A Walking Tour of the Philadelphia Jewish Quarter, 1850-1950

with Jerry Silverman

Sunday, December 3, 2023
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
In-person only
$20/person

THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT! Contact Dodi Klimoff to add your name to a waitlist.

Meet at 10:45 am on the steps of Mother Bethel Church, 6th & Lombard Streets.
Tour will end at Society Hill Synagogue, 418 Spruce Street.

From the 1880s through the 1920's the area between Spruce and Christian Street and 2nd and 6th was the Philadelphia equivalent of New York's famous Lower East Side. Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe created a vibrant community with its own Yiddish Theater, literary societies, and newspapers, along with synagogues and banks, bath houses, and delicatessens.

Jerry Silverman will introduce us to early Jewish life in Philadelphia by pointing out sites of former bathhouses, shuls, newspapers, theaters, stores, social service buildings, union halls, banks, and hospitals, as well as the still-active Society Hill Synagogue and Congregation B'nai Abraham, and several businesses along Fabric Row. 

Jerry Silverman is a certified member of the Association of Philadelphia Tour Guides and a proud Gratz alumnus. Since 2009, Jerry has been giving tours as part of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, Hidden City Philadelphia, and the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia. He is a founding member of the Museum of American Jewish History, and was the founder of the former LGBT synagogue Beth Ahavah.