B'nai Jeshurun Congregation (f. 1866) was established by Jewish Hungarian immigrants as an Orthodox synagogue under the leadership of Herman Sampliner. The homes of members or rented halls were used for services until 1884 when a vacated synogogue building on Eagle Street was purchased. Buildings on Scoville Avenue and East 55 Street (1906-1926) and Mayfield and Lee Roads (1926-1980) also housed the congregation. In 1980 B'nai Jeshurun moved to 27501 Fairmount Boulevard, Pepper Pike, Ohio.
The gradual shift from the Orthodox to the Conservative movement began under their first ordained rabbi, Sigmond Dreschler, who served from 1887 to 1908. Dissension over the liberalization of religious practices led to portions of the membership to form more traditional congregations. Among them were Oheb Zedek in 1904 and Beth Am in 1933. There was a succession of rabbis, each serving for relatively short periods until Rabbi Rudolph Rosenthal arrived in 1933. Rosenthal led the congregation until 1976. B'nai Jeshurun was then firmly in the Conservative movement. The congregation grew to become one of the largest conservative synagogues in the United States. The rabbi in 1996 is Stanley Schachter.
The B'nai Jeshurun Congregation Records, 1891-1991, consist of minutes, bulletins, correspondence, newspaper articles, membership lists, committee reports, and anniversary displays.
This collection will be of interest to researchers studying the life and career of Rabbi Rudolph M. Rosenthal, Judaism, and the development of Cleveland, Ohio, synagogues, particularly a large, mature Conservative synagogue during the second half of the twentieth century. The research paper "Evolution of a Synagogue - B'nai Jeshurun Congregation" by Helen F. Wolf is of special interest.
This collection is arranged in five series.
All photographs have been removed to PG 492 B'nai Jeshurun Congregation Photographs. All audio-visual material has been removed to the WRHS Audio-Visual Collection.
Researchers should also consult MS 3940 Rabbi Rudolph M. Rosenthal Papers; and PG 492 B'nail Jeshurun Congregation Photographs.
Processed by Evy Rosenblum in 1996.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4726 B'nai Jeshurun Congregation Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Bertha Rosenthal, 1983;and B'nai Jeshurun Congregation, 1987, 1988, and 1995.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.