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

Special exhibitions, through a focus on particular individuals and subjects, delves into the personal stories that have animated Jewish lives. Each digital exploration reflects on the interplay between place, identities and changing times and the way in which American, Jewish and Buffalo historical experiences are deeply interwoven.

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.

Submit a Business

Shaping our Communities: Jewish Businesses, Professions and Services

For more than 170 years, Jews have made their homes in Greater Buffalo and the surrounding smaller towns. Within these places and neighborhoods, the role of work in the home and outside it has been critical to Jewish families, Jewish organizations and community. Jewish men and women and Jewish youth have held a variety of occupations from scrap collectors, to newspaper vendors, tailors and grocers, relators and developers, and a range of medical and legal professionals. Over the decades, Jewish writers, musicians and artists, teachers and professors, as well as Jewish functionaries – rabbis, cantors, mohelim and shochtim, have all shaped communities within Greater Buffalo and beyond, Jewish and non-Jewish. The goal of Shaping Our Communities is to highlight some of these stories and to illustrate how the built environment and our social fabric have been impacted by these activities.

For the initial launch of this collecting program, please provide examples of your own or your families commercial, professional or creative endeavors, or information about a particular business, you were impacted by, but did not run or own. We are beginning with collecting information about Jewish businesses past and present. With your permission we will make available images and stories that highlight the impact of Jewish working lives in Greater Buffalo and some of the interconnections between work, family and friends.

Please use one form for each business/job.