Breira Records

Collection

Identifier: I-250

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of material relating to the organization, positions, activities and contracts of Breira. Materials in the collection include certificate of incorporation; by-laws; board and committee minutes and mailings; position statements; publications; membership lists; material relating to the organization's funding; information on regional chapters; correspondence with membership, Jewish and non-Jewish leaders and organizations in the U.S. and abroad; and program material, including material relating to the planning, proceedings, resolutions and evaluation of Breira's first national membership conference in 1977. Also included is material on Breira sponsored tours of Israeli leaders in the U.S.; articles and newspaper clippings from other sources related to Breira's activities and areas of interest; as well as material critical of the organization.

Dates

1970-1979

Creator

Breira (Organization : New York) (Organization)

Language of Materials

This collection is in English with some Hebrew.

Access Restrictions

[If you have any exceptions to the AJHS-approved access restrictions text, use the "alt_note" code in the accessrestrict element {see preceding code} to override the stylesheet. Example text: "The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility and one folder (Box X, Folder X, "Folder Title") restricted due to privacy concerns."]

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:

American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY, 10011

email: reference@ajhs.org

Historical Note<extptr actuate="onload" altrender="Cover of Interchange, March 1976 (Box 9, Folder 17)" href="http://digital.cjh.org/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=4709705" show="embed" title="Cover of Interchange, March 1976 (Box 9, Folder 17)"/>

Breira began as an informal discussion group concerned with Diaspora-Israel relations in the summer of 1973. The group was composed of graduate students, rabbinical students, rabbis, religious school teachers, and individuals involved with the Havurah movement. After the Yom Kippur War in 1973, a working committee to set up an official organization was formed out of the discussion group with the support of an initial Advisory Committee. The organization was officially established in April 1974 and called for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. Breira’s founding directors were Ross Brann, Peter Geffen, David Glanz, Lynn Gottlieb, Gershon Hundert, and Bob Loeb. The organization worked to promote discussion among the public about issues primarily concerning contemporary Israeli politics such as the Palestinians, peace, Israeli-Diaspora relations and alternatives facing the State of Israel. In 1976, Breira members Max Ticktin and Arthur Waskow met with Sabri Jiryis, who was closely tied to the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Isam Sartawi, a member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council. This meeting led to an outcry from the Jewish press, most strongly from the newspaper Jewish Week. Other Jewish organizations denounced Breira, particularly the Jewish Defense League, which led protests outside of Breira's first national convention in Chevy Chase, Maryland on February 20, 1977. Breira continued to receive bad press, which led to their dissolution in 1979.

Extent

7 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of material relating to the organization, positions, activities and contracts of Breira, from 1972-1979. Breira worked to promote discussion among the public about issues primarily concerning contemporary Israeli politics such as the Palestinians, peace, Israeli-Diaspora relations, and alternatives facing the State of Israel.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into six series and arranged alphabetically on the series level:

Physical Location

Located in AJHS New York, NY

Related Material

The Breira Records is one individual collection within the Counter Culture collections located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Arthur Ocean Waskow Papers (P-152), Leonard Fein Papers (P-582), Shira Eve Epstein Papers (P-776), Riv-Ellen Prell Papers (P-795), Ruth Abusch-Magder Papers (P-841), Virginia Levitt Snitow Papers (P-876), Goldie Milgram Papers (P-876), Jack Jacobs Papers (P-1020), Gerald Serotta Papers (P-1023), Jack Nusan Porter Papers (P-1024), Arthur J. Lelyveld Papers (P-1030), Jews for Urban Justice (Washington, D.C.) Records (I-159), Jewish Peace Fellowship Records (I-189), Jewish Student Press Service Records (I-248), American Jewish Alternatives to Zionism (New York, New York) Records (I-326), North American Jewish Students Appeal Records (I-338), Jewish Labor Committee Records (I-377), New Jewish Agenda Records (I-393), Vermont Chapter of the New Jewish Agenda Records (I-449), Jewish Counter Culture Collection (I-504), Trees and Life for Vietnam Records (I-542), Lights in Action Records (I-560), Brit Tzedek v'Shalom/Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace Records (I-587), and portions of the Jewish Student Organizations Collection (I-61).

Processing Information

In 2009, a machine-readable finding aid was converted from a MARC record. In 2016, a box and folder list was generated and converted into EAD by Kevin Schlottmann. In 2017, the collection was rehoused, rearranged, and additional description was added to the finding aid. Original folder titles were retained.