Leo Breslauer Collection

The Leo Breslauer Collection contains the papers of this rabbi, including both professional and personal papers. Most of the collection focuses on his rabbinical work, especially at his congregations in Fürth and Washington Heights. Other prominent topics in this collection are the fate of the Fürth Jewish community during the Holocaust and discussion of the Orthodox Jewish stance against the creation of the modern country of Israel. The collection includes correspondence, manuscripts and notes, official documents, educational and professional papers, documentation from or about the congregations in Fürth and Washington Heights, photographs, and a large amount of published materials.

Several organizations in this collection have varying spelling among the papers in the collection, reflected in this finding aid. Folder titles will keep the spelling used in the documents inside them, while the narrative notes and titles use the following forms of names. The congregation led by Leo Breslauer in Washington Heights was variably spelled Kehilath Yaakov, Kehillath Yaakov and K’hilas Yaakov; in the notes of this finding aid the first spelling will be used. The organization Agudat Israel is also spelled Agudas Israel, Agudath Israel, and Agudah Israel among the papers of this collection; in the notes of this finding aid, Agudat Israel will be used. The organization Israel Am Hatora is spelled Israel Am HaTorah in this finding aid.

Documentation of Leo Breslauer’s work as a rabbi will be found in many areas of this collection. Documents that pertain to his education and early work will be found in Series I, including copies of his educational certificates, including his certificate of rabbinical ordination from the Rabbiner-Seminar in Berlin. Series II holds the papers of the two congregations he led in Fürth and Washington Heights, in Subseries 1 and Subseries 2, respectively. Papers related to these congregations include correspondence, manuscripts and drafts, notes, teaching materials, publications, and reports, among other papers. Many of the papers from his time as rabbi in Fürth relate to Jewish law regarding such topics as food preparation or mikveh, among others. Papers that describe the history of the Fürth Jewish community and the mistreatment of community members by the Nazis during the 1930s, are also present. The papers from his time as rabbi of Kehilath Yaakov include letters from men serving in the U.S. Army, documents about the organization Israel am HaTorah, and documents related to the congregation’s newsletter Maurosho. Copies of issues of the newsletters Maurosho and Am HaTorah will be found among the many publications of Series IV, as will some publications relating to the Fürth Jewish community. Notable among the papers of Kehilath Yaakov in Series II is a notebook that records deaths and marriages of congregants, with some notes for talks given at funerals and weddings. Series II additionally holds documents about the organization Agudat Israel, in which Leo Breslauer was active; Series IV includes teaching materials for leaders in this organization.

Series I contains the personal papers of Leo Breslauer and his immediate family members. Here will be found official documents, such as passports for Leo Breslauer and his wife Erna, along with a family register and family correspondence. Some of the family correspondence relates to the search for separated family members during the 1940s, while some document the Breslauers’ escape from Germany to the United States. Several folders relate to Leo Breslauer’s health and restitution for its loss. A number of unidentified photographs are also in this series.

Series III holds examples of Leo Breslauer’s writing and assembled research. Included are copies of his dissertation as well as drafts of writings about Jewish history, theological topics, and research and writings related to Zionism and Israel. This series includes many notes and notebooks, including a box of index cards.

Series IV consists of the collection’s many publications, books, and newspaper clippings and newspapers.