Finding aid for the Shaarey Tikvah Congregation Records

History of the Shaarey Tikvah Congregation

Shaarey Tikvah Congregation was founded in 1940 in Cleveland, Ohio, when a group of recently arrived German Jewish refugees held Jewish New Year services in one of their homes. On October 20, 1940, the group met to formally establish a congregation which they called Shaarey Tikvah, Hebrew for "gates of hope."

In its first ten years of existence, the congregation met in four different buildings: the Cleveland Sorosis Club, Virginia Hall, a building at Superior Avenue and East 123rd Street and one at Euclid Avenue between East105th and East 107th Streets. In 1950 the congregation purchased the Heights Presbyterian Church at 3040 Mayfield Road at Preyer Road in Cleveland Heights. In 1970 the congregation merged with Hillcrest Synagogue (B'nai Israel) and moved to its building on Lander Road in Mayfield Heights. The merged congregation was called Mayfield Hillcrest-Shaarey Tikvah B'nai Israel. In 1986 the congregation again moved, to its present location, 26811 Fairmount Boulevard in Beachwood.

Shaarey Tikvah associated with the Conservative movement in 1957. Rabbis who served the congregation were Rabbi Hans Zucker, 1940-1942; Dr. Manfred Strauss, 1942-1946; Dr. Enoch H. Kronheim, 1946-1957; and Rabbi Jacob Shtull, 1958-1994. The current rabbi is Rabbi Gary Robuck.

Scope and Content

The Shaarey Tikvah Congregation Records, 1959-1986, consist of a five page typescript history and a 1959 program commemorating the dedication of the bima. The history was written by Bea Stadtler. Stadtler, a writer and Jewish educator, is a long-time member of the congregation, who at one time chaired the synagogue school board at the Mayfield Road synagogue.

The collection is of value to researchers investigating the history of Jewish congregations in the Cleveland metropolitan area, Conservative Judaism, and the activities of German Jewish refugees who arrived in the United States before World War II.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

The researcher should also consult MS 5119 Shaarey Tikvah Congregation Records, Series II.

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 4754 Shaarey Tikvah Congregation Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Bea Stadtler, 1993

Processing Information

Processed by Jane A. Avner in 1997

Detailed Description of The Collection