Young women in formal dress sitting at long tables during the District 6 convention. B. B. Y. W. was part of the women's division of B'nai Brith, the oldest continuously operating Jewish service organization in the world.
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
Stevie Franker and Gerald Bubis pose for a photograph to raise awareness of the Hillel students food drive for displaced persons. Hillel students were involved with relief work for Jewish refugees at the end of the war. During Purim celebrations on campus, food drive co-chairs Stevie Franker and Gerald Bubis posed for a publicity photo to generate interest in Hillel's drive. The photo would be published in the AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD, the local Jewish newspaper.
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
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