Since 1654, when the first Jews in North America landed in New Amsterdam, the archipelago of New York Harbor has been incredibly rich in 400 years of Jewish Heritage. Come explore the wealth of the modern Jewish experience in all its variety.
Social Activism in the Lower East Side
The hotbed of socialism in the Western hemisphere was home to activists – mostly immigrants – to whom we owe many of our labor and consumer rights and some of our most iconic civil rights groups.
The poets and punks of Greenwich Village
From the 50s-80s, the Village was the epicenter of US counterculture. Hear the stories of the rejects, addicts, and “others,” who fueled earth-shattering cultural movements and defined generations.
Jewish Lower East Side
From 1881 through World War I, millions of Jews entered New York Harbor in search for a new life in a new world. This is the origin story of most of today’s American Jewish community.
Biblical Archaeology through the Halls of the Met
Bring Biblical stories to life through artifacts that populated the worlds of Abraham, Moses and Jesus and more. Tour Egyptian tombs, Greco-Roman ossuaries, and a model of Solomon’s temple.
Colonial Jewish History
US Jewish history begins with 23 Sephardi refugees fleeing persecution for Dutch New Amsterdam. See where the US’s first synagogue once stood and pay respects at the country’s oldest Jewish cemetery.
Vestiges of Jewish Harlem
Harlem once hosted the third largest Jewish community in the world. Learn about an extraordinary creative heritage and the complexities of Jewish-Black relations over the decades.
The Hidden Jewish History of Central Park
The “Green Lung” of NYC is one of the great masterpieces of 19th Century art. Hidden amongst its green pastures lies the clues to a Jewish past.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
Take a ferry to the “Jewish Plymouth Rock,” where the American Jewish experience began for most Jews in the US today, and pay a visit to Lady Liberty, that icon of freedom and welcome.
Jewish Brooklyn
No place in America contains the modern Jewish experience like Brooklyn. From Hassidic sects to progressive Jewish institutions, the borough is home to the most influential currents in Jewish life.
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