TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Institutional Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Organization and Arrangement

Restrictions

Related Material

Administrative Information

Series A: General Files. 1938-1984.

Series B: Building Dedication. 1956.

Series C: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration. 1981.

Series D: Miscellaneous Nearprint. 1975-1986.

A Finding Aid to the 

Middletown, Ohio - 

Temple Beth Sholom Records 

1938-1985

Manuscript Collection No. 762

Institutional Sketch

In 1903, ten Orthodox Jewish families rented a small room on Clinton Street in which to hold services.  Under the leadership of new Russian immigrant, Mr. Schomer, they rented a single Torah and created a makeshift Ark.  As the Orthodox community grew, the rented shul on Clinton Street became too small for weekly Shabbat services, and in 1915, the community bought a structure on First Avenue, across from the public library.  Rabbi Gilsey assumed the pulpit, and a regular religious school was formed. Three years later, in 1918, the shul was incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio under the name “Anshe Sholom Yehudah Congregation.” 

By 1920 there were approximately thirty-five families in the congregation, all of whom spoke mainly Yiddish.  In 1921 Rabbi Stern became the first English-speaking rabbi, and the congregation even sponsored Middletown’s first Jewish Boy Scout Troop.  Yet it fell upon hard times financially, and on July 28, 1922 Anshe Sholom borrowed $3,300 from The American Trust and Savings Bank in order to sustain itself.  Its trustees dutifully paid back the loan until the mortgage was cancelled on September 28, 1942.

The building was remodeled in 1940, and under the leadership of its then-president, Tony Agronin, Anshe Sholom Yehudah Congregation was renamed Temple Beth Sholom.  The congregation no longer identified itself as being strictly Orthodox, but instead, considered itself as belonging to the Conservative movement.

The congregation moved yet again in 1956 to accommodate its growing numbers (approximately one hundred Jewish families), this time to 610 Gladys Drive.  The first rabbi in the new Temple was Rabbi Harry Roth, followed by Rabbi William J. Gordon and Rabbi Meyer Marx. 

In 1981, despite retaining only sixty families, Temple Beth Sholom had a very active Sisterhood and religious school.  Led by Rabbi Gordon Gladstone, it was now affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the Reform movement

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Scope and Content Note

The Temple Beth Sholom Records consist of documents relating to the 1956 Temple dedication in Middletown, Ohio, documents relating to the 1981 twenty-fifth anniversary celebration, reports, minute books of the Temple Beth Sholom Sisterhood and numerous Temple committees, and miscellaneous newspaper clippings and nearprint..

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Organization and Arrangement

Records are arranged into four series:

A.  GENERAL FILES

B.  BUILDING DEDICATION

C.  TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

D.  MISCELLANEOUS NEARPRINT

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Restrictions

Access Information

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

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Related Material

Middletown, Ohio - Temple Beth Sholom. Nearprint Geography File.

Middletown, Ohio. Nearprint Geography File.

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Administrative Information

Citations

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Middletown, Ohio - Temple Beth Sholom Records and the American Jewish Archives.

Provenance

The Middletown, Ohio - Temple Beth Sholom records were received from Amy Greenbaum of Cincinnati, Ohio, in March 2005.

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Box and Folder Listing

Series A: General Files. 1938-1984.
	The General Files Series includes Officer’s Reports, meeting minutes, Sisterhood minutes, and a synagogue change-of-name certificate. Materials are arranged in a chronological order.
Box	Folder
1	1		Officer’s reports. 1938-1940.
	2		Certificate of Amendment to Articles of Anshe Sholom Yehuda. 1940.
	3		Temple Board meeting minutes. 1954-1961.
	4		Sisterhood meeting minutes. 1959-1965.
	5		Sisterhood meeting minutes. 1965-1972.
	6		Sisterhood meeting minutes. 1972-1984.

Series B: Temple Dedication. 1956.
	The Temple Dedication Series consists of the dedication book, newspaper clipping, and photographs from Temple Beth Sholom’s new building dedication on December 2, 1956. Materials are arranged in a chronological order.
Box	Folder
1	7		Temple dedication materials. December 2, 1956.

Series C: Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration. 1981.
	The Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Celebration Series consists of material relating to Temple Beth Sholom’s twenty-fifth anniversary celebration on November 15, 1981. It includes correspondence, reports, the anniversary service program, speeches given at the ceremony, and photographs. Materials are arranged in a chronological order.
Box	Folder
1	8		Temple anniversary celebration materials. May 1981 - Nov 1981.

Series D: Miscellaneous Nearprint. 1975-1986.
	The Miscellaneous Nearprint Series consists of newspaper clippings on the history of the Jews of Middletown. Also consists of miscellaneous nearprint from the Middletown Area Federation of Women’s Clubs as well as from the Temple Beth Sholom Sisterhood Donor Dinner Theatre.
Box	Folder
1	9		Newspaper clippings. 1975, 1983.
	10		Nearprint. 1981-1983.

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The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.