For the few Jews in West Virginia, one of America's most struggling states, the pandemic has offered silver linings

WHEELING, W.Va. (JTA) - Surrounded by silver crucifixes and Christmas ornaments, Samuel Posin and Joan Berlow Smith sell vintage jewelry and myriad tchotchkes at their church-turned-boutique gift shop in this city.

This is not the kind of place you'll find many Jews. In this deeply rural state where just over half of all voters identify as Christian evangelicals, fewer than 1,200 Jews are thought to be scattered among West Virginia's 1.8 million residents.

Yet born and raised in Wheeling, Posin, 62, prays three times a day, eats only kosher food and keeps Shabbat – making him one of less than...