During the early part of the 20th century, immigrants from Europe settled in the New Brunswick area and produced a vital Sephardic community. This community had its roots in Salonika, Greece, Turkey and the Balkans. These people are descendants of the Jews of Spain and Portugal, and their ancestors were victims of the Spanish Inquisition who survived many trials, wanderings and unbearable conditions for the sake of their faith.
 

he Sephardim found their way to America in three major waves of immigration. Settlements in New Jersey paralleled these three waves. The first wave was a fairly direct result of the original expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal. Some of those who were expelled, including Marranos who pretended to convert, found their way to England and Holland and from there made their way to the Caribbean and to Latin America. The descendants of these Jews were the first Sephardim to find their way to America and for the next century and a half, small numbers of them founded Jewish communities in New York, Newport, Savannah and Charleston. By the time of the Revolution, of the 1000 Jews in the colonies, half were Sephardic.