374 American Archivist / Vol. 57 / Spring 1994

Project Report Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021

Toward the Documentation of Conservative

JACK WERTHEIMER, DEBRA BERNHARDT, and JULIE MILLER

Abstract: The Ratner Center for the Study of at the Jewish Theo- logical Seminary of America has embarked on a program to collect and accession the historical records of the Conservative movement, the largest religious movement of syn- agogue attenders in the United States. With funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the center has completed a first phase of acces- sioning the records of , , and the central educational institution of the movement. It has also developed a documentation strategy that will shape its programs into the next century.

About the authors: Jack Wertheimer is the Joseph and Martha Mendelson Professor of American Jewish History and director of the Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Debra Bernhardt is the head of Archival Collections at New York University, from which she also holds a Ph.D. in history. She has worked on documentation strategies for labor records in the states of New York and Ohio. Julie Miller is the archivist of the Ratner Center at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. She holds an MLS from the Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science and is working on a Ph.D. in history at the Graduate School of the City University of New York. Toward the Documentation of Conservative Judaism 375

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM CONSTITUTES the izing force, JTS is regarded as the foun- largest denomination of American af- tainhead of Conservative Judaism. filiated with a . The history of The history of Conservative Judaism as this movement is conventionally dated to a movement begins in earnest in the first the founding of the Jewish Theological two decades of the twentieth century. Dur-

Seminary of America in 1886 as the central ing this period, the small number of con- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 educational institution for the training of gregations that had founded JTS, mainly rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal synagogues of Sephardic (Iberian Jews and workers for Conservative synagogues. In their descendants) and Central European conjunction with the centennial celebration transplantation, were augmented by con- of the seminary in 1986, plans were laid to gregations with a Jewish constituency from gather for the first time in a systematic Eastern Europe. The latter population con- fashion the historical records of the Con- stituted the vast majority of American servative movement—its major institu- Jewry after the turn of the century, and as tional arms, its congregations, and its these Jews from Eastern Europe American- rabbinic and lay leaders. First known as the ized—and especially as their children came Archives of Conservative Judaism, this of age—Conservative Judaism drew on a project was renamed the Ratner Center for vast population of upwardly mobile Jews. the Study of Conservative Judaism in The growth in member congregations of 1989. Its mandate has been to document the United Synagogue tells much of the the history and contemporary development story: in 1913, twenty-two congregations of the Conservative movement over the founded the United Synagogue; a decade course of more than a century. later, United Synagogue affiliates num- bered 150 congregations; and by 1929, there were 229 affiliates. The greatest growth came after the Second World War History of the Conservative Movement when affiliation rose from approximately 350 congregations in 1945 to more than In response to the radical religious ori- 800 two decades later. In the two-year pe- entation taken by the Reform movement's riod from 1955 to 1957, 131 new congre- Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, then gations joined the United Synagogue. the only rabbinical seminary in the United During the middle decades of the twenti- States, rabbis with a more traditional ori- eth century, the children and grandchil- entation banded together in 1886 to estab- dren of East European immigrants lish the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) transformed the Conservative movement in New York as a counterrabbinical semi- into the largest religious denomination in nary. The manner in which JTS was American Judaism. founded was to shape the internal dynam- ics of the Conservative movement for the The Conservative movement added sev- next century. First came the seminary, eral major arms to serve the multiple needs which in time created other movement of this vast population of Jews. JTS itself arms—an alumni association in 1901, expanded geographically by establishing which was to become the organization of its West Coast affiliate, the University of the Conservative rabbinate, the Rabbinical Judaism, in Los Angeles in 1948 and a Assembly (RA); an organization of congre- school in a decade later. It also gations, the United Synagogue of America, broadened its own educational activities in founded in 1913; and then a series of other the postwar era. Its collection of Judaica auxiliary arms, all founded at the initiative objects and art was moved and became the of JTS. Due to its central role as an organ- nucleus of the Jewish Museum on "mu- 376 American Archivist/ Spring 1994

seum mile" on the East Side of upper JTS founded the Seminario Rabbinico La- Manhattan. It founded a network of seven tinoamericano in Buenos Aires to train Ramah camps to offer intensive Jewish liv- Conservative rabbis for Latin American ing during the summers. And it established congregations. New programs in the for- a day-school network now encompassing mer Soviet Union and in Europe round out some 75 affiliated schools known as the present-day efforts of the Conservative Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 Schechter Day Schools. Within movement to enhance its role as an inter- the Seminary, a Melton Center for Jewish national Jewish movement. Education was formed to provide auricular Remarkably, the history and develop- materials to Conservative schools. ment of this major Jewish religious move- Other movement arms expanded their ment, the largest movement in American activities as well. The United Synagogue Judaism, remains largely unwritten. Even developed young adult and youth depart- the history of JTS has not been examined ments in the early decades of the twentieth by scholars despite the longevity of the in- century. In time, the United Synagogue ex- stitution and the impact it has had on panded its educational department so it American and, indeed, world Jewry. would directly supervise and offer guid- Among the few book-length works on the ance to supplementary school programs subject are The Emergence of Conservative available in virtually every Conservative Judaism,1 a history of the Conservative synagogue. The Women's League for movement in the nineteenth century by Conservative Judaism, the United Syna- Moshe Davis, and Marshall Sklare's Con- gogue's women's auxiliary, became a sep- servative Judaism: An American Religious arate body that assumed prime responsi- Movement,2 a sociological study of Con- bility for fund raising on behalf of Jewish servative Judaism just as it was poised for education. The league also works to edu- its greatest growth in the 1950s. Several cate its own members, even as it devotes important essays address aspects of the its primary attention to fund raising for theme. J. Karp has written two JTS. In the 1940s, a Federation of Jewish essays on the Conservative movement and Men's Clubs was created both to offer fel- the Conservative rabbinate.3 For a histori- lowship to male members of congrega- cal overview of the Conservative syna- tions and to promote . gogue, there is an essay by Jack And still other agencies were established Wertheimer in The American Synagogue; by cantors, Jewish educators, and syna- A Sanctuary Transformed* a volume he gogue administrators to serve the needs of edited. And there are some essays on Camp professionals working in Conservative synagogues. The Conservative movement has also 'Moshe Davis, The Emergence of Conservative Ju- expanded beyond the United States. In daism (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of Canada, congregations have long been America, 1964). members of the United Synagogue, as rab- 2Marshall Sklare, Conservative Judaism: An Amer- ican Religious Movement (Glencoe, 111.: Free Press, bis have been of the . 1953). To increase the geographic scope of its ac- 'Abraham J. Karp, "A Century of Conservative Ju- tivities, the Conservative movement daism in the United States," American Jewish Year- founded the World Council of Synagogues book 86 (1986): 3-61; and "The Conservative —'Dissatisfied but not Unhappy,'" American in 1957. Simultaneously, JTS built a cam- Jewish Archives 35 (November 1983): 188-262. pus in Jerusalem, which eventually would "Jack Wertheimer, "The Conservative Syna- become the nucleus for the Masorti move- gogue," in The American Synagogue: A Sanctuary Transformed, edited by Jack Wertheimer (New York: ment in . A rabbinical alumnus of Cambridge University Press, 1987), 111-49. Toward the Documentation of Conservative Judaism 377

Ramah in The Ramah Experience,5 edited mentation strategy, to think through the by G. Rosenfeld and Sylvia Ettenberg. complexities of documentation. To foster further research, the Ratner The Status of Documentation on the Center seeks to document the full range of Conservative Movement Conservative activities, both by acquiring

unprocessed, previously inaccessible col- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 The Ratner Center for the Study of Con- lections in private and institutional hands, servative Judaism was established in 1985 and by serving as a clearinghouse of infor- for the dual purposes of collecting the his- mation on the location of material on the torical records of the Conservative move- Conservative movement preserved in other ment and encouraging scholars to use those archives. As a first step, the center has sur- records to write the history of the Conser- veyed existing archival repositories for any vative movement. To date, the center has holdings that document the history of Con- acquired some seventy-five rabbinic collec- servative Judaism. tions and twenty-five congregational col- The paucity of historical writing reflects, lections, and it has organized the historical in part, the inaccessibility of archival ma- records of the Jewish Theological Semi- terials documenting the movement's past. nary of America through a grant from the With NHPRC funding, the Ratner Center's National Historical Publications and Re- project has addressed this problem by cords Commission (NHPRC). This grant has enabled the Ratner Center • processing historical records, includ- to organize its work systematically and ing major portions of the Jewish The- plan for future programs. First, it made it ological Seminary's records. possible to hire a full-time project archi- • processing the records of rabbis and vist, whose salary was eventually assumed congregations already acquired by the by the Ratner Center. Second, the grant en- Ratner Center. abled the Ratner Center to begin entering • gathering information about records records into RLIN, bringing our descrip- of the Conservative Movement in tions into conformity with accepted archi- other repositories. val standards. Third, the grant enabled us to process the bulk of the historical records The project took the following steps to of the Jewish Theological Seminary of gather information and assess the adequacy America from the early years until the end of documentation on the Conservative of the administration of President Louis movement: Finkelstein in 1972. Fourth, the grant cov- ered costs for instituting a records manage- 1. Project staff collected information ment program at JTS, which will facilitate about the scope and content of the future preservation efforts. And fifth, the records of six of the "arms" of the grant helped us plan a documentation strat- movement: the United Synagogue egy for future acquisitions. We were able for Conservative Judaism, the Wom- to bring together a team of archivists with en's League for Conservative Juda- Helen Samuels, our consultant on docu- ism, the National Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs, , the Federation of Synagogues Ad- ministrators, and the Masorti move- 5Sylvia C. Ettenberg and Geraldine Rosenfeld, eds., ment in Israel. Staff members de- The Ramah Experience: Community and Commitment scribed well over 400 cubic feet of (New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of Amer- ica, 1989). records through on-site inventories. 378 American Archivist / Spring 1994

2. Project archivist Julie Miller con- • The role of the Conservative rabbi be- ducted a mail and telephone survey yond the synagogue, as, for example, of repositories likely to contain col- in interfaith work, the civil rights lections bearing on the history of the struggle, chaplaincy in the military, Conservative movement. We now civic work, and education.

have intellectual control over perti- • The shifting focus of synagogue life, Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 nent material in twenty-eight archi- such as efforts to create synagogue- val repositories throughout the based havurot (fellowships). country. • Information on controversial issues 3. The Ratner Center sent a question- that divided Jews, such as liturgical naire to more than 1,200 Conserva- reforms, changes in seating patterns, tive rabbis, soliciting information and the social agenda of congrega- about their own papers, congrega- tions. tional records, and papers of syna- • Jewish education in America. This is gogue functionaries, such as cantors a woefully neglected topic. As JTS and individuals active in organiza- embarks on an effort to build a pro- tional activities of the Conservative fessional school of education, a cadre movement. Approximately 150 com- of graduate students will be able to pleted questionnaires were returned, write such a history if we collect the and they have served as important records of synagogue schools, com- leads to material in private hands. munity day schools, summer camps, and adult education and other similar The surveys conducted by Ratner Center programs. We are thus seeking the pa- staff have yielded vital and previously in- pers of teachers and the records of accessible information on the status and camps, even as we encourage congre- whereabouts of collections pertaining to gations to give us their school's pa- the Conservative movement. Through our pers. research, we have uncovered privately held • The changing role of women in relig- papers that are in danger of disappearance, ious life, including material docu- and we now have far more systematic in- menting the introduction of the bat formation on repositories and their hold- mitzvah ceremony for girls coming of ings. This enables the Ratner Center to age, discussions of women's partici- assist researchers more concretely. It has pation in board and religious matters also become evident through our survey within the congregation, and other work that existing collections are not con- such issues. sistently accessioned, processed, or in- • Program materials created by syna- cluded in bibliographic databases to gogues to integrate young people, sin- facilitate access and research use. Further- gles, divorced people, converts, and more, as we learned from our consultations intermarried couples. We need to doc- with Helen W. Samuels, large areas of ument what synagogues have done movement history and function remain un- and how these programs have been derdocumented. Among the major topics conceived. underrepresented in collections document- • Materials on the role of art and music ing the Conservative movement are the fol- in synagogue life, including tapes, lowing: films, photographs, and other such re- • Religious life and social activities in cords. The purpose is to get at popular Jewish communities of different sizes. religion by looking at formal and in- Toward the Documentation of Conservative Judaism 379

formal activities fostering artistic cre- transfer of historically significant ativity. material to the Ratner Center or an- • Documents on the role of the syna- other appropriate repository. gogue in American public life. This 3. Prepare archival and records man- includes program materials on the agement guidelines for congrega-

participation of the congregation in tions and conduct training work- Downloaded from http://meridian.allenpress.com/american-archivist/article-pdf/57/2/374/2748649/aarc_57_2_h2752rk3173015u4.pdf by guest on 01 October 2021 activities that transcend the congre- shops on a regional basis. Part of gation, both for Jewish causes such as this step would be to encourage syn- support for Israel and lobbying for agogues to place historical records in Soviet Jewry and for general com- local repositories, with the Ratner munal causes such as food and shelter Center serving as a clearinghouse of for the homeless, educational activi- information leading to appropriate ties about religion geared to non- repositories. Jews, and civil rights concerns. 4. Follow up repository-level surveys • Data that would permit follow-up with a survey at the collection level. studies on the efficacy of educational This might be accomplished as a programs. mail survey tied into basic archival description workshops. For those re- Recommendations to Strengthen positories not already reporting to Documentation RLIN, OCLC, orNUCMC, standard- ize reporting in the MARC-AMC Borrowing from the experiences of the format so information can be entered Evangelical Archives Conference, Ar- in the JTS's on-line catalog (known chives of Religious Institutions, and other as ALEPH). A printed guide to Con- projects, a documentation strategy to pre- servative movement sources could serve the historical records of the Conser- then be generated from MARC en- vative movement must include the tries. following actions: 5. On a periodic basis, assemble the 1. Complete surveys of the records of documentation group to reassess the the remaining institutional "arms" status of documentation, hone the of the movement. These would in- contours of "desired" documenta- clude the Rabbinical Assembly, Jew- tion, and plan cooperative efforts to ish Educators Assembly, World fill gaps, whether by creating oral Council of Synagogues, Movement histories or other kinds of records. to Reaffirm Conservative Such cooperation is vital because it (MERCAZ), Association of Solomon has become abundantly clear during Schechter Schools, United Syna- the process of preparing this docu- gogue Youth, and Cantors Assembly. mentation strategy that the entire net- 2. Train archivists/records managers in work of Jewish archives in the each of the affiliated institutions. United States needs better coordina- They could then be responsible for tion. The work of the Ratner Center the care and maintenance of their re- in documenting Conservative Juda- cords and could either establish in- ism would benefit from such national ternal archives or oversee the timely coordination.