Having grown up in Silver Spring Maryland, I have a particular interest in the Jewish history of the Greater Washington area. The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington has been active for over 50 years and they have done important work in preserving significant parts of Jewish material culture and in recent years, facilitating important research into the early history of the Jewish community. The bulk of the JHSGW's published material is contained in their journal, The Record, which as far as I can tell only exists in its entirety in the JHSGW's library. At the moment of this post's composition, the JHSGW's library is inaccessible due to the ongoing construction of the new museum and archives facility.
Despite the tremendous amount of work done, in my experience, there still appears to be a large gab in the historical memory of many of the institutions in the Orthodox community. As an amateur researcher, I have made use of internet accessible digitized newspapers as the primary locus of my research into the subject.
I have been thinking about various options for making my research publicly available, and though I wish to have some of my research published in an official journal, in the meantime, while I am still an undergraduate student, I will be drafting some articles on this blog.
To give a taste of some of my future writing, I will briefly write about a topic who's full story has continued to allude me for some time.
Recently, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, has opened the Yeshivas Elimelech in Shepherd Park, a neighborhood in Northwest DC near downtown Silver Spring. Rabbi Herzfeld's vision for the Yeshiva is quite ambitious, and I wish him and his staff lasting success in their endeavor. One element of the early branding of the Yeshiva piqued my interest, while the vision was initially publicized. An article in the Washington Jewish Week from mid-December 2021 claimed that Yeshivas Reb Elimelech (as it was called at the time) would be the first Yeshiva in DC[1]. This claim seemed surprising to me, is it really true that Yeshivas Elimelech would be the first Yeshiva in the district?
The earliest institution in DC to call itself a Yeshiva was the Hebrew Academy. The school opened its doors to its first class of students in January 1944[2][3]. Its Hebrew name Yeshivat Beit Yehuda, is attested as early as 1945 in an advertisement for the United Yeshivos Foundation, a fundraising organization for American Jewish parochial schools that operated in the 1940s. The relevant text of the advertisement reads,
New Links in the Golden Chain: With a blessing of Shehecheyanu, we welcome the three new members of the United Yeshivos Foundation: The "Hebrew Parochial School of Chicago," "Yeshivat Beit Yehuda" in Washington D.C. and the "North Philadelphia Yeshiva."[4]
The Hebrew academy only offered instruction for elementary level grades, so it didn't really fit the definition of a Yeshiva that could ordain members of the clergy. In the Fall of 1953, shortly after the school's second annual commencement exercises, the Hebrew Academy opened its Beth Judah Institute[5]. The purpose of this branch of the school was to train and certify future Hebrew school teachers. The school would offer after-school Jewish studies classes to high school students who were graduates of an elementary Hebrew school program. Upon graduating high school, students at the Beth Judah Institute would become full-time students for two more years before gaining their Hebrew School teacher's certificate[6].
This plan doesn't seem to have to panned out as its visionaries hoped. The Fall 1955 registration season demonstrated a significant downsizing of the program for only Junior and Senior high school students marketing it as a way to "Continue Your Child's Jewish Education[7]." The Beth Judah Institute last appeared in print media for the Fall 1956 registration season[8], allowing for a liberal estimate of four academic years of operation. In all likelihood, the Beth Judah Institute never succeeded in graduating any Hebrew school teachers.
The Hebrew academy's Beth Judah Institute never became a school that could train professional clergy, but its attempt to train Hebrew school teachers was the first time the Jewish community of DC came close towards establishing such an institution.
Stayed tuned for another chapter of this topic in which I will discuss the Brisker Yeshiva of Washington, DC.
Footnotes:
[1] Rachel Kohn, "Can Proposed D.C. Yeshiva be Open and Orthodox?" Washington Jewish Week (Columbia, MD), Dec. 15, 2021. link.
[2] "Rabbi Rosenberg To Talk at Tea," Evening Star (Washington, DC), Oct. 15, 1943. link.
[3] "Hebrew Women Plan Purim Party," Evening Star (Washington, DC), Feb. 28, 1944. link.
[4] [Advertisement] "United Yeshivos Foundation," [Yiddish] Forward (New York, NY), Dec. 21, 1945. link.
[5] "Beth Judah Institute To Open Tomorrow," Evening Star (Washington, DC), Oct. 17, 1953. link.
[6] "Adult Class Registration Being Held For Varied Curricula This Week" National Jewish Ledger (Washington, DC), Oct. 9, 1953.
[7] [Advertisement] "Continue Your Child's Jewish Education: The Beth Judah Hebrew Institute," Evening Star (Washington, DC), Sept. 18, 1955. link.
[8] [Advertisement] "A Call To Jewish Parents," Evening Star (Washington, DC), Sept. 4, 1956. link.