Orthodox Judaism

This collection contains records of the German-Jewish Orthodox Congregation Ohav Sholaum of Washington Heights, New York, such as by-laws, correspondence of its long-time rabbi, Ralph Neuhaus, and documents relating to its charitable organization Gemiluth Chessed of Washington Heights. It also includes sheet music used by the congregation's choir.

The collection contains various documents pertaining to research conducted by Esriel Hildesheimer and comprises 14 folders.

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 Ferdinand and Emmy Lichter Family collection holds documents and personal as well as official correspondence of family members, friends, acquaintances, and public and private institutions. Prominent topics include refuge and refugee relief for the Lichters and the communication between family members describing their health, environment etc. in various refugee camps. The collection comprises vital documents, official certificates, emigration papers, correspondence, postcards, and some notes.

The Germany (Vilna Archives) collection contains materials of diverse provenances pertaining to Jewish life in Germany and, to a much lesser extent, other German-speaking areas of central Europe (Austria, Bohemia, Moravia), from the 16th century until the beginning of the Second World War. It includes correspondence, financial records, official documents, business records, writings, minutes, reports, book catalogs, printed ephemera, occasional clippings, and a handful of photographs. A little more than 60% of the collection comprises personal and family papers, or individual items of correspondence (approximately 140 different name headings); and a little over 20%, portions of the records of the Jewish communities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt am Main, Filehne (Wieleń), Raschkow (Raszków), and Rybnik. The remainder of the collection consists of various printed ephemera and scattered records related to Jewish communities, organizations, or firms, including publishers and booksellers. Also included are some 15 individual older items dating from the mid 16th to the early decades of the 19th century, including Schutzbriefe (residence permits), petitions, and attestations, as well as a mohel book (registry of circumcisions). Especially noteworthy among the personal papers are those of art dealer Josef Sandel, comparative law scholar Ernst Rabel, the Henschel brothers (artists), writer and social activist Lina Morgenstern, engineer Erich Kempinski, and writer and editor Julius Rodenberg. The several rabbis represented include Josef Jona Horovitz, of Hunsdorf (Huncovce) and Frankfurt am Main; Salomon Breuer and Isidor Friedmann, both of Frankfurt am Main; and Wolf Landau, of Dresden.

The file contains various materials pertaining to the Würzburger family of Heilbronn, collected by Hannah Bachrach (née Würzburger), and comprises two folders.

Folder 1 contains Ignaz Ziegler's autobiographical text "Der Roman meines Lebens" (typescript with handwritten notes, additions, and corrections, 24+2 pp.).

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.

Photos of Joseph Carlebach and the synagogue in Altona; obituary; inventory list for the microfilmed "Joseph Carlebach Archiv" (assembled by Mirjam Gillis-Carlebach, 26 p.); complete "Joseph Carlebach Archive" on microfilm; video tape of family history of the Carlebach family; J. Bamberger's recollections of Dr. Josef Carlebach

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

The Julius and Elisabeth Hirsch Collection holds the papers of this couple, with much of the collection consisting of family correspondence. Prominent subjects include the immigration of family members and genealogy of the family. In addition to extensive correspondence and family trees the collection includes notebooks, essays and articles, newspaper clippings, photographs, early drafts of Julius Hirsch's family memoir, and research notes.

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.

Various materials pertaining to Mirjam Steinberger, née Kugelmann’s early years in Berlin.

This collection documents the lives of members of the Hildesheimer and Halberstadt (later Halden) families, including the Orthodox rabbi Israel Hildesheimer. It largely consists of official documents of family members, but also holds manuscripts, correspondence, Haggadahs, and a cookbook. Of particular interest may be the detailed manuscripts by family members concerning a visit to Palestine in 1933 and childhood memories of life in a rabbinical family in Eisenstadt.

The first folder contains a two part typescript by Salomon Samuel, a reflection on the period of Jewish emancipation (5600-5700, i.e. circa 1840 to 1938) titled "5600-5700. Rueckblick auf ein Jahrhundert juedischer Weltenaera". In the first part (27 pp.) Samuel describes the historical events from the so called "Damascus affair" (1840) to the Évian Conference (1938), in the second part titled "Religioese und geistesgeschichtliche Entwicklung" (179 pp.) the Jewish religious and intellectual developments in the Era of emancipation.

The second folder contains a photocopied typescript titled "Einfuehrung", the introduction to Samuel's "Ein Lehrbuch juedischer Religion" (published in 1930) and a biographical article by Samuel's son Jochanan Samuel (1901-1976) titled "Rabbiner Dr. Salomon Samuel" published in: Muenster am Hellweg. 6/9 (June, 1978). pp. 81-88.

Vital documents, papers, and correspondence of the family of Simon May (1816-1866, Hamburg), as well as religious treatise on Orthodox Judaism by Simon May.

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.

Most of this collection consists of photocopies of draft versions of Leo Trepp's historical accounts of German Jewish communities.