History of the Jews in Philadelphia

Several Jewish families had immigrated to Philadelphia by 1734, as recorded by German traveler von Beck who listed them among the religious sects of the town.

[2] Nathan Levy purchased ground for Jewish burial in 1738, obtained the grant on September 25, 1740, and is cared for by Congregation Mikveh Israel.

Haym Solomon made loans to individuals in Congress, which were never repaid; his services as a financial agent during the war were invaluable.

In 1761, owing to the influx of Spanish and Portuguese Jews from England, the Netherlands and the West Indies, the question of building a synagogue was raised, but nothing was then accomplished in that direction.

In 1773, when Bernard Gratz was parnas and Solomon Marache treasurer, a subscription was started "in order to support our holy worship and establish it on a more solid foundation."

The estimate for the new building was £600, and the subscription being inadequate, Haym Salomon, the banker and financial agent of the Continental Congress, agreed to pay one-fourth the cost.

[4] Mikveh Israel counted among its members revolutionary patriots including Jonas Phillips, the Gratz family, and Haym Solomon who financed the war.

From this time on the congregation was ceaseless in its religious and charitable activities, and when Isaac Leeser's incumbency began, in 1829, it was, perhaps, the best-known synagogue in the United States.

Mikveh Israel erected its first building in 1782 on Cherry Alley, as well as a parsonage, school, mikvah, and oven for Matza baking for Passover.

Prior to the Civil War (1861-1865) as the Jewish population grew and prospered, an elegant building was constructed on 7th Street, north of Arch designed by John McArthur Jr. (later, architect of City Hall of Philadelphia).

In the last decade of the 18th century, a small group of Orthodox Jews from Germany, the Netherlands and Poland formed a minyan to worship in a manner consistent with their shared religious background.

Frank Furness, considered the most talented and exciting Philadelphia architect of his time, designed a Moorish-style synagogue on Broad and Mt.

The Reform movement, which had originated in Germany, soon extended itself to America, and L. Naumberg, Solomon Deutsch, and David Einhorn (1861–66) furthered its progress in this congregation.

Senior Rabbis of Keneseth Israel since 1923 when Krauskopf died include William Fineshriber, Bertram W. Korn, Simeon Maslin and Lance J. Sussman.

In 1876, in commemoration of the centennial of American Independence, the Order B'nai B'rith and Israelites of America erected in Fairmount Park a statue representing Religious Liberty.

[8] The Society Hachnasath Orechim, or Wayfarers' Lodge, was organized November 16, 1890, and chartered April 29, 1891; it was one of the most active charitable associations in Philadelphia.

Many concentrated around the eastern end of South Street for three primary reasons: rent was inexpensive; housing was near the sweatshops; and the neighborhood was near the Emigrant Depot at the foot of Washington Avenue and the Delaware River.

[9] In 1887, the Public Ledger wrote: "On South Street many "neat" stores have been built and indications point to the further improvement of that old down-town avenue of retail trade."

The congregation was established in 1874 as the "Russian Shul" following a wave of immigration to the Jewish Quarter of Philadelphia at the time, fleeing from Czar Alexander II.

It moved into present space around the 1910s, making it historically significant as the oldest building in Philadelphia that was originally constructed as a synagogue and has been in continuous use as such.

With the departure of much of the neighborhood's Jewish population in the mid-twentieth century, the congregation was no longer able to support a full-time rabbi and frequently lacked a minyan for Shabbat services.

[15] Society Hill Synagogue, 418 Spruce Street, renovated and uses the historic building previously home to the Roumanian Shul from 1910 until the 1960s.

Congregation Kesher Israel, 412 Lombard Street, acquired the former Universality Church building in 1889 and continues as an active Conservative synagogue.

In 1964, the Six Million Jewish Martyrs statue, the first public memorial in the United States in remembrance of the Holocaust, was unveiled at 16th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.

[16] In 1976, Mikveh Israel moved to Independence Mall, close to its original site, together with the National Museum of American Jewish History.

[27] From a period immediately after the Revolutionary war efforts have been made to collect money for the charitable organizations by appealing to the general public.

[29] In 1882, the great exodus from Russia took place; thousands of Jews forced to emigrate took up their residence in Philadelphia; at the present time they constitute a majority of the Jewish population.

In general, they quickly became prosperous; many had entered the learned professions, and they built synagogues and hospitals in the southern portion of the city, where most of them resided.

The present Jewish Publication Society of America, a national organization, with headquarters at Philadelphia, was formed June 3, 1888; Morris Newburger was its first president.

The society has published many works of value, including Israel Zangwill's Children of the Ghetto; a new translation of the Bible was started in the early 20th century, the Book of Psalms having already been issued by 1904.