Records of the Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, 1991-2008
- Repository
- Heinz History Center
- Title
- Records of the Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art
- Creator
- Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Collection Number
- MSS#518
- Extent
- 1 linear foot (2 boxes)
- Date
- 1991-2008
- Abstract
- The Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, originally titled the Pittsburgh Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, was an organization whose mission was to assemble in a systematic way information and photographs of Jewish art and ritual objects held in the collections of Jewish congregations in Pittsburgh. The Records of the Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art include documentation of how this effort was carried out, from 1991 to the organization's dissolution in 2007, along with the indexes produced by the organization.
- Language
- The material in this collection is in English.
- Publisher
- Heinz History Center
- Address
- 1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org
History
The Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, originally titled the Pittsburgh Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, was organized by its founding president, Katherine (Kitty) Ruttenberg, in 1991. It was intended to be a pilot project – the first in the United States – for a larger project conceived by Professor Bezalel Narkiss and established in 1979 as the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The Center's website describes it as "the world's most comprehensive database of Jewish art. It was created to include systematic documentation of all extant Jewish art around the world, from antiquity to the contemporary period, thus directly contributing to the preservation of the Jewish artistic heritage." The Jerusalem index is no longer active, and there is no online public access to its databases at this time.
The Pittsburgh Index Project, composed largely of volunteers, trained teams of indexers to go to synagogues in the Pittsburgh area to photograph ritual objects in these collections and to describe them according to standardized terminology developed by the Jerusalem Center. Sylvia Plutchok, Director of Indexing from the beginning of the project, developed an extensive manual used for training indexers. The manual provides detailed information and drawings of the parts, materials, and styles of typical Jewish ritual objects, and it gives directions for taking uniform measurements.
With the cooperation of the synagogues' rabbis and staff, the indexers went to the synagogues to photograph the objects and to fill out a descriptive checklist form for each piece. Sylvia Plutchok compiled the information for the completed reports. Reports were completed for Congregation B'nai Israel, Rodef Shalom Congregation, Temple Sinai, Beth Shalom, and Tree of Life, although the last two have apparently been lost. In addition, there is incomplete documentation for Adath Jeshurun and Beth Shalom congregations.
Scope and Content Notes
These records document the Pittsburgh Index of Judaica and Jewish Art from its founding in 1991 to its dissolution in 2007. They include minutes, committee and financial reports, newsclippings, correspondence, and charitable corporation documentation. A copy of the manual used as a guide for the project is also included. It is composed of chapters of explanations and descriptions of rimonim, the ornamental finials placed on Torahs; Torah shields, or breastplates; Torah crowns; Torah pointers, or yads; Torah Ark curtains; candelabra; and other objects. The finished products of the Index are detailed reports on the collections of B'nai Israel, Rodef Shalom, and Temple Sinai. Each object was photographed, some from more than one angle, and the accompanying description forms provide information on dimensions, composition materials, provenance, and inscriptions, the full text of which is often given in both English and Hebrew. These records provide a well-structured and extremely detailed picture of the art and ritual objects used in these congregations in the 1990s. The arrangement is alphabetical by topic and chronological within folders.
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The records came in three accessions and were combined in 2009. The bulk of the records were donated by Jerome L. Rosenberg, Treasurer of the Pittsburgh Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, in October, 2008, after the dissolution of the organization.
Acc. #L1995-338 and 339, Acc. #1996.0371, Acc. #2008.0300, Acc. #2009.0205
Preferred Citation
Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art, 1991-2008, MSS#518, Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Martha L. Berg in March 23, 2009. Additions and revisions were made on December 29, 2009 and September 5, 2013 by Martha L. Berg.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
Related Materials
Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem: http://cja.huji.ac.il/IJA1.html
Separated Materials
None. In order to maintain full contextual information, the photographs included with the synagogue collections, for both completed reports and raw data, have been retained in this MSS#518 collection, rather than being separated. In the completed reports, each photograph of an object is accompanied by a data sheet which describes the object in detail.
Subjects
- Kitty Ruttenberg Index of Judaica and Jewish Art (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Pittsburgh Index of Judaica and Jewish Art (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Rodef Shalom Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Congregation B'nai Israel (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Temple Sinai (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Beth Shalom Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Tree of Life Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Adath Jeshurun Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Shaare Torah Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
- Ruttenberg, Katherine M.
- Plutchok, Sylvia
- Narkiss, Bezalel
- Jews -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
- Jewish art and symbolism--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh