A premier center preserving New England Jewish history, exploring Jewish heritage, and advancing understanding of the American Jewish experience.
Jewish Neighborhood Voices
New at the JHC! Explore “Jewish Neighborhood Voices,” an online exhibit based on oral histories with individuals growing up in three historically Jewish neighborhoods of Greater Boston in the 1920s through the 1950s.
Events
The Genevieve Geller Wyner Annual Lecture: Philanthropy in Boston’s Jewish Community at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
November 20, 2025
Join our 2025 Genevieve Geller Wyner Research Fellow Benjy Maor to learn about how and why Jewish community leaders in Boston founded, in 1895, the first federation in the United States, The Federation of Jewish Charities of Boston (today known as Combined Jewish Philanthropies).
Online Event
Chop Suey on Shabbat: How American Jews Embraced Chinese Food
December 17, 2025
Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center’s Curhan Scholar Shiyong Lu will explore the interactions between American Jews and Chinese food purveyors, and how adaptations arose in restaurants and home cooking in response to the cuisine’s tremendous popularity among Jews and its violation of kashrut (Jewish dietary laws).
Online Event
Imagining Early American Jews
February 17, 2026
Dr. Hoberman will offer a timely and original talk to explore how interpretations and representations of the past are key to understanding Jewish American history and identity.
In The Spotlight
L to R: Obermayer Judaica Collection cover page, Arthur Obermayer in lab setting, Arthur Obermayer "Tree Incident" clipping.
Now Available Online: Arthur S. Obermayer Papers
The papers, available digitally as of Summer 2025, contain correspondence, business records, news clippings, photographs, sound and video recordings, awards, reports, and notes documenting the personal, professional, political, and charitable work of Arthur S. Obermayer, a Boston-based scientist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist.
L and R, postcards sent from William to Minnie. At center, a photograph of William and Minnie just married.
Now Available Online: Marcus and Feldman Family Papers
The papers, available digitally as of July 2025, consist of William Marcus’s service and naturalization records, correspondence between William Marcus and Minnie Feldman over a one-year period of time while William was serving in WWI, and more.
Joanne Fox Brumberg with a goat in Lynn, circa 1949, Jewish Neighborhood Voices collection in the JHC archive.
Jewish Neighborhood Voices Exhibit
Explore the JHC's new online exhibit about Jewish immigrant neighborhoods.