The Arc of the Covenant: Jewish Educational Success on the Upper Mississippi

The Arc of the Covenant studies the social, cultural, and political factors that contributed to exceptional Jewish educational success in St. Paul, Minnesota in the latter half of the twentieth century. The book draws on archival sources, interviews with principal figures, and wide-ranging research on Jewish education and community dynamics to elucidate the story’s intriguing improbabilities. Why such success in a midsize, midcentury, midwestern river town with a relatively small Jewish population of limited resources? How did it happen, and how have circumstances changed in recent years? The answers are to be found at the intersection of broad historical forces and local circumstances. Though focused on a particular place and time, the implications reach far beyond St. Paul, then and now, making Arc of the Covenant a timely resource for current Jewish educational planners, along with educators in other communities dedicated to the transmission of a sacred heritage.

Earl Schwartz is a member of the Hamline University religion faculty and former director of Hamline’s Social Justice Studies program. He is the author of Moral Development: A Practical Guide for Jewish Teachers, and co-author with Rabbi Barry Cytron of When Life Is In the Balance: Life and Death Decisions in Light of the Jewish Tradition.