Congregation Knesseth Israel Records

The records of Congregation Knesseth Israel (originally called the Jacob H, Schiff Congregation), accession 3431, span the years 1921 to 1985 and are fairly equally distributed across the years with the exception of the smaller series.

Prominent series that give the best overview of Congregation Knesseth Israel are MINUTES of the Congregation's regular meetings and MINUTES of the Board of Trustees' meetings that succeeded them, plus MINUTES of the Sisterhood, However, all of these minutes series have·unexplained chronological gaps. Other substantial series are FINANCIAL RECORDS of the Congregation, and the JOURNAL DIRECTORY of the Sisterhood, which in addition to obvious financial or commercial information contain membership and officer lists or directories for years before and after the 1977-1981 period covered by MEMBERSHIP LISTS proper.

The Congregation GENERAL FILE is far from comprehensive~ offering a random sampling of different years of materials relating to what were probably ongoing or longer-term activities, such as 1954 resumes from applicants for the rabbi position (in fact there were quite a few rabbinical searches throughout the years), or insurance policies (there must have been more renewed policies especially covering later additions to the building, but none are included here), The materials found originally in a single binder and broken down by folder heading abruptly begin and end in 1980-1981 when in fact the activities they relate to were of longer duration, i.e. "United Synagogue and Federation" or "General Notices".

The Education Committee subgroup is substantial but in some disarray, its MINUTES containing many supplemental documents whose topics are not directly addressed in apposite meetings' minutes, while the ADMINISTRATIVE FILES contain much of the same type of supplemental information. These MINUTES are, however, strictly chronological. There is the possibility that prior years of minutes existed, reference being made in Congregation MINUTES to the existence of an Education Committee earlier than the 1963- 1972 MINUTES at hand. (For brief monthly Education Committee "reports" prior to these years, see Congregation MINUTES.)

The Congregation BOOKS OF REMEMBRANCE, NEWSLETTERS, and PROGRAMS are limited in size but indications from MINUTES and FINANCIAL RECORDS are that these publications were issued regularly for many years prior and following them.

While Congregation Knesseth Israel did have an active Men's Club, no records generated or collected by that organization are present in this collection.