Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative
Welcome to BJHI or The Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative. The Brooklyn Jewish Historical Initiative maintains this website in order to, organize public programs and events, maintain records and archives both online and in their original state, create oral and video histories which will be accessible online, and make a range of resources available to the public. It’s a community project and we need your help to do it right! Share your stories, pictures, and memories of Jewish Life in Brooklyn here.
Old Jewish Men
Whether it’s the price of lox or public toilets, one of the latest TikTok trends features old dudes kvetching for a cause. NY Post
Nissim Black
Enjoy an enlightening Brooklyn YouTube conversation that Rabbi YY Jacobson of Crown Heights with the amazing entertainer Nissim Black, who took lead in music video, Brooklyn , that BJHI supported and co-produced.
Nathan's Famous
Nathan’s Famous, which opened as a 5-cent hot dog stand in Coney Island more than a century ago, has been sold to packaged meat giant Smithfield Foods in an all-cash $450 million deal, the companies announced Wednesday.
We're Brooklyn Book
In order to find out about her family’s Brooklyn roots, Rebecca and her little brother Seth explore the borough with their grandma Sophia. This new book by Cecilia Margules, is in collaboration with BJHI!
Italian
How a Jewish mother from Flatbush became America’s most recognizable Italian on TV. For Levy’s Rye and Alka-Seltzer, you didn’t have to be Italian to play Italian — and Fran Lopate definitely wasn’t.
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BJHI Hall of Fame
“BJHI was created to tell the extraordinary story of the Jewish community of Brooklyn, and the BJHI Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame recognizes the leading Brooklynites who have truly made a difference in the world, and there are many.”
2025 HALL OF FAME
Emily Austin
Hazan Basya Schechtern
Hon. Simcha Lichenstein
Debra Schwartzben
NYPD Deputy Chief Richard S. Taylor
Henry Sapoznik
Hon. David Yassky


