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Showing 54 of 116 records

Medieval Synagogue of Tomar, Portugal

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Synagogue in Portugal

Record holder

Synagogue of Tomar

Record value

Built: 1430–1460

The Synagogue of Tomar, in central Portugal, is recognized as the oldest surviving purpose-built synagogue building in the country. According to the Municipality of Tomar and Portuguese heritage authorities, its construction dates to a period between 1430 and 1460; no single exact construction year has been reliably established. The building served the town’s medieval Jewish community during the fifteenth century, when Tomar was associated with the Order of Christ and Prince Henry the Navigator. Its compact prayer hall has four central columns supporting vaulted ceilings, traditionally linked to the four biblical matriarchs, while twelve wall supports evoke the twelve tribes of Israel. Jewish worship ended after the Portuguese expulsion and forced-conversion measures of 1496–1497. The building subsequently had several nonreligious uses. Recognized again as a historic synagogue in the twentieth century, it was protected as a national monument and became home to the Abraão Zacuto Jewish Museum. The documented construction interval, rather than an invented exact date, is the historically defensible record value.

Holder country: Portugal
Achievement location: Tomar, Portugal
Achievement date: 1460

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Marlee Matlin photographed in Arizona in 1989, two years after winning the Academy Award for Best Actress

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Awards · Academy Awardsyoungest

Youngest Academy Award Winner for Best Actress

Record holder

Record value

21 years and 218 days

Marlee Matlin holds the record as the Youngest Oscar Winner for Best Actress, an achievement she secured on 30 March 1987 in Los Angeles, California. At the 59th Academy Awards, Matlin was officially 21 years and 218 days old when she won the competitive Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Children of a Lesser God. Her win was notable not only for her age but also because she became the first deaf woman to win an acting Oscar.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Achievement date: 30 March 1987

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Portrait of U.S. Cabinet member Oscar S. Straus.

JWR Verified

Community & SocietyFirst

First Jewish Member of the United States Cabinet

Record holder

Oscar S. Straus

Record value

17 December 1906

On 17 December 1906, Oscar S. Straus entered office as United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor in President Theodore Roosevelt’s Cabinet. The Library of Congress identifies the appointment as the first time a Jew held a Cabinet position in the United States, while official Commerce records place his service from 17 December 1906 through 5 March 1909. The record is defined by the date Straus actually began Cabinet service, not by the earlier announcement of his nomination. His appointment joined a career in law, diplomacy, public administration and international arbitration. It also marked a visible national milestone for Jewish participation in the highest level of the federal executive branch. JWR found no earlier Jewish head of a Cabinet-rank executive department. Archival footage of Straus is retained only as holder context because no direct moving image of the 1906 appointment or oath was located.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., United States
Achievement date: 17 December 1906

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Portrait of Jewish American actor Paul Muni.

JWR Verified

Awards · Academy AwardsFirst

First Jewish Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor

Record holder

Record value

4 March 1937

Paul Muni became the "First Jewish Winner of the Academy Award for Best Actor" on 4 March 1937. The achievement was marked at the 9th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, California, where he won the award for Actor in a Leading Role for his performance in the film The Story of Louis Pasteur.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Achievement date: 4 March 1937

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Synagogue of Carpentras, France

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Active Synagogue in France

Record holder

Synagogue of Carpentras

Record value

1367

The Synagogue of Carpentras was founded in 1367 and is recognized as the oldest active synagogue in France. The Jewish community of Carpentras developed under papal protection in the Comtat Venaissin, where Jews maintained a continuous communal presence despite periods of restriction and segregation. Although the synagogue’s present appearance reflects extensive eighteenth-century rebuilding and enlargement, its religious history is rooted in the medieval foundation of 1367. The building contains prayer spaces, ritual facilities and architectural elements that reflect centuries of Jewish life in Provence. It is protected as a historic monument and remains a place connected to Jewish worship and heritage. For JWR, the qualifying metric is the earliest securely documented foundation year of a synagogue in France that is still active; this is why the title must retain the word “Active.”

Holder country: France
Achievement location: Carpentras, France
Achievement date: 1367

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Portrait of poet Marya Zaturenska in 1921.

JWR Verified

Awards · Pulitzer PrizeFirst

First Jewish Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry

Record holder

Marya Zaturenska

Record value

2 May 1938

Marya Zaturenska holds the record as the first Jewish recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, an achievement she secured in 1938 for her collection, 'Cold Morning Sky'. The prize was awarded in New York, New York, and official lists from The Pulitzer Prizes confirm her as the winner in the Poetry category for that year. Her position as the earliest qualifying Jewish recipient is based on a chronological review of all Pulitzer Poetry winners combined with biographical verification.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York, New York, United States
Achievement date: 2 May 1938

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Historical portrait of Hedwig Rosenbaum, photographed circa 1914–1918.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Woman to Win an Olympic Medal

Record holder

Hedwig Rosenbaum

Record value

Bronze — July 1900

Hedwig Rosenbaum competed in tennis at the Paris 1900 Olympic Games and is credited in recognized Olympic records with two bronze medals, in women's singles and mixed doubles. Historical research, including material published by the Czech Olympic Committee, describes her as coming from a German-speaking Jewish family in Bohemia. These results occurred decades before the Amsterdam 1928 silver medal won by Fanny “Bobbie” Rosenfeld, previously recognized by Jewish World Records under this record ID. The difference is not a new athletic achievement or a recent record-breaking event: it is a correction based on earlier historical evidence. Jewish World Records preserves its former recognition of Rosenfeld in the independent revision ledger, with the sources, decision date and explanation visible to readers. The exact day on which Rosenbaum secured the first of her two bronze medals remains uncertain, so only the year 1900 is asserted.

Country represented: Bohemia
Achievement date: July 1900

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Olympic weightlifter Isaac Berger during the Tokyo 1964 Olympic Games.

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

SportsMost

Most Olympic Medals Won by a Jewish Weightlifter

Record holder

Record value

3 Olympic medals (one gold, two silver)

Isaac Berger holds the record for the Most Olympic Medals Won by a Jewish Weightlifter, with a career total of "3 Olympic weightlifting medals (1 gold, 2 silver)". Representing the United States, he competed at three Olympic Games, winning a featherweight gold medal at Melbourne 1956, followed by silver medals at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964. The record was set on 12 October 1964, the date of the featherweight competition in Tokyo where he secured his third medal. The International Weightlifting Federation confirms his record of winning three medals at three separate Olympic Games.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 12 October 1964

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Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · Jewish CommunitiesOldest

Oldest Jewish Congregation Still Active in Oregon

Record holder

Congregation Beth Israel

Record value

Founded in 1858

Congregation Beth Israel holds the record as the 'Oldest Jewish Congregation Still Active in Oregon', having been 'Founded in 1858'. The achievement is based on the congregation’s beginnings at a meeting of eight people in Portland, Oregon, in May 1858, with twenty-one original members joining the following month. The record specifically measures the continuity of the institution since its founding, not the age of its present 1928 building. The metric is defined as the earliest founding date among currently active Jewish religious congregations within the state, based on a review of institutional chronology and continuity.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Portland, Oregon, United States
Achievement date: May 1858

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Geoff Tabin

JWR Verified

SportsFirst

First Jewish Person to Summit Mount Everest

Record holder

Geoffrey Craig "Geoff" Tabin

Record value

2 October 1988

On 2 October 1988, American physician and mountaineer Geoffrey Craig “Geoff” Tabin reached the summit of Mount Everest via the South Col route. The American Alpine Journal records Tabin in the October 2 summit party, providing confirmation from professional mountaineering literature of both the successful ascent and its date. Independent Jewish press later described him as the first Jew to reach Everest’s summit and as the 209th person to do so. Tabin had previously attempted Everest in 1983. He later became the fourth person to complete the Seven Summits and built an internationally recognized medical career devoted to eliminating avoidable blindness.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Mount Everest, Nepal
Achievement date: 2 October 1988

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Portrait of Jewish American actor Paul Muni.

JWR Verified

Awards · Tony AwardsFirst

First Jewish Winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play

Record holder

Record value

1 April 1956

Paul Muni became the first Jewish winner of the Tony Award for Actor in a Play when he won for his performance as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind at the 10th Tony Awards on 1 April 1956. The official Tony Awards archive lists Muni as the 1956 Actor (Play) winner and provides the chronological basis for reviewing earlier winners in the category. JWR’s counter-candidate review of the preceding winners found no earlier recipient verified as Jewish under the project’s eligibility standard. Muni’s Jewish identity is independently documented by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, which described him as a famous Jewish American actor and recorded his roots in a Yiddish-theatre family. The record therefore combines official award evidence, chronology and independent Jewish-eligibility evidence.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York, New York, United States
Achievement date: 1 April 1956

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Carl Djerassi

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

AwardsFirst

First Jewish Recipient of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry

Record holder

Record value

11 April 1978

Carl Djerassi received the inaugural Wolf Prize in Chemistry at the Knesset in Jerusalem on 11 April 1978. The Wolf Foundation recognized his work in bioorganic chemistry, the application of new spectroscopic techniques, and his support of international scientific cooperation. Djerassi had already transformed steroid chemistry and was widely known for work leading to the first oral contraceptive. Because the Wolf Prize in Chemistry began in 1978 and Djerassi was its sole chemistry laureate that year, he is the first recipient in the category and, with his Jewish identity independently documented, the first Jewish recipient. JWR uses the exact presentation date as the Record Value and keeps the broader award-year context in the evidence and story.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 11 April 1978

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Publicity portrait of Phil Silvers for Top Banana.

JWR Verified

Awards · Tony AwardsFirst

First Jewish Winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical

Record holder

Record value

30 March 1952

American comic actor Phil Silvers holds the record as the first Jewish winner of the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical. He received the honour on 30 March 1952 at the 6th Tony Awards ceremony in New York City. The award, officially titled "Actor (Musical)", was for his performance in the production Top Banana. Born Fischl Silver, he was the youngest of eight children in a Russian Jewish family.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York, New York, United States
Achievement date: 30 March 1952

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Frank Spellman, Olympic weightlifting champion.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Olympic Champion in Weightlifting

Record holder

Record value

10 August 1948

American athlete Frank Spellman became the first Jewish Olympic champion in weightlifting on 10 August 1948 at the Olympic Games in London, United Kingdom. Competing in the men’s middleweight (≤75 kg) category, he secured the gold medal with a winning total of 390 kg. During the event, Spellman also set new Olympic records on his way to victory. The official record value for this achievement is documented as 'Gold — men’s middleweight (≤75 kg), London 1948, 10 August 1948'.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: London, United Kingdom, United States
Achievement date: 10 August 1948

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Jessica U. Meir in a NASA spacesuit

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space / Human Spaceflight / Distancefarthest

Farthest Distance from Earth Reached by a Jewish Woman

Record holder

Jessica U. Meir

Record value

428.9 kilometers

On 27 August 2026, a Cygnus XL reboost raised the International Space Station to an apogee of 266.5 statute miles, approximately 428.9 kilometers. Jessica Meir was aboard the station as part of Expedition 75, so she physically reached that maximum orbital altitude. JWR compares documented apogees on a like-for-like basis rather than mixing average altitude, perigee or launch trajectory values. Earlier missions flown by verified Jewish women were screened, including flights by Marsha Ivins, Judith Resnik and Ellen Baker. Their published maximum orbital values remained below the 2026 ISS apogee. The resulting record is a precise example of how a station reboost can create a new human altitude mark even without a new launch.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 27 August 2026

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Boris Volynov

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space / Human Spaceflight / CommandFirst

First Jewish Person to Command a Crewed Space Mission

Record holder

Record value

15 January 1969

When Soyuz 5 launched on 15 January 1969, Boris Volynov was its commander. The mission participated in the first docking of two crewed spacecraft and a crew transfer between them, while Volynov remained aboard Soyuz 5 for a famously difficult return to Earth. Contemporary Jewish reporting identified him as Jewish through his mother and explicitly described him as the Soyuz 5 commander. Because the same chronology establishes Volynov as the first Jewish person to reach space, the command claim has a particularly strong logical boundary: no earlier Jewish space traveler existed who could have commanded a crewed mission. JWR therefore recognizes Volynov as the first Jewish person to command a crewed space mission.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Soviet Union
Achievement date: 15 January 1969

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Early portrait of Jewish American writer and screenwriter Ben Hecht.

JWR Verified

Awards · Academy AwardsFirst

First Jewish Winner of the Academy Award for Original Story

Record holder

Record value

16 May 1929

Ben Hecht became the first Jewish writer to win the Academy Award for Original Story on 16 May 1929. The achievement took place at the inaugural Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, California, where he was honoured for the film 'Underworld' in the category of Writing (Original Story). Official records from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences confirm him as the winner. As this was the first time the award was presented, no earlier winner is possible.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Los Angeles, California, United States
Achievement date: 16 May 1929

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Temple B’nai Israel historical marker

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · Jewish CommunitiesOldest

Oldest Active Jewish Congregation in Oklahoma

Record holder

Temple B’nai Israel

Record value

May 1903

Temple B’nai Israel is recognized by JWR as the oldest active Jewish congregation in Oklahoma. The record is held by the continuing congregation, not by any one synagogue building. Founded in Oklahoma City in May 1903, the congregation has occupied several sites while maintaining an ongoing institutional identity. Its official history traces the community from its formation through its first permanent synagogue and later campuses. JWR’s statewide comparison also considered earlier or near-contemporary Jewish communities. Temple Emeth in Ardmore was organized earlier, in 1890, but later dissolved; Emanuel Synagogue in Oklahoma City was formally chartered in 1904, and Temple Israel in Tulsa dates to 1914. B’nai Emunah developed from an early minyan but was formally organized later. The record therefore measures continuous congregational existence and present activity, not the age of a surviving building.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Achievement date: May 1903

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Portrait of 1905 Nobel chemistry laureate Adolf von Baeyer.

JWR Verified

Awards · Nobel PrizeFirst

First Jewish Recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Record holder

Adolf von Baeyer

Record value

10 December 1905

German chemist Adolf von Baeyer became the first Jewish recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1905. The prize was awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, for his significant work on organic dyes and hydroaromatic compounds. According to official Nobel Prize records, Baeyer was the sole laureate for Chemistry in that year, highlighting the individual importance of his scientific contributions. The record is valued as "Nobel Prize in Chemistry — 1905."

Country represented: Germany
Achievement location: Stockholm, Sweden
Achievement date: 1905

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Ada E. Yonath

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

AwardsFirst

First Jewish Woman Recipient of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry

Record holder

Record value

13 May 2007 — Shared with George Feher

Ada E. Yonath became the first woman to receive the Wolf Prize in Chemistry when she shared the 2006/7 award with George Feher. The prize was formally presented at the Knesset in Jerusalem on 13 May 2007. Yonath was honored for pioneering structural discoveries of the ribosomal machinery of peptide-bond formation, work that transformed structural biology and later contributed to her 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Institutional biographical sources document her Jewish family background, supporting JWR Jewish Eligibility at Achievement. JWR uses the exact ceremony date as the Record Value, while the 2006/7 award-cycle designation and shared-award context remain in the story and evidence. Yonath died on 31 August 2026 at age 87.

Country represented: Israel
Achievement location: Rehovot, Israel
Achievement date: 13 May 2007

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Portrait of Olympic canoe champion Leonid Geyshtor.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Olympic Champion in C-2 1,000 m Canoe

Record holder

Leonid Geyshtor (Geishtor)

Record value

Gold — 29 August 1960

Leonid Geyshtor of the Soviet Union became the first Jewish Olympic champion in the men’s C-2 1,000-metre canoe sprint at the Rome 1960 Olympic Games. Competing with Sergey Makarenko, he won the final on 29 August 1960 at Castel Gandolfo, Italy. The pair finished in 4:17.04, recorded by Olympedia as an Olympic best. JWR defines this record specifically for the C-2 1,000-metre event; it does not claim that Geyshtor was the first Jewish Olympic champion in canoeing overall. That distinction matters because canoeing contains multiple boat classes, crew sizes and distances with separate Olympic histories. Jewish sports sources identify Geyshtor as a Jewish Olympic gold medalist, while the event chronology confirms the Soviet pair as the 1960 champions. The measurable record value is therefore their C-2 1,000-metre gold on 29 August 1960.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Castel Gandolfo, Italy
Achievement date: 29 August 1960

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Carl Sagan with Mariner 9 images of Mars.

JWR Verified

Awards · Pulitzer PrizeFirst

First Jewish Recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction

Record holder

Record value

17 April 1978

Carl Sagan became the first Jewish recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction when The Dragons of Eden was named the 1978 winner on 17 April 1978. The book explored the evolution of human intelligence and the development of the brain, bringing complex scientific ideas to a broad public audience. The official Pulitzer site confirms Sagan as the 1978 General Nonfiction winner and features a 1977 Tonight Show interview in which he discusses the ideas in The Dragons of Eden. JWR uses the announcement date as the Record Value because Pulitzer winners in 1978 did not receive their awards at a modern presentation ceremony; the annual Pulitzer awards luncheon began only in 1984.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York, New York, United States
Achievement date: 17 April 1978

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Barbara Liskov at the ACM Turing Centenary Celebration in 2012.

JWR Verified

AwardsFirst

First Jewish Woman to Receive the Turing Award

Record holder

Record value

27 June 2009

Barbara Liskov is recognized by JWR as the first Jewish woman to receive the Turing Award. The Association for Computing Machinery selected her as the recipient of the 2008 ACM A.M. Turing Award for foundational contributions to programming languages, data abstraction, fault tolerance and distributed computing. Although the award carries the year 2008, ACM announced Liskov as the recipient in March 2009, and she formally received the award at an ACM gathering in San Diego on 27 June 2009. That formal presentation date is therefore used as the Record Value. The full official name, ACM A.M. Turing Award, is retained in the definition and supporting evidence, while the public-facing title is shortened to the widely understood “Turing Award.”

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Achievement date: 27 June 2009

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Jeffrey Hoffman reading from the Torah aboard Space Shuttle Columbia

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Space · Human SpaceflightFirst

First Torah Reading in Space

Record holder

Jeffrey Hoffman

Record value

2 March 1996

On 2 March 1996, during Space Shuttle Columbia mission STS-75, Jewish-American astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman read from a small Torah scroll while orbiting Earth. The scroll had been arranged through his Houston Jewish community and was light enough to fly aboard the Shuttle. Hoffman read from Genesis on Shabbat, creating a documented milestone in Jewish religious life beyond Earth. The act became the centerpiece of the later Space Torah Project, which preserved Hoffman's footage, photographs and the story of the congregation that helped make the flight possible.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Earth orbit, United States
Achievement date: 2 March 1996

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Herbert Bayard Swope speaking at Columbia University Journalism School, 7 December 1954

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Awards · Pulitzer PrizeFirst

First Jewish Person to Win a Pulitzer Prize

Record holder

Herbert Bayard Swope

Record value

4 June 1917

In 1916, New York World correspondent Herbert Bayard Swope returned to wartime Germany and reported a long series examining life and military conditions inside the German Empire. The Pulitzer Prizes awarded him the 1917 prize in Reporting for “Inside the German Empire,” making his work part of the very first Pulitzer Prize cycle and the first Pulitzer Prize for reporting. Because the Pulitzer Prizes began in 1917 and Swope was a personally named winner in that inaugural slate, he is the earliest verified Jewish individual to win a Pulitzer Prize under the JWR definition. His Jewish eligibility is independently documented through his German-Jewish parents, Isaac and Ida Swope, and the family's Reform Jewish identity.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 4 June 1917

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Richárd Weisz and Aleksandr Petrov in the 1908 Olympic Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestling competition.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Olympic Champion in Wrestling

Record holder

Record value

24 July 1908

The first Jewish athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling was Richárd Weisz of Hungary. He secured the title at the London 1908 Olympic Games by winning the Greco-Roman heavyweight tournament. The wrestling competition ran from 21–24 July 1908, with Weisz claiming victory on the final day in London. His achievement is documented in Olympic history, where he is recorded as having defeated the field to become the heavyweight champion.

Country represented: Hungary
Achievement date: 24 July 1908

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One of the Cammarata Torah finials with Hebrew inscription details

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · Ritual ObjectsOldest

Oldest Torah Finials (Rimmonim)

Record holder

Cammarata Torah Finials

Record value

1493

The Cammarata Torah finials, or rimmonim, are a rare surviving pair of fifteenth-century Jewish ceremonial silver objects associated with the Jewish community of Cammarata in Sicily. They were made for use on a Torah scroll and are securely documented in Palma by 1493, providing a conservative record date. Their importance goes beyond age: portable synagogue silver from medieval Mediterranean Jewish communities rarely survived expulsion, migration, reuse and later destruction. The pair's Hebrew inscriptions and documented provenance preserve unusually direct evidence of Jewish ritual life before the end of the fifteenth century. Today the objects are preserved in Palma de Mallorca. JWR treats the record as an object-history record: the achievement location is Cammarata, while present custody and display are documented separately.

Country: Spain
Achievement location: Cammarata, Italy
Achievement date: 1493

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Walentin Mankin with the Soviet Olympic sailing team in Riga in 1976.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Olympic Champion in Sailing

Record holder

Walentin Mankin

Record value

Gold — 21 October 1968

Walentin Mankin of the Soviet Union is the First Jewish Olympic Champion in Sailing, an achievement secured on 21 October 1968. Representing his country, he won the Finn class at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games. The sailing events were held in Acapulco, where the seven-race competition concluded on this date, with Mankin confirmed as champion by official Olympic results.

Country represented: Soviet Union
Achievement location: Acapulco, Mexico
Achievement date: 21 October 1968

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Historical depiction of the First Mill Street Synagogue, New York City, consecrated 8 April 1730.

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesFirst

First Purpose-Built Synagogue in What Is Now the United States

Record holder

First Mill Street Synagogue

Record value

8 April 1730

Congregation Shearith Israel, founded by the first permanent Jewish community in New Amsterdam, worshiped for decades in private or rented quarters before building a dedicated synagogue. On 8 April 1730, the seventh day of Passover, the congregation consecrated its First Mill Street Synagogue in Lower Manhattan. Shearith Israel describes it as the first structure in continental North America designed and built specifically to be a synagogue. The Library of Congress likewise identifies the 1730 Mill Street building as America's first synagogue. The original structure no longer survives; the site is associated today with South William Street in the Financial District. JWR uses the exact consecration date and a present-day United States scope.

Holder country: United States
Achievement location: New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date: 8 April 1730

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Portrait of mathematician Jesse Douglas around 1932.

JWR Verified

AwardsFirst

First Jewish Fields Medalist

Record holder

Record value

14 July 1936

Jesse Douglas became the first Jewish Fields Medalist when he received one of the two inaugural Fields Medals at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Oslo in 1936. Douglas shared the distinction of belonging to the first-ever Fields Medal cohort with Finnish mathematician Lars Ahlfors. The medals were presented at the opening session on 14 July 1936. Douglas was honored for major work in the calculus of variations and, above all, for solving the classical Plateau problem concerning the existence of minimal surfaces spanning a prescribed boundary. Because the Fields Medal did not exist before the 1936 Congress, no recipient could precede Douglas chronologically. JWR combines the International Mathematical Union’s official inaugural-medalist record with biographical sources documenting Douglas’s Jewish identity. The exact presentation date, 14 July 1936, is used as the record value.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Oslo, Norway, United States
Achievement date: 14 July 1936

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Dick Savitt at a tennis event in Noordwijk in 1952.

JWR Verified

SportsFirst

First Jewish Grand Slam Singles Champion

Record holder

Record value

January 30, 1951

In 1951, American tennis player Dick Savitt became the first Jewish Grand Slam singles champion. The record was established with his victory in the men’s singles at the 1951 Australian Championships in Melbourne. The Australian Open's official honour roll documents Savitt as champion for that year.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Melbourne, Australia, United States
Achievement date: 30 January 1951

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Jenő Fuchs at the 1908 Olympic Games.

JWR Verified

Sports · Olympic GamesFirst

First Jewish Olympic Champion in Fencing

Record holder

Record value

Gold — men’s individual sabre, London 1908

Jenő Fuchs, a fencer representing Hungary, became the first Jewish Olympic champion in fencing at the 1908 London Games. He secured this distinction on 24 July 1908 after winning the men’s individual sabre competition. The official record is noted as 'Gold — men’s individual sabre, London 1908'. Fuchs's victory is confirmed by official Olympic results from the event.

Country represented: Hungary
Achievement location: London, United Kingdom
Achievement date: 24 July 1908

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Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Synagogue Site in the Americas

Record holder

Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue

Record value

1636 year

Kahal Zur Israel stands on Rua do Bom Jesus in Recife, at the historic site associated with the first organized synagogue community in the Americas during Dutch Brazil. The congregation emerged in the seventeenth century as Jewish life expanded under Dutch rule. Archaeological excavations in 1999–2000 uncovered remains connected with the early synagogue, including the mikveh area, and the site was later restored as a Jewish cultural center and museum. The visible building today is not presented as an untouched seventeenth-century structure; JWR's record concerns the historic synagogue establishment at the identified site. To comply with JWR geographic standards, the record is framed at the continental level as the oldest synagogue in South America.

Holder country: Brazil
Achievement location: Recife, Brazil
Achievement date: 1636

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Portrait of U.S. Representative Florence Prag Kahn.

JWR Verified

Community & SocietyFirst

First Jewish Woman Elected to the United States Congress

Record holder

Florence Prag Kahn

Record value

17 February 1925

Florence Prag Kahn holds the record as the First Jewish Woman Elected to the United States Congress. The achievement occurred on 17 February 1925, when she won a special election in San Francisco, California, to secure a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. The election was held to fill the congressional vacancy left by her late husband, Julius Kahn. This chronological first is explicitly confirmed by the U.S. House of Representatives' History, Art & Archives office, which identifies Kahn as the first Jewish woman elected to Congress.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: San Francisco, California, United States
Achievement date: 17 February 1925

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A plated dish with green garnishes served at Mutra restaurant.

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Food & Culinary · RestaurantsFirst

First Kosher Restaurant to Receive a Michelin Star

Record holder

Record value

28 May 2026

On 28 May 2026, Michelin awarded one star to Mutra, Chef Raz Shabtai's North Miami restaurant. Independent Jewish and local reporting described the result as the first Michelin star awarded to a kosher restaurant. JWR's Enhanced FIRST Review separately checked earlier edge cases and found none that met the frozen definition of a fully kosher restaurant operating under recognized kosher supervision at the time of the Michelin award. Kosher Miami's current directory lists Mutra as a supervised meat establishment at 2188 NE 123rd Street in North Miami.

Country: United States
Achievement location: North Miami, United States
Achievement date: 28 May 2026

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Ohel Leah Synagogue in Hong Kong, China

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Active Synagogue in China

Record holder

Ohel Leah Synagogue

Record value

8 April 1902

Ohel Leah Synagogue was established by Hong Kong's Sassoon family as a permanent home for the city's growing Jewish community. The foundation stone was laid in May 1901, and the new synagogue formally opened on 8 April 1902. The building survived the Japanese occupation and later underwent a major conservation project that received international heritage recognition. Hong Kong heritage authorities describe Ohel Leah as the only surviving Jewish prayer house still in active use in China. JWR therefore frames the record nationally, with Hong Kong identified as the achievement city and China as the country. The record value uses the exact formal opening date rather than the construction year, producing a clear and repeatable chronology standard.

Holder country: China
Achievement location: Hong Kong, China
Achievement date: 8 April 1902

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Official portrait of Guyanese President Janet Jagan

JWR Verified

People & LifeFirst

First Jewish Woman to Serve as President of a Sovereign State

Record holder

Record value

19 December 1997

Janet Rosenberg Jagan, born in Chicago in 1920, became President of Guyana on 19 December 1997 after a national election held four days earlier. Guyana's parliamentary history records that she was declared elected and sworn in that day. Jagan had already spent decades in Guyanese public life and had served as prime minister and first vice-president earlier in 1997. Her presidency establishes the earliest verified case of a Jewish woman serving as president—and therefore head of state—of a sovereign country. The record is intentionally phrased around the presidency, avoiding ambiguity with ancient queens, ceremonial royal offices, prime ministers and temporary acting heads of state.

Country represented: Guyana
Achievement location: Georgetown, Guyana
Achievement date: 19 December 1997

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Interior of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesLargest

Largest Synagogue by Floor Area

Record holder

Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York

Record value

3,523 m²

Temple Emanu-El's scale is part of a broader story about the confidence and visibility of American Jewish institutional life in the early twentieth century. The current Fifth Avenue sanctuary is monumental without ceasing to be a working synagogue. Guinness World Records' 3,523-square-metre benchmark gives JWR a clear measurable record, while the building's continuing use gives that measurement living cultural context.

Country: United States
Achievement location: New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date: 1929

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1881 painting of the bimah and Torah ark inside Exeter Synagogue

JWR Verified

Community / DemographyMost

Most Children Born to a Documented Jewish Woman

Record holder

Annie Ezekiel Jonas

Record value

22 children

Annie Ezekiel Jonas belonged to Exeter's historic Jewish community in southwest England and married Benjamin Jonas, a watchmaker associated with Exeter and Teignmouth. Historical Jewish scholarship repeatedly records Annie and her husband Benjamin as the parents of a total of 22 children. Their family later became prominent in early American Jewish life: sons including Joseph and Abraham Jonas helped establish Jewish communities in the United States. JWR recognizes Annie only under a strict documented-mother standard. Reports of larger Jewish families were reviewed, but none located so far proves that a single identified Jewish woman gave birth to more than 22 children with comparable documentation.

Country represented: United Kingdom
Achievement location: Exeter, United Kingdom
Achievement date: 1792

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World's Largest Menorah on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · Ritual ObjectsLargest

Largest Menorah

Record holder

Record value

9.7 m × 8.5 m

The giant Manhattan menorah is a record object, a public ritual structure and a recurring piece of New York's holiday landscape. Rabbi Shmuel Butman spent decades promoting public Hanukkah lightings, and the 32-foot menorah associated with him and designed by Yaacov Agam became the most visible expression of that work. JWR records the Guinness dimensions while transparently flagging the one-year date inconsistency inside the Guinness page itself.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date: 29 December 2006

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Golda Meir at a press conference in 1969

JWR Verified

People & LifeFirst

First Jewish Woman to Serve as Prime Minister of a Sovereign State

Record holder

Record value

17 March 1969

On 17 March 1969, Golda Meir took office as the fourth prime minister of the State of Israel, following the death of Levi Eshkol. Her government formally began that day, giving JWR a precise legal and chronological measurement point. Meir had already served as labor minister, foreign minister and a senior leader of Israel's labor movement. Her appointment made her the earliest documented Jewish woman to hold the prime-ministerial office of a sovereign state. The category is deliberately limited to formal prime ministers, rather than the broader phrase “head of government,” so that colonial, acting, subnational and differently structured historical offices do not create ambiguous counter-candidates.

Country represented: Israel
Achievement location: Jerusalem, Israel
Achievement date: 17 March 1969

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Portrait of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis.

JWR Verified

Community & SocietyFirst

First Jewish Justice of the United States Supreme Court

Record holder

Louis D. Brandeis

Record value

June 5, 1916

Louis D. Brandeis took the judicial oath on 5 June 1916 and became the first Jewish Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The appointment, made in Washington, D.C., followed a lengthy confirmation process. This achievement marks the earliest instance of a person recognized as Jewish serving on the highest court in the United States. His service as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court continued from his appointment in 1916 until 1939.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C., United States
Achievement date: 5 June 1916

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Jewish Atlanta volunteers with the record Israeli-flag cookie mosaic at Congregation Beth Jacob

JWR Verified

Jewish Heritagelargest area

Largest Cookie Mosaic Created by a Jewish Community

Record holder

Atlanta Jewish Community

Record value

299.57 m² cookie mosaic flag

On 3 June 2018, the Atlanta Jewish Community achieved the record for the "Largest Cookie Mosaic Created by a Jewish Community". The achievement took place at Congregation Beth Jacob in Atlanta, Georgia, where volunteers assembled a mosaic of an Israeli flag on the floor of the Heritage Hall. Made from blue and white edible cookies, the project was created to celebrate Israel's 70th anniversary. According to contemporary reports, the assembly took four hours to complete and was linked to a community fundraising effort.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Achievement date: 3 June 2018

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Portrait of Isaac Bashevis Singer

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Awards · Nobel PrizeFirst

First Yiddish-Language Writer to Win the Nobel Prize in Literature

Record holder

Isaac Bashevis Singer

Record value

Nobel Prize in Literature, 1978

Isaac Bashevis Singer became the first Yiddish-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1978. The award recognized a body of fiction written principally in Yiddish and deeply rooted in the culture, folklore and moral conflicts of Polish Jewish life.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: United States
Achievement date: 10 December 1978

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Maghain Aboth Synagogue

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Synagogue in Singapore

Record holder

Maghain Aboth Synagogue

Record value

April 4, 1878

Maghain Aboth Synagogue in Singapore holds the record for the Oldest Surviving Synagogue in Southeast Asia. The purpose-built synagogue, located on Waterloo Street in the city, was consecrated on 4 April 1878. This date serves as the measurement for the record. Designated as a Singapore National Monument, the building remains a living place of worship for its community and an important site of the country’s Jewish heritage.

Holder country: Singapore
Achievement location: Singapore
Achievement date: 4 April 1878

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Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Synagogue in Curaçao

Record holder

Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue

Record value

Consecrated 1732

The Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Willemstad, Curaçao, holds the record for the Oldest Synagogue in Continuous Use in the Americas. The achievement date is based on the consecration of the current synagogue building, known as the Snoa, in 1732. This gives the record its value of "Consecrated 1732". The synagogue has remained in continuous congregational use since that time, establishing a record with a continental geographic scope covering the Americas.

Holder country: Curaçao
Achievement location: Willemstad, Curaçao
Achievement date: 1732

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Kahal Shalom Synagogue

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Synagogue in Greece

Record holder

Kahal Shalom Synagogue

Record value

1577

Kahal Shalom Synagogue holds the record for the Oldest Active Synagogue in Greece, with a qualifying date of 1577. Located in the medieval Jewish quarter on the island of Rhodes, the Sephardic synagogue is identified by the Jewish Community of Rhodes as the oldest in the country. The record defines the achievement as the oldest surviving synagogue building in Greece that remains available for Jewish religious services. Institutional sources document the synagogue's qualifying date, its identity, and its continuing use for worship.

Holder country: Greece
Achievement location: Rhodes, Greece
Achievement date: 1577

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Eran Zahavi celebrating a goal for Maccabi Tel Aviv

JWR Verified

SportsMost

Most Career Goals by a Jewish Professional Footballer

Record holder

Record value

438 career goals

Eran Zahavi achieved the record for the Most Career Goals by a Jewish Professional Footballer with a total of "438 career goals". This figure was confirmed at the conclusion of his senior playing career in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 24 May 2025. The record is defined as the sum of all goals scored in official senior first-team competitive club matches plus recognised senior international matches. Zahavi’s total comprises 403 club goals and 35 goals for the Israel national team, with goals from youth, reserve, or exhibition matches excluded from the count.

Country represented: Israel
Achievement location: Tel Aviv, Israel
Achievement date: 24 May 2025

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Sue Bird playing for the Seattle Storm in 2017

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

SportsMost

Most Games Played in a WNBA Career

Record holder

Record value

580 games

Sue Bird established the record for the Most Games Played in a WNBA Career with a final career total of "580 games". This achievement represents the greatest number of regular-season games played by one player. Her career spanned from 2002 to 2022, with all games played for the Seattle team in the United States. The final record total was set at the conclusion of her career in 2022.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: Seattle, Washington, United States
Achievement date: 2022

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Sheila Nevins at the 73rd Annual Peabody Awards VIP Reception in 2014

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Television / Primetime EmmyMost

Most Primetime Emmy Awards Won by an Individual

Record holder

Record value

31 individual Primetime Emmy Awards

Sheila Nevins’ record is rooted in decades of award-winning documentary and nonfiction production, not merely an Emmy total. Television Academy records show individual wins credited to her as producer/executive producer for programs including White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, Life According to Sam, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Manhunt: The Inside Story of the Hunt for Bin Laden, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Jim: The James Foley Story and The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling. CURRENT-COUNT RECONCILIATION: a 30 June 2026 Television Academy Hall of Fame announcement stated 32 individual Primetime Emmy Awards, but the Academy's later 17 August 2026 Hall of Fame coverage and its current Sheila Nevins profile both state 31 and describe that total as more than any other person. JWR therefore uses the later/current awarding-authority total of 31 and preserves the earlier 32 figure only in the audit trail.

Country represented: United States
Achievement location: New York City, New York, United States
Achievement date: 9 September 2018

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Temple Adas Israel, Brownsville, Tennessee

JWR Verified

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Surviving Synagogue Building in Tennessee

Record holder

Temple Adas Israel

Record value

Erected and dedicated 1882

Temple Adas Israel in Brownsville holds the record for the Oldest Synagogue in Tennessee. The record is for the earliest-built surviving building within the state that was purpose-designed and constructed as a synagogue. The temple was built in 1882 for Congregation Adas Israel, which had been organised in 1867. Originally a wooden structure, the building was brick-veneered in the early 1920s while retaining its original form, and it survives as an active Jewish house of worship.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Brownsville, United States
Achievement date: 1882

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Temple Gemiluth Chassed, Port Gibson, Mississippi

JWR Verified

Jewish Heritage · SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Building in Mississippi Originally Built as a Synagogue

Record holder

Former Temple Gemiluth Chessed

Record value

Built in 1892

The oldest building in Mississippi originally built as a synagogue is the former Temple Gemiluth Chessed in Port Gibson, which holds the record with a value of "Built in 1892". The historic Moorish-style structure was purpose-built as a synagogue between 1891 and 1892, with its dedication occurring in 1892. Architectural, state, and Jewish-history sources confirm its construction date and survival. The Mississippi Department of Archives and History identifies the building as a Mississippi Landmark.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Port Gibson, Mississippi, United States
Achievement date: 1892

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Historic Temple Beth Israel building in Houston, Texas

JWR VerifiedFounding Record

Heritage / Jewish Communities / SynagoguesOldest

Oldest Jewish Congregation in Texas

Record holder

Congregation Beth Israel

Record value

Established in 1854

Congregation Beth Israel in Houston holds the record for the Oldest Jewish Congregation in Texas, having been "Established in 1854". The congregation was organised in Houston in that year, and it later received a Texas state charter on 28 December 1859. The record specifically recognises the earliest-established Jewish religious congregation within Texas that continues to operate as the same active institutional congregation. Independent Texas Jewish-history sources identify Beth Israel as the first Jewish congregation in the state, confirming that other active congregations were founded at a later date.

Country: United States
Achievement location: Houston, Texas, United States
Achievement date: 1854

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Portrait of first World Chess Champion Wilhelm Steinitz.

JWR Verified

SportsFirst

First Jewish World Chess Champion

Record holder

Wilhelm Steinitz

Record value

29 March 1886

Wilhelm Steinitz became the first official World Chess Champion after defeating Johannes Zukertort in their 1886 match. FIDE identifies the contest as the first official World Chess Championship, making Steinitz the inaugural holder of the recognized world title. The match was played across New York, St. Louis and New Orleans and concluded with Steinitz’s decisive victory. JWR uses 29 March 1886 as the record date associated with the completion of his championship triumph. Because the official world-title chronology begins with this match, no earlier official World Chess Champion exists to challenge his priority. Jewish biographical sources, including historical Jewish reference works, document Steinitz’s Jewish background. The record therefore rests on two independent elements: the official championship chronology establishing him as the first world champion and biographical evidence establishing his eligibility for the Jewish record.

Country represented: Austrian Empire; United States
Achievement date: 29 March 1886

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