Landsmanshaftn Landsmanshaftn were "societies formed by Jewish immigrants from the same villages, towns, and cities in Central and Eastern Europe," according to the Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute's Center for Jewish History. "The landsmanshaft became a dominant form of Jewish social organization in the late 1800s. The many types of landsmanshaftn include religious and social organizations, as well as American-style fraternal orders. Landsmanshaftn provided immigrants with formal and informal social networks, and members helped one another with financial needs such as medical care and burial plots." Landsmanshaftn burial societies can provide valuable information to genealogists today. Eight Pereyaslav landsmanshaftn in four states have been identified to date.  In time, names of those interred in these burial sections will be added to this list.

The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn One Pereyaslav landsmanshaft in New York built its own synagogue.  The Independent Chevra Sphard of Perryslaw opened in 1929 at 247 Snediker Avenue in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. Independent Chevra Sphard of Perryslaw Photo © Matthew X. Kiernan/New York Big Apple Images (click image to view larger) The synagogue, which has been repurposed as church for many years, is featured on the cover of The Lost Synagogues of Brooklyn, a collection of photos by New York photographer Ellen Levitt.  The book features 91 former synagogues, and the page about the Independent Chevra Sphard of Perryslaw is available online. Incidentally, composer George Gershwin was born across the street at 242 Snediker.  He was born in 1898, but by the time the synagogue was built in 1929, Gershwin was long gone.