New York City: Jewish walking tour, Sept. 25

James Kaplan will lead a walking tour to important lower Manhattan Jewish sites at 1pm, Saturday, September 25.

The New Rochelle resident - a Wall Street tax and estates lawyer in his real life - has been leading walking tours for some 25 years.

According to Kaplan, "Jewish history in New York is Jewish history in America."

In 2004, he began developing a tour of key Jewish historical sites when he was commissioned to lead a tour for the 350th anniversary of Congregation Shearith Israel, the first Jewish congregation (formed in 1654) in what is now the US.

The tour will track Jewish history from the arrival of 23 desperate Jews from Recife, Brazil in 1654, to the role American Jews played in the establishment of Israel in 1948.

The tour - rain or shine - will take two-to-three hours and cover about two miles, starting at the point where the refugees landed and concluding at the Jewish cemetery on St. James Place.

Kaplan began developing the tour of key Jewish historical sites in 2004, when he was commissioned to lead a tour for the 350th anniversary of Congregation Shearith Israel, the first Jewish congregation (formed in 1654) in what is now the US.

On the tour is today's parking garage, where the refugees first established a synagogue on South Williams Street.

LowerHudson.com covered the story by Gary Stern.

For more details, read the complete story at the link above.