Questionnaires

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.

The Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA), formerly known as the American Association for Jewish Education, was founded in 1939. The Association promotes and supports Jewish education in communities throughout the United States and Canada by supplying studies of Jewish education, developing supplementary educational materials, and collaborating with Jewish organizations. This collection primarily contains the results of surveys and consequent reports, in addition to some correspondence, meeting minutes, and newsletters of the administration. Somewhat unrelated, the Jewish Media Services's files on films and filmmakers make up the last series of this collection, as JESNA took over some of the responsibilities of this organization in the early 1990s.