Jewish Family History in Elmira
If you were strolling through Elmira in the 1860s, you might not have noticed right away that a small Jewish community was beginning to take root. At that time, the city directory listed no more than 30 or 40 Jewish families. They lived very close together, many living above their shops or in modest houses, their windows glowing on Friday evenings as candles flickered in honor of Shabbat.
By the 1870s, more families began to arrive, but it was really in the late 1880s that Elmira’s Jewish population began to grow in earnest. Familiar names—Rosenbaum, Spiegel, Baker, and Featherman appeared not only on storefront signs but also in the fabric of everyday life. Many started as peddlers, walking dirt roads with heavy packs or wagons, selling needles, fabric, and kitchen wares to farm families. It was hard work, but each sale was a step toward building stability. In time, these peddlers opened shops—modest at first but filled with promise.
The great wave of Jewish immigration began in 1881. Far from Elmira, in Russia and Poland, Jewish families were being terrorized by pogroms and suffocated by the anti-Jewish decrees of the Czar. They fled, clutching what little they could carry, and found refuge in places like Elmira. Why here? The land was fertile, opportunities were plentiful, and, most importantly, there was already a small Jewish community to welcome them.
Elmira soon bustled with Jewish-owned businesses. You might have smelled the sharp, earthy tang of hides at Schwartz, Anhalt, and Sittenfeld’s hide and tallow yard. Or walked past the sweet, heavy scent of tobacco drifting out of Maurice Levy and J.L. Radin’s cigar shop. Arron Samuels ran a pawn shop where second chances could be bought and sold. The Strauss brothers, Wittenberg’s, Seversky’s, Rosenbaum’s, and Pelts filled their storefronts with clothing—sturdy work shirts, wool coats, and fine dresses for special occasions. H. Strauss exists to this day.
For the families themselves, life revolved around the synagogue. In those early years, Jewish families lived close together, bound together by neighborhood and by faith. The synagogue was where they prayed, yes—but it was also where they taught their children to read Hebrew, where they passed around baskets of bread, and where they celebrated weddings and mourned losses. It was their shelter in a new and often uncertain world.
But as decades passed, Elmira’s Jews did not stay apart. They stepped forward into the life of the city itself. They joined the Red Cross, the YMCA and YWCA, and the Boy and Girl Scouts. They worked alongside their neighbors in the Community Chest (One of the founders and first President was Benjamin Levy), the Arctic League, the service clubs, and countless charitable organizations. Jewish men and women served as aldermen, judges, city clerks, physicians, engineers, commissioners of fire and police, and trustees of Elmira College. Including A Jewish Police Commissioner (Dr. N.H. Sobel) and a Jewish Fire Commissioner (Jake Roseman)!
By the 1950s, Jewish names were woven through Elmira’s civic and social life. John Levey led the Union Lodge of Masons. Jacob Schwartz, Charles Epstein, and Dr. Jonas Jacobs served as Exalted Rulers of the Elks. Arnolf Jerome presided over Rotary, while Epstein and Irving Etkind commanded the American Legion. And in classrooms across the city, Jewish teachers shaped generations of children, their chalk-dusted hands writing lessons that went far beyond the page.
Religious life blossomed in several directions. Around 1863, Elmira’s first congregation formed on High Street, Orthodox in tradition, with just 31 members. In 1886, they built a new temple on the same site, this time led by a Reform rabbi, Adolph N. Radin. Later, Rabbi Jacob Marcus became a beloved figure, guiding his community with warmth until his death in the influenza epidemic of 1918. He was remembered not only in his synagogue, but across Elmira—for his friendship with ministers and civic leaders, (including Rev. Thomas K. Beecher), for his compassion, and for his humanity.
At the same time, new groups formed to honor other traditions. In 1883, Russian and Polish immigrants established Congregation Addassah Anshai Newstadt—the “Compassionate People of Newtown.” A few years later, it was renamed Shoymrey Hadas, the “Guardians of Religion.” Families like the Ginzburg’s, Rosenthal’s, Jacobson’s, Rubin’s, Heyman’s, and Horwitze’s’ were among its earliest members. That same year, others who wished to remain strictly Orthodox founded Talmud Torah on Sullivan Street, with families such as Waxman, Platt, Spiegel, Herman, and Epstein at its core. These two groups merged into Shomray Hadath.
And while synagogues nurtured the spirit, Jewish organizations cared for the body and the heart. The Deborah Society, later the Jewish Relief Society or Bicur Cholem, ensured that no family fell into destitution. The National Council of Jewish Women, formed in 1883, offered classes in English, small loans for education, and guidance for new immigrants navigating their first steps toward citizenship.
B’nai B’rith Lodge was originally started in the early 1870’s and lasted about a decade. It was restarted in the early 1940’s by Benjamin Levy and over 100 other members. During WWII this group sent monthly packages of food and sweets to every Jewish person (Male & Female) in the service. Post WWII the organization focused on civic activities.
The National Council of Jewish Women was begun in 1893 focusing on religious, educational and civic work. They helped immigrants and lent money to the youth for educational opportunities. They assisted in preparing immigrants for and during the naturalization process.
Elmira Jews also lifted their eyes to the wider world. As early as 1897, many joined the growing Zionist movement, raising funds and awareness for the dream of a Jewish homeland. During the 1940s, their efforts helped support the creation of the State of Israel.
And during World War I, local Jews and non-Jews together, raised $140,000—a staggering sum—to aid refugees fleeing the Czar.
During WWI a local Hadassah organization was organized. It focused on maintaining Red Cross branches. Post war, it supported medical units, children’s health and hospitals, in Israel.
The 1930s saw the founding of a Jewish War Veterans Post, honoring those who served and remembering those who had been lost. By 1934, the Jewish Welfare Fund was organized, the beginning of what would become the Jewish Federation, dedicated to strengthening community and extending help far beyond Elmira’s borders.
In 1948, the Jewish Center opened its doors, providing a vibrant home for fun, education, and gathering. It wasn’t only for grand events—it was also the place where children learned to sing the songs of their heritage, where families celebrated Purim with costumes and hamantaschen, where teenagers met for dances, and where elders shared memories. Alongside the Center, charitable programs like Hachnochis Orchin—created to care for Jewish travelers passing through town—evolved into the Family Aid Fund, a tradition of kindness that endures even now.
The Jews of the Southern Tier have a rich history of civic, religious and philanthropic activities. Today that is expressed through the JCF Annual Giving Campaign (going on right now!)
From those first 30 families in the 1860s, to the flourishing community of the mid-20th century, Elmira’s Jews built more than businesses and congregations—they built connections. They built bridges between past and present, between one another and their neighbors, between Elmira and the wider world. Their story is one of resilience, faith, and generosity, lived out not in grand monuments but in shops and classrooms, synagogues and service clubs, kitchens and living rooms.
It is a story that still echoes today—in the names on our streets and storefronts, in the institutions that serve our city, and in the spirit of care and community that has always been Elmira’s heart.
[1] Much of this article was rewritten from Henery Radin’s article on our history, written about 1954. Additional information came from the JCF website (https://www.jewishelmira.org/) the CKA website (https://www.kolamielmira.org/), the If you grew up in Elmira “Facebook page and the Chemung County Historical Society website. (https://chemungcountyhistoricalsociety.blogspot.com/2012/12/jewish-history.html)
Do you have family stories?
Are you interested in helping to preserve our community’s history and to add to it? The JCF is working on a joint project with the Chemung Valley history Museum and CKA to document and preserve our history.
If you have old photos or memorabilia or stories to tell please contact Rachel Dworkin at archivist@chemungvalleymuseum.org or (607) 734-4167 ex 207.