INVENTORY

Sub-series A. Alphabetical. 1914-1965, undated

Scope and Content Note: Rabbi Silver's leadership roles in what were probably the most important of the Zionist organizations - the American Zionist Emergency Council (AZEC), and its successor, the American Zionist Council - are documented in materials located in folders 85-296 and folders 75-84, respectively. Of special importance are the minutes of AZEC (folders 85-91) for the years 1943-1949. Following these minutes, the rest of the AZEC files consist of financial statements, correspondence, reports and publications, and press releases. Subjects include individuals with whom Rabbi Silver corresponded, such as Franklin D. Roosevelt (folder 143), Senator Robert A. Taft (folder 150), Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (folder 154), and Chaim Weizmann (folder 152). Correspondence with individuals may be contained in a separate folder under that person's name, or in general alphabetical files for each year, such as "A-B." Of special note is Rabbi Silver's resignation as chairman of AZEC (December 28, 1944) and his reinstatement (folders 142-143).

Another major Zionist organization represented in Series 1, Sub-series A, is the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) (folders 1768-1934). Rabbi Silver served the ZOA as president in the important post-World War II years and remained active in the organization throughout his career. ZOA records consist of minutes (including those of the National Executive Committee), correspondence, financial reports, publications, Rabbi Silver's notes, memoranda, ZOA reorganization plans, press releases, and conference reports.

Other major Zionist and Jewish organizations in which Rabbi Silver was active are also contained in Series 1, Sub-series A. The Jewish Agency for Palestine (folders 824-968) is one of the most important. As chairman of its American Section, Silver delivered an impassioned speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 1947, as a spokesman for the founding of a Jewish homeland. Jewish Agency records consist of minutes, confidential papers, correspondence, press releases and statements, reports, and publications. Of particular importance are the confidential minutes of the American Section of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine for the years 1947-1949 (folder 882) and statements issued by Rabbi Silver on the recognition of Israel as a state (folder 871). Arrangement is the same as that for other organizations. Other important organizations include the World Zionist Congress (folders 1737-1744), Joint Distribution Committee (folders 1065-1068), Histadrut (folders 716-723), Keren Hayesod (folders 1073-1088), and the Jewish National Fund (folders 1004-1027).

Information about the United Jewish Appeal appears principally under two subject headings: United Jewish Appeal (folders 1470-1484), and United Jewish Appeal, United Palestine Appeal (folders 1485-1668), following the original Temple folder sequence. Arrangement is chronological and then by subject and individual. Materials included are minutes, financial statements, correspondence, bylaws, and correspondence relating to other organizations. There is extensive correspondence with Henry Montor, executive director of the UPA.

Several folders under the United Jewish Appeal subject heading related to the Jewish refugee problem from 1939 to 1941. The National Refugee Service (folder 1571) contains confidential reports on the status of immigrants and refugees from Europe. The sub-heading Emergency Committee of Zionist Affairs (folder 1591) contains minutes on the refugee problem, immigration to Palestine, and the Jewish situation in Europe. The Emergency Committee for Palestine (folder 1550) contains confidential reports and memoranda on conditions for Jews in occupied Poland and Bohemia.

Series 1, Sub-series A also reflects Rabbi Silver's interest in social and political issues, on the national, state, and local levels. A long-time concern of Rabbi Silver's, unemployment insurance, is documented in folders with that heading (folders 1409-1419). These folders chronicle Rabbi Silver's support of the passage of an Ohio state law for unemployment insurance and his appointment in 1931 to the Ohio Commission on Unemployment Insurance (folder 1413). These folders include Rabbi Silver's correspondence with individuals about unemployment insurance, minutes of the Commission, local Cleveland labor conditions, drafts of the proposed law, and articles and other writings by Rabbi Silver about unemployment insurance. On a national level, in 1931 President Herbert Hoover appointed Rabbi Silver to the President's Organization on Unemployment Relief. For information concerning this organization see folders 1420-1421.

Rabbi Silver's support of the labor movement, especially on the local level, is also reflected in the collection. He was a long-time member and supporter of the Consumer's League of Ohio (folders 575-584), a group interested in labor reform issues and legislation. The open shop controversy led him to resign from the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce (folders 492-495) in 1922 because the Chamber favored the open shop plan.

Rabbi Silver was involved in many local Jewish organizations and concerns. He was a founder in 1933 of The League for Human Rights Against Nazism (folders 110-1121). These records chronicle the boycott of German-made goods and include minutes, correspondence, membership lists, and pamphlets and other publications of the League. The League also investigated local and national anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi groups. Rabbi Silver also was a member of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights (folders 1217-1223), a national group. Other local Jewish organizations in which he was an active participant included the Bureau of Jewish Education (folders 354-371), the Cleveland Zionist District (folders 516-530), the Jewish Welfare Federation (folders 1040-1054), the Jewish Welfare Fund (folders 1055-1063), the Jewish Community Council (folders 972-985), and the Jewish Community Federation (folders 986-996).

Rabbi Silver's career in the rabbinate is also reflected in the contents of Series 1, Sub-series A. Congratulations on his graduation from Hebrew Union College and his appointment as rabbi of Temple Leshem Shomayim, Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1915 are included (folders 1699-1701). He maintained close ties to Hebrew Union College throughout his life (folders 660-691). He was an active participant in the Central Conference of American Rabbis his entire life (folders 375-474) and the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (folders 1422-1467). Rabbi Silver was appointed to The Temple-Tifereth Israel, Cleveland, in 1917 (folders 1331-1332). The Temple files (folders 1339-1400) are arranged chronologically and then either under the heading "General" or by a particular subject. Special events, services, anniversaries, and general Temple business correspondence are included, as is correspondence concerning the building of a new temple, dedicated in 1924 (folders 1335-1336). Series 1, Sub-series A contains a great deal of correspondence between Rabbi Silver and prominent national and international figures. Some representative names include John Foster Dulles (folders 610-615), Abba Eban (folders 617-622), Albert Einstein (folders 623-624), Dwight Eisenhower (folders 625-629), John F. Kennedy (folder 1072), Emanuel Neumann (folders 1201-1214), Robert A. Taft (folders 1314-1319), Chaim Weizmann (folders 1686-1693), and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise (folders 1715-1720). Researchers should note, however, that these individual folders often do not contain all of the correspondence to and from a particular individual. Many of the organizational files also include folders of correspondence with these and other prominent individuals, and additional correspondence can be found in other series in the collection.