The New York City Jewish community is the largest urban Jewish community in the world. , New York City is home to over 960,000 Jews across the five boroughs, representing approximately 12% of the city's total population, with nearly half residing in Brooklyn. An additional 1.9million Jews live in the wider New York metropolitan area, comprising roughly one quarter of the American Jewish population.
Manhattan Upper West Side The Upper West Side is a well-known and vibrant Jewish community. Resurgence
In 1964, Rabbi Shlomo Riskin became the founding rabbi of Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York City and served in that position until 1983. Rabbi Riskin transformed the Conservative minyan into one of New York's most innovative and dynamic Orthodox communities. The synagogue became particularly well known for its pioneering outreach programs which inspired many secular people to become religiously observant Orthodox Jews.Rabbi Shlomo Riskin. New York Magazine. 22 Jan 1979. Under Rabbi Riskin's leadership, the synagogue became a highly dynamic and energetic center for the Jewish community and activity. He vastly increased engagement by young singles and young families and revolutionized the role of synagogues in creating an energized community with an active social life. Candidly Speaking: The incredible Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, By ISI LEIBLER, March 2, 2011, jpost website.
In the 1980s and 1990s the Upper West Side skyrocketed in Jewish communal activities, and became a major center of Jewish community for young adults. Various synagogues became well known for outreach, including Aish HaTorah's local congregation, Hineni under Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, the Carlebach Shul, under Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and Manhattan Jewish Experience under Rabbi Mark Wildes.
Historic synagogues Many synagogues on the Upper West Side date from prior to the renewed period of Jewish community activity which had its first beginnings in the 1960s and took root over the years, reaching prominence in the 1980s and enduring since then. Accordingly, the list below includes synagogues founded prior to 1940.
The Jewish Center, located on West 86th Street between Columbus and Amsterdam avenues. Ansche Chesed founded in 1828 by a group of German, Dutch, and Polish Jews who split off from Congregation B'nai Jeshurun. It was the largest in the United States. B'nai Jeshurun – In 1825, Ashkenazi members left the city's first Jewish house of worship, the Sephardic Congregation Shearith Israel, beginning a trek up Manhattan that would land them on West 88th Street between West End Avenue and Broadway. The 1919 building designed by Broadway theater architect Henry B. Herts with fellow congregant Walter S. Schneider, became a must-see for boards of other synagogues then seeking to build new homes. A spiritual and demographic renaissance began in 1985, with the arrival of Rabbi Marshall Meyer. Congregation Habonim – founded by refugees on the first anniversary of the Kristallnacht, this congregation occupies a classic post-World War II suburban-style synagogue at 44 West 66th Street just off of Central Park West. Congregation Shaare Zedek (New York City) West 93rd Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam. Congregation Shearith Israel – the oldest Jewish congregation in what is now the United States was founded in 1654. Its landmark, 1897 building on Central Park West at West 70th Street was designed by Arnold Brunner and Thomas Tryon and incorporated elements of its first New Amsterdam sanctuary in its small chapel. Congregation Rodeph Sholom 83rd Street/Central Park. Congregation Ohab Zedek Kehilat Orach Eliezer Society for the Advancement of Judaism Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
Lower East Side
While the Lower East Side has been a place of successive immigrant populations, many American Jews relate to the neighborhood in a strong manner, and Chinatown holds a special place in the imagination of Chinese Americans, just as Astoria in Queens holds a place in the hearts of Greek Americans. It was a hub for ancestors of many people in the metropolitan area, and much depicted in fiction and films.
Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem, established in 1907, was long led by Moshe Feinstein."Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem to Celebrate 114th Anniversary", Jewish Link, February 18, 2021. Accessed January 19, 2024. "Three generations of the Feinstein family have stood at the helm of one of America’s earliest Torah institutions, founded in 1907. Located on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and later expanding to Staten Island, Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem (MTJ) stands out as the model of Torah and middot for many of the institutions of Torah learning in America to follow."
In the late 20th century, Jewish communities have worked to preserve a number of buildings historically associated with the Jewish immigrant community. Notable sites Notable sites include: The Educational Alliance Settlement house – 175 East Broadway Henry Street Settlement – 263–267 Henry Street and 466 Grand StreetAbout, Henry Street Settlement. Accessed November 30, 2017. "Founded in 1893 by social work and public health pioneer Lillian Wald and based on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Henry Street Settlement delivers a wide range of social service, arts and health care programs to more than 60,000 New Yorkers each year." University Settlement House – 184 Eldridge Street Katz's Deli – 205 East Houston Street Guss' Pickles – 87 Orchard Street Kossar's Bialys – 367 Grand StreetFabricant, Florence "Kossar's Returns With Bagels and Bialys on the Lower East Side", The New York Times, February 2, 2016. Accessed November 30, 2017. "Kossar's Bagels & Bialys In the bagel capital of the world, the bialy, the round, flattened roll with onions in the center, also gets its due. Evan Giniger and David Zablocki, who in 2013 bought the 80-year-old Kossar's Bialys on the Lower East Side, closed it in September for renovations." Gertel's Bake Shop – formerly at 53 Hester Street from 1914 until it closed in 2007Berger, Joseph. "No More Babka? There Goes the Neighborhood", The New York Times, July 2, 2007. Accessed November 30, 2017. "Gertel's, the legendary bakery on Hester Street on the Lower East Side known for its Jewish treats like rugelach, babka and marble cake, has closed its doors.... Opened in 1914, Gertel's, at 53 Hester Street near Essex Street, closed on June 22." Knickerbocker Village – 10 Monroe Street Streit's Matzo Co. – 150 Rivington Street Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery – 137 East Houston Street"A Taste of the Old Lower East Side: Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery in New York", Slate Atlas Obscura. Accessed November 30, 2017. "As much of New York's old Lower East Side disappears with the changing times, there are still traces of the original neighborhood to be explored, and in the case of Yonah Schimmel's Knish Bakery, eaten and enjoyed." Mendel Goldberg Fabrics, since 1890 – 72 Hester Street Harris Levy Fine Linens, since 1894 – 98 Forsyth Street Russ & Daughters – 179 East Houston StreetWells, Pete. "Standing 100 Years? So You Should Sit; Restaurant Review: Russ & Daughters Cafe", The New York Times, July 29, 2014. Accessed November 30, 2017. Schapiro's Kosher Wine – Essex Street Market Forward Building – 173-175 East Broadway Jarmulowsky Bank Building – 54-58 Canal Street, 5-9 Orchard Street
Synagogues Synagogues include: Adath Jeshurun of Jassy Synagogue – 58-60 Rivington Street Bialystoker Synagogue – 7–11 Willet Street, originally built in the Greek Revival style for the Willett Street Methodist Episcopal Church in 1826, and acquired in 1905 for the Orthodox Jewish congregation.Kliment, Stephen A. "When Places of the Spirit Face Concrete Realities", The New York Times, December 27, 1998. Accessed November 28, 2022. "Bialystoker Synagogue is architecturally the grandest of the synagogues earmarked for the Lower East Side trail. Built in 1826 as the Willett Street Methodist Church, it is a pedimented Greek-Revival gem of gray stone and red brick and spectacular stained glass."Smith, Sarah Harrison. "History Meets Opportunity",The New York Times, October 21, 2012. Accessed November 28, 2022. "The Bialystoker Synagogue was built in 1826 as a Methodist church and is said to have sheltered fugitive slaves in its early days. In 1905, an Orthodox Jewish congregation from Bialystok, Poland, bought the building." Beth Hamedrash Hagadol – 60–64 Norfolk Street Eldridge Street Synagogue – 12 Eldridge Street Kehila Kedosha Janina – 280 Broome Street Angel Orensanz Center – the fourth-oldest synagogue building in the United States Congregation Chasam Sopher – 10 Clinton Street Congregation Chevra Kadisha Anshe Sochaczew – 121 Ludlow Street Meseritz Synagogue – 415 East 6th Street Podhajcer Shul – 108 East First Street Stanton Street Synagogue – 180 Stanton Street Boyaner kloiz at 247 East Broadway, opened in 1928 by the Boyaner Rebbe of New York
Brooklyn
According to the American Jewish Population Project, Brooklyn has the largest Jewish population of any borough of New York City, with over 480,000 Jews. The borough population is 22.4% Jewish, with Jews being the predominant ethnic group in neighborhoods such as Borough Park, Williamsburg, Midwood, Ocean Parkway, a portion of Crown Heights, and a portion of Flatbush.
Borough Park Jewish settlement
Jewish immigrants began populating Borough Park at the turn of the 20th century, beginning in 1904–1905. By 1914, a YMHA had formed and purchased a lot on 58th Street and 14th Avenue on which to build a large facility. Through the 1930s, 13th Avenue was lined with pushcart vendors and pickle sellers. In the late 1930s, the city opened a public market on 42nd Street to force an end to the pushcart trade.
During the late 1920s and early 1930s, many Yemenite Jews emigrated from both Yemen and Mandatory Palestine (later Israel), creating their own small enclave in Borough Park. They established their own synagogue and named it Ohel Shalom. The synagogue moved from a small storefront building to 12th Avenue and 44th street when they purchased an old church."Borough Park, NY – Yemenites Jewish, Yet Different" , VINnews.com, May 15, 2008. Accessed August 31, 2021. "In 1949 Congregation Ohel Shalom purchased a clapboard Christian Science church in Borough Park. This building is the congregation's home to this day. Yemenite Jewry is among the first branches of Judaism to choose Borough Park as its spiritual capital."
In the 1980s, the neighborhood changed demographically — from one of Italian, Irish, and Modern Orthodox Jewish to Hasidic Jewish families. By 1983, an estimated 85 percent of the residents of Borough Park were Jewish. New shops and restaurants opened on 13th Avenue to serve the expanding Orthodox Jewish community. In 1987, two of the most popular stores debuted: Eichler's Judaica bookstore, and Kosher Castle Dairy Cafeteria. New stores also opened, selling imported goods and computer technology. At the end of the 1990s, businesses began selling electronics and Jewish books, music, and videos to overseas customers via the Internet. The area continued developing into a very large Jewish enclave around that time period.
"Baby Boom Capital" nickname In the 2000 United States census, it was reported that an estimated 76,600 Jews lived in Borough Park. Since that time, Borough Park has grown significantly, and was given the title of "baby boom capital" of New York City by the New York Post because of the high birth rate. The population in 2011 was 140,000. The neighborhood recorded 4,523 births in 2004, the highest in the city. The closest Brooklyn neighborhood in terms of population growth was Williamsburg, home to many Satmar Hasidim, which reported 3,839 births. Borough Park's birth rate, 24.4 per 1,000 residents, has translated into growth in the neighborhood.