HOURS

Reading Room
Mon-Thurs: 9:30am-4:30pm

Genealogy Institute
Mon: 9:30am-4:30pm
Tue-Fri: By appointment only

Free Exhibit Spaces
Sun–Thurs: 9:30am–7:30pm
Fri: 9:30am-3:30pm
Sat: Closed

Ruth's Bookstore
Sun–Thurs: 10:30am-6:30pm
Fri: 10:30am-4:00pm

Please note: The Lillian Goldman Reading Room and the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute will be closed to the public on Monday, August 4th. The Lillian Goldman Reading Room will be closed on Tuesday, August 5th.

Make sure to check our holiday closures prior to visiting.

Last entry to the Center for Jewish History Exhibitions, Reading Room, and the Genealogy Institute is 1 hour before closing. The last call to page items in the Reading Room and Genealogy Institute is 3pm.

Historical Directories with New York City Synagogue Listings (in chronological order):

Lyons, Jacques J., and Abraham De Sola. A Jewish Calendar for Fifty Years: From A. M. 5614 till A. M. 5564. Montreal: Printed by J. Lovell, 5614 [1854]. Print.
Jackson, Lewis E. A Church Directory for New York City. New York: New York City Mission, 1867. Print.
“Synagogues of New York City.” Museum of Family History. Museum of Family History, [Based on New York City directories: 1869-1933; Date of publication: 2007-2011?]. Web. 21 July 2016. (http://www.museumoffamilyhistory.com/erc-syn-nyc.htm).
Illustrated Annual New York & Brooklyn Churches. New York: Nelson & Phillips, 1874. Print.
Schaft, H. E. New York and Brooklyn: A Complete List of Churches and Their Location. New York: John Polhemus, 1878.
Cardozo, J. L. Hebrew-American Manual for New York, for 1887. New York: Coster, 1887. Print.
Nickerson's Illustrated Church Musical and School Directory of New York and Brooklyn. New York: Nickerson & Young, 1895. Print.
Adler, Cyrus, ed. American Jewish Year Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 5661 [1900/1901]. Print.
Jacobs, Alex Eli. Jewish Calendar, Lodge and Society Directory. New York: Jewish Directory, 1905. Print.
Drukerman’s Direktori Fir Nyu York, Bruklin, Un Bronzvil. Nyu York: S. Drukerman, 1907. Print. [Yiddish]
Szold, Henrietta, ed. American Jewish Year Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 5668 [1907/1908]. Print.
Margoshes, Samuel. The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918. 2nd ed. New York: Kehillah (Jewish Community) of New York City, 1918. Print.
Schneiderman, Harry, ed. American Jewish Year Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 5680 [1919/1920]. Print.
The National Jewish Blue Book. Philadelphia: Blue Book Pub. Co., 1927. Print.
Works Progress Administration, Federal Writers’ Project. Historical Records Survey of Churches and Synagogues. New York: Works Progress Administration, 1939. Microfilm. [The completed New York City synagogue surveys and a card index to these surveys are on microfilm at the New York City Municipal Archives (Microfilm #'s 21318-21322, Roll #'s 319-323).]
New York Federation of Reform Synagogues Directory. New York: Federation of Reform Synagogues and Union of American Hebrew Congregations, [1943-1950?]. Print.
Fink, Reuben. Jewish Community Directory of Greater New York. New York: Jewish Information Bureau, 1947. Print.
Interfaith Religious Directory of Greater New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island. New York: American Churches Press, 1949. Print.
American Jewish Organizations Directory [American Synagogues Directory]. New York: Frenkel Mailing Service, [1957-1987?]. Print.
Barkai, Meyer. The Standard American-Jewish Directory 1960. n.p.: M. Barkai, 1960. Print.
Directory of Churches and Synagogues. New York: Council of Churches of the City of New York, [1975-1986?]. Print.
Glass, Harold M. Who's Who in American Jewry : Incorporating the Directory of American Jewish Institutions. Los Angeles: Standard Who's Who, 1980. Print.
Rosen, Oded. The Encyclopedia of Jewish Institutions: United States & Canada. Tel Aviv, Israel: Mosadot Publications, 1983. Print.
International Directory of Sephardic Congregations. New York: Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, [1983-2011?]. Print.
The Jewish Directory and Almanac. New York: Pacific, [1984-88?]. Print.
Kosher Yellow Pages: New York, New Jersey, Florida. New York: Kosher yellow pages, 1990-. Print.
National Directory of Churches, Synagogues, and Other Houses of Worship. Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1994. Print.
The Sephardic Yellow Pages: The Business Directory Serving the Jewish Community of New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Brooklyn, NY: Jewish Sephardic Yellow Pages of New York, [1998-2001?]. Print.

Current Synagogue Directories

“Directory of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot.” Jewish Reconstructionist Communities in Association with the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, 2016. Web. 21 July 2016. (http://jewishrecon.org/directory).
“Find a Congregation.” Union for Reform Judaism. Union for Reform Judaism, 2016. Web. 21 July 2016. https://www.urj.org/congregations).
“Find a Kehilla.” United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2016. Web. 21 July 2016. (http://www.uscj.org/kehilla.aspx).
“Find a Young Israel.” National Council of Young Israel. National Council of Young Israel, 2016. Web. 21 July 2016. (http://www.youngisrael.org/find-a-young-israel.html).
“Synagogues and Mikvaot.” Orthodox Union. Orthodox Union, 2016. Web. 21 July 2016. https://www.ou.org/synagogue-finder).

Bibliography:

Abelow, Samuel Philip. History of Brooklyn Jewry. Brooklyn, NY: Scheba, 1937. Print.
Adler, Cyrus, ed. American Jewish Year Book. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 5661 [1900/1901]. Print.
Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia UP, 2004. Print.
Fine, Jo Renée, and Gerard R. Wolfe. The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side. New York: Washington Mews, 1978. Print.
Grinstein, Hyman B. The Rise of the Jewish Community of New York, 1654-1860. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1945. Print.
Gurock, Jeffrey S. When Harlem Was Jewish, 1870-1930. New York: Columbia UP, 1979. Print.
Israelowitz, Oscar. Synagogues of New York City: A Pictorial Survey in 123 Photographs. New York: Dover Publications, 1982. Print.
---. Synagogues of New York City: History of a Jewish Community. Brooklyn, NY: Israelowitz Pub., 2000.
Jick, Leon A. The Americanization of the Synagogue, 1820-1870. Hanover, NH: Published for Brandeis UP by the UP of New England, 1976. Print.
Kaufman, David. Shul with a Pool: The "synagogue-center" in American Jewish History. Waltham, MA; Hanover, NH: Brandeis UP; UP of New England, 1999. Print.
Korros, Alexandra Shecket, and Jonathan D. Sarna. American Synagogue History: A Bibliography and State-of-the-field Survey. New York: M. Wiener Pub., 1988. Print.
Levitt, Ellen. The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn: The Stories behind How and Why Many Brooklyn Synagogues, Now Old "ex-shuls," Were Converted to Other Uses, Primarily as Christian Churches. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2009. Print.
---. The Lost Synagogues of Manhattan: Including Shuls from Staten Island and Governors Island. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2013. Print.
---. The Lost Synagogues of the Bronx and Queens. Bergenfield, NJ: Avotaynu, 2011. Print.
Margoshes, Samuel. The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918. 2nd Ed. New York: Kehillah (Jewish Community) of New York City, 1919. Print.
Moore, Deborah Dash, et al. City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York. New York: New York UP, 2012. Print.
Moore, Deborah Dash. At Home in America: Second Generation New York Jews. New York: Columbia UP, 1981. Print.
Olitzky, Kerry M., and Marc L. Raphael. The American Synagogue: A Historical Dictionary and Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996. Print.
Perlin, Seymour J. Remembrance of Synagogues Past: The Lost Civilization of the Jewish South Bronx. Seymour J. Perlin, 1999-2016. Web. 21 July 2016. (http://www.bronxsynagogues.org).
Pool, David de Sola. “Levantine Jews in the United States.” American Jewish Year Book. 15 (1913/1914): 207-220. Print.
Postal, Bernard, and Lionel Koppman. Jewish Landmarks of New York: A Travel Guide and History. New York: Fleet Press Corp, 1978. Print.
Raphael, Marc Lee. The Synagogue in America: A Short History. New York: New York UP, 2011. Print.
Rischin, Moses. The Promised City: New York's Jews 1870-1914. New York: Corinth, 1964. Print.
Sarna, Jonathan D. American Judaism: A New History. New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2004. Print.
Soyer, Daniel. Jewish Immigrant Associations and American Identity in New York, 1880-1939. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 2001. Print.
Weisser, Michael R. A Brotherhood of Memory: Jewish Landsmanshaftn in the New World. New York: Basic, 1985. Print.
Wolfe, Gerard R. The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side: A Retrospective and Contemporary View. 2nd ed. New York: Empire State Editions, an Imprint of Fordham UP, 2013. Print.