Of the original 13 American colonies, Delaware was the second (after New York) to permit Jews to be admitted legally. The first Jews believed to come to Delaware were Isaac Israel and Isaac Cardozo, agents of the Dutch West Indies Company, who arrived from Holland in 1655 to trade furs with Native Americans along the Delaware River.

Before the mid-19th century, Delaware was regarded as a remote outpost for Pennsylvania business people and Jews who lived in the state appear not to have stayed long, including Jacob Fiana, Abraham Judah (registers ships and purchases land 1751-1761), Jacob Solis (1780-1829) and Daniel Solis (1784-1869). Individuals who stayed for any length of time during period appear to have allowed their Jewish identities to lapse, including Captain Henry B. Nones and Daniel Nunez, Jr.

Thereafter, Philadelphia and Baltimore merchants began opening regional outlets in Wilmington, leading to the founding by eighteen merchants of the Moses Montefiore Mutual Benefit Society in 1879, the first evidence of Delaware Jewry as a sizable, organized and permanent community. It estimate that the Jewish community of the time numbered about one hundred.

The first formal Jewish congregation in the state was formed in Wilmington a year later as Congregation Ohabei Shalom, but the congregation ceased to exist only a few years later. The oldest enduring Jewish congregations were founding in Wilmington: Adas Kodesch (1885) and Chesed Shel Emeth (Sephardi, 1900). The two congregations merged in 1957 and are known today as Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth.

Historically, Jews in Delaware have been involved in the retail and manufacturing and have lived in almost all locations in the state, but organized communities have existed only in New Castle County areas surrounding Newark and Wilmington as well as in Kent County, the home of the state capital of Dover. More recently, new Jewish communities have been established in the popular Sussex County beach areas of Rehoboth Beach and nearby Lewes.

Among the remarkable achievements of Jews in Delaware was the appointment in 1973 of Irving Saul Shapiro (1916-2001) to be the first person outside the duPont family to become Chairman of the Board of the DuPont Corporation, and who three years later became chair of the Business Roundtable, then the epitome of US corporate power and influence.

Dr. Henry Judah Heimlich, a Jewish surgeon born in Wilmington in 1920, invented the Heimlich maneuver that has saved countless lives worldwide.

In the public realm, Jews have reached high office. Roxana Arsht became Delaware’s first female judge in 1971, Daniel Herrmann became chief justice of the Delaware Supreme Court in 1973, and Jack Markell was Delaware’s state treasurer in 2005.

Delaware is one of the smallest Jewish communities in the country to support an extensive array of Jewish organizations and facilities. The Jewish Federation of Delaware was founded in 1935, and Wilmington boasts both a large Jewish community center and a local Jewish Historical Society (JHSD. The JHSD holds a variety of materialism and most Delaware synagogues also keep up historical records and photographs, especially Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth, Beth Emeth and Beth Shalom — all in Wilmington.

Jewish Cemeteries (all remain active)

Kent County

Sharon Hills Memorial Park
Garden of Mount Sharon Section
Beth Sholom Congregation
Sharon Hill Road
Dover, DE
(302) 734-3535
Jewish section established circa 1968. Records on-site at the cemetery.

New Castle County

Beth Emeth Memorial Park, Inc.
Faulkland and duPont Road
Wilmington, DE
(302) 764-2393

Cemetery established in 1932. Records at Congregation Beth Emeth in Wilmington

Jewish Community Cemetery
Foulk Road near Weldin Road
Wilmington, DE 19803
Established in 1890

Cemetery established 1890 by Congregations Adas Kodesch and Ahavath Achim. Contains sections for Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth; Beth Shalom; Moses Montefiore Mutual Benefit Society; and Temple Beth El — Contact Schoenberg Memorial Chapel (see below) for records, as well as the individual congregation or organization.

Machzikey Hadas Cemetery
Wildel Avenue off of duPont Highway (US 13)
Minquadale, DE
Cemetery established circa. 1929

Contact Schoenberg Funeral Home for records

SYNAGOGUES AND TEMPLES

Kent County

Congregation Beth Sholom
340 North Queen Street
Dover, DE 19904
(302) 734-5578
Conservative

New Castle County

Ahavath Achim (founded 1888, closed)

Chabad Lubavitch of Delaware
1811 Silverside Road
Wilmington, DE 19810
(302) 529-9900
Orthodox/Lubavitch

Machzekey Hadas Congregation
B’nai B’rith House
8112 Society Drive
Claymont, DE 19703
(302) 792-2637
Traditional

Note: This Congregation appears to be inactive

Temple Beth El
301 Possum Park Road
Newark, DE 19711
(302) 366-8330
Reconstructionist

Adas Kodesch Shel Emeth
Washington Boulevard & Torah Way
Wilmington, DE 19802
(302) 762-2705
Traditional

Congregation Beth Emeth
300 West Lea Boulevard
Wilmington, DE 19802
(302) 764-2393
Reform

Congregation Beth Shalom
1801 Baynard Boulevard
Wilmington, DE 19802
(302) 654-4462
Conservative

Sussex County

Seaside Jewish Community
18970 Holland Glade Road
P.O. Box 1472
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
(302) 226-8977

Jewish Resources

Jewish Historical Society of Delaware
c/o 505 Market Street Mall
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 655-6232 — jhsdelaware.org

Houses synagogue, organizational and family history records, photographs, memorabilia and artifacts relating to the history of the Delaware Jewish community.

Jewish Voice
100 West 10th Street, Suite 301
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 427-2100

Jewish community newspaper: 1943 — present (some years missing). Bound copies are at the JHSD and recent copies are at the Jewish Federation office (Jewish Voice)

Jewish Federation of Delaware
100 West 10th Street, Suite 301
Wilmington, DE 19801
(302) 427-2100

Established in 1936. The Federation has historical information on people who have been involved in the Jewish Community over the years. Some material may complement what is housed at the JHSD.

B’nai B’rith Lodge 470
Mr. Rob Scheinberg
8000 Society Drive
Claymont, DE 19703
(302) 798-6846

Schoenberg Memorial Chapel
519 Philadelphia Pike
Wilmington, DE 19809
(302) 762-0334

The only Jewish funeral home in the state. Also maintains many cemetery records

Jewish Community Cemetery Association
c/o Schoenberg Memorial Chapel
519 Philadelphia Pike
Wilmington, DE 19809
(302) 762-0334

Chandler Funeral Home
2506 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803
(302) 478-7100

Nonsectarian funeral home that handles many Jewish funerals.

Bibliography

Balick, Marvin S. A Social History of the West Second Street Jewish Community — Wilmington, Delaware 1930-1940. Wilmington: Jewish Historical Society of Delaware, 1997.

Geffen, Rabbi David, ed. Jewish Delaware: 1655-1976 History, Sites, Communal Services. Wilmington: Jewish Federation of Delaware, Jewish Historical Society of Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, 1976.

Preisler, Julian H. American Synagogues: A Photographic Journey. Self-Published, Falling Waters, West Virginia, 2008.

Preisler, Julian H. Jewish Cemeteries of the Delmarva Peninsula. Westminster, Maryland: Family Line Publications, 1995.

Preisler, Julian H. Historic Synagogues of Philadelphia & The Delaware Valley. Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: The History Press, 2008.

Young, Toni, ed. Delaware and the Jews. Wilmington: Jewish Historical Society of Delaware, 1979.

Young, Toni. Becoming American, Remaining Jewish: The Story of Wilmington, Delaware’s First Jewish Community, 1879-1924, 1999. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses, Cranbury, 1999.

Daly, Charles Patrick (1816-1899). The Settlement of the Jews in North America, New York: Philip Cowen, 1893