Guide to the Records of the Central Sephardic Jewish Community of America,
undated, 1935-2000

ASF AR-1

Series I: Assistance Services,  undated, 1943-1975,  (bulk 1945-1953).

Arrangement:

Subseries 1: Assistance, General and Subseries 3: Social Service Cases are arranged alphabetically by folder title, then chronologically. Records for Subseries 2: Locations are arranged alphabetically by the last name of person sought.

Scope and Content:

The assistance services series consists of three subseries: Assistance, General; Locations; and Social Service Cases.

Subseries 1: Assistance, General, 1944-1975.

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

These records pertain to general social assistance provided by the Community to Sephardim. The bulk of the records are correspondence from the 1940s and 1950s. Correspondence includes letters of recommendation by Dr. Isaac Alcalay, Chief Rabbi of the Community; requests for monetary assistance from both individuals and other organizations and requests for assistance in finding employment or an employee. Other items of potential interest are records concerning immigration, including notes on a particular immigrant as well as correspondence between the Community and the immigrant or an organization that was aiding him/her. Much of these records on immigration are to and from immigrants in Displaced Persons camps, and most of the Community responses to these letters are by Dr. Alcalay. Folders labelled "Overseas Relief" document the Community's work in aiding Jews during and immediately following World War II. Most documents are in English, but there are also a few in Spanish, French, and Hebrew.

Subseries 2: Locations, undated, 1943-1964.

Scope and Content:

This subseries deals with searches for locations of individuals and contains correspondence and standardized forms that the Community used to perform location searches. The Community helped individuals and other organizations, most often HIAS or the National Refugee Service, locate missing persons or persons with whom the searcher had lost contact. Most are searches by people overseas for family members residing in the United States. Roughly one-quarter of the searches state that the searcher was recently released from a Displaced Persons camp, had recently come out of hiding, or mention stays in various concentration camps. Many of the original requests from those abroad are not in English. The bulk of the papers are from the 1940s through the 1950s, although a few papers are from the 1960s. The majority of papers are in English, with some documents in French, Spanish, Hebrew, Greek, and German.

Subseries 3: Social Service Cases, 1944-1957.

Scope and Content:

This subseries contains papers on social assistance provided by the Community to individuals. The bulk of the papers come from the 1940s through the 1950s. In addition to correspondence, there are also many forms which detail the progress of specific cases, listing such actions taken as requests made, letters sent, and telephone calls made. The cases focus on many social issues, such as family and marital problems, financial assistance, mental illness, and help in securing employment or education; there are also a few prison cases. Many of the foreign social cases mention difficulties that arose out of persecution by the Nazis during World War II. In addition to English, there are also papers in German, Hebrew, French, and Spanish. There are some restrictions on specific social cases.

Series II: Committees, undated, 1943-1987, (bulk 1940s-1960s).

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

Series II holds records of committees of the Community, mainly minutes and invitations to committee meetings. Folders of the Scholarship Fund and Social Welfare committees also contain letters from applicants for assistance. In addition, there are also lists of members of the committees. A large portion of material deals specifically with the Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings, much of it minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors and Executive Committees.

Series III: Community, 1942-1976, (bulk 1940s-1960s).

Arrangement:

This series is arranged alphabetically by topic, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

The documents in this series pertain to issues concerning the Community as a whole. One prominent topic in this series is the community campaign. Most of the records on the community campaign are correspondence asking for pledges and contributions, and thank-you letters for contributions and membership dues. In addition, there are also lists of community members attending the campaign dinners. Another potential subject of interest in this series is the reorganization of the Community.

This series contains extensive material on events conducted by the Community: administrative information on the Annual Dinner-Dance and its accompanying Journal, a major fund-raising event sponsored by both the Community and its Women’s Division, drafts of programs, and lists of invitees to the Dinner-Dance.

Other material of a general nature that concerned the Community includes correspondence with membership societies, with Sephardi organizations outside of the New York area, and a survey of religious and educational activities conducted by Sephardi synagogues in the New York area. There is also material following the death of Dr. Nissim J. Ovadia, including expressions of grief from Sephardi communities outside of the New York area and abroad, donations by the Community to Ovadia’s wife, and correspondence concerning the original memorial service and funeral arrangements for Ovadia. Other material includes documents on the telephone campaign in 1948, election of delegates in the early years of the Community’s existence, discussion of fund-raising strategies, a census of New York Sephardim, and the Community’s response in 1947 to the United Nations Arab delegation that claimed Sephardi were not interested in Zionism, and many other topics. Almost all records are in English, but there are also a few in Hebrew and Spanish.

Series IV: Correspondence, 1942-1976, (bulk 1940s-1950s).

Arrangement:

Folders in this series are arranged alphabetically.

Scope and Content:

This series contains Community correspondence. The bulk of the records are from the 1940s and 1950s. A large amount of material consists of letters to and from Dr. Alcalay, much of it letters of invitation to various events, as well as responses to requests and questions. The letters in Foreign Correspondence from the 1940s contain descriptions of life during and immediately following the Holocaust. General correspondence is from and to different members of the Community regarding meetings, events as well as various Sephardic groups and organiations. Although the majority of records are in English, other languages such as Spanish, Hebrew, French, Portuguese, Polish, and German can be found among the foreign correspondence.

Series V: Finances, 1941-1986, (bulk 1940s-1960s).

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically by title, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This series is comprised of the financial records of the Community. Included are accounting records, such as ledgers, journals, and financial reports and statements. Correspondence with banks and bank statements from the Community’s Scholarship Fund Account can also be found here, as well as tax forms and correspondence from the Internal Revenue Service. Additionally, information concerning contributions by community members may be found in several ledgers and journals, as well as correspondence and documents concerning donations made by the Community as a whole.

Legal-Sized Items

Ledgers

Series VI: General Subject Files,  undated, 1941-1993, (bulk 1940s-1950s).

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This series contains records from various organizations, individuals, and topics relating to the Community. The bulk of the material is from the mid-1940s through the 1950s.

Prominent items in this series include papers from the National Jewish Welfare Board; drafts of articles for and copies of: The Sephardi, a publication produced by the Community; papers dealing with the United Jewish Appeal; and materials which document the Community’s interest in Israel Bonds and support of the newly-formed country of Israel. In addition to office records which detail the administrative workings of the Community, there is information available on many philanthropic and Jewish organizations with whom the Community had contact, in America and abroad. Material on Jews and Jewish life in several Sephardic communities abroad is also available, including Greece, Iraq, Latin America, and Egypt and North Africa. Of related interest is an album containing photographs of the remains of the Jewish cemetery in Salonica, Greece, after the Nazis’ occupation of that region, which can be found in the folder “Historical Material concerning Sephardim: Greece.” There is also some brief biographical information about several individuals, most notably Dr. Isaac Alcalay and his daughter.

Of interest to researchers may be the material focusing on the role of Jews in the American military during World War II. There is a list of soldiers who served during the war in the folder “Honor Roll, ” as well as correspondence concerning this list. Additionally, there are several folders of information on the Sephardic Post, an organization of Jewish War Veterans. The folders "Men in Service" also contain information on Sephardim who served in the military during World War II. More material from this time period includes a list of Sephardim from Europe who survived the Holocaust and World War II, in the folder “Names of Survivors in Europe,” and several lists concerning Greek Jews and the Holocaust, available in the “Greek Relief” folder. The majority of documents are in English, but there are also papers in French, Spanish, and Hebrew.

Series VII: Membership Organizations, undated, 1941-1969, (bulk 1950s).

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

This series holds records of the membership societies and organizations belonging to the Community. The bulk of the records are from the 1950s. Many of these organizations were congregations, and most of the member organizations are from the New York City area, although groups outside of the New York area joined the Community at a later date than the original area members. The records contain correspondence, publications, and information on events held by specific organizations within the Community, as well as invitations to the Community as a whole to events and lists of individuals belonging to some of the member organizations. Almost all records in this series are in English, but there are a few in Hebrew.

Series VIII: Sephardic Youth League,  undated, 1941-1953, (bulk 1945-1950).

Arrangement:

Folders are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically.

Scope and Content:

The records in this series describe the activities and development of the Sephardic Youth League. The bulk of the records come from the mid-1940s to the early 1950s. The series contains correspondence, announcements, reports, and copies of songsheets and material used in religious services. The documents are from the five original SYL chapters in the New York Metro area, which were organized by geographic location, as well as a sixth chapter that was organized later than the others, and designed for young adults who belonged to the Youth League as children. Main activities of the SYL were social, educational, and recreational events, as well as some athletic events, and were intended to bring the Sephardic youth closer together. In addition to the other documents, this series also contains troop records of a Cub Scout Pack that met at the Spanish- Portuguese Synagogue in the mid-1940s, as well as a binder containing a Scout manual from 1944. Much of the correspondence in this series is to and from John J. Karpeles, who was director of the Community’s youth activities, and assisted in arranging much of the SYL’s programs. Related information may be found in the Youth Activities folder in the Committees series. The folder "Program Material" contains information collected for use in various SYL programs and events, including songsheets and information on holidays and other Jewish organizations. Records used in the preparation of reports can be found in the Report Material folders; reports were given at SYL meetings as well as to the Community. Almost all records in this series are in English, but there are a few in Hebrew.

LEGAL-SIZED MATERIALS, 1938-1966.

OVERSIZED MATERIALS, 1941-1969.