Guide to the American Council for Judaism collection, undated, 1943-1991

*I-344

Processed 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, January 2007. Finding aid was encoded by Marvin Rusinek on August 12, 2009. Finding aid written in English.

Historical Note

The American Council for Judaism was founded in 1943 by Americans of Jewish faith who believed that Judaism was a religion and not a nationality. The founding of the ACJ partly resulted from the refusal of the American Jewish Committee to clearly oppose Zionism in the 1940s. Many of the council's early leaders came from an upper class German Jewish socioeconomic group that also formed the basis of the American Jewish Committee's leadership. ACJ's philosophy supports the integration of Jews into the civic culture of America unhampered by the segregationism of Zionism. The ACJ's ideology reflects the universalistic platform of nineteenth-century Reform Judaism, coupled with a concern over the issue of dual loyalty.

Scope and Content Note

This collection is comprised of correspondence, invitations, programs, fliers, pamphlets, reports, memorandum, membership applications and a directory of publications. The documents in this collection describe resolutions and reports concerning organizational issues, reports concerning reaction to ACJ from other organizations and general promotional materials. Of special interest to researchers will be the correspondence that addresses the 1963 60 Minutes television program "A Tyranny of Minorities." Another topic discussed in the correspondence is David Ben Gurion's visit to Boston in 1967 on behalf of the United Jewish Appeal. Included in the collection are the following publications: Brief (1958), The Council News (1949-1957), Education In Judaism (1967), Information Bulletin (1943-1967), Issues (1966-1991), News (1947-1967), and Blueprint (I & II).

Arrangement

The collection is organized into a single series.

• Records of the American Council for Judaism, undated, 1943-1991

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); American Council for Judaism collection; I-344; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.

Acquisition Note

Unknown.

Note

Old call#: MS-NAT.A2

Access Points

• Subject Topics:

  • Reform Judaism

• Document types:

  • Annual reports
  • Correspondence
  • Invitations
  • Programs
  • Publications
  • Reports

Container List

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