Finding aid for the Abba Hillel Silver Papers

Biography of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver (1893-1963), a national and international leader of the Zionist movement, played a key role in events leading to the proclamation of the state of Israel. Silver served as a rabbi for forty-eight of his seventy years. His impressive speaking voice and compelling topics made his Sunday sermons extremely popular, and he was also in demand as a speaker and lecturer around the country. In addition, Rabbi Silver was active in social and political issues on a national level, within the state of Ohio, and in his adopted home of Cleveland, Ohio. Rabbi Silver was also a scholar who published seven books dealing with Jewish history and theology.

Abraham Silver (later Abba Hillel) was born January 28, 1893, in Neinstadt, Schirwindt, Lithuania. His father, Moses Silver (1861-1949), his grandfather, and his great-grandfather, had all been rabbis. His mother, Dinah Seaman Silver (1860-1948), was a graduate of a Russian high school and could speak four languages. In 1902, along with his mother, older brother Maxwell, and sisters Pearl and Rose, nine-year-old Abraham emigrated to the United States. In New York City, they were reunited with Moses Silver, who had emigrated in 1898, and the family's oldest child, Bessie, who had joined her father in 1899. Abe Silver, as friends came to call him, grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City, where he attended public schools and, in the afternoons, Yeshiva Etz Chaim for Hebrew religious education. Following the death of Dr. Theodore Herzl, Maxwell and Abe formed the Dr. Herzl Zion Club in 1904. After his 1906 bar mitzvah, Abraham Silver became president of the club. In 1907, at the age of fourteen, he addressed the tenth annual convention of the Federation of American Zionists.

After his graduation from high school at Townsend Harris Hall in 1911, Abraham followed his brother Maxwell and entered Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, the Reform rabbinical training school. At the same time, he pursued a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Cincinnati. It was during his college years that he changed his name to Abba Hillel. Abba was involved in many groups and activities during his college years. Active in various Hebrew and Zionist clubs, he brought prominent Zionists to speak at the then primarily anti-Zionist Hebrew Union College. Also at Hebrew Union College, he honed his oratorical skills through speech-making and as president of the Debating Council. He was founding editor of The Scribe, a literary journal at the University of Cincinnati, and also edited the HUC Monthly. He continued to write poetry and had several poems published. He also found time to participate in drama and to be a member of the swim team at the University of Cincinnati. In 1915 he graduated from both Hebrew Union College and the University of Cincinnati, and was ordained a rabbi.

Rabbi Silver's first rabbinical appointment was at Congregation Leshem Shomayim, familiarly known as Eoff St. Temple, in Wheeling, West Virginia (1915-1917). While there he met Virginia Horkheimer (1895-1984), whom he married on January 2, 1923.

In 1917, Rabbi Moses Gries, spiritual leader of the The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Cleveland, Ohio, retired. Leaders of The Temple, one of the largest Reform congregations in the country, were aware of Rabbi Silver's oratorical skills, intellect, and growing reputation, and appointed him their rabbi, even though the majority of Temple members were not Zionists. From the start Rabbi Silver's Sunday morning sermons were extremely popular, not only with the congregation, but with the general public. Temple membership grew significantly during his tenure. The building of a new temple in University Circle, Cleveland's cultural center, was completed in 1924. Rabbi Silver also changed the focus of The Temple's activities, de-emphasizing the social and instituting more educational and religious programs.

In 1919 Rabbi Silver began his national commitment as a leader and spokesman for the Palestine Restoration Fund. During the 1920s, he intensified his involvement in Zionist, social, and political issues. As a delegate and speaker, he attended many national and international Zionist conventions. Rabbi Silver spoke before a wide array of groups and for many causes around the country, yet always returned home to present his Sunday sermons and to attend to his rabbinical responsibilities. Local concerns and issues were also important to him. He quickly became a leading member of the Jewish community and when the Cleveland Bureau of Jewish Education was organized, he served as its first president (1924-1932). He also served as chairman of the Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal in Cleveland (1935-1941). Rabbi Silver was also a staunch supporter of labor and resigned from the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce in 1922 over Chamber support of the open shop. Despite all these activities, he found time to finish his Doctor of Divinity degree from Hebrew Union College (1925) and to publish his first book, Messianic Speculation in Israel (1927).

With the onset of the Depression, Rabbi Silver turned some of his time and energy to the issue of unemployment insurance. In 1930 he headed the Cleveland Committee on Unemployment Insurance and in 1931 was appointed to the Ohio Commission on Unemployment Insurance and the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief. His was one of the early voices to speak out against Adolf Hitler and the rise of Nazi Germany. As a founder of the League for Human Rights Against Nazism (1933), a local Cleveland group, and as president of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights (1938), a national group, he urged a nationwide boycott of German-made goods. As events in Europe became more ominous, Rabbi Silver put more and more effort into the Zionist movement for a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Along with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, he opposed the partition plan of Chaim Weizmann at the 1937 Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) convention. In 1938 he became the president of United Palestine Appeal and the co-chair of United Jewish Appeal. While he took a more moderate stance at the 1939 World Zionist Congress, urging compromise with the British over Palestine, he soon became more militant; nothing short of the establishment of a permanent state of Israel was acceptable to him.

In 1942, at the Biltmore Conference of Zionists in New York City, he urged that an independent Jewish state be established in Palestine. This plan was incorporated into what became known as the Biltmore Declaration. The following year Rabbi Silver became co-chair with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise of the American Zionist Emergency Council (AZEC) and chaired its Executive Committee. During 1944, Rabbi Silver fought long and hard for passage of the Palestine Resolution in the U.S. Congress. As a result of a controversy with Rabbi Wise over the Roosevelt Administration's lack of support of the Palestine Resolution, Rabbi Silver later that year was forced to resign his AZEC positions. Many executives of AZEC also resigned in protest over Rabbi Silver's ouster. They formed the American Zionist Policy Committee in order to conduct a campaign for his recall. The campaign was a success and Rabbi Silver was reinstated to his AZEC positions in 1945. That same year he was elected president of the Zionist Organization of America. In December 1945, the Palestine Resolution was finally adopted by the U.S. Congress.

In the post-war years, Rabbi Silver's refusal to agree to any compromise plan for Palestine and his impatience with further debate between governments lead to a ZOA boycott, in 1946, of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry hearings held to discuss the European refugee and Palestine issues. Rabbi Silver opposed the binational state plan for Palestine announced by the Committee in April 1946. At the World Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland, that year, his position was upheld, as was the Biltmore Declaration. In 1947 he was appointed to an additional key position, chairman of the American Section of the Jewish Agency. In this role Rabbi Silver gave a powerful and eloquent address before the United Nations General Assembly on May 8, 1947, in support of an independent Jewish State. He was his lifelong goal fulfilled on November 29, 1947, when the United Nations General Assembly approved establishment of a Jewish state, and when, on May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was proclaimed.

Soon after the birth of Israel, a power struggle within the Zionist movement began. Israeli officials, including Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, felt that the international Zionist movement should now be in the hands of those Zionists living in Israel. Rabbi Silver, however, felt that the diaspora Jewry should continue to play a key role in the new state. The resulting power struggle, as well as controversies concerning fundraising by the United Palestine Appeal and United Jewish Appeal, left Rabbi Silver with little choice but to resign as president of the ZOA in 1948, and from his positions at AZEC and the Jewish Agency in 1949.

Rabbi Silver's efforts and dedication to the State of Israel did not end with these resignations. Throughout the 1950s he was involved, both in the United States and in Israel, with issues concerning the new state. He continued as a spokesman for Jewish and Israeli causes and was involved with developments within Israel. He made numerous trips to Israel and was often greeted enthusiastically. Despite the public acclaim, in 1951, at the Twenty-Third World Zionist Conference in Jerusalem, he and the other diaspora Zionists were defeated by Ben-Gurion who succeeded in gaining Israeli control of the international Zionist movement. In 1956, however, at the dedication of Kfar Silver, an Israeli agricultural school named in Rabbi Silver's honor, Ben-Gurion gave a speech praising Rabbi Silver which led to their reconciliation. Rabbi Silver maintained close ties with United States government officials, especially Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. In 1956 he met with Dulles and President Eisenhower to urge them to sell weapons to Israel.

Rabbi Silver's final years were devoted primarily to congregational activities and to writing. While he had previously written The Democratic Impulse in Jewish History (1928), Religion in a Changing World (1930), and The World Crisis and Jewish Survival (1941), he now published perhaps his most popular title, Where Judaism Differed (1956), as well as Moses and the Original Torah (1961). He received many honorary degrees and awards, and was still in demand as a speaker to diverse groups and organizations. He and his wife, Virginia, found time to travel. On the occasion of his seventieth birthday in 1963 a festschrift entitled In the Time of Harvest: Essays in Honor of Abba Hillel Silver on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday was published. Rabbi Silver died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Shaker Heights, Ohio, on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 1963.

Additional biographical material on Rabbi Silver is available in Abba Hillel Silver: A Profile in American Judaism by Marc Lee Raphael (New York: Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc., 1989) and In the Time of Harvest: Essays in Honor of Abba Hillel Silver on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, edited by Daniel Jeremy Silver (New York: Macmillan Co., 1963). Rabbi Silver is also profiled in the Encyclopedia Judaica, volume 14, p. 1544 (Jerusalem: Keter Publishing House Ltd., 1972) and in Current Biography, 1963, pgs. 386-389 (New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1963). A selected list of writings entitled "A Bibliography of the Writings of Abba Hillel Silver," by Miriam Leikind, librarian, The Temple, is included in the aforementioned In the Time of Harvest.

Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver

Scope and Content

The Abba Hillel Silver Papers, 1902-1989 and undated (bulk 1914-1963) consist of personal and professional correspondence, sermons, writings, speaking engagements files, scrapbooks and miscellaneous personal material. The bulk of the material is in the correspondence series and includes minutes, publications, reports, financial statements and confidential notes relating to Rabbi Silver's participation in numerous local and national organizations, especially Zionist groups. Important material relating to the American Zionist Emergency Council, the Zionist Organization of America, the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the United Jewish Appeal, United Palestine Appeal and the American Zionist Policy Committee is found in the collection. Also included is significant material relating to Cleveland Jewish organizations and other civic groups, such as The Temple (Temple-Tifereth Israel), Cleveland Bureau of Jewish Education, the Jewish Community Council, the Jewish Welfare Federation of Cleveland, and the Cleveland Zionist Society. In addition, the collection contains an extensive file of Silver's speeches, sermons, books, articles and other writings on Zionism, Judaism and other topics, and assorted material relating to Silver's personal life.

Series I, General Correspondence, reflects the interests and activities of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver as a rabbi, Zionist, and individual greatly involved in the social and political issues of his day. This series consists of correspondence, minutes, financial statements, publications, reports, and confidential notes relating to many organizations in which Rabbi Silver was active. Perhaps his greatest role was as a Zionist leader and driving force in the founding of the State of Israel. This is reflected in the files of several important Zionist organizations contained in Series I, Sub-series A.

Rabbi Silver's leadership roles in what were probably the most important of the Zionist organizations - the American Zionist Emergency Council (AZEC), and its successor, the American Zionist Council - are documented in materials located in folders 85-296 and folders 75-84, respectively. Of special importance are the minutes of AZEC (folders 85-91) for the years 1943-1949. Following these minutes, the rest of the AZEC files consist of financial statements, correspondence, reports and publications, and press releases. Subjects include individuals with whom Rabbi Silver corresponded, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt (folder 143), Senator Robert A. Taft (folder 150), Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (folder 154), and Chaim Weizmann (folder 152). Correspondence with individuals may be contained in a separate folder under that person's name, or in general alphabetical files for each year, such as "A-B." Of special note is Rabbi Silver's resignation as chairman of AZEC (December 28, 1944) and his reinstatement (folders 142-143).

Another major Zionist organization represented in Series I, Sub-series A, is the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) (folders 1768-1934). Rabbi Silver served the ZOA as president in the important post World War II years and remained active in the organization throughout his career. ZOA records consist of minutes (including those of the National Executive Committee), correspondence, financial reports, publications, Rabbi Silver's notes, memoranda, ZOA reorganization plans, press releases, and conference reports.

Other major Zionist and Jewish organizations in which Rabbi Silver was active are also contained in Series I, Sub-series A. The Jewish Agency for Palestine (folders 824-968) is one of the most important. As chairman of its American Section, Silver delivered an impassioned speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, as a spokesman for the founding of a Jewish homeland. Jewish Agency records consist of minutes, confidential papers, correspondence, press releases and statements, reports, and publications. Of particular importance are the confidential minutes of the American Section of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine for the years 1947-1949 (folder 882) and statements issued by Rabbi Silver on the recognition of Israel as a state (folder 871). Arrangement is the same as that for other organizations. Other important organizations include the World Zionist Congress (folders 1737-1744), Joint Distribution Committee (folders 1065-1068), Histadrut (folders 716-723), Keren Hayesod (folders 1073-1088), and the Jewish National Fund (folders 1004-1027).

Information about the United Jewish Appeal appears principally under two subject headings: United Jewish Appeal (folders 1470-1484), and United Jewish Appeal, United Palestine Appeal (folders 1485-1668), following the original Temple folder sequence. Arrangement is chronological and then by subject and individual. Materials included are minutes, financial statements, correspondence, bylaws, and correspondence relating to other organizations. There is extensive correspondence with Henry Montor, executive director of the UPA.

Several folders under the United Jewish Appeal subject heading related to the Jewish refugee problem from 1939 to 1941. The National Refugee Service (folder 1571) contains confidential reports on the status of immigrants and refugees from Europe. The sub-heading Emergency Committee of Zionist Affairs (folder 1591), contains minutes on the refugee problem, immigration to Palestine, and the Jewish situation in Europe. The Emergency Committee for Palestine (folder 1550), contains confidential reports and memoranda on conditions for Jews in occupied Poland and Bohemia.

Series I, Sub-series A also reflects Rabbi Silver's interest in social and political issues, on the national, state, and local levels. A long-time concern of Rabbi Silver's, unemployment insurance, is documented in folders with that heading (folders 1409-1419). These folders chronicle Rabbi Silver's support of the passage of an Ohio state law for unemployment insurance and his appointment in 1931 to the Ohio Commission on Unemployment Insurance (folder 1413). These folders include Rabbi Silver's correspondence with individuals about unemployment insurance, minutes of the Commission, local Cleveland labor conditions, drafts of the proposed law, and articles and other writings by Rabbi Silver about unemployment insurance. On a national level, in 1931 President Herbert Hoover appointed Rabbi Silver to the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief. For information concerning this organization see folders 1420-1421.

Rabbi Silver's support of the labor movement, especially on the local level, is also reflected in the collection. He was a long-time member and supporter of the Consumer's League of Ohio (folders 575-584), a group interested in labor reform issues and legislation. The open shop controversy led him to resign from the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce (folders 492-495) in 1922 because the Chamber favored the open shop plan.

Rabbi Silver was involved in many local Jewish organizations and concerns. He was a founder in 1933 of The League for Human Rights Against Nazism (folders 110-1121). These records chronicle the boycott of German-made goods and include minutes, correspondence, membership lists, and pamphlets and other publications of the League. The League also investigated local and national anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi groups. Rabbi Silver also was a member of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights (folders 1217-1223), a national group. Other local Jewish organizations in which he was an active participant included the Bureau of Jewish Education (folders 354-371), the Cleveland Zionist District (folders 516-530), the Jewish Welfare Federation (folders 1040-1054), the Jewish Welfare Fund (folders 1055-1063), the Jewish Community Council (folders 972-985), and the Jewish Community Federation (folders 986-996).

Rabbi Silver's career in the rabbinate is also reflected in the contents of Series I, Sub-series A. Congratulations on his graduation from Hebrew Union College and his appointment as rabbi of Temple Leshem Shomayim, Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1915 are included (folders 1699-1701). He maintained close ties to Hebrew Union College throughout his life (folders 660-691). He was an active participant in the Central Conference of American Rabbis his entire life (folders 375-474) and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (folders 1422-1467). Rabbi Silver was appointed to The Temple-Tifereth Israel, Cleveland, in 1917 (folders 1331-1332). The Temple files (folders 1339-1400) are arranged chronologically and then either under the heading "General" or by a particular subject. Special events, services, anniversaries, and general Temple business correspondence are included, as is correspondence concerning the building of a new temple, dedicated in 1924 (folders 1335-1336). Series I, Sub-series A contains a great deal of correspondence between Rabbi Silver and prominent national and international figures. Some representative names include John Foster Dulles (folders 610-615), Abba Eban (folders 617-622), Albert Einstein (folders 623-624), Dwight Eisenhower (folders 625-629), John F. Kennedy (folder 1072), Emanuel Neumann (folders 1201-1214), Robert A. Taft (folders 1314-1319), Chaim Weizmann (folders 1686-1693), and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (folders 1715-1720). Researchers should note, however, that these individual folders often do not contain all of the correspondence to and from a particular individual. Many of the organizational files also include folders of correspondence with these and other prominent individuals, and additional correspondence can be found in other series in the collection.

Sub-series B, Chronological, while more general in content than material contained in Sub-series A, does contain correspondence with some notable individuals, such as Felix Frankfurter (folder 1974), Frances Perkins (folder 1975), and Menachem Begin (folder 2013). As in Sub-series A, correspondence about important issues is contained in Sub-series B. Correspondence with Judge Bernard Friedman concerning the election of a Catholic to the White House includes a copy of a letter sent to Friedman by John F. Kennedy (folder 2009). (See also John F. Kennedy, folder 1072). A letter from Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins inviting Rabbi Silver to the Second National Conference on Labor Legislation in 1935 reflects his reputation on a national level as someone interested in and knowledgeable about labor legislation (folder 1975).

Series II, Harold P. Manson File, contains minutes correspondence, memoranda, reports and bulletins, press releases, publications, and personal notes related to the establishment of the State of Israel. Many of the organizations and individuals represented in this series overlap with materials in Series I, General Correspondence. The title of this series refers to Harold P. Manson, director of information for the American Zionist Emergency Council from 1944 to 1948. This series was separated and loaned to Manson for a proposed writing project, which apparently was never realized. The files were returned to Rabbi Silver, but not re-integrated with his other papers.

The material contained in Series II focuses on efforts of various Zionist groups during the years 1943-1948, especially the American Zionist Emergency Council (AZEC), and of Rabbi Silver to bring about the establishment of the state of Israel. Records of AZEC include confidential minutes of its Executive Committee (folders 121 and 287), confidential bulletins, memoranda and reports (folders 63, 226-233, 405-409), press releases (folders 226-233, 448-454), and correspondence. Of particular importance are Rabbi Silver's detailed notes on AZEC Executive Committee meetings and his sessions and phone conversations with government officials (folders 468-469). In addition Rabbi Silver's notes are not only contained in specific folders (for example, folders 29, 123, 189, and 337), but throughout the series and often under an individual name or agency (for example, folder 104, State Department, 1943, contains reports and notes on conversations and interviews with State Department officials).

Series II also contains material concerning specific issues and controversies within the Zionist movement. Minutes, correspondence, memoranda, notes, and bulletins of the American Zionist Policy Committee are included (folders 234-248). This group was formed in 1944 by executives of AZEC who had resigned in protest after internal dissension forced Rabbi Silver's resignation as chairman. Material in these folders documents the campaign to recall Rabbi Silver who, in July 1945, was reinstated as chairman of AZEC.

Other important organizations are part of Series II. Files on the Zionist Organization of America, which Rabbi Silver headed, include Executive Committee minutes, notes, and correspondence (folders 108-109, 208, 284, and 443). Correspondence, financial statements, memoranda, press releases, and Rabbi Silver's statements as head of the American Section of the Jewish Agency are included (folders 13, 79, 260-261, 273, 316, 378-379, 422, and throughout Series II).

Specific issues relating to the Zionist movement are often given an independent folder title. For example, folders on the Palestine Resolution, introduced in the United States Congress in 1944 and passed in 1945, contain draft copies of the Resolution, correspondence about the drafts and efforts to pass the Resolution, and reports by Rabbi Silver to AZEC about the status of the Resolution (folders 94, 172-175, 271). Also in Series II are transcripts of hearings of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry (folders 249, 458-464) and confidential notes and correspondence by Rabbi Silver concerning the Committee (folders 291-294). A copy of a letter written jointly by Rabbi Silver and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise to President Harry S. Truman, dated October 30, 1945, opposing the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, is of particular interest.

As in Series I, individuals are represented by name on folders. Individuals include Emanuel Neumann (folders 18-19, 165, 266), Chaim Weizmann (folders 26, 52, 203, 280, 439), Albert Einstein (folders 69, 254), Franklin D. Roosevelt (folders 99, 183-184, 267), and Dean Acheson (folder 209). Material in these folders, as in this Series as a whole, tends to be specifically about the founding of Israel.

Series III: Personal Correspondence includes a broad range of correspondence that, in general, is less institutionally oriented than that contained in Series I: General Correspondence.

The content of the material found in Series III is quite varied. It includes a considerable amount of correspondence of equal importance and, often with the same individuals, as that contained in Series I: General Correspondence. Examples of major correspondents represented in both include Henry Montor, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, and Emanuel Neumann. Temple business and Rabbit Silver's duties as a rabbi account for a large percentage of the correspondence found in Series III. This correspondence includes thank you notes sent to the Rabbi for his officiating at weddings and funerals, questions concerning religious issues, the Rabbi's condolences on the deaths of Temple members and their families, requests for copies of sermons and other writings, invitations to dinners and testimonials and Rabbi Silver's acceptance and/or regrets, and letters from servicemen (especially during World War II) who were Temple members. Also included are many requests for recommendation letters for colleges and for employment.

Rabbi Silver's role in the larger local and national scene is also reflected in his personal correspondence. He received many requests for donations and endorsements from many organizations and for various causes. The many thank you notes he received from these groups reflect his wide-ranging interests and generosity. A large part of this series is made up of letters from the general public, commenting on Rabbi Silver's sermons, articles, and opinions, as well as copies of his replies to these letters. The close ties that Silver maintained with Hebrew Union College are reflected in the many letters concerning alumni affairs and former classmates. Also included are many letters that Silver received during the 1930s and 1940s about Jewish refugees from Europe. These letters describe their plight and requested help in obtaining sponsorship and visas to enter the United States.

On a more personal level, correspondence with family members is an important part of this series. Of special note is correspondence from this mother, Dinah Silver, to his brother Maxwell (folder 327) and correspondence with his father, Moses (folder 328). Rabbi Silver maintained several close friendships during his entire life and his correspondence with these friends is located here. Birthday and holiday greetings, notification of honors and awards received, and invitations are included, as are personal financial documents such as life insurance premiums, investments, receipts and cancelled checks, and income tax returns. (For additional financial documents, see also Series VII, Sub-series C).

Rabbi Silver delivered well over one thousand sermons in his role as spiritual leader of The Temple-Tifereth Israel in Cleveland, Ohio. Series IV: Sermons contains copies of these Sunday-morning sermons. Often described as lectures rather than sermons, they were extremely well-attended by congregation members, as well as outsiders attracted by his ideas and commanding oratorical style. Copies of sermons in this series are, in most instances, the final typed copy prepared by Rabbi Silver's secretary from both a draft dictated the night before and a transcription taken while the sermon was given. In addition, some folders contain an abstract of the sermon and Silver's handwritten notes. Occasionally, only an abstract and/or notes is available. In some cases, typewritten copy, abstract, and notes are not available, and these folders are marked with the note "folder contents lacking at time of filming" and reflect what was missing when the material was received from the Temple for microfilming. Folders 1-1073 contain general sermons and are arranged chronologically, while folders 1074-1196 contain holiday sermons. The holiday sermons are arranged in alphabetical order by name of holiday and then chronologically within each holiday. Both types of sermon arrangement reflect original Temple order.

The subject of Rabbi Silver's sermons are broad, and range from religious to political, social, philosophical, and cultural concerns. They are important not only as they reflect Rabbi Silver's views, but also as a commentary on current events and the times in which he lived. In his religious sermons, Rabbi Silver spoke on the history of Judaism, the relationship of Judaism with Christianity and other religions, the Bible, and the Jewish viewpoint of world events. Other sermons included his commentary on social problems and issues of the day, such as labor and unemployment, women, youth, education, the family, and old age. Political issues and personalities often became his sermon topics. Examples of his political subjects include the Red Scare of 1919, Prohibition, the Depression, a third term for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the election of a Catholic to the White House. International affairs were often a topic, especially with regard to Hitler and the rise of Nazi Germany, World War II, the plight of European Jews, Zionism and the founding of the state of Israel, and the Cold War. Rabbi Silver often gave sermons of his impressions after travel to foreign countries. Famous figures from the past, especially Abraham Lincoln, were often used as a basis for sermon subjects. Rabbi Silver always gave an end-of-the-year sermon ("Taking Stock of...") and also gave sermons on important anniversary dates, both his own as a rabbi and the Temple's. In most cases, sermon subjects are readily identifiable by the sermon title. Published editions of sermons and those excerpted in newspaper articles are included in Series V: Writings.

Rabbi Silver was a prolific writer and speaker. Series V: Writings contains printed sermons; journal, magazine, and newspaper articles; both manuscript editions and printed versions of speeches; printed programs; diaries and journals of his travels; poetry; and miscellaneous unpublished manuscripts and handwritten notes. Arrangement is generally chronological, and follows the original Temple order. Undated material is located at the end of the series (folders 1054-1092). Folder titles are usually descriptive of the contents of each folder, sometimes listing the title of the writing or speech, sometimes the location where a speech was delivered, and sometimes both. Talks prepared for one occasion were sometimes later delivered at other locations and/or published.

As in his sermons, Rabbi Silver's writings reflect his broad interests and concerns. International affairs, Zionism, Judaism and religion in general, national politics and social issues, and local issues and concerns are among the topics covered. His articles appeared in scholarly journals, general interest magazines, local and out-of-town newspapers, and in Jewish and religious publications. Local Cleveland newspapers often excerpted his sermons, printed editorials and commentary by him, and sought his views on local issues. His many speaking engagements before various groups led to the wide range of speech topics included in this series. Of particular interest are the diaries and journals that he kept during his travels. Also of note is the printed text and newspaper articles about his speech before the United Nations in May 1947 (folder 725). (Concerning Silver's writings, see also Series VII, Sub-series A: Biographical, and Sub-series B: Writings).

Throughout his career, Rabbi Silver was sought out by groups from around the country as a speaker. Series VI: Speaking Engagements contains correspondence between individuals and groups and Rabbi Silver concerning these speaking engagements. Also included are printed pamphlets and publicity concerning his engagements, programs from the engagements, and correspondence detailing Rabbi Silver's regrets when he declined an invitation. Sites of his speaking engagements include both local (Cleveland and regional) and out-of-state, and ranged from small towns to large cities. Groups before which he spoke included Jewish philanthropic and Zionist organizations, colleges and universities, other temples and synagogues, churches, social service organizations, teachers' associations, women's groups, and fraternal organizations.

Researchers should note that a small amount of correspondence concerning speaking engagements is found in Series I: General Correspondence, Sub-series B: folders 1938-1940. References to speaking engagements, especially those he was unable to accept, are also found in other parts of Series I, as well as in Series III: Personal Correspondence.

The content of the scrapbooks covers the entire range of Rabbi Silver's career. Of special interest are the extensive clippings, periodicals, and press releases pertaining to the American Zionist Emergency Council and many other key Zionist organizations and events during the 1940s. Among these are "Conference Record," a publication of the American Jewish Conference of 1943 (scrapbooks 21-23). Also of note are materials from Silver's student years at Hebrew Union College and the University of Cincinnati, and copies of published articles that he authored. Typed notes about members of the Roosevelt administration focus upon the perception of their attitudes toward policies concerning Palestine and a Jewish state. These notes, with annotations in Silver's handwriting, are located in folder 2, the final item in the series.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

While access to this collection is not restricted, researchers will be asked to use the microfilm of this collection. This finding aid is a guide to the content and location of material in the physical manuscript collection and the microfilm.

The researcher should also consult MS 4842 Abba Hillel Silver Papers, Series II; MS 4928 Abba Hillel Silver Papers, Series II; PG 491 Abba Hillel Silver Photographs; and MS 3632 League for Human Rights 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 4787 Abba Hillel Silver Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Processing Information

Processed by Deborah Shell, Tracy Backer, and Jeffrey Zdanowicz in 1994. Microfilmed by Bernard Watford and Michael McCormick in 1994. The processing and microfilming of this collection was made possible through funding provided by The Temple-Tifereth Israel.

Detailed Description of The Collection