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Linda Nesvisky
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Jewish Philadelphia: A Guide to Its Sights & Stories (American Heritage) Kindle Edition

by Linda Nesvisky (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
5.0 out of 5 stars 2 ratings
Experience Philadelphia's Jewish history with a nine-site walking tour through the city's oldest streets. Discover the treasures of the Rosenbach Museum and Library and stories of the immigrant experience at the new National Museum of American Jewish History. Find out how the Liberty Bell became inscribed with a passage from the Torah and where to find some of the best Reubens in the city. Encouraged by Penn's charter of religious tolerance, Jewish people have flocked to Philadelphia since before the Revolutionary War, and in turn they have made remarkable contributions to the City of Brotherly Love. With a walking tour and a series of intriguing vignettes, tour guide Linda Nesvisky leads readers down colonial streets to discover the surprising history of the Jewish community in Philadelphia into the twenty-first century.
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  1. Part of series
    American Heritage
  2. Print length
    163 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    The History Press
  5. Publication date
    March 19, 2010
  6. File size
    4.4 MB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Linda Nesvisky is a prize-winning artist, and her photographs have appeared in numerous publications. She studied art and art history at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh and has a special interest in history and architecture. Linda has traveled throughout the world and, most notably, lived for many years in Israel. There she maintained an art studio in Jerusalem, taught at various schools and served as tour guide in the Old City's Jewish Quarter, where she lived in a restored thirteenth-century home. Today she maintains her studio in Philadelphia, where she also works as a city tour guide and runs ShalomPhillyTours for tours of Jewish interest. She is a member of Congregation Keneseth Israel, where she serves on the Adult Education Committee and is part of Temple Judea Museum's artist cooperative.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B011896JGK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The History Press (March 19, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 19, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4.4 MB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 163 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 out of 5 stars 2 ratings

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Linda Nesvisky

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Top reviews from the United States

  • EL
    5.0 out of 5 stars Jewish Philadelphia
    Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    Terrific guide and history for anyone wanting to know abot Philadelphia
    Author writes well and at no time was I bored.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet Spaces
    Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2010
    Sweet Spaces
    July 22, 2010 - Robert Leiter, Literary Editor, The Jewish Exponent

    I have a soft spot for books like Jewish Philadelphia, works that allow you to "travel" -- even through the byways and side streets of familiar terrain -- without ever leaving home. The book's author is Linda Nesvisky, who I've come to know personally over the years once she and her husband, veteran writer Matt Nesvisky, settled in Melrose Park after decades of living in Israel. And my friendship with her has no bearing on my being able to objectively assess her compact little book, which is knowledgeable, easy to digest and functional in the best sense of that word.
    I've also been informed through the grapevine that she's considered one of the best local guides to the region and now she's proven, through this amply illustrated work, published by History Press, that she knows the intricacies of Jewish Philadelphia as well. All of the standard sites are here -- the Holocaust Memorial on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway and Beth Sholom Congregation in Elkins Park -- along with certain surprises that even longtime residents might not be aware of.
    Take, for example, the fact that in the first half of the book, titled "Personalities, Places, Resources," she includes a discussion of architect Louis Kahn, the towering figure called "a philosopher among architects" by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Raised in Philadelphia (Kahn was born in Estonia in 1901 and brought here three years later), his professional offices were for years located at 15th and Walnut streets. As Nesvisky notes in her endearing profile of him, Kahn could often be found wandering the streets of his beloved city -- if he wasn't lecturing on his equally beloved profession at the University of Pennsylvania. His apprentices happened to be gifted people like Robert Venturi and Moshe Safdie.
    But most interesting here is that rather than go into extended detail about the Richards Medical Building on Penn's campus as an example of Kahn's work, Nesvisky describes a more modest but clearly more compelling and beautiful project -- the Fisher Home in the suburbs of the city (lovely exterior and interior photos of the residence are also included).
    Writes the author: "Norman Fisher was a physician, and his wife, Doris, was a landscape designer. They commissioned Kahn to design their home in 1960. They had already purchased an attractive two-acre wooded lot in Hatboro, and Kahn seemed the obvious choice to build it for them. The doctor was also a skilled woodworker -- we can see some of his sculpture and furniture in the home -- and this made the men kindred spirits. The proximity of Pennypack Creek in the yard was another draw. Many of Kahn's spectacular buildings included an element of water in relationship to the structure. Discussions devoted to refining the design stretched over seven years. Said Norman Fisher, 'Had we known that, we might not have gone ahead.' But then he added, 'But we're glad we did.' ...
    "Fisher's daughters Claudia and Nina and their families still visit the home frequently," continues Nesvisky. "Both sisters animatedly told me that when they were kids they enjoyed hiding in the interesting cubby spaces and shimmying out of their ingenious bedroom windows into the yard. They said it was akin to living in a treehouse, particularly due to all the natural light and the home's openness."
    In the Jewish Philadelphia's second half, called "The Walking Tour," readers will find out such wonderful tidbits about the Jewish element that exists within Christ Church at Second and Market and why Major David Salisbury Franks, a Jew, is buried in the church's cemetery, located at Fifth and Arch.
    And did you know that Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf, the Prussian-born longtime religious leader of Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, traveled to Russia in 1894 and met and spoke with the great Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy?
    Nesvisky knew it, and she can fill you in on the details.
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