Holidays

The collection consists of materials relating to Jewish religious life in Europe from the 1830s to the 1930s. Topics include: marriages, births, divorces, deaths, bar mitzvahs, holidays, the Sabbath, daily customs, ritual slaughter (shehitah), ritual baths, mezuzahs, prayers, rabbis. Items include: marriage contracts, divorce deeds, wedding invitations, birth announcements, bar mitzvah speeches, New Year's cards, correspondence, photographs.

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 contains various personal documents of Wilhelm Buchheim and numerous lectures he gave in English and German. Lectures in folder 2 include English language (held in London) "Does Anti-Semitism Affect the Character of the Jews?" and "Education in Germany" . Germany language lectures include "Das Jüdische Kind und seine Umwelt" "Apologetische Fragen im Religionsunterricht" "Die Neuordnung der Lehrerbildung." Folder 3 contains clippings, often on pedagogical topics, with some articles by Buchheim, others by Gustav Krojanker. The Jewish newspapers include "Gemeindeblatt Essen", "Jüdische Schulzeitung" and "Blätter fuer Erziehung und Unterricht."