Green Road Synagogue, an Orthodox congregation, was founded in 1910 by five immigrants from Marmaresh Sziget in Hungary. The Marmaresh B'nai Jacob Society met initially in a rented hall on Woodland at E. 26th Street. In 1911, after conducting a membership drive, the congregation purchased a building for a synagogue on Irving Street (E. 25th Street) near Woodland, where they worshiped until 1920. Since 1920 the congregation has moved frequently and also established branches, to remain within walking distance of members moving rapidly eastward with the Jewish community. Between 1920 and 1924 the congregation moved from Irving Street, to Scovill near E. 30th Street, to E. 55th Street near Quincy, and to E. 61st Street near Woodland. In 1921 they purchased a building at 1207 E. 105th Street as a branch synagogue for members who had moved to Glenville. In 1932 the synagogue on E. 61st Street was sold and the E. 105th Street branch became the main synagogue.
In 1952 the congregation completed a new Jewish Center, designed by Louis Skolnik, at 2728 Lancashire in Cleveland Heights. By 1968, however, they found it necessary to establish a branch on Green Road in Beachwood. This was followed by construction of a new Green Road Synagogue, dedicated in December 1973. Rabbi Jules Lipschutz was spiritual leader of the congregation from 1958 to 1973, followed by Rabbi Melvin Granatstein from 1974 through 1986.
The Marmaresh B'nai Jacob Society changed their name to the First Marmaras B'nai Jacob Congregation in 1922, then to Anshe Marmaresher in 1937. The congregation consisted of 171 families in 1940. With the move to Lancashire Road they became known as the Marmarosher Jewish Center. In 1968 the Marmarosher Jewish Center began negotiating a merger with the Heights Jewish Center, but negotiations broke down and in 1971 Marmarosher went ahead on their own in building the new synagogue. The name Green Road Synagogue was officially adopted in December 1971. The Green Road Synagogue consisted of 290 families in 1972. Subsequently, the congregation adopted the Hebrew name Beth Haknesseth Shearith Haplaitah B'nai Yaakov (The Synagogue of the Remnant of the Refugees of the Sons of Jacob), but this name is rarely used.
The Green Road Synagogue Records, 1949-1976 and undated, consist of a constitution, Board minutes, membership records, religious school records, social and fundraising materials, and financial records of the Marmarosher Jewish Center and the Green Road Synagogue, and files of the Heights Jewish Center, including constitutions and material relating to the merger with the Marmarosher Jewish Center.
This collection will be useful to researchers studying the history of the Jewish community in Cleveland, Ohio, and its Eastern suburbs in the post-World War II era. The Green Road Synagogue Records document the day to day functioning of an Orthodox synagogue in Cleveland, Ohio including administration and services to members such as religious instruction, burial services, and moral and financial assistance. Materials on the Sisterhood, annual picnic, and annual banquet offer insight into the social and fundraising activities of a Jewish synagogue. Subjects include membership, charitable donations, Sisterhood, religious school, annual banquet, annual picnic, building construction and maintenance, and the proposed merger with the Heights Jewish Center.
The collection is arranged by document type and then chronologically.
Processed by Lucinda Kay Arnold in 1979.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 3786 Green Road Synagogue Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gift of Green Road Synagogue in 1977.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.