Jewish Heritage

Take a culinary journey through the foods, restaurants and businesses that define the cuisine of New York City and the Jewish immigrant experience...

No trip to New York’s five boroughs is complete without a hand sliced pastrami sandwich at Katz's deli or a bagel and lox with a schmear of cream cheese from Russ and Daughters.  Any true New Yorker can tell you where to get the savoriest bowl of matzo ball soup or the crispest kosher dill pickle. Manischewitz wine became the icon it is today after Sammy Davis Jr. became its offical spokesperson.

Join author June Hersh as she reveals the iconic Jewish foods, establishments and products that left their imprint on the taste buds of New Yorkers and the world.

The first recorded Jewish immigrants arrived in New York in 1654 by way of Brazil. Their assimilation and influence on the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, and the continual influx of Jewish immigrants from Germany, Eastern Europe, and Russia, have provided a rich tapestry of historic sites in New York. Author Paul M. Kaplan has written more than a mere travel guide; he has provided a road map to the history of Jewish immigration in this great American city. With a focus on the communities of Manhattan, Kaplan includes museums, places of historic interest, restaurants, synagogues, and entertainment venues of the present and those that no longer exist.

Alive in vintage photos, these sites are divided by their location, traveling from the south to the farthest northern tip of Manhattan. Each section provides a map of the area and a broad introduction to the district's place in the historic timeline of Jewish immigration. Included are the regions known as Lower Manhattan; the Lower East Side; Greenwich Village and the East Village, Chelsea, and Midtown; the Upper East Side and Upper West Side; Harlem and Morningside Heights; and Washington Heights. The author provides suggested itineraries, tips for the visitor, and reference notes for further exploration. Kaplan's historical introduction provides the framework for locals and visitors of every religion and nationality to delve into the rich history and contribution of Jewish immigrants in New York.

America's Only Shelter Established for Holocaust Refugees/

During the height of the second World War, at the order of President Roosevelt, Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York housed 982 refugees, rescued from the horrors of the Holocaust. The community of Oswego answered the call of service and opened its arms to the survivors. Oswegonian and WWII veteran Joseph Spereno’s connection with refugee Jake Sylber helped launch his tailoring business that was a fixture in the city for more than 20 years. Then high school Principal Ralph Faust was among local educators who fought to allow the refugee children into Oswego schools, forging connections with those young people who went on to distinguished careers. Local Boy Scout leader Harold Clark created a troop for refugee children to share in the American experience of scouting.Author Ann Callaghan Allen presents the harrowing narrative of how Oswego gave shelter to hundreds of Holocaust survivors.

Brick City Past Revealed/

Newark's history is as diverse and powerful as the community that continues to call New Jersey's largest city home. The colonial settlement at Four Corners—the Broad and Market intersection—grew into one of the most heavily traveled thoroughfares in the nation. In the nineteenth century, innovations such as the public use of the electric light bulb in Military Park and the discovery of how to make patent leather established Newark as a flourishing industrial hub. Dramatic events including the battle between Nazi sympathizers and city residents in the 1930s, hearings held by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1950s and the event that triggered the infamous 1967 riots, defined a raucous twentieth century in Newark. Today, urban farming can be found in the Ironbound, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal has helped fund the city's first high-rise tower in fifty years and revitalization efforts continue. Author Helen Lippman presents hidden history of Newark, New Jersey.

Known as Newark's ""Jewish Frontier,"" Weequahic was home to 35,000 Jewish residents from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Homes built on farm lots, known as Lyons Farms, attracted the city's upwardly mobile Jewish families. Weequahic High School still remains at the heart of the community, drawing generations of alumni for annual reunions and events. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth, a Weequahic High School graduate, found inspiration in the community, documenting its intricacies in his work. The high school still houses a mural, The Enlightenment of Man, painted by New Deal painter Michael Lenson. This mural is regarded as one of the most important pieces of public art in the state. Jews of Weequahic captures the life of this vibrant community that has become one of Newark's legendary neighborhoods.

The Jewish Community around North Broad Street weaves the tale of the Jewish community in this part of Philadelphia through a collection of rare and stunning images. The construction of the North Broad Street subway in the 1920s and the row house Jewish community known as Logan are parts of this story. The development of business districts led to a more cohesive north and northwest Jewish community that allowed for satellite Jewish enclaves to flourish, complete with their own synagogues, bakeries, kosher meat markets, and hundreds of other shops that served the general population. In the 1950s, new neighborhoods, such as Mount Airy and West Oak Lane, alleviated an acute housing shortage at a time when 110,000 Jews lived in north-central and northwest Philadelphia.

Strawberry Mansion: The Jewish Community of North Philadelphiais a testament to the urban experience in American Jewish life. Perfect for fans of Jewish-American History.

A section of North Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansionis nestled high on the banks of the Schuylkill River, adjacent to the large expanses of Fairmount Park, with many wonderful venues such as Woodside Park.

The area became the setting for America's premiere Jewish Community in the 20th century, with over 50,000 inhabitants.Strawberry Mansionwas the first Jewish suburb within an urban setting. Affectionately known as the Mansion, it was only a trolley car ride away from South Philadelphia's immigrant district. Jewish families migrated from one neighborhood to another as they advanced economically in American society during the early 1900s. By the mid-1950s, the decision to discontinue the once heavily traveled Route ,9trolley car marked the decline and eventual demise of Strawberry Mansionas a Jewish enclave.

The Jewish Community of West Philadelphia portrays Jewish life throughout West Philadelphia in the mid-twentieth century, including rare and vintage photographs.

The Jewish community of Philadelphia west of the Schuylkill River is a composite of seven distinct neighborhoods surrounding West Philadelphia proper. These include Fortieth and Girard, Parkside, Wynnefield, Overbrook Park, Wynnefield Heights, Southwest Philly, and Island Road. A gathering of seventy-five thousand Jewish people in West Philadelphia during the twentieth century qualified the area known as ""a city within a city"" as a second settlement area. Excellent public transportation included the famed Market Street Elevated. The West Philadelphia Jews flourished and supported dozens of synagogues and bakeries, and more than one hundred kosher butcher shops at the neighborhood's height from the 1930s through the 1950s. Newly arrived immigrants embraced traditional Jewish values, which led them to encourage their offspring to acquire a secondary education in their own neighborhoods as a way of achieving assimilation into the community at large. The Jewish Community of West Philadelphia portrays Jewish life throughout West Philadelphia in the mid-twentieth century. The book captures rare, nearly forgotten images with photographs gleaned from the community at large.

With this collection of the best of his columns from the Baltimore Jewish Times, Gilbert Sandler crafts a brilliant portrait of Jewish Baltimore.

Baltimore is the cultural hub of Maryland's Jewish community, and for three decades, local legend Gilbert Sandler has chronicled its stories. With this collection of the best of his columns from the Baltimore Jewish Times, Sandler crafts a brilliant portrait of Jewish Baltimore. Join Sandler as he evokes memories of the corner drugstore, rides at Carlin's Park and freshly fried coddies. From these warmly familiar scenes of neighborhood life, Sandler moves to stories of the community banding together during the Great Depression and the extraordinary courage of rabbis and their congregations during the civil rights protests of the 1960s. Recall the halcyon days and share the joys and sorrows of Charm City's Jewish community.

Images of America: Jews of Paterson is more than just nostalgia—it is the remarkable story of how the city's Jewish population built a community and made it into a special place.

When Jews immigrated to Paterson in the early 20th century, they came as skilled weavers from the Russian Polish textile centers of Lodz and Bialystok. They brought strong notions of social justice and living righteously; ideas that came alive during the 1913 Industrial Workers of the World silk strike. They raised families, became Americans, and reluctantly moved when the economic base collapsed. Despite this, Paterson Jews defend the aging, gritty city as a wonderful place, and they never left it spiritually or emotionally. Former and current residents recall the Hamilton Avenue bagel bakery, Purity Cooperative rye bread, candy stores, delicatessens, the YMHA, bar mitzvah coaches, rabbis, the baby doctor, pediatricians, schoolteachers, and even the synagogue shammes. They remember and honor the past as a bridge between the present and the future.

The Jewish Community of South Philadelphia is a tribute to tradition and pride that will serve as a valuable tool in teaching the history of Jewish immigrants in America.

For many Jewish immigrants to America, Philadelphia's row houses provided an instant community of neighbors where they were able to combine the traditions of the Old World with new American ideals. In their flight to a new land and a new life, Jewish immigrants found a place to call home in South Philadelphia. This unprecedented collection of images celebrates the people and places of this community, from their struggles to their triumphs and the family bonds that provided their strength along the way. Join Allen Meyers in this exploration of the past that will be enjoyed for generations to come.

Long Island has one of the most vibrant and largest Jewish communities in the nation.

After World War II, hundreds of thousands of Jewish soldiers returned from war looking for a life in the suburbs and synagogues to join, but the demand exceeded the supply. In 1946, Rabbi Elias Solomon called a meeting of Conservative rabbis from Manhattan to map out a plan to build a synagogue at ever South Shore Long Island Railroad stop, from Valley Stream to Patchogue. Central Synagogue of Nassau County and Beth El in Great Neck both grew to more than 1000 families as Reform Judaism took hold, and the growth of the Chabad movement in recent decades as spurred an increase of Orthodox Judaism. Author Ira Poliakoff catalogues the history of synagogues and congregations that have shaped Long Island’s past and present.