Celebrating our culture.
Sharing our stories.
A look into the history of Jewish Buffalo
Welcome to the Jewish Buffalo History Center, a community portal for sources and stories of Jewish Buffalo history! This is an evolving and collaborative space for the exploration of this region’s diverse Jewish histories and heritages.
Community Feature

Temple Beth El
Synagogues / Temple Beth ElTemple Beth El, founded as Congregation Bethel was the first synagogue to be established in Buffalo in 1847. Soon after its formation it changed its name to Temple Beth El. The congregation moved several times within the city, eventually...
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Hillel Foundation of Buffalo
Organizations / Hillel Foundation of BuffaloHillel of Buffalo at the University of Buffalo is a campus student organization that serves Jewish student communities in Greater Buffalo. In 1946, it was founded as a part-time Councillorship supported by the local B’nai...
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Wiener, Cecil
People A-Z / Cecil WienerSuffragette, Judge, Social Welfare Professional. 1874–1960OverviewCecil B. Wiener was a woman of many “firsts” over a working life of more than fifty years. Born in 1874, Cecilia Bertha Wiener, known as Cecil, was the daughter of Magnus...
A community of communities
Jewish Buffalo stories are local, national and international and part of the breadth of Jewish life in America over the last two centuries. Jewish Buffalonians have created a diverse array of local institutions and organizations, businesses, and initiatives. As part of an ever-evolving Buffalo metropolitan area, Jews have worked to maintain traditions and fashion new ones, with a vital mix of communities old and new, settled and fluid, and ethnically and religiously diverse. Through connection within families, organizations, and their neighbors, Jewish Buffalonians have shaped events, responded to challenges, and catalyzed social and cultural change. Dynamic and evolving, Jewish Buffalo stories are a part of a community of communities in the Buffalo region.