Jewish law

Eliyahu Guttmacher was a rabbi, Talmudic scholar, mystic, communal leader, and early Zionist. During his lifetime he was known as the Tsadik of Grätz and thousands of Jews flocked to him for blessings and advice. Guttmacher was also known for his support of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer, an early Zionist, and for his extensive collection of funds for institutions in Palestine. The bulk of the collection consists of several thousand kvitlekh (written requests to a rabbi asking for a blessing or advice). The kvitlekh were received from Jews residing in Poland and other, mostly European, countries. They reflect the social history of European Jews in the mid-19th century and relate to financial, medical, and family problems. In addition, the collection contains the following: general correspondence, including inquiries relating to religious matters, family correspondence, legal documents such as court and government papers, bills, certifications by unidentified authors, discussions on Jewish law by unknown authors, amulets, business documents, and receipts for contributions to charitable institutions in Palestine.

The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Esriel Hildesheimer\ and others from various individuals, mostly rabbis in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Palestine, Eastern Europe, and the United States, and institutions, including Akiba Lehren, David Neimann, Simcha Bunem Sofer, Yeshiva Etz-Hayyim, Adolf Jellinek, and the Oesterreichisch- Ungarisch- Israelitische Gemeinde, Jerusalem. Approximately one-half of the correspondence is transcribed.

The Papers of Graenum Berger (1908-1999) document Berger's involvement with Ethiopian Jewry and his efforts to bring about their rescue from Ethiopia through his organization, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ). The Papers also contain materials regarding Berger's other interests-his writings, his travels throughout the world, his community affiliations, his career as a Jewish social work executive, his commitment to Jewish causes, and his commitment to Israel. Also included are personal and biographical materials from his many long-term friendships and associations; correspondence, minutes, reports, clippings, manuscripts, research materials, journal articles, photographs, and publications.

The Guido Kisch Collection documents the life and professional activities of Guido Kisch, teacher, researcher, and scholar in the field of Legal History. It also documents personal and to a lesser degree professional lives of some of the other members of the Kisch family, most notably his brother, Bruno Kisch, a cardiologist, and their father, Alex Kisch, who was a rabbi and a writer. The collection includes brochures, booklets, clippings, correspondence, financial documents, minutes, notes, off prints, photographs, printed materials, and writings.

Contains letters and articles in manuscript to Leeser pertaining to: his work as editor of The Occident, his translation of the Bible and his other literary works; discussions concerning Jewish law, the Reform movement in the United States and in Curaçao; Reform and Orthodox Judaism in Albany, N.Y., Massachusetts Senator Henry Wilson's anti-Semitic comments in the United States Congress; the founding of a synagogue in San Francisco; the condition of Jews and Jewish education in America and in England; equal rights for Jews in Massachusetts and North Carolina; the controversy over the Touro Monument; slavery and the Civil War; and converts to Judaism. Also includes information on Israel Joseph Benjamin's trip in the U.S., 1859-1862; Isaac Mayer Wise; Sabato Morais; a manuscript guidebook on Jewish ritual slaughter written by Moses Julian in Barbados in 1820; Moses Montefiore's report on his mission to Rome on behalf of the Edgardo Mortara affair; articles discussing Christian theology; the Jews in Cochin, India and in China; a Latin preface to Leeser's Hebrew Bible; a Portuguese prayer against the evil eye; and poems on topics of Jewish interest.

Correspondence and other documents collected and written by Hans Bach for the publication of his book about Jacob Bernays and the history of German Jewish intellectual life in the 19th century. Also included are autographs pertaining to Jacob Bernays and materials about his father, Rabbi Chacham Isaac Bernays.

This collections contains letters and cards from 57 correspondents, including Marcus Benedict, Martin Buber, Heinrich Graetz, Paul Heyse, and others.

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.

This collection contains correspondence and other materials related to the Braun-Vogelstein family.

The Leo Breslauer Collection documents the professional career of Rabbi Leo Breslauer, and to a smaller extent, his personal life, especially in relation to his and his family’s departure from Germany. Prominent topics include his rabbinical work at congregations in Fürth, Germany and in New York City, his writings, and his thoughts on Zionism.

Lectures; sermons; clippings; photos; correspondence.

Sermons (over six hundred), 1860-1918, organized chronologically and given by Guedemann on Sabbaths, holidays, and other occasions, including confirmations, weddings, funerals, and the Kaiser's birthday

This collection contains the personal and professional papers of rabbi, Hebrew scholar, author, and editor Israel Elfenbein. These materials include correspondence with and relating to congregations, Hebrew periodicals, organizations, Elfenbein’s writings, personal correspondence, sermons, clippings, and manuscripts by Elfenbein and by other writers.

The core of the collection is a compilation of letters of the Salomonsohn family, mostly surrounding Gedalja Salomonsohn's untimely death. Correspondents include Gedalja Salomonsohn, his wife, Ernestine Salomonsohn, his parents, Rabbi Schachne and Rachel, and others. Also included are essays and letters by Rabbi Schachne and others on religious law, as well as documents, translations of twelve letters into English and German, a family tree compiled from the information in the letters, and a thorough summary description of the collection.

This collection is primarily comprised of administrative materials, journal issues, editorial content, and interviews. Interviews are transcribed for inclusion in editorial content. The collection was pre-arranged by the organization prior to donation.

The complete run of Sh'ma is available via our shared digital asset management and preservation system. Links to the digitized serial can be found in two parts. For 1970-2002, please see https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10853379. For 2002-2019, please see https://digipres.cjh.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE10940070.

While our collection is arranged archivally in its original order, Stanford's Berman Jewish Policy Archive offers the ability to search the Sh’ma Journal database by article title, author, or keywords. Cross referencing these two collections increases discoverability and makes the Sh’ma collection more accessible to all users.

Each entry in Stanford’s database contains a selection of keywords, or “topics”. A keyword search will typically yield a range of files within the scope of your chosen topic. For example: entering “kosher” into the search bar will retrieve any files containing “kosher” as a topic, as well as files containing shared keywords such as “food,” “Jewish law,” and “tradition”. The ability to cast a wider net allows for the discovery of more resources and can be particularly helpful when conducting preliminary research.

The Sh’ma Journal collection at AJHS allows the user to browse the journal’s complete run in chronological order. Each volume has been digitized as a single entity and can be accessed by issue number, rather than individual articles. Once the user has identified a relevant article through a keyword search in the Stanford database, they can then locate the complete publication in the AJHS collection and continue their research from there. Likewise, the user might identify an article or topic of interest within the AJHS collection and then utilize the Stanford database to locate related articles through a keyword search.

Click here to browse the Sh'ma Collection hosted by the Berman Jewish Policy Archive

This collection documents the genealogical research of the lawyer Walther Meyer. Among the many families mentioned here are branches of the Meyer, Eger, Oppenheimer, Borchardt, Neufeld, Ballin, Wertheimer, and Wallach families. Material on them includes many drafts of family trees as well as exchanges of genealogical research correspondence. This collection also contains official decrees and announcements pertaining to the Jewish communities of Hannover from the 1800s.