Jewish Heritage

WMF’s Jewish Heritage Program (JHP) was launched in 1988 to draw attention to Jewish cultural heritage under threat as a result of the Jewish Diaspora and the inability of smaller communities to care for their sacred and secular sites.

In the program’s earliest years, WMF focused its attention on documentation to determine what remained of synagogues, cemeteries, and other buildings erected by the Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. WMF also funded symposia, lectures, and photographic surveys and exhibitions that helped the public understand the serious threats to an important chapter of architectural history.

Over the course of two decades, the JHP has supported conservation work at sites in more than 20 countries, including China, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Lithuania, Morocco, and Poland, ranging in date from the 15th to the early 20th century.

As the program evolved, WMF’s activities have reflected not only a concern for the cultural legacy of these sites, but also for the strengthening of Jewish communities in the post-Soviet era. To assist in these efforts, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee is now partnering with WMF to disseminate information on WMF’s Jewish Heritage Program and help liaise with local Jewish communities.

The 2008 Jewish Heritage Program has received generous support from Joyce Greenberg, The Rothschild Foundation Europe, the Cahnman Foundation, and Koret Foundation.

Help Save Jewish Heritage
If you would like to support our programs, you may give online or call (646) 424-9594.

Recent JHP Grants
Volozhin Yeshiva, Belarus

Subotica Synagogue, Serbia & Montenegro

Zamość Renaissance Synagogue, Poland

Vilnius Choral Synagogue, Lithuania

2008 Press Release

Information about requesting assistance for Jewish heritage sites (requires Acrobat).

Questions? Write jhp@wmf.org.