History of the Jews in New York City: Difference between revisions

Jews in New York City יהודים בניו יורק
Jewish shopkeeper in New York City, circa 1929

The first Jewish settlement in what became the United States was in Dutch New Amsterdam, which is now known as New York City. Since then, Jews have settled in New York City in large numbers. As of 2014^[update], there are 2 million Jews in New York City.

Population

As of 2014^[update], about 1,757,000 residents of the U.S. state of New York, or about 9% of its residents, were Jewish.^[1]

The Census Bureau estimated the total population of New York City at 8,336,697 in 2012; thus, assuming the figures in the table above are correct, Jews were 18.4% of the City's population in 2012. Other sources, like the source that estimated that there were just 972,000 Ashkenazim in New York City in 2002, put the number at much lower. There are approximately 1.5 million Jews (as of 2001) in the New York metropolitan area, making it the second largest metropolitan Jewish community in the world, after the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area in Israel (however, Tel Aviv proper has a smaller population of Jews than New York City proper, making New York City the largest community of Jews in the world within a city proper). New York City's Jewish population is more than Chicago's, Philadelphia's, San Francisco's, and Washington, D.C.'s combined Jewish populations.^[4]

The number of Jews in New York City soared throughout the beginning of the 20th century and reached a peak of 2 million in the 1950s, when Jews constituted one-quarter of the city's population. New York City's Jewish population then began to decline because of low fertility rates and migration to suburbs and other states, particularly California and Florida. A new wave of Ashkenazi and Bukharian Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union began arriving in the 1980s and 1990s. Sephardic Jews, including Syrian Jews and other Jews of non-European origin, have also lived in New York City since the late 19th century. Many Jews, including the newer immigrants, have settled in Queens, south Brooklyn, and the Bronx, where at present most live in middle-class neighborhoods. The number of Jews is especially high in Brooklyn, where 561,000 residents—one out of four inhabitants—is Jewish.^[5][6] As of 2012^[update], there are 1.1 million Jews in New York City.^[7] Borough Park, known for its large Orthodox Jewish population, had 27.9 births per 1,000 residents in 2015, making it the neighborhood with the city's highest birth rate.^[8] However, the most rapidly growing community of American Orthodox Jews is located in Rockland County and the Hudson Valley of New York, including the communities of Monsey, Monroe, New Square, Kiryas Joel, and Ramapo.^[9]

In 2002, an estimated 972,000 Ashkenazic Jews lived in New York City and constituted about 12% of the city's population. New York City is also home to the world headquarters of the Chabad, Bobover, and Satmar branches of Hasidism, and other traditional orthodox branches of Judaism. While three-quarters of New York Jews do not consider themselves religiously observant, the Orthodox community is rapidly growing due to the high birth rates of Hasidic Jews, while the numbers of Conservative and Reform Jews are declining.

Organizations such as The Agudath Israel of America, The Orthodox Union, Chabad and The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute have their headquarters in New York.

History

1654–1881

The first significant group of Jews to come to New York, then the colony New Amsterdam, came in September 1654 as refugees from Recife, Brazil. Portugal had just re-conquered what is now known of the Brazilian State of Pernambuco from the Netherlands, and the Sephardi Jews there promptly fled. Most went to Amsterdam, but 23 headed for New Amsterdam instead. Governor Peter Stuyvesant was at first unwilling to accept them but succumbed to pressure from the Dutch West India Company—itself pressed by Jewish stockholders—to let them remain. Nevertheless, he imposed numerous restrictions and taxes on his Jewish subjects. Eventually, many of these Jews left.^[10]

When the British took the colony from the Dutch in 1664, the only Jewish name on the requisite oath of loyalty given to residents was Asser Levy. This is the only record of a Jewish presence at the time, until 1680 when some of Levy's relatives arrived from Amsterdam shortly before he died.^[10]

The first synagogue, the Sephardi Congregation Shearith Israel, was established in 1682, but it did not get its own building until 1730. Over time, the synagogue became dominant in Jewish life, organizing social services and mandating affiliation for all New York Jews.^[10] Even though by 1720 Ashkenazim outnumbered Sephardim,^[11] the Sephardi customs were retained.^[10]

An influx of German and Polish Jews followed the Napoleonic Wars in Europe. The increasing number of Ashkenazim led to the founding of the city's second synagogue, B'nai Jeshurun, in 1825. Several others followed in rapid succession, including the first Polish one, Congregation Shaare Zedek, in 1839. In 1845, the first Reform temple, Congregation Emanu-El of New York opened.^[12]

By this time numerous communal aid societies were formed. These were usually quite small, and a single synagogue might be associated with more than a few such organizations. Two of the most important of these merged in 1859 to form the Hebrew Benevolent and Orphan Asylum Society^[12] (Jewish orphanages were constructed on 77th Street near 3rd Avenue and another in Brooklyn). In 1852 the "Jews' Hospital" (renamed in 1871 Mount Sinai Hospital), which would one day be considered one of the best in the country,^[13] was established.^[12]

1881–1945

The thirty five years beginning in 1881 experienced the largest wave of immigration to the United States ever. Following the assassination of Alexander II of Russia, for which many blamed "the Jews",^[14] there was a vast increase in anti-Jewish pogroms there – possibly with the support of the government – and numerous anti-Jewish laws were passed. The result was that over two million Jews emigrated to America,^{[15]: 364–5} more than a million of them to New York.^[16]: 1076

These immigrants tended to be young and relatively irreligious, and were generally skilled – especially in the clothing industry,^{[17]: 253–4} which would soon dominate New York's economy.^[18] By the end of the nineteenth century, Jews "dominated related fields such as the fur trade."^[17]: 254

The German Jews, who were often wealthy by this time, did not much appreciate the eastern European arrivals, and moved to uptown Manhattan en masse, away from the Lower East Side where most of the immigrants settled.^{[15]: 370–2} Still, many of these immigrants worked in factories owned by the first class of Jews.^[11]

See also

• American Jews
• Demographics of New York City
• History of the Jews in New York
• List of Notable Jews from New York City

References

Notes

Further reading

• Deborah Dash Moore, City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York. In Three Volumes. New York: New York University Press, 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Judaism in New York City.

• Jews of New York
• Museum of Jewish Heritage
• History of Jews in New York
• Jewish Heritage Tours of New York City