Texas
Where every city feels like a state of its own.
Dallas · Fort Worth · Waco · Houston · Austin · El Paso
The Journey
Texas is one of those states that, like California or New York, you simply cannot describe on one little web page. There is too much.
So many cultures, landscapes, cities, and personalities, and somehow each major city seems to carry an identity entirely its own. Dallas feels different from El Paso. Waco feels different from Austin. Houston feels different from Fort Worth.
We flew into Dallas and stayed for more than a week, giving us time to really experience the city. The skyscrapers, restaurants, neighborhoods, and energy made it feel like a major American city with a distinctly Texan personality.
At Dealey Plaza, we visited The Sixth Floor Museum, looking down toward the place where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Standing there made one of the most familiar moments in American history suddenly physical. We also experienced Dallas Jewish life, visited local shuls, and made excellent use of Meat Point, where some delicious kosher food helped fuel the trip.
Nearby, Fort Worth gave us the Texas we had imagined before arriving. At the Stockyards, we watched the longhorn cattle drive, not once but twice. Rachel even got to ride one of those enormous longhorns. We explored the shops, stocked up on spices, tea, and all kinds of Texas gear, and naturally the girls picked out their own cowgirl hats. For a little while, we were fully Texan.
From there, we headed south to Waco. Waco may not carry the same national profile as Dallas, Houston, or Austin, but it had plenty for us. At the Dr Pepper Museum, we learned the story of one of America’s favorite drinks and, most importantly for Leah, got to enjoy an ice cold Dr Pepper right where it all began.
Charny also made Magnolia Market at the Silos a condition of the trip. She loves everything Magnolia, so skipping it was never really an option. We walked the grounds, explored the shops, enjoyed the food and gardens, and took in the whole Magnolia atmosphere. She was right. It was worth it.
Houston felt enormous. At the Children’s Museum, the girls did what they do best, played, experimented, touched everything they were allowed to touch, and learned without realizing how much they were learning. At Space Center Houston, we entered an entirely different American story. Rockets, astronauts, space exploration, and the incredible idea that so much of humanity’s journey beyond Earth was directed from right here in Texas.
Then came Austin. Austin had its own energy. We walked through streets filled with live music, giving real meaning to its reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The skyline and constant activity even gave us a little New York feeling for a moment.
We visited the Texas State Capitol, continuing our journey through every capital in America. And, naturally, it was massive. A Capitol police officer proudly told us that Texas had built the largest state capitol in the country and that it even stands taller than the United States Capitol. Of course it does. This is Texas.
But one of my most meaningful Texas experiences came much farther west, in El Paso.
El Paso is a beautiful American city, with cafés, museums, parks, restaurants, and a life distinctly its own. Then we went to the border.
Standing there and looking across toward Ciudad Juárez, the contrast was striking. The infrastructure, opportunities, and visible quality of life could change dramatically across a line only a few feet wide. Yet the human being standing on the other side was no different from me. Same blood. Same eyes. Same consciousness. Same desire to live a good life. That stayed with me long after we left.
Jewish Texas
Jewish Texas felt much like Texas itself, established, confident, and spread across enormous distances.
In Dallas, we visited local shuls, experienced the Jewish neighborhoods, and ate at kosher restaurants, with Meat Point becoming a particular favorite.
What struck me was how naturally Jewish life fit into Texas. These were not communities trying to recreate New York somewhere else. They had become distinctly Texan Jewish communities, while keeping the same traditions, prayers, schools, kosher food, and communal life we knew from home.
The roots run deep too. Congregation Beth Israel in Houston was organized in 1854 and remains the oldest active Jewish congregation in Texas.
Today, Jewish life stretches through Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, Fort Worth, and communities in between, with synagogues, schools, Chabad centers, kosher establishments, and generations of Jewish families who have made Texas home.
That became part of what I enjoyed about Jewish Texas.
You could be surrounded by cowboy hats and Texas flags, walk through the doors of a shul, and immediately feel at home.
What Stayed With Me
What stayed with me about Texas was standing at the border.
Looking from El Paso toward Ciudad Juárez made me realize how much of a human life can be shaped simply by which side of a line someone happened to be born on.
We did not choose that line, or which side of it would be ours.
That made me deeply grateful for the privilege of being born in America, but also left me thinking about what responsibility that privilege places on us.
Borders may be a human invention. Their consequences are very real.
Have a story, an idea, or a reason to connect?
For editorial inquiries, media, speaking, collaborations, historical research, or simply a story you think I should know I'd be glad to hear from you.
Contact Dov