Conservative Judaism

Collection consists of articles written by and about Levinthal, resolutions and testimonials for his fiftieth and ninetieth birthday and thirty-five years of service to Brooklyn Jewish Center, obituaries, and photographs. The articles written by Levinthal consist of contributions he made to the Brooklyn Jewish Center Review, and a dedication and speech that was published as part of the twenty-fifth anniversary book of the Brooklyn Jewish Center. The collection also includes articles concerning his daughter Helen Hadassah Levinthal Lyons, who was the first woman to complete a rabbinical curriculum at a Jewish theological institution. Lyons received her Masters of Hebrew Literature from the Jewish Institute of Religion. Correspondence from Stephen S. Wise thanking her for donations and a birthday gift are enclosed.

This collection mostly documents the professional career of Rabbi Joseph Perles, one of the first rabbis of the Conservative Judaism movement. As a rabbi, he strengthened and organized the Jewish community of Munich during his posting there from 1871-1894. The collection focuses on his religious writings, as well as his writings on Biblical archaeology, rabbinical philology, and folklore. A number of his sermons are included. There is a large body of correspondence from fellow rabbis and academic peers across Europe. Papers from the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau include a statute of the year 1854, a yearly report from 1875, and correspondence concerning nomination of directors for the seminary in 1875 and 1879.

Various materials from and about the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau, including manuscripts, publications and photographs.

The Marjorie Goldwasser Wyler Papers document the work of Marjorie Wyler throughout her fifty-five-years as the Director of Public Relations for the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). The collection also details Wyler’s volunteer work, both before and after retirement, as well as her personal writings and correspondence. The bulk of these materials relate directly to Wyler’s time as Executive Producer of the Eternal Light program from 1944 to 1993. Also of note is a substantial collection of correspondence between Wyler and Dr. Louis Finkelstein, Chancellor of the JTS from 1940 to 1972.

Series I contains a small selection of personal items including correspondence, bibliographic materials, photographs, and a childhood yearbook.

Series II is comprised of documents relating to Wyler’s work at the JTS and other religious organizations. These materials include broadcast catalogues, program ideas and proposals, professional correspondence, and various writings.

The Milton Steinberg (1903-1950) Papers documents the personal and intellectual life of the American author, philosopher, rabbi, teacher, and theologian. The collection contains correspondence, writings, photographs, audio recordings, and memorabilia. In addition to numerous articles, he authored several books including, The Making of the Modern Jew (1934), As A Driven Leaf (1939), A Partisan Guide to the Jewish Problem (1945), Basic Judaism (1947), A Believing Jew (1951), Anatomy of Faith (1960), and A Prophet’s Wife (2010). In a professional career that lasted a little over twenty years, he served as rabbi at three synagogues, primarily at the Park Avenue Synagogue. In addition, he was active in the community at large, and worked with many Jewish community and civic organizations. As a disciple of Mordecai Kaplan, he and others helped to establish the Reconstructionist movement of American Jewry.

This collection contains material relating to Norman Salit's activities with various organizations, including the Synagogue Council of America, the Rabbinical Assembly of America, the Wartime Emergency Commission for Conservative Judaism, the Boy Scouts of America, the Jewish Education Committee, the American Child Guidance Foundation, Religion in American Life, the Valley Forge Foundation, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and the National Community Relations Advisory Council. There are also speeches, writings, sermons, items related to Sharit's legal work and Zionist activities, as well as some letters from Mordecai Kaplan.

Spanning from its inception and incorporation in 1925 to its culmination in 2002, the Queens Jewish Center collection highlights this congregation's wide-range of religiously oriented and secular educational activities, ceremonies, developments, events, and programs. Predominant in this collection are the reports, bulletins, financial, legal and property records, and meeting minutes. In addition, books, clippings, correspondence, pamphlets, programs, publications, negatives photographs are also contained with in this collections.

The Robert Rifkind Papers document the Jewish philanthropic and lobbying activities of Robert Singer Rifkind. Robert Rifkind was born in New York City in 1936 and became a partner at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine and Moore in 1971. He served on the boards of many Jewish philanthropic and activist organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies. The collection includes correspondence, photographs and publications from Rifkind’s involvement in these and other organizations, primarily dating from the 1980s to the 2010s.

This Collection documents the lifespan (1926-1982, 1990-1992, 1994) and activities of the joint Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish communities' efforts in coordinating Jewish life and activities in America. The collection contains correspondence, photographs, and ephemera including photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., Edward Kennedy, and Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, and Johnson, along with Eleanor Roosevelt. Of particular interest is correspondence and photographs documenting the removal, reconsecration, or burial of ritual Synagogue items for repatriation from Europe to the U.S. and South America after WWII; also contains information on damaged synagogues in France.