Confirmants dressed in white and arranged in two rows sit and stand with Rabbi Aronson seated in the middle. Rabbi Aronson came to Beth El in 1924, and served the congregation for 35 years. Beth El, at the time the photo was taken, was on the North Side of Minneapolis. The congregation is now in St. Louis Park .
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Portrait photograph of the young men and women in the graduating class of 1954, from the Minneapolis Talmud Torah. Most of the young people in the photo are about 13, the age at which they would participate in their bar or bat mitzvah.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Graduates and instructors stand arranged on the steps of the Emanuel Cohen Center. The Emanuel Cohen Center provided recreation space and social services to the North Minneapolis community. The Center was named for Emanuel Cohen, an attorney and the Center's principle benefactor.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Photograph showing the young men of the Minneapolis Talmud Torah Bar Mitzvah class. Bar Mitzvahs celebrate the coming of age at 13 of Jewish boys. At this age, young men become obligated to observe scripture. They may also lead prayer services and count towards a minyan. No service is required: however, it is customary to mark the occasion with a service and celebration. In the 20th century, young women were also welcomed into the adult community with a bat mitzvah. Both bar and bat mitzvahs participate in several years of Hebrew and religious study before the public occasion.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Photograph showing graduates of the Minneapolis Talmud Torah Bet Midrash class, wearing caps and gowns and holding a banner. The Class of 1924 was the first class to hold classes in the new Emanuel Cohen Center building. The Center was purchased through funds donated by Emanuel Cohen, a prominent Minneapolis lawyer. By the mid-1920s, the Minneapolis Talmud Torah was recognized as one of the most modern and effective Hebrew schools in the country. In addition to memorizing Hebrew, students learned to read and speak Hebrew conversationally, and studied Hebrew dramatics and Jewish affairs. The Bet Midrash students shown here had completed the last two years of a ten year curriculum!
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Rabbi Margolis is in the middle row. Students are in secular clothes, rather than white, typical of a more Americanized approach to the ritual celebration.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A group of children and teachers stand in Mt. Zion Temple. From the back of the photograph, "The original photograph belongs to Lonnie Breslow. Mt. Zion Temple religious school".
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A large gathering of students, sit on benched in a hall in Moses Montefiore Hebrew School. The Hebrew School was formally organized in 1905 and incorporated in 1908. The driving force behind the school was Mrs. Ida Cook, a Lithuanian immigrant. The school, according to the articles of incorporation, was to "…furnish persons of Hebrew parentage with religious instruction in harmony with the Hebrew religion; to teach the Hebrew and English languages...and to promote religious principles and devotion." The school later became the Duluth Talmud Torah.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A photograph of four boys sitting at a desk while a fifth stands behind a podium. Orthodox synagogues on the west side of St. Paul jointly founded the St. Paul Hebrew Institute in 1911.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Rabbi Alfred H. Khan, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary, is shown here with his students. Confirmation is a coming-of-age practice for post Bar- and Bat Mitzvahs. between age 15 and 18. It was originally developed by the Reform Movement to follow bar- and bat mitzvahs in the belief that thirteen year olds were not yet ready to be considered adult and should continue on in their religious education. Temple of Aaron was founded as an orthodox congregation but switched affiliation to Conservative several years after founding.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
In Conservative congregations, girls graduating from confirmation classes wore white: in Reform rituals, participants wore secular clothing, suggesting a more "Americanized" approach.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A large group of young people sitting at a series of long tables in the Temple of Aaron in Saint Paul. United Synagogue Youth (USY) was founded in 1951 to promote living Jewishly to Jewish-American teens. Part educational and part service oriented, the organization encourages youth involvement in Jewish community service work; travel and service in Israel; and reflection on Jewish identity. USY is associated with Conservative Judaism. The photo was taken at Temple of Aaron in St. Paul
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives