Finding aid for the West Side Jewish Center

History of the West Side Jewish Center

The West Side Jewish Center (1910-1957) was organized as B'nai Israel by ten Orthodox families in 1910. Religious services, Sabbath and Hebrew school, and social activities were held in rented facilities. Two years later a small house was purchased at 1794 West 30th Street. In 1918, to accommodate growth, a building (formerly the Free Methodist Church) at the corner of West 25 Street and Bridge Avenue was acquired, together with a separate building used for a school, youth activities, and meetings. In 1922, with 124 affiliated families, the congregation purchased a portion of the Ridge Road Cemetery, 3824 Ridge Road, from Oheb Zedek (Taylor Road Synagogue), and in 1926 a new synagogue building was constructed at 1791 West 57th Street. This building was lost to foreclosure about 1937. Between 1919 and the mid-1930s, a Young People's Association, Sisterhood, children's choir, Jewish drama group, and literary circle flourished.

Services were held in rented quarters until 1940 when a small house was purchased at 4101 John Avenue. During the 1940s and 1950s membership averaged fifty-five families. Despite its small membership and financial base, construction of a new building at 14308 Triskett Road was begun in 1955 and completed and occupied in early 1957. However, with an overwhelming debt and imminent loss of the building, on October 25, 1957, the Center was merged with Beth Israel-The West Temple. Beth Israel was able to retire the debt and still occupies the building in 1995.

The center school, briefly affiliated with the Talmud Torah (United Hebrew Schools), 1916-1919, grew to an enrollment of over 150 students by 1919. Enrollment continued high into the early 1930s, then declined. In 1944 the center turned its school operation over to the United Jewish Religious Schools. Classes held Sunday mornings continued until 1956.

Although rooted in Orthodoxy, by 1919 the congregation moved into the ranks of the Conservative movement, affiliating with the United Synagogues of America, the national umbrella organization for Conservative Judaism, and hired as its first rabbi Harry Cohen, a Conservative rabbi. From 1920-1937 a succession of eight rabbis served the center. Phillip Jaffa, who served fom 1921-1925, became in later years the Midwest regional director for the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. During the period 1946-1957, the pulpit was occupied by four rabbis for six of the years. The merger with Beth Israel took the center into the Reform movement.

The center was the second Jewish congregation founded on the west side of Cleveland. The first was Oheb Zedek Hungarian Congregation, an Orthodox synagogue, established about 1883, at the southwest corner of Lorain Avenue and West 47th Street. The congregation was led by Rabbi David Feuerlicht, who also instructed the thirty-four religious school pupils. There is no record of the congregation after 1889.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the West Side Jewish Center

Scope and Content

The West Side Jewish Center Records (B'nai Israel), 1883, 1897, 1911-1992, consist of board of trustees minutes, bulletins, newspaper clippings, interview notes, and financial records.

The collection is of value to researchers interested in the creation and evolution of a Cleveland, Ohio, synagogue that was isolated from the major centers of Jewish settlement in Cleveland due to its location on the west side. Of special interest are the 1946-1947 minutes of meetings between representatives of the west side Jewish community and leaders of the Jewish Federation that report on existing problems and explore possible avenues of revitalizing the Jewish community on the west side. Of additional interest to the researcher is a timeline of significant events in the history of the West Side Jewish Center.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

Researchers should also consult MS 3926 Beth Israel-the West Temple Records.

Indexing Terms

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

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4733 West Side Jewish Center Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Evelyn Rosenblum, 1995

Processing Information

Processed by Evy Rosenblum in 1996

Detailed Description of The Collection