Montana Jewish Project

Thank you, Eldon, for being part of this project and sharing part of your story with us! View + listen here: https://youtu.be/N7ceA1_dYDk

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Eldon's story is part of our Living Stories of Jewish Montana (LSJM) - an oral history initiative to collect the stories and memories of Montana Jews, connect this history to present-day Montanans of all backgrounds, and safeguard these narratives for future generations.

This project is made possible through a grant thanks to the Montana 250 project.

LSJM interviews Jewish Montanans about their experiences as Jewish people in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. These personal stories often go back to the nineteenth century, as family history is a major subject of these conversations. Many of these stories extend well beyond the Jewish community, connecting us to many other communities that have called Montana home.

The thriving Jewish communities that helped build Montana and America are too often forgotten. As we approach the sesquicentennial of the United States, it is more important than ever to expand our stories of place beyond conventional narratives about Montana (and the broader US) as primarily white, primarily Christian places. Jewish Montanans have a unique relationship to the land and history of Montana, even now. By collecting and sharing these Jewish Montanans’ stories online and in different cities and towns across the state, MJP can remedy the absence of these stories in the collective imagination.

Montana Jewish Project Living Stories: Eldon LaTray Thank you, Eldon, for being part of this project and sharing part o...

At Shavuot, Jewish tradition speaks of standing together at the mountain—listening, learning, and building Jewish community wherever we are.

Wishing you a meaningful Shavuot