Abe Orbuch was born in a small town in Poland near the Russian border. He fled Poland at 21 to avoid conscription into the Russian military, settling in St. Paul. He bought a Model-T Ford and traveled to small towns outside of St. Paul where he sold fruit. He formed friendships with many in the Polish community in Foley and commuted to a poultry business he owned there for over forty years. He bought chickens, eggs and veal from Foley farmers and sold them sugar, flour and twine.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Bearmans were a North Side family with a successful produce business. They sponsored a baseball team that played in the municipal league. Of note is the unidentified African-American player at the far left.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Ben Berger was a successful Minneapolis businessman and philanthropist, and an original co-owner of the Minneapolis Lakers. He was also a prodigious funds raiser. He is shown speaking at a Jewish National Fund dinner at Minneapolis' Pick-Nicollet Hotel. The Jewish National Fund raised money throughout the world to support tree planting and infrastructure projects in Israel.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A group of men are sitting in pews and reading. The Ark is in the background. Tisha B'Av is a Jewish day of mourning and fasting. It literally denotes the ninth day (Tisha) of the month of Av. It commemorates tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over time, including the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Portrait photograph of the Board of Directors for the Workman's Circle Loan Association, posed at a table. Workman's Circle groups loaned money to members cost free. A person paid a small fee to be a member and could then apply for a loan. He or she would then pay the loan back at a scheduled rate.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The Board of Directors of the Workman's Circle Loan Association sitting at a table, working and chatting. Both St. Paul and Minneapolis had Workmen's Circle chapters.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Daniel Snyder Oglansky's was located at the corner of Sheridan and Golden Valley Road. The photograph is part of a collection of genre photographs depicting everyday life and people in North Minneapolis.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Members of the Duluth Wildcats bowling team holding trophies. Bowling was a popular form of social recreation. B'nai Brith sponsored many bowling teams.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Gemilus Chesed was a North Side Orthodox congregation that combined social service functions, such as loans and charitable relief, with religious services. The congregation was founded the 1910s and merged in 1969 with another former North Side congregation, Shari Zedek, to form Shari Chesed in St. Louis Park.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
From left to right: Louis Greene, recently elected president of B'nai Brith Lodge 271; Joseph Schanfeld, center, the oldest living president at the time of the photo; former president Sam Dott.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
A photograph of men in suits sitting at long tables in a hall. In the 1920s, as a greater number of Jews began to work in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, social clubs sprang up to met their needs. In both cities, access to the existing clubs was limited to Gentiles. In 1908, a group of Jewish graduates from the University of Minnesota founded the Gymal Doled Club, named for the third and fourth letters of the Jewish alphabet. Gymal Doled absorbed other Jewish social clubs, and finally changed names in 1945 to the Standard Club, to reflect the American acculturation of its members.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Members of the Hey and Vav Club sit at two long tables which are set with coffee cups and saucers. A social club for members of the Jewish community in Duluth. Because Jews were excluded from gentile clubs, the community formed its own, which helped forge social and business connections among members. Membership in clubs also enforced an American, rather than an exclusively ethnic identity. Several years after its founding, the Hay Vav club Americanized it's name to the Covenant Club.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Joe Numero and his business partner, Fred Jones, were responsible for the creation of the first refrigerated truck. Their invention, financed by Numero and engineered by Jones, revolutionized interstate commerce. A trucking company could deliver perishable products to far-flung markets without fear of spoilage en route. The invention happened at a fortuitous moment--the beginning of WWII, when the country had need of moving large quantities of produce and meat across long distances to feed hungry troops.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Joseph Schanfield was born in Romania, and became successful in Minneapolis' booming turn of the century real estate and insurance markets. At 23, he became the head of the Adath Jeshurun congregation on Minneapolis's South Side. During his years of service to the community, there were few leadership positions he did not hold, including president of the Jewish Sheltering Home and the Jewish Home for the Aged, as well as the Adath Cemetery Association.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Five men stand for a photograph at the National B'nai Brith Bowling Tournament. Bowling was a popular form of recreation for men and women sponsored by B'nai Brith.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Members of the Lucky Strike bowling team stand, holding their bowling balls, behind a table which is exhibiting a banner. B'nai Brith is a national Jewish philanthropic and service organization that was founded in the United States in the mid-1800s.In addition to advancing the welfare of Jews in secular society, B.B. provides social and recreational opportunities for men and women by sponsoring sports teams, typified by the popular bowling leagues of the 1950s and 1960s. American bowling has Jewish roots: Louis B. Stein (1858-1949) helped organize the American Bowling Congress in 1895. An outstanding bowler, Stein established 300 as the score in tenpin bowling and determined that the weight of the ball should be 16 pounds, setting standards that continue to the present day.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The men are assembled on the bimah (the stage or platform in front of the Ark containing the Torah scrolls) of Adas (literally, "congregation") Israel.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Adas Israel was formed in the 1890s by members of the Moses Montefiore congregation, an earlier Orthodox congregation comprised of Lithuanian Jews. By the turn of the century, there were close to 1,500 Jews living in Duluth, most of who were Russian or Eastern European. The men in the picture were observing Simchas Torah, the holiday marking the end of the weekly cycle of Torah readings.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Portrait photograph showing members of the Minneapolis Workmen's Circle. Workman's Circle members were non-religious, politically active Jews, many of whom were Socialists. They espoused a classless society, favored the use of Yiddish for cultural expression, and created a variety of services for members, including medical and insurance benefits.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Portrait photograph of members of the Workmen's Circle, which was created in the late 1800s by Jewish immigrants as a mutual aid society. The Circle was secular, practical and leftist, and many members were involved in support for Palestine.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives