Historic Landmark Receives Special Recognition In Wildwood, New Jersey

For over 400 years, people have been coming to North America in search of better lives. The original settlers of the American Colonies before the Revolutionary War were either escaping religious persecution or economic repression.

Today, at least 40 percent of all United States citizens are descendants of immigrants who came to America through Ellis Island. From 1892 to 1915, over 15 million immigrants came to the United States to pursue better lives in a land with more freedom compared to where they came from.

While some people associate anti-semitism with the Jewish Holocaust in Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, the reality is Jewish people are one of the oldest oppressed groups of people in human history.

Dating back to the ancient Babylonian, Greek, and Roman Empires, history documents numerous incidents of Jewish Oppression for their cultural and religious beliefs. For centuries, numerous people in positions of power and authority have spread propaganda about the Jewish People that inspired hatred and oppression.

Jewish Immigrants Coming To New Jersey

Decades before Adolf Hitler's Nazi Regime laid the ground work for what would become the Jewish Holocaust, many Jewish people were fleeing Russia and Europe to escape oppression, with many of those people coming to Ellis Island.

A group of Jewish immigrants settled in Southern Jersey in the late 1890s in what would become Woodbine in Cape May County. The building of the Wildwood Boardwalk in the early 20th Century attracted many immigrants to the Jersey Shore town, including Jewish Families looking to open new businesses.

Members of the Jewish Community began meeting in their homes in 1915, and it took a decade before the synagogue sanctuary was dedicated in 1929. Today, the Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood is the only active Jewish Synagogue in New Jersey's southernmost county.

Beth Judah Temple Receives Special Recognition from the State

Located at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Spencer Avenue in the heart of Wildwood, the historic synagogue was recently recognized for placement on the New Jersey State Register of Historic Places.

While the federal historic designation is still pending, the expectation that the Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood will soon become a historic landmark with both state and federal protections.

The Friends and Members of the Beth Judah Temple will be celebrating 110 years of their community in Wildwood from May 16 to 18 with a three-day gala. The three-day celebration will culminate with a Preserving Our Legacy Lucheon Reception during which they will celebrate the establishment of the Beth Judah Temple Museum and Library.

You can purchase tickets for the Luncheon Reception on Sunday, May 18th, and support the Beth Judah Temple by visiting their website.  The Luncheon is scheduled from Noon to 3 pm, during which two of the oldest families a part of the Beth Judah Temple community will be recognized: The Giddling and Satt Families.