THE EAST MIDWOOD JEWISH CENTER ARCHIVES
FINDING AID /COLLECTION INVENTORY
DESCRIPTION: The EMJC Archives preserve and document the history of the congregation: its membership and lay leaders, its rabbis, cantors, activities , and buildings since its founding in 1924. We encourage research and study of EMJC’s history and its contribution to the development of Conservative Judaism and the Jewish Community of Brooklyn. The boxes and folders are located in a special room in the East Midwood Jewish Center and are arranged in simple alphabetical order to facilitate research. However, certain subjects are grouped together: Architects, Cantors, Committees, Executive Directors, Mergers, Presidents, and Rabbis.
LANGUAGES: English
CREATOR: The EMJC Archives were arranged and described by Toby Carliner Sanchez, EMJC’s Historian and Archivist
PREFERRED CITATION: Item, Folder Title, Records of the East Midwood Jewish Center, Inc.
EXTENT: 32 linear feet of documents in 60 archival boxes; 8 linear feet of weekly and bi-monthly bulletins; several hundred photographs not yet processed, and 4 linear feet of the records of the congregations which merged with EMJC (Jewish Communal Center of Flatbush and Shaare Torah). which merged with EMJC.
HISTORICAL NOTE
The Founders: The East Midwood Jewish Center was organized in 1924 by a group of new residents in what was then an undeveloped, almost rural neighborhood promoted by real estate brokers as “New Brooklyn.” Many streets were unpaved, and houses were far apart. The organizers started out by holding meetings in each other’s homes. Their goal from the very beginning was to create a combination synagogue and a community center. It was to be a 7 day a week facility to serve the religious, social and recreational needs of the entire family from childhood to old age and to be open to the wider community. That’s why EMJC was built with a very large sanctuary, seating over 850 people, with two ballrooms, meeting rooms, a gym, steam room and pool. Many similar synagogue/community centers were created throughout the U.S. in the 1920s, but most of them were sold long ago to churches, converted into schools or demolished. EMJC is one of the last remaining “shules with a pool.” (The Shule with a Pool: The Synagogue Center in American Jewish Life by David Kaufmann (University Press of New England/Brandeis University Press, 1999)
The founders decided to place their new congregation on a triple lot on Ocean Avenue, a major north-south road. This was a bold statement at a time when anti-Semitism was prevalent, and the 1924 Federal immigration law sharply limited the number of people from Eastern and Southern Europe, namely, Jews and Catholics, who could enter the U.S. each year.
The groundbreaking took place in 1925 and the building was completed in 1929 at a cost of one million dollars. It was designed by Louis Allen Abramson and Maurice Courland, well known synagogue architects. The exterior is in the style of an Italian Renaissance palacio and the sanctuary is distinguished by its Greek style columns and decorations and a large, multi-colored stained glass globe and 12 stained glass windows in the Tiffany style.
Membership grew consistently from 100 in 1924 to 300 in 1929 (with a significant decline during the Depression) and then reached its maximum of 1 430 in 1963. It was close to 1000 throughout the 1980s but then began a steady decline as families moved to the suburbs. In recent years there has been considerable growth in new younger families.
Creation of a Day School
In 1948 EMJC constructed a separate building at 1256 East 21st Street, connected to the Ocean Avenue building by a shared courtyard and a bridge, to house its very large weekday and Sunday Hebrew School classes (nearly 1000 students). Then in 1956 EMJC opened the East Midwood Academy , a State chartered kindergarten to 8th grade dual language school. The school has had several different names but was known as Rabbi Harry Halpern Day School from 1978-2006. It was renamed the East Midwood Hebrew Day School until it closed in 2019.
Placement on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006
East Midwood Jewish Center received this honor, because its original architectural features are unchanged, and because it represents “a distinctive form of American Judaism and is part of the evolution of urban ethnicity in the 20th century.” It was created entirely by local residents, lay people, not by rabbis or Manhattan elites; services were from the beginning conducted in English and Hebrew, and not in Yiddish (as was the rule in older neighborhoods); its members were mostly American born and were a mix of people whose families came from different parts of Europe and not just a specific Russian, Polish, Hungarian or other European town or region, as was usually the case with small congregations). The placement on Ocean Avenue announced to the world that there was no contradiction between being a loyal American and being a loyal Jew and that a minority group has both the right and duty to retain and develop its culture, while contributing to American life. East Midwood and similar synagogue/ community centers are a unique American invention.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
The records of the East Midwood Jewish Center, Inc. (1924 – 20019) contain legal documents, minutes, reports, financial statements, publications, brochures, and related materials pertaining to its creation and governance its clergy, rituals, educational programs, social activities and its financial history, construction and repairs. Except for the very early years, the archives contain the minutes of most of the annual membership meeting and the monthly meetings of the board of trustees. Also available are many boxes of membership lists, cemetery records, lists of bar/bat mitzvahs, the students and faculties of the Hebrew school and the day school, the names of brides and grooms, plus records of confirmations and conversions. Also available are copies of the weekly bulletins published from 1935 to the present, commemorative journals, news clippings and hundreds of photographs of members, students and social events.
The records of its Rabbis (Reuben Kaufman, 1925-28, Harry Halpern , 1929-1977, Alvin Kass, 1978-2014, Aaron Pomerantz, 1980-20080, Matt Carl, 2014-2019) and several associate rabbis are grouped together under Rabbis. The same is true for its various Cantors (Abraham Hyman, 1936-1955, Joseph Eidelson, 1956-1995, Samuel Levine 2004 to date) and various associate cantors and choir leaders), Executive Directors and Architects. The records of EMJC’s mergers with Shaare Torah, The Jewish Communal Center of Flatbush and Progresive Shaare Zedek Synagogue are grouped together under Mergers. The membership and student lists have been digitized, but not the rest of the documents.
COLLECTION INVENTORY
A
Abramson, Louis Allen (see Architects)
Adult Institute (founded 1940); Separate folders for Classes, Concerts, Film Festival, Faculty
Salaries, Lunch & Learn Speakers, Harry Halpern Memorial Assembly, Selichtot Study Sessions,
Nathan Solomon Memorial Lecture, Joseph Plan Memorial Lecture, Urist Memorial Kallah
Advertisements, Brochures & Other Publicity Materials
Advisory Boards
Appraisals of the Building and its Contents, see also Torahs
Architects: Louis Allen Abramson, Maurice Courland, G. Canaan
Audits – see Financial Statements
Aufruf Forms
Annual & Special Membership Meetngs
Annual Meeting Procedures , and Separate Folders for each year, 1940-2019. (missing are 1950-54 & 1957.)
B
Bar Mitzvah Applications Arranged by Year – also Bar Mitzvah Procedures
Bat Mitzvah Applications Arranged by Year-
Balance Sheets – see Financial Statements
Bequests – Alphabetical by Donors A-L
Bequests – Alphabetical by Donors M-Z
Blood Drives
Brochures- See Advertisements, Brochures & Other Promotional Material
Books of Remembrance
Harry Brockoff
Jenny Brooks –see also Talmud Torah Boxes
Board of Trustees Meetings Minutes & Agendas: 1935 through 1949
Board of Trustees Meeting, Minutes & Agendas: 1950 through 1990
Board of Trustees Meetings, Minutes & Agendas: 1991 through 2018
Board of Trustees Membership Lists, 1945-2005 – see also Annual Membership Meetings & Sign In Sheets for monthly trustees’ meetings
The Building, 1625 Ocean Avenue, including Legal Documents & Records of Repairs, Architect Maurice Courland’s Original Specifications, 1925
Building Deed
Building Permit
Construction Firms – 1925-1929
Conditions Report 1990
Conditions Report 2006
Conditions Report 2019 (Sanctuary ceiling only)
Grants for Building Repairs & Additions
Sacred Sites Consulting Grant 2002
Stained Glass Grant – see Boxe11-14s 9 & 10
Urban Areas Security Grant 2010
Loans: for Construction 1925-1929
Loans for Refrigeration
Loans for Restoration
Mortgages #1 for $35,000 – 1925-1938
Mortgages #2 for $350,000 1928-1945
Certificates of Indebtedness & release 1939-1944
Building Repairs by Year & Location
Building Plans- A comprehensive list of all architectural drawings, those within folders and also the oversize ones on shelves
1949-1959 – Basement
1957-59 – Bridge & Kitchen
1959 – Front doors
Granite Facing
2004-2007 Exterior Envelope
Plans
Contract & Invoices
Project Manual
Heating Ventilation & Air Conditioning Systems Survey 2000-2001
Marble Walls
Vault & Yard – 2005-2011
Architect Li-Saltzman’s Evaluation Report 2005
Bids – 2010
Contracts with Architects 2008 & 2010
History & Evaluation of the Project
Invoices -2010-2011
Project Manual 2010
Building Repairs: Stained Glass Project: Proposal & All Documents for the Restoration of the Windows, Dome & Skylight – 2006-2013 Funded by the New York State Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Application for Grant for Stained Glass Repair with Letters of Support
Bids
Bills & Payments: Architects, Contractors
Drawings of Roof & Skylight
Drawings of Windows
DOB Drawings
Building Repairs: Stained Glass Project continued
Project Manuals 2011, 2011 Review Set, 2012
Final Report to the NY State Dept. of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Final Audit – 2013
Grants to the stained glass project from individuals
C
Calendars of Events
Cantors, Choir Leaders & Torah Readers
Associate Cantor Yaacov Bares
Associate Cantor Joel Bloch
Associate Cantor Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen
Cantor Joseph Eidelson, 1952-1994
Associate Cantor & Choir Leader Samuel Friedberg, 1934-1969
Cantor Abraham Hyman, 1937-1955
Choir Leader Oscar Julius, 1938
Cantor Samuel Levine, 2004 to date
Cantor Larry Magarik
Associate Cantor & Torah Reader Joseph Mayer, 1968 – 1992
Choir Director Abraham Nadel, 1955-1985
Associate Cantor Stuart Razin
Cantor & Choir Leader Jacob Schachter, 1926
Cantor Uzi Rivlin
Cantor Solomon Segunda, 1943
Cantor Adi Wyner, 1994 –
Catering Contracts
Dorinstein Caterer
Newman & Leventhal
Cemeteries –Brochures & Rules
(For names, see the separate receipt books for cemetery payments)
Chanukah Gifts to Staff
Club Oasis
Committees A – C
Committee Lists & Committee Guidelines
Adult Institute Committee
Audit Committee –
Bikur Cholim Committee
Board of Education Committee
Bulletin
Catering
Cemetery
Civil Defense
Constitution & By-Laws
Cost & Effectiveness of Operations
Committees D-R
Day Camp
Day School
Golden Age
Grants & Awards
Gym
Holiday Tickets
House (building repairs)
Insurance
Kiddush
Megillah Project
Membership
Memorial Tablets & Prayer books
Ritual
Russian Friends
Committees S-Y
Scholarships
Scouts
Social
Space Allotment
Talmud Torah
Ushers
Welfare
Younger Families
Youth Activities Council
College Homecoming Shabbat
Gloria Collins
Concerts
Confirmations/Consecrations for Girls
Constitutions & By-Laws
Conversions
Courland, Maurice & Rafael – see Architects
Czech Memorial Torah Scroll – see also Dr. Bernard Metrick
D
Dinner Dances – Biographies of Honorees, Invitations & Journals by Year
1924-1973 (not all years)
1974-1988
1989-2000
2001-2009
2010 to date
Daily Minyan
Day Camp
Deceased Members 1993-96
Dinner Dance Journals –see Boxes 17-21
E
Eidelson, Joseph – see Cantors
Endowment Fund
EMJC School for Young Children
Employees’ Information Cards 1968-80
Edith Everett & David Everett
Executive Directors:
Samuel Cohen – 1955
Robert Gabbe, 1925-1955
Randy Grossman, 2016-2017
Edith Maiman, 1999-2016
Harvey Marks
Julius Nierow 1970–1977
Bernard Panzer, 1979-1998
Sidney Sameth – 1955-1960
Wayne Rosenfeld- 2018-
F
Facebook Pages
Peter Farkas
Federal Tax Exemption Letter
Marie Fersko
Financial Statements
Financial Statements for 1926, Fiscal Years 1956-1957 through 1988-1989
Financial Statements for Fiscal Years 1989-90 through 2003-2004
Alan F. Fintz
Forgery Case
Form Letters
Founders: list of names and photographs, as printed in the 1949 Journal plus separate folders about some of the individual founders and their descendants
Louis Birnhak
Louis & Jennie Greenfield
Max Koeppel/Kappel
Isaac Steinberg
Harry L. Volk
Irving Warshaw
Pincus Weinberg
Friday Evening Services
G
Detective Joe Galapo
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Dr. Henry Goldberg – see Talmud Torah & Rabbi Harry Halpern Day School
H
Halpern, Rabbi Harry – see Rabbis
Hate Call 2017
Hebrew High School – see Talmud Torah
High Holiday Services
Holocaust Memorial Events – see Yom Hashoah
Honorary Presidents- definition, privileges, lists
Honorary Trustees – see lists in Annual Membership Meetings
History of EMJC
Incorporation Papers 1924
The Founding & Early Years, 1924-1929, including 1926 Financial Report
Construction Firms 1925-1929
Special Journals:
Building Dedication Journal 1929
25th Anniversary Journal 1949
30th Anniversary 1954
45th Anniversary 1969
50th Anniversary 1974 Preparations
50th Anniversary Journal
60th Anniversary Journal 1984
National Register of Historic Places Application 2006
National Historic Site Award & Dedication 2006
90th Anniversary Journal 2014
See also Dinner Dance Journals for each year
List of Clergy (Rabbis & Cantors), School Directors & Executive Directors 1925-2017
Lists of Presidents & Founders, 1924-2017
Dispute over Traditional vs. Egalitarian Services
Folder #1: 1961-1996 Folder #2: 1997-2004
History Notes – excerpted from Board of Trustees Meetings & Annual Meetings
History Timeline
I
Income Tax Exemption Letter – see Federal Tax Exemption Letter
Incorporation Papers 1924
Installation Ceremonies for New Officers
Institute for Living Judaism in Brooklyn
Interfaith Program, also known as the Interfaith Coalition of Brooklyn
Folders for Events, Grants & Awards, Newsletters, Photos of Events, Thanksgiving Services
Israel Bond Purchases
Israel Bond Breakfast – Honorees
Israel Seminars
Investments
J – K
Jewish Theological Seminary Events
Kaddish Club, also known as the Kaddish & Men’s Club –
By-Laws
History
Membership Lists
Minutes 1954-59
Minutes 1960-1965
Minutes 1966-67
Minutes 1975-2000 (many missing items)
Kass, Rabbi Alvin – see Rabbis
Miryom Kass
Florence Kippel Biography
Rose & Louis Kippel Fund
Kol Nidre Appeal Letters
Kol Nidre Gifts
Audrey Korelstein, Director of Family & Children’s Education
L
Law Suits Against EMJC (alphabetical by plaintiff’s name)
Lewis, Paul – see Martyr’s Memorial
Life Memberships
Norman Lubin
M
Marty Markowitz
Martyrs’Memorial in the Lobby , aka Memorial for Our Martydom or Memorial for the Six Million
Megillah Project 1998
Members’ Hebrew Names – partial list
Membership Lists
Membership Lists 1940s
New Members – 1946
Membership Applications 1952-1978
Membership Lists 1954 – list of names on file cards (the original file cards are in 2 metal file boxes)
Membership Lists 1990s
Membership Lists 1995
Member Lists – Resignations 1997
Membership Lists -2010 with age of each member (husbands & spouses)
Membership Lists – 2016
Membership Outreach
Membership Questionnaire – 1986
Membership Statistics by Year as compiled for United Synagogue Annual Census
Merger Agreements with
Jewish Communal Center of Flatbush
Progressive Shaare Zedek
Shaare Torah
Mr. & Mrs. Club
N – O – P
NightShul
Obituary Notices
Opinion Survey 1986
Passover Fundraising Appeals
Father Michael Perry
Hazel Plan
Planned Giving
Plaques, Awards, Paintings &Proclamations –List of names on plaques & Location of each plaque & painting
Roz Pomerantz – copies of her original songs composed for various occasions
Presidents –separate folders with name & dates of EMJC Presidents boxes may contain photographs, obituaries and information about their descendants
Harry L. Abrams – Louis Adler – Sol Brookstein – Bernard L. Brown – Gail Hammerman – Gary Kippel – Arthur
Kleigman – Milton Krasne – Simon Lefcourt – Solomon Leff – Herman Levin – Dr. Bernard Metrick – Joseph Reiss
– Samuel Rothstein – Toby Sanchez – Sidney L. Schiff – Marsha Shlefstein – Leo Wein – Pincus Weinberg – Isaac
Wurman
Publicity (newspaper articles, press releases) –See also Advertisements/Brochures,Etc.
R
Rabbis & Associate Rabbis
Assistant Rabbi Alan Blaine 1960—65
Rabbi Matt Carl 2014-2019
Assistant Rabbi David Gaffney-1969-72
Rabbi Harry Halpern 1929-1977
Rabbi Alvin Kass 1978-2014
Rabbi Rubin Kaufman 1925-28
Associate Rabbi & Ritual Director Aaron Pomerantz 1978- 2008-
Assistant Rabbi Jack Riemer – 1955 –
Rabbi’s House , Sale of
Rabbi Search 2013-201
Recognition Breakfasts
Room J Congregatonal School
Room Naming Prices
Room Rental Rates
Alan Rosenblum Fund
Harriet Rosenblum
Arthur & Selma Rosenthal
Max Roth
Russian Immigrants –Programs for
S
Beatrice Sacks Memorial Fund Lecture
Sale of Sanctuary Seats
Security Surveys
Selichot Study Sessions
Senor League of Flatbush (leases)
Shabbat Dinners
Shavuot Observances
Arthur Shlefstein
Shomrim Society
Simchat Torah Celebrations
Singles Events
Special Memorial Services for Yitzhak Rabin (year) & for Israeli Soldiers (year)
Summer Day Camp Proposal
Summer Speaker Series
Sisterhood
Sisterhood Braille Group
Sisterhood By—laws
Sisterhood History
Sisterhood Installations
Sisterhood Meeting Minutes – 1993-2000
Sisterhood Meeting Notices 1985-1998
Sisterhood Membership & Board Lists
Sisterhood Presidents- List
Sisterhood Special Events
Sisterhood Honorees at Annual Luncheons – 1986 & 2010
Sisterhood Honorees at Twilight Dinners 2011-2018
T
Talmud Torah
Talmud Torah Alumni Association
Talmud Torah Alumni List – 1960-2009
Talmud Torah Alumni – as adults
Talmud Torah Committee
Talmud Torah Curriculum
Talmud Torah Enrollment History
Talmud Torah Faculty
Talmud Torah Faculty Salaries
Talmud Torah Fees
Talmud Torah Financial Reports
Talmud Torah Graduations
Talmud Torah Hebrew High School – includes a few student letters
Talmud Torah High School Publications
Talmud Torah Parent List
Talmud Torah PTA
Talmud Torah Publications
Talmud Torah Registers – by years
Talmud Torah Sunday School
Talmud Torah Programs 2008-2009
Tax Exemption Letter
Time Line of EMJC History 1924-present – also filed also in History
Tisha B’Av Observances
Torahs – appraisals & donations
Torah Restoration Campaign 2002
Tee of Life Memorial Plaques in the lobby
Town Hall Meetings on Public Issues
U – V
UJA Federation Grant 2016-2017
UJA Breakfasts Honorees
United Synagogue Annual Censuses & Annual Financial Reports – see Membership Statistics
United Synagogue Youth (USY)
W
Anderson Waithe
Wall of Memory in the lobby
Weddings 1935-1945
Weddings 1956-59
Weddings 1960
Weddings 1961
Weddings 1962
Weddings 1963
Weddings 1964
Weddings 1965-69
Weddings 1983-85
Weddings 1986-94
Women on the Board of Trustees
Y
Yosef H.Yerushalmi (formerly taught in the Talmud Torah Hebrew High School
Yom Hashoah Commemorations
Yom Kippur see Books of Remembrance
Yom Kippur Break the Fast
Young People’s Synagogue
Younger Families
Youth Activities Department
RECORDS OF THE HARRY HALPERN DAY SCHOOL
A
Administrators
Annuity & Insurance Contracts for Faculty
Annual Dinner Dance Journals 1971-
Appraisals of the Building & Contents
Architectural Drawings for the Building 1947-1950 (Maurice & Rafael Courland, Architects)
B
Board of Education Members 1956-69
Board of Education Members 1970-77
Board of Education Members 1978-2004
Board of Education Minutes 1956-69, 1970-77, 1978-1990
Brochures & Promotional Materials
Budgets & Audits s- see Financial Statements
Building Alterations 1972
Building Complaints
Building Plans – list of all plans, those in boxes and the oversize plans on shelves
Building Description, incl. paintings & plaques see Appraisals
Building Expansion Plans 1977-92
Building Inspections
C
Certificate of Occupancy
Charter from New York State Dept. of Education
Collective Bargaining Agreements
Conditions Survey 1970 – see also the Day School section in the Conditions Survey 2006
Contract with Builder
Construction Contracts 1958-59
Construction Permits
Cookbook – Palate Pleasers
Curricula
D – E
Development Fund
Educational Directors – Duties –
Employee Complaints
F
Faculty Lists
Faculty – Rose Galinsky
Faculty Relations Committee
Faculty Salaries
Fathers’ Club
Financial Statements
Fund for Jewish Education Grants
G – H
Graduations
Heating system
History of the School
L – M – N
Law Suits Against the School – alphabetical by plaintiff
Name Change
P
Parent Teachers Association
Parents’ Names & Addresses
Pension Plan
Pre-School Program Permit
Principals’ Duties
Principals: Martin Cooper, Allen Gewirtz, Henry Goldbereg, Mildred Gruberger, Aryeh Rohn, Etta Segall, Sheila Silverman, Uzi Rivlin
Property Tax Exemption
Publications
R
Registers of Students by Year – 1976, 1977-78, 1982-90
S
Scholarship & Admissions Applications A-J
Scholarship & Admissions Applications K-R
Scholarship Applications S-Z
Scholarship Scholarships Granted
Scholarship Policies
T
Teacher Tenure
Tuition Fees
Tuition Assistance – Sliding Scale
EAST MIDWOOD HEBREW DAY SCHOOL, INC.
East Midwood Hebrew Day School, Inc.
Leases
EMJC WEEKLY BULLETINS – bound copies by year 1935 – 1991 (missing are 1933, 1934, 1938-1944, 1986) – unbound copies 1991-2019
Bi-Monthly Bulletins – 2008-2019
Photographs – not yet processed
Tapes – not yet processed
RECORDS OF THE FLATBUSH JEWISH COMMUNAL CENTER (4 boxes and SHAARE TORAH ( 2 boxes)
Not yet processed