Guide to the Papers of Tobias Geffen (1870-1970), undated, 1884-1985

*P-516

Reprocessed by Marvin Rusinek

American Jewish Historical Society

Center for Jewish History

15 West 16^th Street

New York, N.Y. 10011

Phone: (212) 294-6160

Fax: (212) 294-6161

Email: reference@ajhs.org

URL: http://www.ajhs.org

© 2013, American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY. All Rights Reserved.

Machine-readable finding aid created by Marvin Rusinek as MS Word document, 2006. Finding aid was encoded by Marvin Rusinek on December 24, 2009. Finding aid written in English.

Biographical Note

Tobias Geffen (1870-1970)

Tobias Geffen was born on August 1, 1870. He was an American Orthodox rabbi. He served as the leader of Congregation Shearith Israel in Atlanta, Georgia, from 1910 to 1970. Geffen is widely-known for his 1935 decision that certified Coca-Cola as kosher.

Geffen was born in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas (called Kovno at the time, part of the Russian Empire). He immigrated to the United States in 1903 and became rabbi of New York's Congregation Ahavat Zedek in New York City. In 1907, he moved to Canton, Ohio, to become the rabbi of a small synagogue. In 1910, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as rabbi of Congregation Shearith Israel until his death.

Geffen organized the first Hebrew school in Atlanta. He began a daily class in Talmud. Geffen also standardized regulation of kosher supervision in the Atlanta area under his central authority. He was the leader of the Southern division of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis. Geffen published eight books of Talmudic and Biblical exegesis.

Geffen died on February 10, 1970.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobias_Geffen

Scope and Content Note

Contains the surviving papers of Rabbi Tobias Geffen who served as a rabbi in New York City (1904-1907), Canton, Ohio (1907-1910), and Atlanta, Georgia (1910-1970). Includes extensive correspondence with members of his family, autobiographies in Yiddish and English (several versions) and other material relating to his personal life.

Contains copies of his several books and articles, both in published and manuscript form, various manuscript novellae, manuscript annotations on books and articles written by others, manuscript sermons delivered by Geffen on various holidays and special occasions, etc. Of special interest is the extensive documentation of Geffens' rabbinate in Atlanta, consisting of correspondence, responsa to numerous religious questions, and various charitable efforts on behalf of institutions in Europe and Palestine. There is a large body of material relating to the dietary certification of Coca-Cola. The responsa represent request from sixty-one different Jewish communities throughout the South. Among the correspondents are the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, internationally prominent rabbis in Europe and Palestine, etc. The subjects discussed include supplying etrogim, sacramental wine, Passover, the Sabbath, Kashrut, gittin, schochetim, etc. Of unusual interest is Geffen's involvement with Jewish soldiers in World War I and assistance to Jewish prisoners in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary, and his efforts to make the orphan home kosher and to give the orphans a religious education.

The collection also contains material on the synagogue, Congregation Shearith Israel of Atlanta, Georgia (financial records, Purim ball, etc.), the sisterhood, the Hebrew School, youth work in the synagogues and the Shearith Israel Lodge of Independent Order of Brith Abraham in the synagogue. Also family tree of Tobias Geffen and Sara Hene Rabinowitz.

The collection is in English, French, German, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, and Yiddish.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into nine series as follows:

• Series I: Personal Affairs, undated, 1884, 1899, 1901, 1905-1906, 1911-1913, 1915-1970, 1980, 1982, 1985
  • Subseries A: Autobiography, undated, 1901, 1927-1929, 1934, 1943, 1948-1949, 1954, 1956-1963, 1965, 1970, 1982
  • Subseries B: Personal Matters and Honors, undated, 1899, 1916-1935, 1941-1959, 1964-1965
  • Subseries C: Efforts on Behalf of Family, undated, 1923, 1925-1926, 1929-1930, 1935-1936, 1938, 1940-1941, 1943, 1945, 1947-1948, 1951-1956, 1959-1962, 1964-1965
  • Subseries D: Family Correspondence, undated, 1884, 1905-1906, 1911-1913, 1915-1926, 1928-1942, 1944-1970, 1980, 1982, 1985
• Series II: Writings, undated, 1888-1899, 1903, 1918, 1924-1928, 1931-1951, 1954-1966, 1968-1969
  • Subseries A: Manuscript Novellae and Other Writings, undated, 1888, 1891-1899
  • Subseries B: Published Writings with Manuscript Additions, undated, 1888-1898, 1918, 1924-1928, 1931, 1935-1936, 1938-1947, 1949-1951, 1954-1956, 1958-1961, 1963-1965
  • Subseries C: Sermonic Material, undated, 1903, 1932-1937, 1945-1949, 1954, 1957-1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968-1969
• Series III: Career, undated, 1907-1908, 1910-1911, 1913-1969
  • Subseries A: Smichos, Contracts, and Letters of Congratulations, undated, 1907, 1910, 1922
  • Subseries B: Invitations, undated, 1923, 1925, 1928, 1935, 1938, 1941, 1956-1960, 1963-1964, 1967
  • Subseries C: Professional Correspondence, undated, 1908, 1913-1914, 1916-1918, 1921-1928, 1931, 1933, 1935-1938, 1940, 1943, 1950-1951, 1955-1966, 1968
  • Subseries D: Professional Activities and Responsa, undated, 1913-1969
  • Subseries E: Divorces, undated, 1910-1911, 1914-1968
• Series IV: Charitable Work, undated, 1911-1941, 1950-1968
  • Subseries A: Disbursements to Individuals, Work with Prisoners, Soldiers, undated, 1916, 1918-1925, 1927-1936, 1938, 1940, 1951-1962
  • Subseries B: Charitable Institutions, undated, 1911-1941, 1950-1968
• Series V: General Correspondence, undated, 1916-1918, 1921-1922, 1924, 1927-1932, 1935-1939, 1951-1952, 1956-1967
• Series VI: Communal Activities, undated, 1914-1917, 1922-1924, 1926, 1928-1934, 1936, 1940, 1947-1949, 1954-1956, 1958, 1963
• Series VII: Synagogue Activities, undated, 1916-1964, 1966-1968, 1970, 1976
  • Subseries A: Synagogue Program, undated, 1925, 1929-1930, 1932, 1934-1936, 1940, 1945, 1957-1958, 1961, 1964, 1966
  • Subseries B: Purim Ball, 1934, 1936-1939, 1946-1948, 1950-1956, 1958-1961, 1963
  • Subseries C: Synagogue Finances, undated, 1916-1957
  • Subseries D: Sisterhood, Brith Abraham Lodge, undated, 1918-1938, 1940
  • Subseries E: Activities with Young People, undated, 1925-1926, 1929, 1934-1935, 1950
  • Subseries F: Hebrew School, undated, 1929-1936, 1939
  • Subseries G: Miscellaneous Material, undated, 1917-1918, 1926, 1931-1932, 1938-1941, 1943-1956, 1963-1964, 1966-1968, 1970, 1976
• Series VIII: Index of Major Correspondents and List of Jewish Communities
• Series IX: Family Tree of Tobias Geffen and Sara Hene Rabinowitz, undated

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:
American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16^th Street, New York, NY, 10011
email: reference@ajhs.org

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Tobias Geffen, papers; P-516; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Rabbi David Geffen, December 1979; Louis Geffen, January 1979; and Rabbi Samuel Geffen (per Joel D. Ziff), June 1980.

Note

Includes former P-589 and P-516.

Please note that permission to publish and quote from the Rabbi Tobias Geffen papers must be obtained from the Geffen Family prior to publication.

Access Points

• Subject Names:

  • Geffen family

• Subject Organizations:

  • Independent Order of Brith Abraham

• Subject Topics:

  • Coca-Cola
  • Conversion to Judaism
  • Dietary laws
  • Divorce
  • European War, 1914-1918
  • Orphans and orphan asylums
  • Passover
  • Prisons -- United States
  • Prohibition -- United States
  • Purim
  • Responsa
  • Sabbath (Jewish law)
  • Sermons, Hebrew
  • Slaughtering and slaughter-houses
  • Synagogues

• Subject Places:

  • Atlanta (Ga.)
  • Canton (Ohio)
  • Palestine
  • The South
  • United States -- Relations -- Palestine

• Document Types:

  • Articles
  • Contracts
  • Correspondence
  • Invitations
  • Sermons

Container List

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.