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U of M acquires Adath Jeshurun Congregation records

By September 3, 2014September 16th, 2023No Comments
Rabbi C. David Matt's wedding in 1913

Rabbi C. David Matt’s wedding in 1913

The Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at the University of Minnesota has recently acquired the Adath Jeshurun Congregation records.

Comprised of more than 96 cubic feet worth of administrative materials, this collection is now the largest and most comprehensive archival collection of a Jewish congregation in the state. The materials have already been processed and are available immediately to researchers.

About the Adath Jeshurun Congregation

As the first Conservative congregation west of the Mississippi River, Adath Jeshurun Congregation was founded in 1884 by a group of 15 European Jews new to the Minneapolis area. Through the years the congregation was headed by influential rabbis, including Rabbi Albert Gordon, who created a lecture series that drew national speakers; he himself had a weekly radio show broadcast to 27 different states.

In 1976, Rabbi Goodman help to form the Chevra Kavod Hamet, a Jewish burial society that emphasized a return to traditional Jewish burial practices, which became influential nationwide. The congregation’s current Senior Rabbi, Harold J. Kravitz, began as Associate Rabbi in 1987, and in 2011 oversaw Adath Jeshurun’s merger with B’nai Emet Synagogue, another local congregation which was begun by Romanian Jews in 1889.

About the Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

The Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives contain important archival holdings chronicling Jewish history, communities, religion, and culture in the Upper Midwest region. The collection grew from the efforts of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, who donated the entire collection to the University of Minnesota in 2012. Located at the University of Minnesota’s Elmer L. Andersen Library, the archives are available for personal and scholarly research as well as educational use.

To make an appointment to view the materials, please contact Kate Dietrick, assistant archivist, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, at 612-625-0192 or by email at diet0134@umn.edu.

Mark Engebretson

Author Mark Engebretson

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