Military chaplains

The collection documents the National Jewish Welfare Board's (JWB) evolution from an organization founded in 1917 to provide support for soldiers in times of war to an agency involved in all aspects of Jewish life both in the United States and abroad. In 1990 JWB recreated itself as the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America.

The collection consists mainly of minutes, surveys, reports, photographs, and correspondence of both JWB personnel and U.S. military chaplains, directed toward or concerned with the Jewish men in the Armed Forces.

The material in this collection covers such topics as: holiday arrangements (primarily the High Holy Days and Passover), food needs, religious services, furloughs, prayerbooks; budgeting and staffing; registration and marking of Jewish graves; anti-Semitism in the military; the general problems of Kashruth; communication between the men and their families; and general recreation and entertainment.

Collection documents Rabbi Harry Tarlow's career as Rabbi of Temple Emanu-El in Reno, Nevada. Rabbi Tarlow may have been the first permanent Rabbi in the State of Nevada. Contains copies of Rabbi Tarlow's Rabbinical diploma from Rav Kook, Chief Rabbi of Israel; information concerning Rabbi Tarlow's birthplace in Krosniewice, Poland; and his stay in Israel before coming to the United States in 1930. Includes Pearl and Harry Tarlow's citizenship certificates, and letters of gratitude from various officials in Reno and elsewhere for his work as Rabbi of Emanu-El and as Chaplain of Reno Army Air Base during World War II.