Finding aid for the Park Synagogue Photographs, Series II


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: previous hit Park Synagogue next hit
Title: previous hit Park Synagogue next hit Photographs, Series II
Dates: 1942-1986
Extent: 1.00 linear feet (1 oversize containers and 3 oversize folders)
Abstract: previous hit Park Synagogue next hit, one of the largest Conservative Jewish synagogues in the world, was founded in 1869 in Cleveland, Ohio, as Anshe Emeth Congregation by twelve Jewish immigrant families from Poland. In 1904, the congregation engaged its first English speaking rabbi, Samuel Margolies. Anshe Emeth merged with Congregation Beth Tefilo ca. 1916, and a large synagogue was built for the combined congregation on East 105th Street in 1922. That same year, Rabbi Solomon Goldman, a well known scholar, teacher, and activist, was hired. He led the congregation into the ranks of Conservative Judaism. In 1934, the congregation engaged one of its own confirmands, Armond E. Cohen, as rabbi. The synagogue, popularly called the Cleveland Jewish Center, became a focus of Jewish life in the Glenville area, serving the social, intellectual, and recreational needs, as well as the religious, of its members; one of the first synagogues in the United States combining all of these facilities in one structure. Following the eastward movement of Cleveland's Jewish population, property on Mayfield Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was purchased in 1942 from the private Park School. In 1950, previous hit Park Synagogue next hit (as the congregation came to be known) dedicated a new building, designed by Eric Mendelsohn. In 1969, Kangesser Hall, a 2,000 seat auditorium, was dedicated. When B'rith Emeth Congregation ceased operations in 1988, their Pepper Pike, Ohio building was purchased by previous hit Park Synagogue next hit, becoming their eastern educational facility. Some former members of B'rith Emeth affiliated with previous hit Park Synagogue next hit. The collection consists of one hundred black and white and twenty color photographs from the Brith Emeth Congregation and previous hit Park Synagogue next hit.
PG Number PG 611
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English