The Cleveland Hebrew Schools evolved from the Montefiore Free Hebrew School (later referred to as the Talmud Torah) established in Cleveland, Ohio, ca. 1885 with an enrollment of 50 children from poor families. In 1905 another communal Hebrew school, founded by Joshua Flock and Aaron Garber, incorporated many innovations. For example, classes were taught in English and Hebrew, rather than Yiddish, and modern Hebrew literature was taught along with courses on Bible and the Hebrew language. When Flock and Garber's school combined with the Talmud Torah in 1907 and Garber became principal (serving until 1926), the method of instruction in the Talmud Torah changed from one of principally rote learning to incorporate many of these innovations. Cleveland's early Talmud Torah movement also received support from Samuel Margolies who was a leader of the Cleveland Orthodox community during his tenure (1904-1916) as Rabbi of Anshe Emeth. Under his guidance, community support was widened and enrollment increased. To aid the growing school, the Judea Ladies Auxiliary was organized in 1908. Their major activities centered on raising funds and a campaign to encourage the enrollment of girls. They were instrumental in the acquisition and maintenance of several buildings from the 1910s to the 1930s. In 1913, the Talmud Torah received an Ohio charter and changed its name to the Cleveland Hebrew School and Institute. In 1918 the Cleveland Hebrew School and Institute taught students from the first through the eighth grade.
A.H. (Abraham Hayyim) Friedland (1891-1939), an internationally known educator, poet, and lecturer came to Cleveland in 1921 to head the Cleveland Hebrew School and remained in Cleveland until his death in 1939. In 1924 he also assumed the position of executive director of the newly formed Bureau of Jewish Education. Under Friedland's leadership the Cleveland Hebrew School grew to 2,300 students by 1923, a Hebrew High School and a Teacher Institute were organized in 1926, and the schools became known nationally. Throughout the 1920s, however, they were plagued with a deficit that increased yearly. In response to these critical financial needs, the Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools, composed of women representing all PTA branches, was organized in 1930. Their fund-raising activities, an annual dinner and the sale of Passover matzoh, helped pay teacher salaries and lower the large debt.
Bernard Levitin served as superintendent from 1944-1970, a period notable for the movement of Cleveland's Jewish population to the suburbs. A major reorganization of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools took place during this period with several Cleveland branches closing and new suburban schools opening. Beginning in the 1950s, as the number of Jewish day schools and congregation-sponsored afternoon Hebrew classes grew, the Cleveland Hebrew Schools enrollment dropped and branches were consolidated. In 1955 the Parent Council organized Camp Oneg, a Hebrew summer day camp and Ganon Gil Nursery, a Hebrew school for pre-school children. In 1967 Cleveland Hebrew High School merged into Akiva High School.
The Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records, 1908-1975 consist principally of staff, enrollment, and financial records, correspondence, board of trustees minutes, legal documents, newspaper clippings, monthly and annual reports, school publications, posters, and scrapbooks. Some early newspaper clippings are in Yiddish and some items created by students and teachers are in Hebrew.
The Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records are of value to researchers interested in the evolution of Jewish education in America and in Cleveland, Ohio, in particular. The records cover a span of seven decades during which Jewish neighborhoods and schools re-located, full-day Jewish schools were established, and congregational schools expanded. Of particular interest is a 1953 report about Jewish Education in Cleveland (191 pages), which includes enrollment figures, as well as quantitative data about school board members and parents (eg., occupation, education, nativity, etc.) and about students' preferences for various items in the curriculum.
The Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records are arranged in four series. Each series is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
All photographs have been removed to PG 495 Cleveland Hebrew School Photographs.
Researchers should also consult MS 5359 Cleveland Hebrew School Records and Photographs, Series II; PG 495 Cleveland Hebrew Schools Photographs; MS 3832 Bureau of Jewish Education Records; MS 4563 Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland Records (Series II: Education (Jewish) and Series III: Jewish Education in Cleveland); and MS 3818 Suggs Garber Papers.
Processed by Evy Rosenblum and Stanley Lasky in 1992
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4620 Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools in 1985.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.