PERTH AMBOY — In the last century, Perth Amboy had one of the largest Jewish communities in New Jersey, but no more.
With the passage of time, generations have moved out, leaving the community only a shadow of what it once was.
Now, a group of people who were born and raised in that community in the city, are publishing a book that tells its history, from the time the first immigrants came to Perth Amboy in the 19th century, until the present.
“We did this book to honor the memory of our courageous ancestors and preserve their story for future generations,” said Mona Shangold, one of the project’s founders, said.
“Perth Amboy’s Jewish Community: History, Memories, Tribute,” is to be published in early December, but is available until Oct. 1 for advanced orders, said Marilyn Goldberg, another of the book project’s founders.
Goldberg said she began the project when a classmate at a Perth Amboy High School reunion 12 years ago, Joan Seguine LeVine, approached her about helping her write a book about the Jewish community in the city. LeVine had written other books on ethnic groups.
That project eventually stalled and about two years later, Goldberg and Shangold were talking and Goldberg told her about the book project.
“I thought I could be helpful,” Shangold said. “In 2005, I had helped form a new group, Friends for the Preservation of Middlesex County Jewish Cemeteries. As a result, I connected with people who had roots in the Perth Amboy Jewish community who were scattered all over the world. I thought Marilyn’s project was an important one that needed to be done.”
Written by writer Robert Spector, also a Perth Amboy native, the publication will be coffee-table size, in full color, with 160 pages that include chapters on the synagogues, the clergy, businesses, professionals, Jewish education, the YMHA and “the unique fabric of Jewish life that flourished in the city,” Goldberg said.
“We have collected well over 600 photos through the years,” she said. “People have sent us wonderful stories and photos of their grandparents and great-grandparents. We have done many oral interviews with some of the ‘old timers’ in Perth Amboy.”
Goldberg said during the years the Jewish community thrived, there were three synagogues built and others held in family homes, but most have closed.
There are about 30 Jewish people now living in Perth Amboy, about 80 percent of them being senior citizens, said Elliot Rubin, executive director of Congregation Beth Mordecai, one of the only remaining synagogues in the city.
The city’s current population is about 51,100.
In the 1950s, records indicate, there were more than 5,000 Jews living in Perth Amboy. With many owning businesses in the city, they represented 15 percent of the population.
“No one at that time envisioned a time when no Jews would be there,” Shangold said.
She said her prior research when working on the preservation of cemeteries brought her information about the movement of Jewish populations in the state, and she found, “it was very common for Jewish communities to grow, thrive, build cemeteries, and move on.”
She said the succeeding generations followed employment and education opportunities.
Goldberg called the book project as a “labor of love.”
Shangold said the book is priced at $60 for a single copy plus shipping and handling, but less if someone buys more than one. The price goes up after Oct. 1 to $85.
“We are only charging enough to cover our expenses,” she said. “We do not want to make a profit out of this. That’s not what this is about.”
She said the founders established the Friends of Perth Amboy Jewish History Inc. to handle the book’s publication.