Beth Jacob Congregation
Beth Jacob 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.
Neighborhoods / East Side
The Buffalo Jewish East Side centered on William Street and Jefferson, and the roads radiating around them stretching to Broadway.
Overview
The East Side holds a particular affection for many Jewish Buffalonians. This was the immigrant neighborhood, and from where many contemporary Buffalo families can trace their roots. The neighborhood grew from the 1880s and reached its height in the early 1920s, lasting through the 1950s. Some of the Jewish institutions we have today can trace their beginnings to the East Side including the Jewish Community Centers and the Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association. The East Side was both a religious and commercial center that had eight synagogues, The Talmud Torah and hundreds of Jewish businesses from dry goods stores to grocers to shochtim (kosher butchers) to kosher delis. The East Side nurtured the talents of people like Harold Arlen as well as offering immigrant and first-generation children, educational opportunities through the public-school system, that enabled them to enter a variety of professions. The East Side was both a launchpad into the world beyond William Street and a place of intense community ties.
Gallery
Bar Mitzvah of Jack Bernstone at Anshe Lubavitz, 113 Pratt Street, Buffalo, NY. Courtesy of Leon Komm.
Bar Mitzvah of Jack Bernstone at Anshe Lubavitz
Cohen Bakery 18-26 Strauss Street, Buffalo, NY 14212. Courtesy of the Benjamin and Dr. Edgar R. Cofeld Judaic Museum. Temple Beth Zion, NY.
Cohen Bakery 18-26 Strauss Street, Buffalo, NY 14212
Clothier East Side businesses, photograph created by Izon-Dannecker, 2013. Courtesy of the Benjamin and Dr. Edgar R. Cofeld Judaic Museum. Temple Beth Zion, NY.
East Side businesses
Coplon Paints, Oils and Glass Store, c. 1912, 816 Broadway, Buffalo, NY. Ms 223, David and Minnie Coplon Collection. Permission of the University Archives, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Coplon Paints, Oils and Glass Store, c. 1912, Coplon Collection, MM223, JBIC522lowres
Coplon Paints, Oils and Glass Store, c. 1912
Bernstone’s Wig Shop, 13 East Genesee Street, Buffalo, NY. Courtesy Leon Komm.
Bernstone’s Wig Shop
Exterior of Fierstein's Food Market—Groceries & Delicatessens Collection of the Buffalo History Museum. Used with Permission.
Exterior of Fierstein’s Food Market
On the East Side. Pearl Sunshine, later Pearl Korus, with Ida Sunshine (later Bearen). Courtesy of Sam Korus.
On the East Side
Invitation to the Bar Mitzvah of Samuel Miller, Congregation Ahavath Sholem, December 22, 1917. Courtesy of Leon Komm.
Invitation to the Bar Mitzvah of Samuel Miller
Sunday Religious School Class, Jewish Community Building, 1940s. Courtesy of Leon Komm.
Sunday Religious School Class, Jewish Community Building, 1940s
Celebrating the acquisition of a Torah for Anshe Sokolivka Shul on Spring Street ca. 1917. Goldome Nagle photograph collection Picture. G65 Parades. Collection of The Buffalo History Museum. Used with Permission.
Celebrating the acquisition of a Torah for Anshe Sokolivka Shul on Spring Street ca. 1917
Room-17 Buffalo Public School 41, Broadway, Buffalo, NY. Courtesy of Leon Komm.
Room-17 Buffalo Public School 41, Broadway, Buffalo, NY
S. Maisel, 913 Broadway, Buffalo, NY. Stuart W. Maisel Collection, Courtesy of the Benjamin and Dr. Edgar R. Cofeld Judaic Museum. Temple Beth Zion, NY.
S. Maisel, 913 Broadway, Buffalo, NY
Beth Jacob 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.
Beth Jacob Congregation
Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association, Officer Pins, photograph created by Izon Productions-Don Dannecker, 2016. Courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies.
Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association, Officer Pins
Zion House, Clipping, Buffalo Courier Express, c. 1902.
Zion House
Y.W.H.A. Purim Party at the Jewish Community Building, c. 1930s. Courtesy of Getelle Rein.
Young Women’s Hebrew Association
Buffalo Jewish Community Building basketball team, c. 1930s. MS 204, Jewish Community Center of Greater Buffalo and Summer Camps Records, 1915-2009. Image created by Frederic Marschall. Permission of the University Archives, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Buffalo Jewish Community Building basketball team, c. 1930s
Jewish Community Religious School Class, May 23, 1943, Jewish Community Building. Courtesy of Getelle Rein.
Jewish Community Religious School Class, May 23, 1943
Jewish Community Building featured in a multipage booklet, p.6. Jewish Federation for Social Welfare, 1937, MS150.1, Records of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo, 1902-1979. Permission of the University Archives, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York.
Jewish Community Building featured in a multipage booklet, p.6.
Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association, Penant, photograph created by Izon Productions-Don Dannecker, 2016. Courtesy of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies.
Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association, Penant
External photograph of former Ahavas Achim, created by Izon Productions-Don Dannecker, 2017. The image is reproduced with permission of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies.
Ahavas Achim External 2
Hannah Haber Laufer, 1890s, courtesy of Susan Freed, Mollie Freed, Leonard J. Freed, Joan Karet and Linda Briks
Hannah Haber Laufer
Achavas Achim, Temple Picnic of the Young Men and Women’s Club, c.1920s. Courtesy of Joyce Greenspan.
Achavas Achim, Temple Picnic
Isadore Silverstein Bar Mitzvah, 1935. Courtesy of Joyce Greenspan.
Isadore Silverstein Bar Mitzvah
Brith Israel 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.
Brith Israel in Oscar Israelowitz
Sherwin Greenberg, Ahavas Sholem, Benjamin and Dr. Edgar Cofeld Judaic Museum. Reproduced with the permission of Temple Beth Zion, Buffalo, NY.
Sherwin Greenberg, 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.
Ahavas Sholem, in Oscar Israelowitz
Documents
Ustingrader 50th, 1963
Ustingrader 25th, 1938
Sokolifke, Ustingrad Reunion 1991
The Last Shochet
The Jefferson Ave. Shul and the search for East Side Memories
Chana Kotzin, “The Jefferson Ave. Shul and the search for East Side Memories,” Buffalo Jewish Review; February 10, 2012, p. 9.
Articles
Saving ‘forgotten cemetery’ Scouting project provides spark for cleanup of neglected hallowed ground at Beth Jacob
Saving ‘forgotten cemetery’ Scouting project provides spark for cleanup of neglected hallowed ground at Beth Jacob, Buffalo News, July 7, 2008.
Beth Jacob Cemetery AKA Doat Street Cemetery, B’nai Jacob Cemetery
Biography of Robert Briscoe
For a local author’s commentary, see the article by Dr. Ursula A. Falk, “Robert Briscoe, A Jewish Irishman: Highlights Taken From The Life of a Great Man Who Was Proud of His Religion.”
Estate sale find leads to A.E. Minks Archive Project
“Estate sale find leads to A.E. Minks Archive Project,” University of Buffalo UBNow, November 11, 2019
Preservation Ready: Jefferson Avenue Shul
“Preservation Ready: Jefferson Avenue Shul,” Buffalo Spree, May 7, 2012
Contribute to this page
The East Side was home to hundreds of Jewish businesses. We are trying to find images of businesses along William Street and its surrounding streets. We are also seeking materials relating to synagogues and East Side institutions, as well as home town associations and other groups. Please contact us – or upload here.