| Abstract: |
Rabbi Arthur J. Lelyveld (1913-1997) served as senior rabbi of Anshe Chesed Congregation (Fairmount Temple) in Beachwood,
Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, from 1958-1986. Throughout his career he played key roles in national and local Jewish organizations
and actively fought for civil rights. A native of New York City, Lelyveld received a B.A. from Columbia University in 1933,
and was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1939. From 1939-1944, he served congregations in Hamilton, Ohio, and Omaha, Nebraska.
From 1944-46 he was Executive Director of the Committee on Unity for Palestine, and from 1946-1956 served as Associate National
Director, and then National Director, of B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations. He also played leadership roles in a number of other
national Jewish organizations, including American Jewish Congress, Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Synagogue
Council of America. On the local Cleveland level, he served in various capacities on the Cleveland Jewish Welfare Fund, the
Jewish Community Federation, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Cleveland Chapter, and the Cleveland
Board of Rabbis. Lelyveld was also the author of Atheism is Dead and of numerous monographs and articles. He was active in
the civil rights movement of the 1960s, participating with other Cleveland clergy in voter registration efforts in Mississippi
and serving as a minister-counselor to the Council of Federated Organizations under the auspices of the Commission on Race
and Religion of the National Council of Churches. While serving in this capacity, Lelyveld was severely beaten. He also delivered
the eulogy at the funeral of slain civil rights worker Andrew Goodman in 1964. The collection consists of individual portraits
of Rabbi Lelyveld, members of the Lelyveld family, and Anshe Chesed Congregation officers; group portraits of classes, families,
dinners, tours, celebrations, conventions, and other groups at Anshe Chesed Congregation; and views of the Lelyveld home,
tombstones in England, Congregation Bene Israel, Hamilton, Ohio, and events at Anshe Chesed Congregation.
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