Jewish Community in Lafayette

Welcome to Jewish Community in Lafayette

Edith Garland Dupré Library Special Collections proudly presents this digital exhibit of the Jewish community in Lafayette. Lafayette's Jewish community has a very rich history chronicling back to the early to mid-1800s. Many of Lafayette's earliest families (the Bendels, Falks, Kahns, Levys, Plonskys) were Jewish and played very important roles in the development of businesses and education.

This exhibit is organized into four parts that can be accessed below. The first part displays artifacts from Temple Shalom synagogue, the central Jewish congregation in Lafayette. The second part displays objects reflecting Temple Sisterhood, in Lafayette and Louisiana in general. The third part of the exhibit shows some prominent Jewish people in Lafayette history, including Maurice Heymann, Henri Bendel, and Flora Levy. The fourth and final part of the exhibit displays some materials related to Dr. Benjamin Kaplan, a professor at University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) who wrote frequently about Judaism.

Items courtesy of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Special Collections Department.

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