TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Finding Aid to the Rav A. Soloff Papers. 1943-1996. (bulk 1970-1990).
Manuscript Collection No. 859
Funding, in part, for the arrangement and description of this collection was
provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Introduction |
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| Repository: | The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives |
| Creator: | Soloff, Rav A. |
| Title: | Rav A. Soloff Papers |
| Dates: | 1943-1996 |
| Bulk Dates: | 1970-1990 |
| Quantity: | 12 linear feet (12 record cartons) |
| Abstract: | Correspondence and sermons of Rabbi Rav Soloff arranged alphabetically. |
| Collection Number: | MS-859 |
| Language: | Collection material in English and Hebrew. |
Biographical Sketch
Rav Asher Soloff was born on January 4, 1927 in Brooklyn, New York to Eve (Miller) and Mordecai Soloff. In 1951, he was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and a year later graduated from the Chaplain School at Fort Slocum, New York. He earned a PhD from Drew University in 1967.
Soloff was an army chaplain between 1952 and 1954 and served as rabbi of Temple Israel in Lafayette, Indiana (1951-1952); Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Essex County, New Jersey (1954-1959); East End Temple in New York, New York (1959-1970); Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple in Cleveland, Ohio (1970-1975); and Beth Sholom in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (1976-1990). He was also involved in various Central Conference of American Rabbis committees and was a chaplain in Pennsylvania’s Mental Health program. Soloff and his father, Rabbi Mordecai Soloff, co-wrote two publications, The Faithful Jew and Jewish Life: Sacred Hebrew for Beginners.
Soloff and his wife Harriet married in 1952 and have three children, Rebecca, Sharon, and Michael.
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists mostly of correspondence and sermons arranged in alphabetical order by subject. Of note is correspondence with members of Congress, mainly John P. Murtha and Arlen Specter, about upcoming legislation and current events. Files include life cycle records from congregants’ bar/bat mitzvah, confirmation, and marriage ceremonies from Congregation Beth Sholom; material from the Responsa, Liturgy, Health, Small Cities, and Soviet Jewry committees of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; the Intercollegiate Zionist Federation of America, the chaplaincy, and Turkish Jews. Sermons on theology and weekly torah portions from 1976 to 1992 are arranged chronologically.
Arrangement Note
This collection is arranged in one (1) series:
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
Rav A. Soloff, by the act of donating the Rav A. Soloff Papers to the American Jewish Archives, assigned all property rights to the American Jewish Archives. Literary rights are retained by Rav A. Soloff. 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
Related Collections
Soloff, Mordecai. Mordecai Soloff Papers. 1927-1990. MS-740.
Soloff, Rav Asher. Correspondence. 1984-1989. SC-11708.
Soloff, Rav Asher. “A Survey of Some Press Reactions in the United States to the Affair of the Jews in Damascus during 1840.” 1949. SC-13978.
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Rav A. Soloff Papers and the American Jewish Archives. A suggestion for at least the first citation is as follows:
[Description], [Date], Box #, Folder #. MS-859. Rav A. Soloff Papers. American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Provenance
The Rav A. Soloff Papers were received from Rabbi Rav A. Soloff, Lansdale, Pennsylvania in June 1992 and 1996.
Processing Information
Processed by Elisa Ho, March 2012.
This collection was arranged and described according to minimal-processing standards. Funding, in part, for the arrangement and description of this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Box Folder Listing
Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the AJA Online Catalog.