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Bernard L. Levinthal Family Papers
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Bernard Louis Levinthal, born May 12, 1864 in Kovno, Lithuania, immigrated to the United States in 1891 after studying at the yeshivot of Kovno, Vilna, and Bialystok. Settling in Philadelphia, he succeeded his father-in-law, Eleazar Kleinberg as rabbi of Congregation B'nai Abraham, where he served until his death, and as head of the United Orthodox Hebrew Congregations of Philadelphia. Levinthal was responsible for establishing the Vaad Hakashrus and the Rabbinate of Philadelphia to supervise ritual slaughtering. Bernard married Minna Kleinberg in 1886, and they had five children, Lena, Israel, Louis, Abraham, and Cyrus. Bernard L. Levinthal died September 23, 1952.
Louis Levinthal (1892-1976) served as a judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas from 1937 to 1959 and as special adviser on Jewish affairs to General Lucius D. Clay and the postwar European Command in 1947 and 1948. Louis married Lenore Chodoff (1893-1972) in 1916 and they had two children, Cyrus and Sylvia.
The collection consists of Bernard L. Levinthal's papers related to his rabbinical work and papers related to his son Louis, his wife Lenore, and other members of the Levinthal family who were active in Jewish communal organizations in the Philadelphia area. Materials include correspondence, gittin or Jewish divorce decrees, civil marriage licenses, photographs, awards, certificates, newspaper clippings, and printed records.
The collection is arranged into 2 series as follows:
Series 1: Bernard L. Levinthal rabbinical papers, 1894-1948
Series 2: Levinthal family papers, 1851-1986
Donated by Federation of Jewish Agencies and Marvin Levinthal between 1974 and 1996. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.
All of the records in boxes 1-4, the bulk of those in box 6, and a portion of those in box 8 are available on microfilm. In some instances, folders have not been microfilmed in the order they are physically arranged in the boxes. The bulk of the photographs from this collection in Series 2: Levinthal family papers, 1851-1986, have been digitized and are available online on the Temple University Digital Collections website.
A portion of the collection initially processed and finding aid created by Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center Staff in 1977. Collection reprocessed to include records not previously described, some folder titles edited for the sake of clarity, dates added or revised to reflect more accurately folder contents, and finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in March 2021 by Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist.
Northern Chevra Kadisha (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records, SCRC 532, initially processed as part of this collection, have been separated into their own collection.
People
- Levinthal, Bernard L. (Bernard Louis), 1866-1952
- Levinthal, Lenore Chodoff
- Levinthal, Louis E. (Louis Edward), 1892-1976
- Levinthal, Abraham
- Levinthal, Cyrus
Organization
Subject
- Divorce -- Religious aspects -- Judaism
- Get (Jewish law)
- Kosher food industry
- Orthodox Judaism
- Rabbinical courts
- Rabbis--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist
- Finding Aid Date
- January 2022
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Bernard L. Levinthal Family Papers are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The creators have not assigned their rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators' intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
Series 1 contains incoming and outgoing correspondence with kosher butchers, rabbis, politicians, and others regarding Jewish dietary laws of kashrut, and other local religious matters affecting the Philadelphia Jewish community, primarily generated during Levinthal's tenure as head of the Vaad Hakashrus and the Rabbinate of Philadelphia. Other topics covered in the correspondence include the outbreak of World War II and the establishment of Israel. Correspondence is in English, Hebrew or Yiddish, German, and French. Levinthal's rabbinical papers also include Jewish divorce decrees or gittin in Hebrew signed by Levinthal when he served as head of the orthodox rabbinical court (Beth Din) and copies of civil marriage licenses primarily from Philadelphia County, but also Chester, Dauphin, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Montgomery, and Northampton counties. The gittin and marriage licenses are annotated on the back. The gittin have English language notations with the names of those involved in the divorce and the corresponding Gregorian calendar date. The marriage licenses have a mix of Hebrew and English language notations with the birthplace, age, home address, and occupation of those being married. This series is arranged alphabetically by document type.
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Series 2 contains photographs, awards, certificates, and printed materials primarily related to Bernard's son, Judge Louis Edward Levinthal and his wife Lenore (Lena) Levinthal, but also his sons, Cyrus and Abraham, and other family members and their engagement with various Jewish communal organizations. Of note, are the photographs and records related to Louis' appointment as special adviser on Jewish affairs to the Commander-in-Chief Lucius D. Clay in occupied Germany after the end of World War II. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
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