Finding aid for the Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Cleveland Hebrew Schools
Title: Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records
Dates: 1908-1975
Extent: 6.30 linear feet (8 containers and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract: The Cleveland Hebrew Schools evolved from the Montefiore Free Hebrew School (later called the Talmud Torah) established in Cleveland, Ohio, ca. 1885. In 1905, another communal Hebrew school was founded by Joshua Flock and Aaron Garber. In 1907, the two schools combined, the name remaining the Talmud Torah. In 1913, the Talmud Torah received an Ohio charter and changed its name to the Cleveland Hebrew School and Institute, enrolling students in grades one through eight. Abraham Hayyim Friedland, an internationally known educator, headed the school from 1921-1939. In 1926, a high school was added, and a Parent Council was organized in 1930. Bernard Levitin served as superintendent from 1944-1970, a period of movement of Cleveland's Jewish population to the suburbs. A reorganization of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools took place during this period, with some Cleveland branches closing and new suburban schools opening. As the number of Jewish day schools and congregational classes grew, the Cleveland Hebrew Schools enrollment dropped and branches were further consolidated. In 1955, the Parent Council organized Camp Oneg, a Hebrew summer day camp, and Ganon Gil Nursery, a Hebrew school for preschool children. In 1967 Cleveland Hebrew High School merged into Akiva High School. The collection consists of staff, enrollment, and financial records, correspondence, board of trustees minutes, legal documents, newspaper clippings, monthly and annual reports, school publications, posters, and scrapbooks.
MS Number MS 4620
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English, Hebrew and Yiddish

History of Cleveland Hebrew Schools

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.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Cleveland Hebrew Schools

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Abraham Hayyim Friedland


Scope and Content

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.


Statement of Arrangement

The Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records are arranged in four series. Each series is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series I: Board Minutes and Reports to the Board
Series II: Publications
Series III: Subject Files
Series IV: Oversize Material

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

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.

Separated Material

All photographs have been removed to PG 495 Cleveland Hebrew School Photographs.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Cleveland Hebrew Schools.
Jewish educators -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jews -- Education -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Schools -- Ohio -- Cleveland.

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4620 Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools in 1985.

Processing Information

Processed by Evy Rosenblum and Stanley Lasky in 1992

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Board Minutes and Reports to Board 1932-1971

Box Folder
1 1-9 Minutes of the board of trustees 1932-1963
Box Folder
2 10-13 Minutes of the board of trustees 1964-1971
2 14-18 Reports, monthly and annual, from superintendent to Board of Directors, (The report for 1949 includes biographies and photographs of staff) 1944-1970

Series II: Publications 1924-1975

Box Folder
2 19 Cleveland Hebrew School publications (including student workbooks published by Cleveland Talmud Torah, parent's bulletin, Horim Morim, and materials written by students and teachers) 1924-1943
Box Folder
3 21-27 Cleveland Hebrew School publications (including student workbooks published by Cleveland Talmud Torah, parent's bulletin, Horim Morim, and materials written by students and teachers) 1942-1964
Box Folder
4 28 Cleveland Hebrew School publications (For parent's bulletin, Horim Morim, 1967-1971, see Container 5 Folder 59) 1965-1967
4 29-34 Dinner journals (annual) (Note: these journals include articles as well as the names of faculty, officers, board members, Parent Council, and Judea Ladies Auxiliary) 1933-1975

Series III: Subject Files 1908-1972 undated

Box Folder
4 35 Bar Mitzvah records, organized alphabetically 1958-1959 1965-1972
4 36 Barrat, Joseph (superintendent) 1970-1971
4 37-39 Branches 1959-1961 1963 1965-1969 1971
4 40 Budget,(for financial information after 1946 see Finances, Folder 56 and Accounts receivable journal sheets, 1954-1964, Container 8) 1926-1946
Box Folder
5 41 Building Fund Committee, including cornerstone laying ceremony and building dedication ceremony 1963-1964
5 42-50 Bureau of Jewish Education budget (including Bureau of Jewish Education, Institute of Jewish Studies, Hebrew Academy, Workmen's Circle School, Cleveland Hebrew Schools, Yeshivath Adath B'nai Israel, and United Jewish Religious Schools) 1950-1966
5 51 Camp Oneg 1963-1968 1971
5 52-55 Employment records (assignment and salary when hired), organized alphabetically by last name 1923-1945
5 56 Employment records, (including home addresses and some social security numbers) 1946
5 56 Employment records, (including lists of teachers, salary schedules, correspondence, clippings 1951 1953-1954 1960 1962 1964-1971
5 56 Finances, including statements and correspondence 1950-1953 1965-1971
5 57 Graduation programs, including lists of graduates and correspondence 1946-1949 1951-1956 1961-1962 1965-1967
5 58 Graduation programs 1968-1972
5 59 Horim Morim (parents' bulletin) 1967-1971
5 60 Jewish Education in Cleveland, (191 page report by Oscar I. Janowsky and Uriah Z. Engelman, including data from interviews, test scores, etc.) 1953
5 61 Judea Ladies Auxiliary, including 20th anniversary articles, minutes 1908-1938 1940 1944-1948
5 62 Judea Ladies Auxiliary, including documents regarding sale of Auxiliary property to Pleasant Grove Baptist Church 1949-1957 1959
5 62 Keren Ami (tzedakah collections) 1917-1967 undated
Box Folder
6 63 Legal documents, taxes, loans, including purchase agreement from Hospital for Immigrants from Hungary 1917-1946
6 64-65 Levitin, Bernard, primarily correspondence 1965-1970
6 66 Matzoh sales project (Parent Council), scrapbook removals including results of survey of grocers selling matzoh in Cleveland and the brand that they sold (1933), and also list of matzoh sales (1915-1946); (Note: Matzoh sales project scrapbook is located in Container 7) (Note: Matzoh sales project scrapbook is located in Container 7.) 1915-1946
6 67 Newspaper clippings (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cleveland Press, Jewish Independent, Jewish Review and Observer, Talmud Torah Velt, Yiddishe Velt), (including map showing Greater Cleveland Jewish school population, 1923, and materials relating to opening of Teacher Institute for college level instruction, 1926) 1916-1928
6 68 (including "Jewish Education and the Jewish Survival" by Abba Hillel Silver, 1928; article about Jewish education in Cleveland by A.H. Friedland, 1931, and articles re: temporary closing of Cleveland Hebrew Schools for lack of funds, 1932) 1929-1936
6 69 (including articles about A.H. Friedland, 1938, and tributes and articles about him following his death, 1939) 1937-1941
6 70 (including lists of all Jewish education facilities in greater Cleveland, October, 1947) 1942-1949
6 71 (including articles on the introduction of Hebrew classes at Cleveland Heights High School in 1955) 1950-1960
6 72-74 Parent Council, including branch P.T.A.s, and information about annual dinner 1932-1970
6 74 Program announcements 1961-1962 1965-1970
6 75 Property, Fairmount Blvd. near Richmond Rd. 1962-1965
6 75 Property, Hamstead Rd. 1959-1964
6 76-77 Property, Lander Road, including minutes of building committee, correspondence, and contribution lists 1958-1963
6 78 Property, sale of, Columbia Ave., 1948, Kinsman Rd., 1950, Lee Rd., 1962-1963, Linn Drive, 1961-1964, Fairmount Blvd., 1960-1963, 1965 1948-1965
6 78 Property, Shaker and Lee, 1950-1953 1957 1960 undated
6 79-81 Miscellaneous 1916-1948 1950-1970 undated

Series IV: Oversize Records 1922-1964

Box
7 Matzoh sales project (Parent Council) scrapbook, including newspaper clippings, principally in Yiddish, poster 1923/1924, and addresses and sketches of 13 branch schools and their enrollment, 1927 (Matzoh scrapbook removals are located in Container 6, Folder 66) 1922-1935
Box
8 Accounts receivable journal sheets 1954-1964
Folder
1 Oversize Folder 1: Posters advertising Cleveland Hebrew Schools ca. 1920-ca. 1950