Topic: Jews in Washington
Morris "Morrie" Alhadeff, a Seattle native, was General Manager and Chairman of the Board of the Longacres racetrack in Renton. Strong supporters of civil rights, Alhadeff and his wife Joan Gottstein...
The Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee (now called the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Seattle Regional Office) was formed in January 1946. The organization was an affiliate of t...
Jack Benaroya was a real-estate developer, civic leader, and philanthropist. He was a pioneer in the development and packaging of industrial parks in the Pacific Northwest and sold his holdings in 198...
Chevra Bikur Cholim (Hebrew for Society for visiting the sick) incorporated in Seattle in 1891 with the purpose of caring for the sick and providing proper burial. Within a decade it had evolved into ...
Kenny Boas, a laid-back piano player, was born and raised in Seattle's Central Area. Boas hung out and performed, often as the only Jewish musician, with jazz heavyweights including Floyd Standifer (1...
Herbert M. "Herb" Bridge lived a full, well-traveled life as a successful businessman, a naval officer in two wars, and a Seattle civic leader and philanthropist whose boundless energies earned him th...
The Viennese-born psychoanalyst Edith Buxbaum, author of Your Child Makes Sense (1949) and Troubled Children in a Troubled World (1970), arrived in Seattle on January 1, 1947. She was a leading psycho...
The Christian Friends for Racial Equality (CFRE) was a pioneering civil rights organization in Seattle from 1942 through 1970. The interracial and interfaith group sought education and social interact...
Congregation Machzikay Hadath (Jewish) was incorporated on March 11, 1930. Machzikay Hadath was founded to be more strictly orthodox than any congregation in the city. On October 7, 1979, Machzikay Ha...
Nathan Eckstein was a prominent Seattle citizen who came to the region after being in the grocery business for 10 years in New York. He married Mina Schwabacher in 1902 and served as vice president an...
Jesse Epstein was the primary force behind the creation of the Seattle Housing Authority and was just 29 years old when he was appointed its first director in 1939. He was working for the University o...
Jacob Furth played a pivotal role in the development of Seattle's public transportation and electric power infrastructure, and he was the founder of Seattle National Bank. As the agent for the utiliti...
Caroline Rosenberg Kline Galland, an early and important Seattle philanthropist, devoted her life to serving the community. Her will bequeathed funds for a home for the Jewish aged and for other chari...
In 1875, Bailey Gatzert became the first and to date (2005) only Jewish mayor of Seattle. Gatzert was partner and general manager of Schwabacher and Co., one of Seattle's earliest hardware and general...
Saul Haas left the New York ghetto for the Pacific Northwest with ambitious dreams that he realized more than most in a full, occasionally controversial life as a journalist, political activist, and p...
Hadassah, a Jewish women's organization, was founded with the goals of fostering Zionist ideals in America through education and to begin public health nursing and nurses' training in Palestine. Gisel...
The Hebrew Education and Free Loan Association, incorporated in 1914, had the purpose of providing interest-free loans to Seattle's needy. The initial membership of the organization was 60, with dues ...
The Hebrew Ladies Free Loan Society grew out of a whist (card game) and sewing club established in 1909 by women from Bikur Cholim synagague. Bikur Cholim's rabbi refused to accept the women's offer o...
Anna Helfgott was a vigorous activist for progressive causes and a leader in Seattle's Gray Panthers. In her working years she was a dressmaker and fitter, and was an early member of the International...
Seattle's Herzl-Ner Tamid Conservative Congregation, originally called Herzl's congregation, was named after Theodore Herzl (1860-1904), founder of the World Zionist Organization. It incorporated on S...
Sam Israel was the largest private owner of properties in downtown Seattle and in Pioneer Square, a slum landlord credited with preserving much of Seattle's architectural heritage because of what has ...
The first synagogue in the state opened in Spokane in 1892, but the city's Jewish history began even before the little village of Spokane Falls existed. In 1879, Indians told Simon Berg, the first kno...
Although the history of Judaism in the Far West is largely connected with the development of urban centers, Jews did move to and settle small towns on the frontier. The first wave of Jewish immigratio...
The history of Jewish education in Seattle dates back to 1894 when Congregation Bikur Cholim sponsored the establishment of the first Jewish educational program in the city, the Hebrew Free School. In...