Buffalo Jewish Review Archive

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: MS 217

Staff Only

The archive of the Buffalo Jewish Review contains issues of the Buffalo Jewish Review and its predecessor the American Jewish Review from November 9, 1917 to the present.

Dates

1917-2017

Creator

Buffalo Jewish Review (Organization)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English.

Terms of Access

Open for research.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the University Archives before publishing quotations from materials in th collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Extent

88.5 Linear Feet (3 microfilm reels, 30 bound volumes, 77 oversize boxes)

Additional Description

Overview

The archive of the Buffalo Jewish Review contains issues of the Buffalo Jewish Review and its predecessor the American Jewish Review from November 9, 1917 to the present.

Historical Note

The Buffalo Jewish Review began as the American Jewish Review, a monthly, backed by Albert Hershkowitz. The premier issue was published on November 9, 1917. Within a few months the paper was taken over by Philip and George W. Cohen who hoped to raise the fortunes of the paper by utilizing local rabbinical talent to give a community flavor. Rabbi Louis J. Kopald of Temple Beth Zion, the oldest reform Temple in Buffalo emerged as the key writer and interpreter, developing a strongly anti-Zionist bent and a pro-Reform slant to the paper. In 1921, the newspaper was sold and renamed the Buffalo Jewish Review by Elias Rex Jacobs (1892-1979) and Meyer B. Teplitz. Jacobs, a staunch Zionist moved the paper's stance from anti-Zionism to a strong pro-Zionist position and within several years, circulation rose from 2,500 to approximately 11,000. Harlan Abbey was an editor during the 1980s before ownership passed to Arnold and Rita Weiss.

As the Jewish community news organ at ninety years in 2008, the Buffalo Jewish Review showcases the cultural and social activities of the community from 1917 to present. Each issue of the paper is a mine of cultural information that begins towards the end of the First World War, through the 1950s to the current era. In each edition, activities within the community are presented, covering all spheres of Jewish life -- religious, cultural, educational, political and economic -- that taken together and cumulatively, provide a fascinating glimpse into the changing mosaic of a small to mid-sized American Jewish community in times of stasis and growth. Recently the Buffalo Jewish Review has begun reproducing pages from older issues and this has sparked renewed interest in the community's history.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series:

I. Microfilms
II. Paper issues

Acquisition Information

Microfilm for Nov. 9, 1917-July 23, 1920, Jan. 5, 1945-Apr. 13, 1951 purchased from the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in 2012. Paper issues presented to the Jewish Buffalo Archives Project in 2011.