| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Beth Israel - The West Temple |
| Title: | Beth Israel - The West Temple Records, Series II |
| Dates: | 1954-2000 |
| Extent: | 4.41 linear feet (5 containers and 1 oversize folder) |
| Abstract: | Beth Israel - The West Temple (f. 1954) is a Reform Jewish synagogue located in Cleveland, Ohio's west side. A noted feature of this congregation is its volunteerism. For the first forty-five years of its history, all posts and jobs, with the exception of rabbi, were staffed by volunteers. This included the principal, administrator, teachers, and aides of the religious school; the librarians, office managers and secretaries; youth group advisors; and interfaith and community education coordinators. Approximately one-third of the congregation made this commitment to volunteer several hours a week throughout the year. Another fifteen percent of the congregation volunteered periodically throughout the year serving as choir director, choir members, and music accompanist; worship leaders and cantors; bulletin editors; and building repair and maintenance workers. The collection consists of minutes, bulletins, correspondence, reports, handbooks, newspaper clippings, program scripts, speeches, and transcripts. |
| MS Number | MS 4904 |
| Location: | closed stacks |
| Language: | The records are in English |
Beth Israel - The West Temple was organized by twenty-five families in April 1954 to provide a religious center for reform Jews living on Cleveland's west side. The congregation's first service, Rosh Hashanah, was held September 27, 1954, at the First Universalist Church in North Olmstead. For the next four years religious services were held at either the Universalist Church or the North Olmstead Community Club House. In October 1957, Beth Israel effected a merger with the West Side Jewish Center, formerly B'nai Israel, a conservative congregation, and at that time the only other congregation serving west side Jews. The West Side Jewish Center had initiated a building fund drive in the early 1950s and construction of a synagogue began in 1953. The $150,000 building at 14308 Triskett was completed following the merger with Beth Israel and was dedicated in May 1958. The congregation still occupies that site.
During its first seven years, Beth Israel was served by a succession of six student rabbis from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. One of them, Daniel Litt, became the congregation's first full-time permanent rabbi in 1961 and remained on the pulpit for four years. The first student rabbi at Beth Israel, David Rose, returned to the congregation as rabbi in 1977 and still serves in that capacity.
In March 1961, a Social Action Committee was formed at Beth Israel. Its objectives, formally established in July 1962, were to promote interfaith understanding, unify the Jewish community around issues of Jewish interest, fight sectarianism in the public schools, and study anti-Semitism in foreign countries. As an outgrowth of the latter objective, several members of the congregation founded the Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism (CCSAS). Lou Rosenblum and Abe Silverstein, members of the congregation and of the CCSAS, became leaders in the national movement to assist Soviet Jewry. Beth Israel provided office space for the CCSAS in March 1967 and it has been based there since then.
Beth Israel experienced an expansion of its facilities in 1965 with the construction of a new eight-room, two-story school wing. Also in 1965, the Cleveland Foundation awarded the congregation library a $5,000 grant for book purchases to be expended over a five-year period. By the end of the grant period, the library contained over 3,000 titles and provided service for the congregation, high schools and colleges on the west side.
The West Side Jewish Center, the first congregation on the west side, was organized as B'nai Israel by ten families in 1910. The small orthodox congregation met in a rented hall at Lorain and Fulton streets until 1916 when it purchased a church at 45th and Bridge. In 1925, a synagogue was erected at 57th and Franklin, however, it was lost to foreclosure in 1932. In 1935 the 40-50 members purchased a house on John Avenue for $2,900 and held services there until 1953 when the congregation moved to temporary quarters at West 118th Street while a new synagogue was under construction. The new building was completed in 1958 after the merger with Beth Israel.
In 1940, B'nai Israel formally incorporated as the West Side Jewish Center. For most of its existence religious services were conducted by lay leaders of the congregation. In 1953, the congregation applied to and was accepted by the United Synagogue of America, the national umbrella organization for conservative Judaism. The merger with Beth Israel in 1957 took the one-time orthodox congregation into the reform movement.
Beth Israel draws its members from Cleveland's west side and the western suburbs. Many of its early members were faculty from Baldwin-Wallace College and Cuyahoga Community College and employees of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Among the graduates of Beth Israel's religious school is Rabbi Sally Priesand, the first woman ordained to the rabbinate in the United States.
Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Beth Israel - The West Temple
Beth Israel-The West Temple Records, Series II, 1954-2000 consist of minutes, bulletins, correspondence, reports, handbooks, newspaper clippings, program scripts, speeches, and transcripts.
This collection is of value to researchers studying the Jewish community of the Northeast Ohio generally, and Reform synagogues in particular. Information about women's volunteer roles in synagogue management, particularly those of school director Enid Lader, office manager Lenore Singer, library manager Sheila Eckstein, and Cleveland's first woman synagogue president, Eva Luedecke, and the four women presidents since that time will be useful for researchers. Researchers investigating interfaith programs will also find pertinent material. Several hundred programs created by Evy Rosenblum were offered as a response to requests from churches, schools, clubs, and community groups who were curious about Judaism. Also of interest is information about the radio program "Prepare the Way" which was established by temple members Rabbi Daniel Litt and Rhoda Rosen in the 1960s, and the social action programs organized by Herbert Caron, Louis Rosenblum, and Don Bogart. The religious school projects that Sally Priesand, first woman rabbi in the United States, created while a student in the synagogue school will be useful for researchers. Original synagogue art designed and built by Morton Epstein will be of value to researchers. A large number of scientist and engineers were among the founders in 1954; notable among them was Abe Silverstein, director of the Lewis NASA Research Center.
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Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 3926 Beth Israel-The West Temple Records; MS 4824 Prepare the Way Radio Program Records; and MS 4011 Cleveland Council on Soviet Anti-Semitism Records.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4904 Beth Israel-The West Temple Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Evy Rosenblum, 1999 and 2001
Processed by Evy Rosenblum in 2003
Series I: General Files 1954-2000 |
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| 1 | Folder 1: Adult Education, press releases, flyers, newspaper clippings, biographies of speakers, transcripts of speeches, 1954 and 1956-1979. Folder 2: ________, publicity, newspaper clippings, biographies of speakers, transcripts of speeches, 1980, 1982-1986, and 1988-1989. Folder 3: Anniversaries and dedications, correspondence, programs, newspaper clippings, and speeches, 1958, 1965, 1974, 1979, 1985-1986, 1992, 1996-1997, and 2000. Folder 4: Board of Trustees, correspondence, 1954-1961, 1972-1978, 1981-1991, 1996, 1998, and 2000, including the merger of Beth Israel and the West Side Jewish Center. Folder 5: ________, memoranda and by-laws, 1956, 1974-1985, and 1988-1999. Folder 6: ________, minutes, October-December 1982, September 1983, and May 1984-December 1985. Folder 7: ________, minutes, January 1986-March 1987, and January 1989-November 1989. Folder 8: ________, minutes, January 1990-February 1990, May 1990-October 1990, January 1991-February 1991, April 1991-May 1991, and August 1991-October 1991. Folder 9: ________, minutes, February 1992-November 1992, February 1993-November 1993, and 1994. Folder 10: ________, minutes, January-July 1995, September-October 1995, December 1995, and February 1996. Folder 11: Board of Trustees, minutes, April 1996-October 1996, 1998 and 1999. Folder 12: Brotherhood, flyers,1973-1974. Folder 13: Building, Riverside Drive, drawings, 1957. This building was purchased but never used after Beth Israel merged with the West Side Jewish Center. Folder 14: ________, Triskett Road, correspondence, reports, lists, and drawings, 1955-1958, 1976-1977, 1981, 1989, 1991-1992, 1998, and 2000. Folder 15: Calendars, 1972-1984. Folder 16: Cemetery, minutes, financial reports, legal documents, and plot lists, 1959, 1972-1975, 1981-1990, and 1998. Folder 17: Choir, lists and reports, 1955, 1984, 1995, and 1999. Folder 18: Circle of Friends (intergenerational group), press releases, prayer services, recipe book, and script, 1996-2000. Folder 19: Committees, Fine Arts, correspondence and reports, 1970 and 1974. ________, Membership, correspondence and reports, 1967, 1972-1977, 1984-1986, 1988, and undated. ________, Ritual, correspondence and reports, 1962, 1985, 1996-1997, and undated. Folder 20: Congregational Meetings, minutes and reports, 1955, 1967, 1975, 1980, 1982, 1985-1988, and 1990-1993. Folder 21: ________, minutes and reports, 1994-1998 and 2000. Folder 22: Constitutions, 1955, 1958-1959, 1972, 1974-1976, and 1998-1999. Folder 23: Finances, reports, correspondence, and lists, 1955-1958, 1962, 1975, 1979, 1971, and 1985-2000. Folder 24: ________, special projects, including Tree of Life Project and Northeast Lakes Council reports, and correspondence challenging dues structure of UAHC, 1988, 1990-1992 and 1997-1998. Folder 25: Guest books, lists, 1954-1961, 1974, and 1988. Folder 26: ________, lists, 1959, 1975-1984, 1987, and 1989-1994. Folder 27: History, correspondence, publicity, lists, and report, 1954-1955. Folder 28: ________, newspaper articles, 1975, 1996, and 1998 (originals stored in Oversize Folder 1, Oversize Materials). Folder 29: ________, publicity, newspaper articles, brochures, and an evaluation by Sheila Eckstein of implementation of the stated aims of the founders, 1954-1957, 1959-1969, 1974-1979, 1984-1985, 1989-1992, 1995-1996, and 1998 (1975, 1996 and 1998 stored in Oversize Folder 1, Oversize Materials). Folder 30: ________, transcripts interviews of synagogue founders and early leaders, including Lou and Evy Rosenblum, Lenore Singer, Don and Marilyn Bogart, Maxine and Henry Slone, Eva Ludecke and Abe Silverstein, 1992 and 1996. Folder 31: Interfaith Programs, lists, notes, evaluations, and press releases, 1957-1961, 1964-1969, 1975, 1977-1978, 1981-1982, 1986, 1989, and 1992-1993. Folder 32: ________, curricula (student) and lists of Beth Israel participants, 1961, 1964-1978, 1981, and undated. Folder 33: ________, curricula (adult), We Speak For Judaism, and lists, 1969-1970 and 1977. Folder 34: Interfaith Programs, lists of participating organizations, 1957-1993, and 1997-1999. Folder 35: ________, lists of questions asked by attendees, 1966-1970, and 1986. Folder 36: ________, programs and worship services for Sabbath, Thanksgiving, and Yom Hashoah [Holocaust Remembrance Day], 1958-1960, 1962-1968, 1973, 1976, 1985, 1989, and 1997-2000. ________, Public School teachers, The Jewish Child in the Classroom program, 1989-1990. Folder 37: ________, Public School teachers, The Jewish Child in the Classroom program, 1989-1990. . | ||||||||||
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| 2 | Folder 38: Library, annual reports, financial reports, building floor plans, 1955, 1964-1965, 1967, 1978, and 1982-1999. Folder 39: ________, lists, grant proposals, dedication program, and correspondence, 1964-1965, 1985, 1986, and 1998. Folder 40: ________, speeches, bibliographies, reports, 1964-1987, 1991-1993, 1997, and undated, including talks to National Association of Jewish Libraries by Sheila Eckstein and Evy Rosenblum. Folder 41: Life Cycle Events, programs and newspaper clippings, 1956, 1960, 1973, 1979, 1986 Folder 42: Membership, correspondence, lists, and prospective member mailings, 1954-1957, 1959, 1965, 1974-1979, 1982-1987, 1990-1992, 1999-2000, and undated. Folder 43: Newsmakers, newspaper and magazine clippings and articles, and name index about Beth Israel members, 1955-1963, 1965-1975, 1977-1984, and 1986-1993. Folder 44: Newsmakers, newspaper and magazine clippings and articles, 1994-2000. Folder 45: Obituaries, newspaper clippings, memorial service programs, and tributes, 1962, 1966, 1981-1982, 1989, 1991, 1993-1994, 1997-2000, and undated. Folder 46: Office Manager, evaluation reports, 1996-1997. Folder 47: ________, notebooks, 1984-1989. Folder 48: ________, notebooks, 1989-1996. Folder 49: ________, notebooks, 1996-1997. Folder 50: ________, notebooks, 1998-2000. Folder 51: Prepare the Way, radio broadcast, program listings and publicity, 1965-1969. Folder 52: Presidents, memoranda, correspondence, and speeches, 1954, 1977, 1988-1990, and undated. Folder 53: Priesand, Sally, newspaper and magazine articles, school projects, and book, 1960-1963, 1965-1969, and 1972. Folder 54: Productions, scripts, 1974, 1979, 1983, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995-1996, 1998-1999. Folder 55: Public Schools, textbook with anti Jewish bias, teachers guide, 1966. Folder 56: ________, textbook with anti-Jewish bias, report, 1967. Folder 57: Publicity, newspaper clippings and press releases, 1955-1953, 1972, 1975, 1979, 1989-1997, and 2000. Folder 58: Rabbis, correspondence, 1959-1961, 1977-1979, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, and 1998. Folder 59: ________, evaluations, 1992 and 1997. Folder 60: Rabbis, newspaper and magazine clippings, 1959-1961, 1964-1966, 1968, 1971, 1974-1977, 1980, 1988, and 1996. Folder 61: ________, Negotiation Committee, reports, 1990. ________, Options Committee, reports, 1998. Folder 62: ________, Search, correspondence, applications, and reports, 1960-1962, 1965, 1970. 1973, 1977, 1988, 1994-1995, and 1998-1999. Folder 63: ________, Transition Committee, reports, 1996-1998. Folder 64: Retreats, curricula, study guides, and service programs, 1992 and 1995-1999. Folder 65: Social Action, newspaper and magazine clippings, publicity, flyers, and project description reports, 1961-1971, 1974-1978, 1982-1987, 1990-1994, and 1997-2000. Folder 66: Social Events, flyers, and press releases, 1956-1965, 1970-1983, 1986-1990, 1992, 2000, and undated. Folder 67: Surveys, Beth Israel survey of congregational needs and priorities, report, 1999. ________, Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland survey of the Jewish population on the west side of Cleveland, report, 1990 Folder 68: Torah, purchase of first Torah, applications, certificate, transcript of interview, DATE? ________, sale of extra scroll, correspondence, 1999. Folder 69: Western Reserve Historical Society, program scripts, questionnaire, correspondence, and flyers, 1994-1995. Folder 70: Worship, Community, Non-Jewish groups and other synagogues, directories and lists, 1964, 1991, and 1998-1999. ________, Community, Non-Jewish groups and other Synagogues, newspaper clippings, and flyers, 1959, 1965, 1975, 1993, 1997, and 1999. Folder 71: ________, Congregational participation, lists, 1967-1968, 1975-1977, 1995, 1997-2000, and undated. Folder 72: ________, Creative Services, scripts and curricula, 1960, 1970-1974, 1988, and 1997. Folder 73: ________, Creative Services, Youth groups, scripts and curricula, 1969-1975, 1993-1994, and 1998. . | ||||||||||
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| 3 | Folder 74: ________, Holidays, flyers and press releases, 1954-1969, 1974-1981, 1988, 1991, 1994-1995, and 1999-2000. Folder 75: ________, Service Announcements, 1974-1975. Folder 76: ________, Service Announcements, 1976-1979. Folder 77: ________, Special occasions, including the first High Holiday services, the first Bar Mitzvah, commemorative occasions, and guest speakers, service programs, newspaper clippings, and flyers, 1954, 1956-1969, 1972-1973, 1979, 1985-1989, 1992-1995, 1998-1999, and undated. Folder 78: Youth Groups, Junior, minutes and flyers, 1964 and 1966-1970. Folder 79: ________, Senior, minutes, flyers, and press releases, 1958, 1962-1964, and 1966-1973. Folder 80: ________, Senior, minutes, flyers, and press releases, 1975-1980, 1985, 1993-1994, and 1998-2000. . | ||||||||||
Series II: Auxiliary Groups 1954-2000 |
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Sub-series A: Religious School 1954-2000 |
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| 3 | Folder 81: Classes, lists, 1955-1956, 1958, 1962-1963, 1965-1983, 1985-1987, 1989-1992, and 1997-1999. Folder 82: Confirmation, correspondence, curricula, and flyers, 1958, 1961, 1967, 1974, 1977, 1986, 1990-1991, and 1998. Folder 83: ________, Creative Services, programs, 1968, 1970-1975, 1978-1979, and 1994-1995. Folder 84: ________, Services, programs, 1958-1959, 1961-1973, 1978-1983, 1986, 1989-1992, 1995, and 1998-1999. Folder 85: Congregational Enrichment Fund, grant requests and awards, correspondence, and evaluations, 1982-1991. Folder 86: ________, grant requests and awards, correspondence and evaluations, 1991-1999. Folder 87: Crises and problems, reports and correspondence, 1964-1966, 1971, 1978-1980, and 1985-1986. Folder 88: Curricula, lists, correspondence and reports, 1955-1961 and 1964-1969. Folder 89: ________, correspondence and reports, 1970-1979. Folder 90: ________, correspondence and reports, 1980-1984 and 1987-1989. Folder 91: ________, correspondence and reports, 1996-1998. Folder 92: Enrollment, lists and reports, 1954-1993, and 1996-1999. Folder 93: Family Education Projects, curricula, correspondence, and evaluations, 1982, 1985-1987, and 1989-2000. Folder 94: ________, musical scores, 1991, 1997, and 1998, including words and music recorded by Enid Lader. Folder 95: Fellows Program, grant proposals, 1994-1996 and 2000. Folder 96: Handbook for Parents, lists and curriculum, 1978, 1986, and 1997. Folder 97: Hebrew and B'nai Mitzvah, correspondence and lists, 1963, 1966-1983, 1987-1989, and 1992-1996. Folder 98: High School, curricula, correspondence, registration forms, evaluations, and lists, 1961-1964, 1968-1971, and 1973-1979. Folder 99: ________, curricula, correspondence, registration forms, evaluations, and lists, 1980-1989. Folder 100: ________, curricula, correspondence, registration forms, evaluations, and lists, 1990, 1994-1997, and 1999-2000. Folder 101: ________, graduation programs, creative service programs, and class lists, 1961, 1964-1966, 1969, 1973, 1977, 1979-1981, 1984-1985, 1989-1992, 1994, 1997, and 2000. Folder 102: History, oral history of Religious School founder Evy Rosenblum, transcript, 1966. Folder 103: Holiday Observances, correspondence, programs, newspaper clippings, 1955, 1969-1973, 1980, 1985, 1988-1992, and 1998. Folder 104: Honors and Awards, lists, certificate, and newspaper clippings, 1965-1970, 1988, and 1995-1999. Folder 105: Letters to families, correspondence, 1955, 1958, 1960-1964, 1966-1969, 1972-1975, and 1978-1979. Folder 106: ________, correspondence, 1982, 1984-1988, 1995, and 2000. Folder 107: Nursery School, curriculum, 1966. Folder 108: Passover Learning community, curriculum, press releases, flyers, and evaluations, 1980. Folder 109: Projects, flyers and reports, including student produced Haggadah, field trips, retreats, guest speakers, and a preschool prayer book, 1961, 1966-1972. 1975-1976, 1978-1985, 1990, 1994, and 1996-2000 . | ||||||||||
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| 4 | Folder 110: School reports, 1997 and 2000. School Times, student produced newspaper, 1976 and 1978-1979. Folder 111: Staff, conferences and courses, 1958-1961, 1966-1967, 1970, 1979-1981, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1999-2000 and undated. ________, honors at prayer services, lists, 1966, 1968, 1973, 1986, 1988-1989, 1992, 1995, and 1999-2000. Folder 112: ________, lists of teachers and support staff, 1955-1999. Folder 113: ________, memoranda, 1960, 1964-1968, 1980-1981, 1985, 1991-1992, 1997, and 1999. Folder 114: Statement of Purpose, report, 1964-1965 and 1989-1991. Folder 115: Summaries of class activities, reports, 1992-1997 and 1999-2000. Folder 116: Tot Shabbat, press releases, flyers, and correspondence, 1995 and 2000. Tzedakah projects, including project to aid a Jewish day school in Zimbabwe, flyers and reports, 1971, 1979-1980, 1983-1984, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, and undated. . | ||||||||||
Sub-series B: Sisterhood 1955-1984 |
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| 4 | Folder 117: Annual reports, 1972-1973, 1977-1980, and 1984. Folder 118: Board of Trustees, minutes, 1956 and 1960. Folder 119: ________, minutes, 1961-1964. Folder 120: ________, minutes, 1965-1969. Folder 121: ________, minutes, 1970-1973. Folder 122: ________, minutes, 1974-1979. Folder 123: Budgets, financial reports, 1961, 1966, 1970-1979, and 1982-1983. Constitutions, 1955, 1962, 1965, and 1968. Folder 124: Membership, correspondence and reports, 1958-1983. Membership, lists, 1958-1983. ________, memoranda and correspondence, 1958-1968, 1975, 1977, and 1982-1983. Folder 125: Miscellaneous flyers, 1964-1969, 1970-1974, 1977, 1982-1984, and undated. Folder 126: Programming, brochures, 1969-1983. Folder 127: ________, notebook, 1969-1973. Folder 128: Programming, press releases and flyers, Folder 129: ________, reports, 1969-1969 and 1974-1978/ Folder 130: Ways and Means (fund raising), 1960-1962, 1964-1965, and 1967-1970. Folder 131: ________, 1972-1974. . | ||||||||||
Series III: Publications 1957-1999 |
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| 4 | Folder 132: Bulletins, 1957-1961 (incomplete). Folder 133: ________, 1981-1983. Folder 134: ________, 1984-1985. Folder 135: ________, 1986-1987. Folder 136: ________, 1988-1989. Folder 137: ________, 1990-1991. Folder 138: ________, 1992-1993. . | ||||||||||
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| 5 | Folder 139: ________, 1994-1995. Folder 140: ________, 1996-1997. Folder 141: ________, 1998-1999. Folder 142: ________, index of bulletin articles, 1990-1995. Folder 143: Directories, membership, 1981-1987. Folder 144: ________, membership, 1988-1994. Folder 145: ________, membership, 1995- . | ||||||||||