AGUDATH HARABONIM - UNION OF ORTHODOX RABBIS. Ledger recording meetings held during the War (One), Post-war years and Prohibition era

(AMERICAN JUDAICA)

New York

1916-1923

Clear Ashkenazi rabbinic script

Ledger recording detailed discussions, much of great historical interest. The Agudath Harabonim-Union of Orthodox Rabbis, rabbinical organization in New York, played a pivotal role in a great many religious and social issues facing American Jewry. Delineated are the protocols of biannual meetings specifying activities and committees formed. Among a multiplicity of issues, discussions include: Support of Yeshiva Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan; the Central Relief Fund; Ezrath Torah and the Joint Distribution Committee concerning ways to assist European and Palestinian Jewries suffering from the ravages of war; concern for the Jews of Ethiopia and Zionist affairs. Political activities in New York State in relation to opposition to the performance of autopsies, the Sabbath Bill and the Bible Bill. Bernard Revel is especially cited for his work in this regard in Albany. Also lobbying efforts in Washington over the strangled economic situation of European Jewry; also alleviating the condition of Jews in the US military. Among local issues discussed: Education, the publication of the Talmud in America; the newspaper Der Yid; the building of a Mikvah; the opposition to Shochtim forming a trade union and the Tailinger-Elfensein affair. Various inter-rabbinical intrigues and complaints, especially concerning Kashruth supervision and the production of wine during Prohibition (California was seen as more trustworthy than the New York manufacturers)