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.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
