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
Children gathered outside of the Capitol City Hebrew School, with the school entrance in the background. Capitol City Hebrew Free School was one of two schools in St. Paul where Jewish children could learn Hebrew. It was originally affiliated with the Sons of Jacob congregation, but by the time this building was built in 1912, enrollment was no longer restricted to Sons of Jacob families.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
The children in the photograph are dressed up to represent the Royal Court at the St. Paul Winter Carnival. The photograph was taken in the basement of the George Kaplan Hebrew Seminary building at 1464 Summit Avenue in St. Paul.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
As part of Sunday School instruction, very young children are taught about and practice the words to the Shabbat blessings over a cup of wine and bread. This group of children were in Bernice Cowl Gordon's class. Left to right: Howard Goldberg, Gerald and Merle Rosenzweig and John Have.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
By 1924, when this photograph was taken, the Talmud Torah had moved to a new building space. The old building remained a community center, but the Hebrew school moved to the Emanuel Cohen Center. The school was also gaining national recognition at that time as a place of innovative teaching methods and rigorous curriculum. The Elementary Level lasted for 5 years and was the first level of Hebrew instruction.
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
Three boys, wearing caps and capes, hold a microphone on stage, during the commencement ceremony of the nursery school graduation. The St. Paul Talmud Torah was created in 1956 through the merger of several different Jewish education institutions as a beneficiary of the United Jewish Fund and Council. Oversight for Jewish education was centered in the Jewish Education Association, which planned and developed all forms of local Jewish learning, including weekday school and Sunday schools.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
Children of the graduating class of the Saint Paul Talmud Torah nursery school, wearing caps and hand-made costume. The St. Paul Talmud Torah was created in 1956 through the merger of several different Jewish education institutions as a beneficiary of the United Jewish Fund and Council. Oversight for Jewish education was centered in the Jewish Education Association, which planned and developed all forms of local Jewish learning, including weekday school and Sunday schools.
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
Dr. George Gordon, founder and driving force behind the Minneapolis Talmud Torah is in the center, front row. Dr. Gordon introduced modern teaching methods, grades, and a rigorous curriculum to Hebrew instruction, and remained administratively independent of any religious congregation. High school classes were the second level of instruction: students graduated after 3 years.
Contributing Institution:
University of Minnesota Libraries, Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives