A history of the Jewish Lehigh Valley
from the Lehigh Valley Celebrate 350 Exhibit:
Heritage & Community: The Jewish Experience in the Lehigh Valley


In 1654, the first Jewish community arrived on the shores of New Amsterdam (now New York) from Recife, Brazil.  In the 1880s, thousands of Jews from Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and other countries entered America.  From the very beginning, America has been an inseparable part of Jewish history -- and the Jewish experience in America has been an integral part of this nation's story. The Lehigh Valley has its own Jewish history...its own story.


















Heritage and Community: The Jewish Experience in the Lehigh Valley, the inaugural exhibit at the Lehigh Valley Heritage Center of the Lehigh County Historical Society in Allentown, PA,  had artifacts, documents and images representing the history of the Lehigh Valley's Jewish community. You can download the exhibit book below and read more about the history of the Jewish Lehigh Valley and browse through the vintage photos.

This exhibit, inspired by the anniversary of 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, celebrates the local Jewish community which saw its first settlers in the mid-1700s in Easton, Pennsylvania. It honors the past, those who came before us and collectively built the community and institutions which are so important today.

Their contributions to the rich tapestry of life in the Lehigh Valley can be catalogued into five major thematic areas:

• Synagogues and Prayer
• Family, Home and Rites of Passage
• Institutions
• Making a Living
• Community and the World

Like many immigrant groups that have sought refuge in America, the Jews fled oppression
and religious persecution and found freedom and religious tolerance.  Whatever their role --
major philanthropist or neighborhood volunteer; impoverished immigrant or well-to-do
industrialist, seamstress or shopkeeper, infantryman or musician, family doctor or
corporate attorney, mother, father, grandparent -- all struggled to maintain their heritage while seeking a life reflective of the American dream.  Their efforts founded a vibrant Lehigh Valley Jewish community, enriched by synagogues and communal organizations and ultimately,
full participation in the Valley's business, civic, cultural, political, economic, social and academic landscape.