Most of the state’s 235,000 Jews live either in Baltimore (91,000) or in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties (121,000), which constitute the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. After the Revolutionary War, there were few Jews in Maryland because of the requirement to espouse Christianity. But in 1826 a law was passed that allowed Jews to hold office. At the same time synagogues were founded in Baltimore, and Jewish communities in the state began to grow. Jews became active in the political and social life of the state, and during the Civil War Jews of the state