The Jewish Historical Society of Long Island has released a documentary to kick off the celebration of the Jewish community’s 150th anniversary on Long Island.
Brad Kolodny, president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island and narrator of the documentary, said that the brief but comprehensive video, which can be seen on the group’s website, aims to raise awareness of the area’s rich but often overlooked Jewish history.
“Today, Long Island has the fourth-largest Jewish community in the United States,” he said while explaining that he was motivated to begin this research because, unlike the Jewish communities in New York City and Los Angeles, for example, he thought that Long Island’s had not yet been as extensively explored. This is what led him to write two books on the topic — one about Long Island synagogues and another that illuminates how long Jewish people have been in the area, which, according to his research, dates back to 1705. “I thought it was an important story that needed to be told.”
Their presence on Long Island officially dates back to 1875, when a Jewish congregation was incorporated into the Village of Breslau, now known as Lindenhurst. One year later, they bought a plot of land in the Breslau Cemetery, marking the first tangible record of Jewish residence.
Twenty years later, in 1896, the community built its first synagogue in Setauket. Then following World War II, the population surged, and fast-forward to today, Kolodny estimates that more than 300,000 Jewish people live on Long Island.
In addition to releasing the documentary to celebrate 150 years of Jewish history, the Jewish Historical Society will also be presenting an exhibit this summer that will include over 100 various artifacts, photographs, and stories. The exhibit is set to open on June 5 at the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum in Riverhead.
“It’s going to be a year-long celebration,” Kolodny said. “The video is really just the first release.”
Read also: Explore Jewish identity with Joshua Garroway at Temple Beth-El
