Congregation Adas Israel (Passaic, N.J.) Records

The records of Congregation Adas Israel, accession 3435, date from 1939 to 1986, with the bulk of them dated later than 1945. Material prior to 1939 (the Congregation having been founded in 1921) was not acquired, and material for most series extends no later than the early 1970's.

The collection is rich in its Men's Club documentation, which being of a fairly miscellaneous nature provides one with a good overview of the Congregation's activities for a number of years. Another strong presence is the Free Aid Loan Society, the records of which appear to be complete. Financial records for the Congregation as a whole are well organized into biannual auditor's reports although for a limited number of years. There is a single version of the constitution and by-laws, adopted 1946, with no indication as to whether or how much this version has been revised since 1946. There is however an undated "proposed constitution" in the Men's Club GENERAL FILES (which may relate to the Men's Club alone, though). As a source of information on officers and their tenure, the PRINTED PROGRAMS are recommended in addition to the attached Principal Officers (section II) note. AD JOURNALS often contain historical information in the "messages" of rabbi and president, and letters by others, which may elaborate on the attached Chronology of Congregation (section I), which happens to be based mainly on a historical note in the 1973 edition of the Ad Journal.

Lacking in the collection most prominently are minutes of the full Congregation's meetings, if such meetings existed, Also lacking are many monthly newsletters, as only one per year are present in the collection. Another item missing is membership or mailing lists for the full Congregation, a mere two being present in Men's Club GENERAL FILES. One may also notice the absence of any Hebrew School or Sisterhood records except for a lone membership list of the latter. There appears also to be no correspondence, neither of rabbi nor of any officer. And lastly, financial records for years 1964 to the present have been retained by the Congregation and are not present in the collection.

The charter of B'nai Brith Lodge no. 1609 (which met at Adas Israel's Center for a number of years) is stored separately from this collection and contains a list of the Lodge's members' names.