the grocery stores and sari shops, then the ap-
pliance and video stores, quickly followed by
restaurantsandbanquethalls,andmorerecently,
jewelry shops.”Jewishmerchantswerepushed
furtherwest on the avenues andmany closed
theirdoors, a trend that continues today.
ShalomKlein,executivedirectoroftheJewish
CommunityCouncil ofWest Rogers Park, ac-
knowledgesthelossofmanyJewishbusinesseson
Devonbutattributessomeofthattostrugglesthat
small retailers have in general competingwith
big-boxstoresandonlineshopping.“WestRogers
Park isaJewishneighborhood,andIthink itwill
continue tobeaJewishneighborhood formany,
manydecadestocome.”HesaysJewishorthodox
familiesaremoving intothearea,replacingthose
who,whenI livedthere,practicedReformedand
ConservativeJudaism.
“Butthegoal isnottogobacktotheway itwas
inthe1960swhenmyfatherwalkedDevonAvenue
all thewaydown toSheridanAvenueand itwas
onlyJewishbusinesses,”Kleinsays. “Mygoal for
Devon is toseeJewishbusinessesoperatingside
bysidewithAsian,Croatian,Hispanic,Assyrian,
African-American—withalltheotherpeoplethat
callWestRogersParkhome.Wereside
next toeachotherextremelywell.We
support eachother’s businesses, and
wewillbe improvingtheneighborhood
togetheraswell.”
This spirit of cooperation among
somanydifferent cultures and faiths
is inspiring, and I begin towonder if
Devonholdsagreatermessage for the
world at large. Could rye bread, tan-
doori chicken,masala teaand challah
bringpeople together?
With that in mind, I walk down
Devonpastportionsof theavenue re-
named inhonorofGoldaMeir,Mahat-
maGandhi, SheikhMujiburRahman
andMuhammadAli Jinnah, and stop
inunannouncedattheIndo-American
Center (IAC). The goal of theCenter,
established in 1990, is to “respond to
thewide rangeofneedswithinChica-
go’s SouthAsian immigrant popula-
tion.”ThatincludesEnglishasaSecond
Language lessons, housing, job coun-
seling,afree lunchprogramforseniors
andhelpwith immigration issues.
Imeet LauraSmith, the volunteer
literacy coordinator and anEnglish
teacher at IAC’s literacydepartment.
She sees cross-cultural bridges being
built every day as newer immigrants
come toWestRidge fromSyria,Nepal,
Myanmar and Iraq. Theybring to the
neighborhood all themajor religions
of the world: Hinduism, Muslim,
ChristianityandJudaism.
“Ihavestudents fromallover, and theyhave tocommu-
nicate inEnglishbecausethere isnotsomeoneelse intheir
class that speaks their language, so they endupmaking
friends,” Smith says. “I love it here. It’s a pleasure to the
eyesandapleasure to the tongue. It really is like takingan
international tripwithout leaving theStates.”
IF
YOU
GO
STEPHENJ. LYONS
isa frequentcontributor to
AmericanWay
.Hisnew
book,
GoingDriftless
, a journey into theheartof theUpperMidwest,was
published inMay.
68
JUNE2015
AMERICANWAY
THE FLAVORSANDSTYLES
OFDEVONAVENUE
Tel-AvivKosherBakery
(773)764-8877
Sahil
Saahilexclusive.com
Tiffin
Tiffinchicago.com
PatelHandicrafts
Patelhandicrafts.com
PatelBrothersGrocery
Patelbros.com
Robert’sFishMarket
Robertsfishmarket.com
Levinson’sBakery
(773)761-3174
Raj Jewels
(773)465-5755
Kol TuvKosherFoods
Koltuvkosher.com
CroatianCulturalCenter
ofChicago
Croatianculturalcenter
chicago.com
Hema’sKitchen
(773)338-1627
Today,
onDevonAvenue,
thatJewishshtetl,
orneighborhood,
hasmostlyvanished,
replacedbyamore-
diversebusinessmix.
IF
YOU
GO
Tel-AvivKosher
Bakery
