Indiana Jewish Historical Society

11/07/2023

On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1940: A private funeral service was held today for forty year old-Robert Irving Warshow, the Indianapolis-born son of Benjamin and Rose Cohen Warshow, who was a New York author, publisher, economist, and a research editor in Washington for the Securities and Exchange Commission since 1936, He wrote a book about the life of Alexander Hamilton. Died today at the home of his brother, H. Thomas Warshow, at Fifth Avenue in NYC after an illness of seven months

11/06/2023

On this day in Indiana, Jewish History in 1917: Birthdate Joseph Bloch, a professor of piano literature at the Juilliard School in New York. A native of Indianapolis, Bloch earned a bachelor’s degree from the Chicago Musical College and, after service in Guam with the Army Air Forces in World War II, a master’s in musicology from Harvard. For five decades, except for an interruption in the 1980s when he tried unsuccessfully to retire, every Juilliard pianist passed through Mr. Bloch’s classroom. His pupils included many of the best-known performers of the second half of the 20th century, among them Van Cliburn, Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, Misha Dichter, Jeffrey Siegel, and Jeffrey Swann.

Click the link to hear some of his musical work
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7YkScQgPPw&list=OLAK5uy_nCWRLeFXAz1d1RU6Tw-w8jAtlU84k6Lck

11/05/2023

Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis
Congregation Beth-El Zedeck
Julian Freeman was born on October 17, 1897, in Brooklyn, New York, to Abraham Lewis and Rae Waldman Freeman. He completed his education at Crane College and the Art Institute of Chicago. On August 9, 1924, he married Esther, and they had a daughter named Janet. For thirty years, Freeman owned and managed the Freeman Store Equipment Co. in Indianapolis. In 1952, he started managing apartment complexes through the Freeman Building Corp. Freeman was an architect and furniture designer who designed many pieces of furniture for his store. He was also the President of his synagogue, Beth El-Zedeck. In 1947 and 1948, he was the President of the Indianapolis Jewish Welfare Fund. From 1949 to 1953, he was the President of the Indianapolis Jewish Welfare Federation. Freeman traveled to Israel frequently and established strong ties between the Indianapolis Jewish community and Israel. His travels brought him in contact with influential Israeli politicians such as David Ben Gurion and Golda Meir. Freeman was the founder of the National Foundation for Jewish Culture and the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, which is now known as the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). Both organizations are still active. Julian Freeman passed away on November 29, 1980, in Indianapolis.

11/03/2023

Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana

Shabbat Shalom from Hoosierland!
Beth Israel Synagogue in Hammond, Indiana, from the winter of 1999

Photo credit from the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

11/02/2023

On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1920, Henry Abrams of Indianapolis, Indiana, was re-elected to the State Legislature.
Abrams Championed Indiana's children, creating the first free school lunch Program in Indianapolis, and created laws that strengthened child labor laws in Indiana. He also made a law to compel adult children to care for disabled or elderly parents. He would die from a long-term illness at the young age of 30 in 1922.

11/01/2023

Rabbi Morris Feurlicht is known as a person who bravely took on the Klan in Indiana; however, what is less known is that at the start of the Klan reign, he was dismissive of the Klan's threat, describing them merely as a post-effect of World War 1 and continued to advocate for the kind of Americanization programs that he had advocated for because he essentially believed that most American Anti-Semitism was rooted in Xenophobia and if Jews could integrate into American Society and assimilate the threat would go away. It would be interesting to find out what caused his ideological shift towards confronting the Klan, or perhaps it was a series of events?
Article From:
Indianapolis Times, Volume 35, Number 272, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 March 1923

10/31/2023

Congregation Achduth Vesholom
Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne
Wishing Congregation Achduth Vesholom of Fort Wayne, Indiana's first Synagogue, founded in 1848, a delighted 175th anniversary. Here is to the next 175 years, Mazal Tov!!!!!

10/30/2023

We are proud to announce that our second Indiana State Historical Marker has been approved to Remember the Legacy of the Gimbels in Vincennes, Indiana, and we should be unveiling it in the spring. We hope the unveiling will occur in May on Jacob Gimbel's Birthday and American Jewish Heritage Month. So meet us in downtown Vincennes, Indiana! To celebrate an American cultural icon that went from Bavarian Jewish Peddlers to owning the largest Retail Business in the World! Many thanks to the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation and Jerry Klinger, the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, Jill Simins Weiss, the Indiana Historical Bureau, Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society, and Richard Day. And Dennis Latta.

10/27/2023

Zuckerberg's on the South Side of Indianapolis circa 1949
1001 South Meridian Street on the southeast corner of Ray Street

10/26/2023

Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana
Today in History: singer Mahalia Jackson, also known as the "Gospel Queen," was born in 1911. In this photo, Mayor A. Martin Katz personally invited her to the City of Gary, Indiana, circa 1964.

10/26/2023

Today is National Day of the Deployed, Which honors those who served and remembers the sacrifices of our deployed military with National Day of the Deployed!
Alexander David Goode (May 10, 1911 – February 3, 1943) was a rabbi and a lieutenant in the United States Army. He was one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives to save other soldiers during the sinking of the troop transport Dorchester during World War II.
He became a rabbi after graduating from the University of Cincinnati and, in 1937, Hebrew Union College (HUC). While studying at HUC, he spent summers working as a rabbinic student at the Washington Hebrew Congregation. In 1940, he received his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. He was married in 1935 to Teresa Flax, niece of Al Jolson, with whom he had one daughter, Rosalie.
Rabbi Goode served as a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Marion, Indiana, in 1941

10/25/2023

Al From Indiana's Jewish Architect of Modern Political Strategy

Al From is a Political Strategist Born in South Bend, Indiana, in 1943
He is the founder and former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council. His ideas and political strategies during the past quarter century played a central role in the resurgence of the modern Democratic Party in the 1990s. His political philosophy has had an international impact.

He earned a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University and was editor of the Daily Northwestern.
While serving as a reporter and editor for the Daily Northwestern, From conducted an investigation on discriminatory admissions. From, who was Jewish, uncovered an unofficial quota system that limited the number of minority students admitted to the program. The magazine North by Northwestern quoted admissions director C. William Reiley "making discriminatory statements, and the day after the story was published, the student senate stated that Reiley's actions were inappropriate. Reiley was later reassigned as the dean of administrative services." The removal of Reiley and exposure of the quotas ended the discriminatory practice.

In 2000, at a speech at Hyde Park, President Bill Clinton said, "It would be hard to think of a single American citizen who, as a private citizen, has had a more positive impact on the progress of American life in the last 25 years than Al From.

He founded the DLC in 1985, at a time, as Roll Call writes, "Democrats appeared to be on the brink of a permanent excursion into the political wild following Walter Mondale's 49-state drubbing by incumbent President Ronald Reagan in 1984."

From playing a prominent role in the 1992 election of President Bill Clinton – and serving as domestic policy advisor to the Clinton Transition – prompting USA Today to write: "The ideas at the crux of the Clinton candidacy were largely drafted by the DLC."

Today, many of the ideas that comprise the core of the agenda of the Democratic Party's conservative wing come from work done under From's leadership at the DLC. National service, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit, welfare reform, charter schools, community policing, expanded trade, and re-inventing government were all championed by scholars and analysts at the DLC before becoming public policy.

In 1998, with First Lady Hillary Clinton, From began a dialogue with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders, and the DLC brand – known as The Third Way – became a model for resurgent liberal governments around the globe.

In April 1999, he hosted a Third Way forum in Washington with President Clinton, Prime Minister Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Prime Ministers Wim Kok of the Netherlands, and Massimo D'Alema of Italy.

In November 1999, joining President Clinton, he moderated the first-ever live presidential town hall meeting on the Internet.

In 2013, From authored The New Democrats and the Return to Power. President Bill Clinton authored the foreword. In the book, From "outlines for the first time the principles at the heart of the [New Democrat] movement… and why they are vital to the success of the Democratic Party in the years ahead." The book received praise from President Clinton, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said, "It should be read, re-read, and underlined by anyone who wants to know what it takes to be successful in American politics today."

From is currently an adjunct faculty member at Johns Hopkins University in the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences, Advanced Academic Programs.

Al From. (2023, May 12). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_From

10/25/2023

10/24/2023

10/23/2023

People sit around tables at the annual Sunday school picnic at Temple Beth-El. In Hammond, Indiana, The event was sponsored by the Brotherhood.

10/22/2023

Betsy Borns is a Jewish Hoosier born in Indianapolis,
Betsy graduated from North Central High School in Indianapolis and was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame on June 2, 1998.
Betsy Borns produced and wrote for some of the most classic and iconic shows in TV history, such as Friends (1994). She is also known for All of Us (2003), Roseanne (1988), and many more shows on TV.
She is also on the Board of the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University and the author of Comic Lives: Inside the World of American Stand-Up Comedy.

10/22/2023

The Temple’s own Beth Zweig has an op-ed in this weekend’s Journal Gazette, inviting the Fort Wayne community to take part in Congregration Achduth Vesholom’s 175th Anniversary open house on November 12th.

10/20/2023

Congregation Achduth Vesholom
Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom from Hoosierland.

"A large group was photographed in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, 1919. People identified in the photograph include: "With one or two exceptions, all these people were related to each other. Max Freed, Mrs. Max Freed, Seymour Meyer, Joe Meyer (Brother of Above), Abe Frank (Son of Mendel Frank), Mike Falk, Harry Komisarow, Sam Appel, Mr. and Mrs. Louis J. Novitsky, Byron Novitsky, Father of Sam Levin, Levin Boy not identified, Mr. and Mrs. Morris Meyer, Gillie Meyer, Irene Neiman, Donald Komisarow, Brother of Donald, Harold Novitsky, Abe Frank's Do(a)ughter, Granddo(a)ughter of Mendel Frank, Elliot Meyer, Mendel Frank, Mother Morris Meyer, Isador Hassan, Joe Meyer Brother of Gilbert, Mrs. Louis Kaufman Mother of L J Novitsky, Louis Kaufman Stepfather of L J Novitsky, Herman Komisarow, Esther Frank First wife of Above, Elaine Neiman Niece of Mendel Frank, Morris Meyer and Bessie Meyer parents of Gilbert Meyer, Mother of Herman Komisarow, Mrs. Mendel Frank, Mr. and Mrs. Max Zinn, Abe and Joe Zinn, Ben Falk, 'Old Man Bailer,' Mrs. and Mrs. Frank Schafman (He was brother of Mary Komisarow), Anna Frank (Mrs. H. Wagner), Harry Wagner, Unknown Man (A Rabbi), some children in front, don't have names."

From the Indiana Jewish Historical Society Collection of the Indiana Historical Society.

10/19/2023

The Hoosier Jewish Women Pioneers of Meals on Wheels!
The Indianapolis Section of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) was chosen in 1968 by the national organization for a pilot study of a "home-delivered" food program. Little Red Door had previously attempted to launch a similar program for cancer patients but was unsuccessful. The program's original intent was to provide kosher meals to "persons unable to shop and prepare their own meals." Still, in Indianapolis, by 1971, it became a citywide project known as Meals on Wheels, which delivered food to home-bound older adults. The project was funded by Lilly Endowment and the Commission on Aged and Aging. Meals on Wheels started with six clients and ten volunteers and was based out of University Heights Hospital on the city's south side. Marge L. Jacobs, an Indianapolis NCJW member, was the first Meals on Wheels board of directors president and served as honorary chair until she died in 1997.

Portrait of Mrs. Marge L. Jacobs below

10/18/2023

In honor of National Hat Day, it would only be natural to remember one of Indiana's largest hat makers, Harry Levinson, in downtown Indianapolis on the Northeast corner of Market and Illinois Street. They operated from 1905 to 1995.
Harry was the son of Polish Jewish immigrants who first lived in Noblesville, where he was born, and then later in Indianapolis.
He was also the father of world-famous designer Norman David Norell.

Photos from Historic Indianapolis
https://historicindianapolis.com/sunday-ads-tip-of-the-hat/

10/17/2023

Rabbi Zvi Leshem (Blobstein), The Son of Sylvia and Michael Blain, was raised in Indianapolis and attended Noth Central High School. Rabbi Leshem received ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and his Ph.D. in Jewish Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University. Since 2011, he has directed the Gershom Scholem Collection for Kabbalah and Hasidism at the National Library of Israel. He is the author of Redemptions: Contemporary Chassidic Essays on the Parsha and the Festivals (2006). His research deals with Hasidic mystical experience, Jewish education, Gershom Scholem, and the thought of Rav Shagar. He is considered an expert in the writings of Piaseczner Rebbe.

10/16/2023

Indiana Historical Society
We thank the Indiana Historical Society for providing researchers with a valuable primary source. The Indiana Historical Society has digitized the minute book of a branch of the Indianapolis Workmen's Circle (Arbiter Ring), which is available on its website at the link provided below. The document is written in Yiddish, it contains a wealth of information on early 20th-century Jewish labor and immigrant history. The Workmen's Circle, also known as Der Arbiter Ring, was established in 1900 as a mutual aid society to assist Eastern European Jewish immigrants and workers in navigating labor issues, healthcare, and economic rights. The Arbiter Ring also provided a Yiddish School for children called the Shula and featured many social events in Yiddish. This particular minute book belonged to the Indianapolis Branch 175 of The Workmen's Circle and dates back to 1918-1926.

To Access the Minute Book click the link below:
https://cdm16797.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16797coll18/id/12531/rec/337

10/15/2023

On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1929, In Terre Haute, Indiana, wholesale poultry dealer Stanley Dreyfus and his wife, the former Irene Lederer, gave birth to Hubert Lederer “Bert” Dreyfus, the University of California philosophy professor who wrote "What Computers Can’t Do." He was also the inspiration behind the Futurama character Professor Farnsworth.

10/13/2023

Hi Folks, It has come to our attention that some of our members did not receive our 50th-anniversary Publication in the mail. If that is the case, please email us at [email protected], and we will make sure you receive a copy.

10/12/2023

Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis
"On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1922: Indianapolis, IN, banker Sol S. Kiser, the Ft. Recovery, OH, born son of Fannie Steinfeld and Gottlieb Kiser, married Kate Weis today in Cleveland after the death of his first wife Dina Salzenstein in 1917."

10/12/2023

Etz Chaim Sephardic Congregation of Indianapolis
Thank you for sharing these beautiful photos with us, Steve Calderon! Moving the Torahs!
"Etz Chaim photos from around 1963. These pictures are from Sylvia Cohen. Bohor Sam Calderon, Issac Levy, Jake Toledona, Rachel Cohen Nahmias, Monroe Ault, Dave Profeta, Jack Cohen, Both Leon Calderon’s, Sam Cohen, AP Nahmias, Paloma Alboher, Bill Levy,"
Willie Cohen, Leon Mordoh, Rafael, Luna Mishelow, Al Mordoh

10/09/2023

We are crushed by this unfolding tragedy and in solidarity with our friends and our families in Israel. We are all part of the fabric of the same people and share the same history and future. As it says in the Talmud, "Kol Yisrael arevim zeh baze" (All of Israel Are Responsible for One Another). Our first Executive Director, Joe Levine, embodied this Jewish value. In 1952, he was the Executive Director of the Fort Wayne Jewish Federation. He handed a check for 75,000 dollars to the United Jewish Appeal (UJA) to Future Israeli Prime Minister Moshe Sharett, who was then Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs. Edward Warburg, General chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, is at the Center. This was not long after the devastating Israeli War of Independence in 1948 and helped fund the rebuilding of a new state.

10/06/2023

Northeast Indiana Jewish Genealogy Society
Leopold Levy's life tells us much about early Jewish immigration to Indiana.

One of the things we can see in this biography and many Jewish memoirs at the time of Bavarian Jewish immigrants is that it was natural and expected for Jewish immigrants to come from Rural parts of Central Europe to Rural parts of the Midwest. This was common.
A Bavarian Jewish Immigrant to Indiana born in Wurtemburg in 1838, his father Heneley was the mayor of a small Bavarian Village where Leopold grew up. Leopold first landed in America in 1854 and became a Peddler in Indiana. He first worked with fellow German-speaking Jewish Immigrant Charles Herff in Wabash, Indiana. Leopold also worked with clothing merchants Sterne & Levy until he moved to Kokomo for work in 1861 and eventually moved to Huntington, Indiana, and created a successful clothing business.
The First President of the Huntington Board of Trade in 1898, he became the State Treasurer of Indiana. Which lasted until his Term ended in 1903. While he was Treasurer, he moved to Indianapolis with his family until he died in 1905. The Indiana Clerk of the Supreme Court at the time of Levy's death was quoted as saying, " Leopold Levy was a good man, a True man and one of the best types of his race." Leopold gave much of his money to the local churches in Huntington. However, he always remained religiously Jewish, and his Kiddush Cup that he brought with him from Bavaria is now in the collection of the Indiana State Museum. The Indianapolis Museum of Art has a portrait of him by Charles Despiau. We are sure Leopold used his Kiddush cup to make a L'Chaim on Shabbat. So, on that note, Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameyach!

10/06/2023

Wishing everyone a Chag Sameyach!
During the 1950s, Sinai Temple in Marion, Indiana celebrated Simchat Torah with a lively Torah procession led by children waving flags and smiling, while their proud parents and grandparents looked on.

10/04/2023

On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1883, The Hebrew Union College (HUC), the first Rabbinical School in American history, held its inaugural classes due to tireless efforts by several Jewish Hoosiers. Henry Adler of Lawrenceburg's gracious $10,000 donation was pivotal in making HUC a reality. Herman E. Sterne of Peru, Indiana, was appointed to HUC's first Board of Governors. David Philspson, one of only four Rabbinical Students at HUC, was born in Wabash, Indiana. Israel Aaron, the noteworthy alumnus from the class of 1883, served as the Rabbi of Congregation Achduth Vesholom in Fort Wayne.

10/03/2023

Jewish Federation of Greater Lafayette - Indiana
Temple Israel West Lafayette
The Zimmerman family in their Sukkah.
Lafayette, Indiana October 1982
Photo: Linda Lipschutz
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot Tel Aviv, Israel, courtesy of Linda Lipschuts, USA)

10/02/2023

Jewish Federation of Greater Lafayette - Indiana
Temple Israel West Lafayette

David and Micky Harris in their Sukkah
Lafayette, Indiana, USA, October 1979
Photo: Linda Lipschuts, USA
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot, Tel Aviv, Israel, courtesy of Linda Lipschuts)

10/01/2023

On this day in Indiana Jewish History
Marks the birthdate of Jeremiah C. Sullivan. Born in Madison, Indiana in 1830, Sullivan went on to become a lawyer and eventually a general in the Union Army. During his military career, he faced a pivotal moment when he refused to enforce General Order 11, which had been created by General Ulysses S. Grant on December 17, 1862. The order called for the expulsion of all Jews in Grant's military district. Despite facing pressure to comply with the order, Sullivan stood firm in his belief that he was an officer of the Army and not of a church. According to Rabbi Isaac Mayer, Sullivan eventually complied with the order four days later, but on January 4, 1863, Abraham Lincoln revoked Grant's General Order.

09/29/2023

Jewish Federation of Greater Lafayette - Indiana
Temple Israel West Lafayette
Chag Sameach to all of our fellow Hoosiers!

Supper in the Sukkah of the Miller family, Lafayette, Indiana,
October 1982
Photo: Linda Lipschutz, USA
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot,
courtesy of Linda Lipschutz, USA)

09/28/2023

Temple Beth El
Wishing everyone a very joyful Sukkot!

Pictured:
Sukkot at Temple Beth-El (Muncie, Ind.) circa 1968-1979
Sukkah was built at the home of Burle and Sylvia Plank.

From the Ball State University Libraries. Archives and Special Collections

09/27/2023

Kids at Sinai Temple in Marion, Indiana, build a Mini Sukkah for Sukkot! Can anyone help us with the year and who is in the photo?

09/26/2023

Vincennes Historical and Antiquarian Society
On this day in Indiana Jewish History 1851: In Vincennes, Indiana, “prosperous merchant Adam Gimbel, a Bavarian Jewish Immigrant,” and his wife Fridoline Kahnweiler Gimbel, also a Bavarian Jewish Immigrant, gave birth to Jacob Gimbel, one of the Gimbel brothers who would found Gimbels in Philadelphia.

09/24/2023

Madison Indiana Observer
Wishing everyone an inspired and meaningful Yom Kippur! g'mar chatima tovah! גמר חתימה טובה

On this day in Indiana Jewish History in 1939 (11th of Tishrei, 5700): Seventy-nine-year-old Marcus Raphael Sulzer, a native of Madison, Indiana, son of Raphael and Rachel Sulzer, the brother of Louis Sulzer with whom he operated a business called Sulzer Brothers which was at one time was the largest known seller of medicinal herbs in the United States and whose communal interests included an active role in the Indiana Republican Party, twice mayor of Madison, and an Indiana state representative and served as president of his district’s chapter of B’nai B’rith passed away today.

09/22/2023

Wishing everyone a meaningful Yom Kippur! and Shabbat Shalom!

On this day in Indiana Jewish History 1894: Birthdate of Muncie, Indiana native and University Chicago trained lawyer Benjamin V. Cohen, a member of the administrations of Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, had a public service career that spanned from the early New Deal through and beyond the Vietnam War era.

09/22/2023

Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 4 October 1946

Popular in the 1930s,1940s, and 1950s, The "Yom Kippur Dance" was a primarily forgotten rite of passage for Jewish young adults for whom Jewish Adults typically rented out a Hotel Dance Hall or a Country Club for the night after Yom Kippur for a type of sock hop with popular live bands with star crossed young adults searching for a Jewish soulmate the night after a day of atonement and fasting. Please let us know if you have any family recollections, photos, or promotional materials for Indiana connected Yom Kippur Dances. We would love to scan or preserve them.