Photo by Wikimedia Commons
- 504,450 Jews live in New Jersey, representing 5.7% of the population.
- New Jersey officially afforded Jews religious tolerance in 1665.
- Organized Jewish communities exist in all 21 New Jersey counties.
- Newark, once home to Philip Roth, used to be the center of Jewish life in New Jersey, containing 80,000 Jews.
- Contrary to popular opinion, hometown favorite Bruce Springsteen is not Jewish. But his drummer is.
- In a short humor piece for the New Yorker, Woody Allen wrote, “The curtain rises on a vast primitive wasteland, not unlike certain parts of New jersey.”
- Frank Lautenberg, U.S. senator from 1982-2001, was the son of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Russia.
- Henry Orenstein, Holocaust survivor and toymaker, best known for creating Transformers, lives in Verona, N.J.
- After fleeing Nazi Germany, Albert Einstein worked at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J.
- Daughter of Rudolph and Esther Sussman, author Judy Blume was born in Elizabeth, N.J., which is celebrating its 350th anniversary this year.
