Guide to the Dor Hadash Congregation Records 1963-2003
Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
The Dor Hadash Congregation Records
Creator
Dor Hadash Congregation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Collection Number
MSS#410
Extent
7.5 linear feet(13 boxes)
Date
1963-2003
Abstract
Dor Hadash [New Generation], a member-led Reconstructionist Jewish congregation, was established in 1963. The collection includes documents and materials related to the founding and early years of the congregation, including correspondence concerning affiliation with the Federation Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Susan M. Melnick.
Dor Hadash [New Generation], a member-led Reconstructionist Jewish congregation, was established in 1963. Dr. Solomon Abrams, director of the Hebrew Institute, recognized the need for a prayer and study group for unaffiliated Jews and called an organizational meeting in May 1963. At the second meeting, the group voted itself into being. The first service was held on June 14, 1963, with an attendance of about 40 people. That year there were approximately 20 member families. That number grew to 40 families the following year. Then, in March 1966, the congregation was chartered. The group was not affiliated with any of the major Jewish denominations until 1969, when the congregation affiliated with the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot, now known as the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation.
For many years, the congregation was run through town-hall business meeting. These were held monthly in members' homes. Congregational decisions were made during those meetings by those in attendance. In 1989, a crisis occurred when no one was willing to be the president. Under the leadership of president Daniel Leger, the administration was reorganized with a board of officers and committee chairs to conduct the business of the congregation.
The membership has chosen to remain a do-it-yourself organization both to keep costs low and to encourage participation on the part of the members. Until the late 1990's, the only employee was a cantor. After a series of short-term engagements of students in that role, the congregation hired Cheryl Klein, who has held the position since 1987. In the late 1990's, the congregation hired an administrative assistant. In 2004 that position was up-graded to a half-time congregational manager.
The congregation has been committed to gender equality in ritual matters almost since its conception, with women being permitted to lead services in the early 1970's. The congregation continued to contend with issues that had surfaced early in its existence. The need for increased membership participation in doing the work of the congregation is a recurring theme in the correspondence and membership materials. The most contentious issue, however, was whether the congregation should hire a rabbi. One faction of the membership lobbied strongly on a regular basis that this should be done. The tradition of the congregation and the feeling of many others was that a rabbi would dilute the sense of involvement members had in running the congregation. When the cost of hiring a rabbi was calculated on several occasions, the congregation refused to accept a budget that included that expense with the concomitant raise in dues.
The congregation has, since its inception, rented meeting space. In 1995, after 32 years, the congregation had to leave the Wolk Chapel of the Hebrew Institute at Forbes and Denniston in Squirrel Hill. The Hebrew Institute had ceased to exist, and the Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh bought the building for use as a school building. For the next three years, the congregation met at Temple Rodef Shalom in the Josiah Cohen Chapel, during which time High Holiday services were held in the Jewish Community Center. In 1997, the congregation began meeting in the Kahn Auditorium of the Jewish Education Institute (now known as Community Day.) During this time, the congregation also rented space in the Labor Zionist Building to use as an office and for informal services.
Most children of the congregation, until the late 1980's had attended Hebrew school at the Hebrew Institute. Two members, Doris Dyen and Janet Seltman, both of whom had school-age children, were dissatisfied with the available after-school Jewish education and established the Reconstructionist Children's Study Group in 1987. The study group was created to offer Jewish education for their children which would reflect the philosophy of the Reconstructionist movement. The school had an emphasis on gender equality and informal home-based learning. For the first few years, some members of Dor Hadash continued to send their children to the Hebrew Institute. In the mid-nineties, when the Hebrew Institute closed, the study group became a full-fledged school with a principal and a new name, Dor L'Dor [Generation to Generation]. In 2004, the name was changed to the Dor Hadash Religious School. The school is affiliated with and supported in part by the congregation, but is administratively independent. The families of children who attend are required to be members of the congregation.
Scope and Content Notes
The collection includes documents and materials related to the founding and early years of the congregation, including correspondence concerning affiliation with the Federation Reconstructionist Congregations and Havurot. Also included are a relatively complete set of minutes and membership lists. Correspondence, financial records, program materials, ritual records and guides, and histories are represented. Because the congregation did not have an office until 1995, the records, kept by individual members in their homes, are not comprehensive.
Conditions Governing Access
No Restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials came in one accession in 2002.
Acc#: 2002.0039 Gift of Elissa Hirsh, President of Dor Hadash..
Preferred Citation
The Dor Hadash Congregation Records , 1963-2003, MSS#410, Rauh Jewish Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Susan Melnick in February 2005.
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.
