People

The Buffalo region has been home to a wide range of individuals associated with local Jewish communities and Jewish networks from the 1820s through to the contemporary period as immigrants, citizens, residents and locals.

Institutions

Buffalo Jews have a rich history of forming both formal and informal institutions for religious, educational, political and social needs. From synagogues to organizations, and from coordinating agencies to groups and clubs, Jewish Buffalonians have seen a changing range of institutions supported by group endeavors and community philanthropy.

Neighborhoods

In living memory, the East Side and North Buffalo stand out as physically connected and interwoven religious and commercial centers of Jewish living. In contrast to these specific areas are the mini hubs identified with Jewish living and connected to a more dispersed idea of neighborhood. Separately, suburbia with its significant geographic spread, has redefined how a series of Jewish spaces come together with a mix of hubs, focal points and networks.

Themes

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Exhibitions

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Resources

Materials that document Jewish Buffalo in all its diversity are found in books, articles, archives and museums, many of which are available locally or online. This section highlights some of these sources and will be updated regularly.

Celebrating our culture.
Sharing our stories.

A look into the history of Jewish Buffalo

Groundbreaking for Temple Shaarey Zedek in Getzville, 1968. Photograph created by Frederic Marshall, Buffalo, NY. Courtesy of Temple Beth Tzedek, Williamsville, NY.

Temple Beth David confirmation class, c. 1940s. Courtesy of Arlene Kahn Kissin.

Young Women’s Hebrew Association, Purim Party at the Jewish Community Building, c.1920s. Courtesy of Getelle Rein.

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.

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Community Feature

Hadassah of Greater Buffalo

Hadassah of Greater Buffalo

Organizations  /  Hadassah of Greater BuffaloGreater Buffalo Hadassah is a local chapter of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, a Jewish women’s voluntary organization and the largest Jewish membership organization in the United States. As a Zionist...

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Chabad House of Buffalo

Chabad House of Buffalo

Organizations  /  Chabad House of BuffaloChabad House of Buffalo began as an outreach program to college age students at the University at Buffalo campuses and Buffalo State College in the early 1970s. It continues that mission today.OverviewIn 1971 Rabbi Noson Gurary...

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Bunshaft, Gordon

Bunshaft, Gordon

People A-Z  /  Gordon BunshaftArchitect 1909-1990OverviewGordon Bunshaft was born in 1909 in Buffalo, to parents David and Yetta, who were first cousins, from a small village in what is now Ukraine. The couple emigrated to the United States in 1908, first to Boston...

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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.

Ahavas Sholem

Ahavas Sholem, in Oscar Israelowitz, ed. Synagogues of the United States: A Photographic and Architectural Survey, Israelowitz Publishing, NY, 1992, p. 69. Reproduced with the permission of the editor.

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