Introduction to the Five Synagogues Website
The synagogue is the traditional prayer and meeting space for Jewish communities. The history of New York synagogue life is an essential piece of New York City history. It tells the story of the Jewish immigration and the continuity of Jewish life in the “New World” from the 18th century until today.
Over the years, three significant Manhattan Jewish communities—Shearith Israel, B’nai Jeshrun, and Ansche Chesed—moved from the Lower East Side to Harlem, midtown, and the Upper West Side. The Kane St. Synagogue remained in its original neighborhood in Brooklyn and the Eldridge Street Synagogue stayed at its original location; the latter has been designated a National Historic Site. Each of the five communities was comprised of immigrant populations that arrived from Europe and settled in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The combined collections of these synagogues, from 1730 until the beginning of the 20th century, document the lives of people and communities that are all still vibrant today.
Collection Highlights
The Center for Jewish History unites under one roof collections that represent centuries of Jewish life--defining one people and many cultures. We are home to five preeminent Jewish institutions dedicated to history, culture and art: The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS), The American Sephardi Federation (ASF), The Leo Baeck Institute (LBI), The Yeshiva University Museum (YUM), and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO). The Center's mission is to preserve, research and educate. Our partners' collections are internationally recognized as some of the most important resources for exploring and documenting all aspects of Jewish experience and identity.
Collections include old and rare books, periodical collections, photos, memoirs, official decrees, personal letters, contemporary publications and more. Art collections include posters, paintings, sculptures, archeological artifacts, historical textiles, ceremonial objects and more.
The American Jewish Historical Society provides access to more than 20 million documents and 50,000 books, photographs, art and artifacts that reflect the history of the Jewish presence in the United States from 1654 to the present. Among the treasures of this heritage are the first American book published in Hebrew; the handwritten original of Emma Lazarus' The New Colossus, which graces the Statue of Liberty; records of the nation's leading Jewish communal organizations and important collections in the fields of education, philanthropy, science, sports, business and the arts. Founded in 1892, AJHS is the oldest national ethnic historical organization in the nation. AJHS is one of five partner organizations at The Center for Jewish History in Manhattan and has a branch in Boston.
The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary is a resource unlike any other. Serving the students of JTS and scholars and researchers across the world, The Library is home to more than 400,000 volumes, making it the largest and most extensive collection of Hebraic and Judaic material in the Western Hemisphere.
The ‘Early New York Synagogue Archives’ project was supported in part by funds from the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO) through the New York State Regional Bibliographic Databases Program.
