
Cleveland gave us another side of Jewish Ohio. We visited established Orthodox and Hasidic communities, including the local Aleksander community and Rebbe, and saw a Jewish world that felt deeply rooted and very much alive.
Today, Jewish life stretches through Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo, Dayton, and communities across the state.
For us, Jewish Ohio was not only something to read about. We ate there, prayed there, met people there, and experienced communities that have been building for generations.
What Stayed With Me
What stayed with me about Ohio was how much influence can come from a state that sits rather quietly in the Midwest.
The deeper you look, the more you find. Presidents, astronauts, inventors, industrialists, musicians, immigrants, and ideas that helped shape the country.
Yet Ohio does not seem to make much noise about itself.
Maybe that is part of the lesson.
Importance does not always announce itself loudly.
Sometimes it just keeps producing people and ideas that change everything.
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