TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Organization

Arrangement

Restrictions

Related Material

Administrative Information

Series A: General Files. 1898-1938.

A Finding Aid to the 

Ismar Elbogen Papers

Manuscript Collection No. 110.

1898-1938 

Biographical Sketch

Ismar Elbogen was born in Schidlberg, Posen on 1 September 1874. He received his Ph.D. after attending both Breslau University and the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. From 1899-1902, Elbogen served as a lecturer in history and Bible exegesis for the Collegio Rabbinico Italiano, in Florence, Italy.

In 1904, Elbogen returned to Berlin to become professor of history and Bible exegesis at the Höchschule für die Wissenschaft des Judentums. The Höchschule was one of the most well-known and respected rabinnical training schools in Europe. In 1919, Elbogen was given the title of professor by the Prussian government. Elbogen observed the rise of anti-Semitism in his native land and in 1931 wrote a letter to a national conference of Jewish leaders describing the discrimination and subjugation of Jews. He sent his children away- his daughter to Palestine and his son to the United States. Elbogen himself left Germany in 1938 with a joint appointment to four United States Jewish universities (Dropsie College, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion, Jewish Theological Seminary), acknowledging that Jewish culture was no longer possible under the Nazi regime in Germany.

Elbogen was strongly committed to the Jewish lay community. He belonged to the Union of Prussian Jewish Communities and the B'nai B'rith. Elbogan was also an early intellectual leader of the World Union for Progressive Judaism.

Elbogen was a noted scholar in many fields of study, but was particularly known for his contributions to the history of Jewish liturgy. His Der jüdische Gottesdienst in seiner geschichtlichen Enwicklung (1913) remained a standard work twenty years later. He wrote several volumes supplementing the Graetz history on German Jewry for the Jewish Publication Society of America. Elbogan also wrote several individual community histories. He edited the Encyclopaedia Judaica and the Germania Judaica.

Ismar Elbogen died suddenly on 1 August 1943. He married Regina Klemperer (sister of conductor Otto Klemperer) and had two children: Herman Z. Elbogen and Shoshanah Rosenberg.

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Scope and Content Note

The Ismar Elbogen Papers consist of the correspondence and manuscripts of Ismar Elbogen, who was an internationally known German scholar invited to the United States in 1938 as a joint professor for Dropsie College, Hebrew Union College, Jewish Institute of Religion and the Jewish Theological Seminary. Elbogan was a noted liturgist who taught rabbis in Germany and Italy. The papers do not have much material about Elbogen as an instructor in Europe, although there is a police passport issued to Elbogen in 1938.

The correspondence and manuscripts relate primarily to Elbogen's historical research and some liturgical materials. The correspondence relates primarily to the publication of his work. Manuscripts are not dated and are in English, German, Greek, Hebrew and Latin. The papers span the dates 1898-1938 but the bulk of materials are undated..

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Arrangement

See description of individual series.

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Restrictions

Access Information

The Ismar Elbogen Papers are open to all users and available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

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Related Material

Elbogen, Ismar. Letter from Bernas Levy concerning the Society of Jewish History and Literature. German. Berlin, Germany. February 1926. Small Collections.

Elbogen, Ismar. Nearprint Biographies.

Elbogen, Ismar. Ph.D. diploma. 1898. FF: C5/D5.

Elbogen, Ismar. Picture Collection.

Hebrew Union College. MSS. Collection No. 5.

Henry Hurwitz Menorah Association Memorial Collection. MSS. Collection No. 2.

Oko, Adolph S. MSS. Collection No. 14.

Robuck, Gary. "The Rescue of the European Scholar: The Hebrew Union College, 1934-1942." Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion term paper. Small Collections.

Rosenau, William. MSS. Collection. No. 4.

World Union for Progressive Judaism. MSS. Collection No. 16.

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Administrative Information

Citations

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Ismar Elbogen Papers and the American Jewish Archives.

Provenance

The Ismar Elbogen Papers were donated to the American Jewish Archives by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Klau Library, New York, New York in 1979.

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Box and Folder Listing

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