Would it have been possible for Jews to have created a state in the western United States, possibly called Israel, in a similar way to how in OTL the Mormons created Utah? I was thinking it would be possible if there was a wave of anti-semitism in Europe in the early 19th century, causing considerably larger numbers of Jews to emigrate to the US than did during the same period in OTL. Then with so many Jewish immigrants, the US becomes much more anti-semetic, and they suffer often violent attacks wherever they try and settle down. Could pioneering Jews lead their people into the west and found a "New Jerusalem" in the Western US away from persecution? Would such a scenario recquire Joseph Smith and Mormonism to be handwaved, or is there room for both a state of Utah and a state of Israel in the Western USA?
If by 1900, there was a state within the US that was majority Jewish, would this state be able to take in the majority of the European Jewish population (even though the Holocaust is likely to be butterflied with a PoD so far back, some kind of continuing persecution is likely)? Would the federal government be more or less tolerant towards a Jewish dominated state in the US than they were towards LDS-dominated Utah? Utah wasn't allowed to become a state until the Mormons banned polygamy and since there is no equivalent issue in Judaism, perhaps they would achieve statehood quicker, especially as if most American Jews were concentrated far away in the West, anti-semitism would die down in the rest of the US?
Would they have allowed millions of Jews from Europe to come and settle in this one state? Or would a state with the resources capable of holding such a large population be untolerably large and powerful from the point of view of Christian Americans - as it would have to be much bigger than OTL's Utah?
If by 1900, there was a state within the US that was majority Jewish, would this state be able to take in the majority of the European Jewish population (even though the Holocaust is likely to be butterflied with a PoD so far back, some kind of continuing persecution is likely)? Would the federal government be more or less tolerant towards a Jewish dominated state in the US than they were towards LDS-dominated Utah? Utah wasn't allowed to become a state until the Mormons banned polygamy and since there is no equivalent issue in Judaism, perhaps they would achieve statehood quicker, especially as if most American Jews were concentrated far away in the West, anti-semitism would die down in the rest of the US?
Would they have allowed millions of Jews from Europe to come and settle in this one state? Or would a state with the resources capable of holding such a large population be untolerably large and powerful from the point of view of Christian Americans - as it would have to be much bigger than OTL's Utah?