VINELAND: Cumberland

VINELAND: Cumberland

Jewish Historical Society of Rural Southern New Jersey, 1063 East Landis Avenue, Suite B, VINELAND NJ 08360-4037, Telephone: [856] 696-4445 Fax: [856] 696-3428 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Congregations:

• Beth Israel Congregation, 1015 East Park Avenue, VINELAND NJ 08360, Telephone: [856] 691-0852 Fax: [856] 692-1957.

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• B'nai Tikvah Congregation & Hebrew School, PO Box 1013, TURNERSVILLE NJ 08012, Telephone: [856] 589-6550
• Chabad of Cumberland County, 78 Montrose Street, VINELAND NJ 08360, Telephone: [856] 207-3798, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Sons of Jacob Congregation, 321 Grape Street, VINELAND NJ 08360, Telephone: [856] 692-4232, Fax: [856] 691-4985
• Temple Beth Hillel Beth Abraham, PO Box 2205, VINELAND NJ 08362-2205, Please contact Jewish Federation at [856] 696-4445
• Chabad of Gloucester County, 58 N. Main St., Mullica Hill NJ 08062, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.,  [856]-733-0770
• Crown of Israel Synagogue, PO Box 552, ELMER NJ 08318, Please contact Jewish Historical Society at [856] 696-4445

• • Alliance Cemetery: Source: Elaine B. Kolinsky, JGSP with permission from Jay Greenblatt, Esquire, who established the Alliance Colony Museum on the Alliance Cemetery grounds in 1982. Address communications to Howard Hoffman, Administrator, Chevra Kadisha of Alliance (The Alliance Cemetery Association), 629 Wood Street, P.O. Box 934, Vineland, NJ 08360.
    Synagogues with section in Alliance, as follows [unconfirmed]: Eben ha Ezer "Rock of Deliverance", Emanu-El (so-labeled by Jewish Exponent ), Tifereth Israel "Splendor of Israel", Sharis Israel "Remnant of Israel" (so labeled by Jewish Exponent), and Bayuk Shul.
    In 1882, 43 families escaped the pogroms of Russia and settled in this rural Southern New Jersey community as the first Jewish agricultural colony in the United States. They belonged to the Am Olam Movement that believed in a "return to the soil." Christian neighbors helped these families learned how to till and clear the land. They organized a Chevra Kadisha and built a synagogue. There were eventually four synagogues. Alliance Israelite Universelle of Paris (still in existence) funded the establishment of this community and helped other Jews settle in different areas such as in Palestine and America. (Hence the origin of the name "Alliance.") In 1982, Jay Greenblatt (grandson of pioneer Jacob Greenblatt) established a museum on the Alliance Cemetery grounds. He formed the Alliance Colony Foundation to create a permanent museum to honor the memory of those early settlers. The museum houses artifacts (including the bimeh and pulpit from the original Brotmanville Synagogue), documents, and photographs from this era in special exhibitions shown on holidays and by request. The Foundation also engages in projects such as the registration of descendants of Alliance Colony pioneers, the registration of buildings and sites on National and State Historic Registries, oral histories, and source creation of historic material on the Colony. In 1982, the Foundation's Alliance Centennial Jubilee celebrated 100 years of Jewish life. Two thousand people attended, including 700 descendants of the founders and pioneers. Photographs of the Alliance Museum and parts of the Alliance Cemetery (taken by Elaine B. Kolinsky) are donated to the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center along with its history and Nerenberg family history. Tours by appointment.
    DIRECTIONS TO ALLIANCE CEMETERY & MUSEUM: (about 30-40 miles west of Atlantic City. West of route 47 (Delsea Drive, between Norma and Brotmanville. Operated by Chevra Kadisha of Alliance, Vineland, NJ; From Northeast Philadelphia (one hour): Once in New Jersey, get to Route 55 South; take Exit 35B, Brotmanville; follow Garden Road/Vineland. Take first Garden Road Exit on the right and cross over concrete bridge. Come to a crossroads and make a left at Friendship Baptist Church (white church with red doors) onto Gershel Avenue. Continue (south) for a mile or so. See museum red brick building and Alliance Colony Cemetery on the left. Extensive reading list on Vineland, NJ is available from NJ JGS (Kolinski)