TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement Note

Restrictions

Related Material

Administrative Information

Search Terms

Box Folder Listing

Series A. General. 1966-2006.

A Finding Aid to the Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers. 1966-2006.

Manuscript Collection No. 790

NHPRCFunding for the arrangement and description of this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Introduction

Repository: The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
Creator: Mahrer, Lawrence N., 1932-
Title: Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers
Dates: 1966-2006
Quantity: 3.0 linear feet (3 Record Cartons)
Abstract: This collection consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, and budgetary/financial documents. These provide a continuous look at temple administration and the role of the rabbi from 1966 until 2006, in a variety of geographical locations, from the Midwest to the deep South. This collection also provides insight into issues faced by small reform congregations such as attendance, membership, religious schools, programs, and budget concerns.
Collection Number: MS-790
Language: Collection material in English.

Biographical Sketch

Lawrence Nash Mahrer, born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1932, earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Ohio University, a master’s degree in education from the University of Missouri, and was ordained from Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in 1959. Mahrer has dedicated his career to serving small congregations, including Temple Beth Hillel in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Beth Israel Congregation in Florence, North Carolina, and Congregation Temple Emanu-El in Dothan, Alabama, from which he retired in 2006. He was presented with a 20-year achievement award by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and has served on both the CCAR Committee on Rabbis in Small Communities and the UAHC Small Congregations Committee, representing the latter committee for many years on the Commission on Jewish Education of the Reform Movement. Mahrer is a member of the National Association of Temple Educators and has written extensively on religious education. Among his publications are A Guide to Small Congregation Religious Schools, co-authored with his daughter, Debi M. Rowe, in 1996. They again collaborated on “The Small Congregation,” included in The Jewish Educational Leader’s Handbook, in 1998.

Mahrer currently resides in Parrish, Florida. He and his wife have three children.

Some material gathered from The Jewish Educational Leader’s Handbook by Robert E. Tornberg.


Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of meeting minutes, correspondence, and budgetary/financial documents. These provide a continuous look at temple administration and the role of the rabbi from 1966 until 2006, in a variety of geographical locations, from the Midwest to the deep South. This collection also provides insight into issues faced by small reform congregations such as attendance, membership, religious schools, programs, and budget concerns.


Arrangement Note

This collection is arranged in a single (1) series: materials arranged chronologically.


Restrictions

Terms of Access and Use

This collection is open to all users. The original manuscript collection is available in the Barrows-Loebelson Reading Room of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.

Property and Literary Rights

Lawrence N. Mahrer, by the act of donating the Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers to the American Jewish Archives, assigned all property rights to the American Jewish Archives. Literary rights are retained by Lawrence N. Mahrer and his heirs. Literary rights may also be retained by specific creators of materials.

Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives. For more information see the American Jewish Archives copyright information webpage.


Related Material

Separated Material

Temple bulletins were separated and sent to the Klau Library at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers and the American Jewish Archives. A suggestion for at least the first citation is as follows:

[Description], [Date], Box #, Folder #. MS-790. Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers. American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Provenance

The Lawrence N. Mahrer Papers were received from Lawrence N. Mahrer, Parrish, Fla. in August, 2009.

Processing Note

This collection was arranged and described according to minimal-processing standards. Processing was made possible through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.

Processing Information

Processed by Michelle Wirth, August, 2011.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.


Box Folder Listing

Series A. General. 1966-2006.
Box
1 Minutes and Temple Topics. 1966–1984. [16 folders]
Box
2 Minutes. 1984–1997. [14 folders]
Box
3 Minutes, Personal, Retirement, 75th Anniversary of Temple Emanu-El (Dothan, Ala.) 1997–2006. [13 folders]

Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the American Jewish Archives's online catalog.