Social Activities


By the 1970s, a shrinking Jewish population forced the Sisterhood and Hadassah to merge. With solemn decorum, the installing officer announced the first executive of the joint Niagara Falls Sisterhood and Hadassah-Wizo in September 1979. The merged group continued on, a pillar of strength to the synagogue community and energetic as ever in its support of Israel. Monthly meetings continued to be held and fundraising activities planned.

During the 1980s, they produced fundraising calendars each year and organized a very successful program called “Festival of Holidays.” Thanks to Sisterhood/Hadassah, the synagogue kitchen was renovated. One of the most profitable projects was the Auction Social, which brought in $1,939 in 1992. In 1993, a Donors’ Dinner raised $1,305, the highest total ever raised through that particular activity in the Niagara Falls community. Also in 1993, a cookbook was created to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Sisterhood chapter the following year. In 1994, they held a special event to mark the 50th anniversary of the local Hadassah chapter. It was organized by Beverley Blackstein and Jennie Bogomolny and included a candlelight ceremony and catered dinner.

Towards the end of the 1990s, the B’nai Jacob congregation began to envisage an impressive project: the erection of a Holocaust Memorial in the Lundy’s Lane cemetery. Harvey Roff, chair of the synagogue’s burial committee, led the project. The result was the dedication of a beautiful monument on Sunday, 27 September 1998, to the "memory of the six million Jewish men, women, and children who perished at the hands of the Nazis from 1933 to 1945."

Although the local Federation remained active for more than sixty years, during the turn of the 21st century, it began to suffer from loss of support due to declining numbers within the area. As a result, the president, Larry Cohen, was forced to dissolve the Niagara Falls Jewish Federation. The community now works with United Israel Appeal to raise funds and support the types of causes that it had been involved in earlier.