Masada, Young Men's Zionist Organization of America, Cleveland Central Chapter (f. 1929) grew out of the Zionist Brotherhood which was founded in April 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. The Brotherhood's two purposes were to interest young Jewish men in Zionism and the building of a Jewish homeland and to encourage and enhance Jewish culture in America. To meet these goals, the Brotherhood conducted fundraising for various Zionist causes and promoted debates and recreational activities within the Cleveland community. The Brotherhood was affiliated with the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), and met weekly first at The Temple-Tifereth Israel, and later at other locations. Its first officers were J. Martin Kohn, Morris Wiedder, Joseph Seide and Joseph Gelman.
At the end of 1929, the group decided to assume a new name, Masada, in memory of the mountain fortress which resisted the Romans in the first century C.E. The members were surely influenced in their choice of name by the poem "Masada," published in Tel Aviv in 1927 by the Hebrew poet Itzhak Lamden, a copy of which is included in this collection.
By July of 1930, the ZOA recognized Masada as part of its movement and supported the formation of chapters throughout the country. The movement grew, in spite of disagreements about leadership between the various youth arms of Zionist organizations. In 1933, when Masada had its first national convention, there were forty chapters, and it was still functioning in 1997.
It was assumed that when Masada members reached the age of thirty, they would join a senior branch of ZOA, but in Cleveland, the Masada members were unwilling to disband their group. In 1939 they renamed themselves Migdal Zion, and this fellowship continued until 1957.
Joseph M. Papo (d. 1995) was Masada's second president. He was born in Jerusalem and educated in Cairo before he came to Cleveland, Ohio, to study at Cleveland College. After his graduation in 1933, he received a graduate degree at Western Reserve University. He worked as a social worker in Cleveland in the 1930s and in Minnesota and New York in the 1940s. In 1950 he settled in California, where he headed the Jewish Community Council of Sacramento, the predecessor of the Sacramento Jewish Federation. He then spent eighteen years with the State of California Department of Social Services. After he retired, he researched both Masada and Sephardic Jewish communities, and in 1994 wrote A Journal of the Early Years of Masada, Young Men's Zionist Organization of America, 1928-1933, Cleveland, Ohio.
The Masada, Young Men's Zionist Organization of America, Cleveland Central Chapter Records, Series II, 1928-1994, consist of constitutions, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, reports, newspaper clippings, and brochures. There is documentation of the original Zionist Brotherhood, general Masada correspondence, and the correspondence of two of its presidents, Joseph Papo and Bernard Gutow. There are also newsletters, minutes and reports from other local Jewish organizations and the national Masada. Joseph Papo's personal correspondence concerns Masada and his work in the Sephardic Jewish community.
This collection will be of interest to those studying the origins of Zionist groups in the United States. It is also a good example of how a group initiative in Cleveland became a national organization.
This collection is arranged in three series: Series I: Masada, Cleveland Central Chapter, Series II: Masada, national organization, and Series III: Papo, Joseph, personal correspondence. Series I is arranged in three parts. Folders 1 and 2 relate to the Zionist Brotherhood, the organization which became Masada. Folders 3 through 20 are Masada records, arranged by document type. Folders 21 through 23 concern local Jewish organizations. Series II is arranged alphabetically by document type. Series III is arranged chronologically.
Photographs have been removed to the photograph and print collection.
Researchers should also consult MS 4545 Masada, Young Men's Zionist Organization of America, Cleveland Central Chapter Records; MS 4530 Myron S. Stanford Papers; and MS 3980 Bernard Gutow Papers.
Processed by Jane A. Avner in 1997
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4756 Masada, Young Men's Zionist Organization of America, Cleveland Central Chapter Records, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Michael Papo, 1996
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.