Jakob J. Petuchowski Papers

Manuscript Collection No. 653

1942-1986. 2.0 Linear ft.

ACCESS AND PROVENANCE
The Jakob J. Petuchowski Papers were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Jakob Petuchowski, of Cincinnati, Ohio, between 1980-1991 and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion between 1960-1990. Jakob J. Petuchowski, by the act of donating the Jakob J. Petuchowski Papers to the American Jewish Archives, assigned the property rights to the American Jewish Archives. All literary rights to material authored by Jakob Petuchowski are held by the Petuchowski heirs. All literary rights to material authored by others are retained by the individuals and their heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives. The papers are available to researchers in the reading room of the Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH top

Jakob Josef Petuchowski was born on 30 July 1925 in Berlin, Germany. He was brought from Germany to London, in a children's transport, prior to the outbreak of World War II. After receiving a B.A. with honors in psychology from the University of London in

1947, Petuchowski moved to the United States in 1948 and earned his rabbinic ordination, masters and Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Petuchowski served in the congregational rabbinate in Welch, West Virginia and Washington Pennsylvania. He was also the High Holiday rabbi of Temple B'nai Israel, Laredo, Texas, from 1956 through 1991.

As a Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion faculty member, Jakob Petuchowski held many different titles. Hired as a professor of rabbinics in 1956, he became the first Director of Jewish Studies at HUC-JIR's Jerusalem campus. Petuchowski became a professor of Theology and Liturgy, a title he held until 1981. Finally, he was the professor of Judeo-Christian studies. Petuchowski published/edited over 36 books and numerous articles on theology and poetry including: Ever Since Sinai (1961), Prayerbook Reform in Europe (1968), Understanding Jewish Prayer (1972), Theology and Poetry (1978) , Es lehrten unsere Meister (1979) and When Jews and Christians Meet (1986).

Petuchowski married Dr. Elizabeth Mayer in 1946 in London. They had three children: Samuel Judah, Aaron Mark (who also became a rabbi) and Jonathan Mayer. He died in 1991.

Related AJA Collections

Central Conference of American Rabbis Records. MSS. Collection No. 34

HUC-JIR Faculty- Picture Collection.

Petuchowski, Jakob- Nearprint Biographies.

Petuchowski, Jakob- Picture Collection.

Laredo, Texas- Temple B'nai B'rith. Small Collections.

World Union for Progressive Judaism. MSS Collection No. 16.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE top

The JAKOB J. PETUCHOWSKI PAPERS (1942-1986) describe the rabbinic and professional activities of Jakob Petuchowski who served as both a congregational rabbi and on the faculty at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Petuchowski wrote extensively on prayerbooks and halakhah and was involved in interfaith activities. The papers are divided into four (4) series:

A. CORRESPONDENCE

B. WRITINGS

C. NEARPRINT

D. AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS

SERIES A. CORRESPONDENCE consists of 1 ½ Hollinger boxes (1955-1982), arranged alphabetically by name. Each correspondent having more than 5 items has been placed in a separate folder. Much of the correspondence relates to Petuchowski's publishing career and his research on Jewish prayerbooks. Correspondence is in both English and Hebrew.

SERIES B. WRITINGS consists of 1 ½ Hollinger boxes of sermons and publications (1942-1986.), arranged alphabetically by title. Some manuscripts are in German. Correspondence relating to the publications may also be included in the series.

SERIES C. NEARPRINT consists of 1 Hollinger box (1951-1979), arranged alphabetically by topic. It includes several honorary degrees, and articles/clippings relating to various subjecct such as education or tours. It also contains material from two congregations: Temple Emanuel of Welch, West Virginina and Temple Beth Israel of Washington D.C.

SERIES D. AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS consists of 14 recordings (1961-1980; n.d.) arranged chronologically. Lectures are identified by title (if available) and information about the event. Many of the events occurred at HUC-JIR, Cincinnati, Ohio. These recordings were donated individually by either Jakob Petuchowski or the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion between 1962-1990 and are also listed separately in the reading room catalog.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING top

Box  Folder    Contents

SERIES A. CORRESPONDENCE 1955-1982.

1       1                       A-F, General.
        2                       Agus, Jakob B. 
        3                       Altman, Alexander.
        4                       Baeck, Leo.
        5                       Baerwald, Leo.
        6                       Bardin, Shlomo.
        7                       Berlin, Donald O.
        8                       Blank, Sheldon.
        9                       Braude, William G.
        10                      Brichto, Herbert C.
        11                      Burrows, D. Pete
        12                      Cambridge University Press.
        13                      Central Conference of American Rabbis.
        14                      Cohen, Gerson D.
        15                      Cohon, Samuel (and A. Irma)
        16                      Daube, David
        17                      Eckert, W.P.
        18                      Ehrlich, Kenneth E.
        19                      Frankel, Max
        20                      Freehof, Solomon
        21                      Friedland, Eric.
        22                      Fromm, Erich.
        23                      G-J, General.
        24                      Glueck, Nelson
        25                      Gottschalk, Alfred
        26                      Gradison, Bill.
        27                      Guttmann, Alexander
        28                      Hain, Kenneth
        29                      Herder-Dorneich, T.
        30                      Herscher, Uri
        31                      Heschel, Abraham  J.
        32                      Hurvitz, Henry.
        33                      Jacobs, Louis
        34                      Jakobovitz, Immanuel

2       1                       K-M, General.
        2                       Klein, Joseph
        3                       Kung, Hans
        4                       Leuner, H.D.
        5                       Levey, Samson.
        6                       Levinson, Stephen
        7                       Marcus, Jacob Rader
        8                       Maurer, Tom B.
        9                       McCoy, Lowell G.
        10                      Merkel, Gottfried G.
        11                      Mihaly, Eugene
        12                      Montefiore, Leonard G.
        13                      N-R, General.                   
.       14                      Neusner, Jacob
        15                      Oesterreicher, John M.
        16                      Plaut, W. Gunther
        17                      Rackman, Emmanuel
        18                      Rayner, John D.
        19                      Regner, Sidney L.
        20                      Rosenthal, Erwin
        21                      S-V, General.
        22                      Schaalman, Herman E.
        23                      Schneerson, Menachem M.
        24                      Solins, Samuel
        25                      Union of American Hebrew Congregations.
        26                      Van der Zyl, W.

3       1                       W-Z, General.
        2                       Wagner, Richard
        3                       Walter, Rudolf
        4                       Werner, Eric
        5                       Wiesel, Elie
        6                       Wilhelm, Kurt.
        7                       Unidentified correspondence.


SERIES B. WRITINGS. 1942-1986.

3       8                       Addresses, meditations, sermons. 1967-1979.
        9                       Beten in Judentum. German. n.d.
        10                      Bibliographies. 1942-1981.
        11                      Das Buch im Volk des Buches. German. 1982.
        12                      Die Stimme von Sinai. German. 1981.
        13                      Es Lehrten Unsere Meister. German. 1979.
        14                      Es Lehrten Unsere Meister- part II. German. 1980.
        15                      John F. Kennedy Memorial. 1963.
        
4       1                       Manuscripts. 1965-1978.
        2                       Our Masters Taught.  1981.
        3                       The Lord's Prayer and Jewish Liturgy. 1978.
        4                       The Lord's Prayer and Jewish Liturgy- part II. 1978
        5                       Theology and Poetry. 1975.
        6                       When Jews and Christians Meet. 1986
        7                       When Jews and Christians Meet- part II. 1986.

5       1                       Wie unsere Meister di Schrift Erklären. German. 1982.


SERIES C. NEARPRINT. 1951-1979.

5       2                       Brown University. Honorary doctorate. 1979.
        3                       Curriculum vitae. n.d.
        4                       Education. 1942-1955.
        5                       Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion. 1956-1977.
        6                       HUC-JIR, Jerusalem. 1963-1964.
        7                       Honors. 1977.
        8                       Laredo, Texas. 1956-1964.
        9                       Learned societies. n.d.
        10                      Lectures, tours. 1978; n.d.
        11                      Maimonides College. Honorary degree. 1959.
        12                      Personal material. n.d.
        13                      Travel records. n.d.
        14                      University of Cologne. Honorary doctorate. 1978.
        15                      Washington D.C. Temple Beth Israel 1955.
        16                      Welch, West Virginia. Temple Emanuel. 1951-1954.
        

SERIES D. AUDIOVISUAL RECORDINGS. 1961-1980.
[n.b. These recordings were donated individually by either Jakob
Petuchowski or the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
between 1962-1990 and are also listed separately in the reading room
catalog.]

TR-105 - TR-105A                Incoming student welcome. Sermon.                                       HUC-JIR. 23 September 1961.
TR-184 - TR-195                 Founders Day Program. HUC-JIR. 31 March
                                        1962.
TR-317 - TR-318                 Sabbath morning services. HUC-JIR,
                                        Jerusalem, Israel.  May 1964.
TR-231                          "Chapel- Its Uses, Present and Future."                                         HUC-JIR. 30 September 1964.
TR-272 - TR-273                 Reactions to proposed HUC-JIR                                           curriculum. Interview. 19
                                         January 1965.
TR-769                          "Message of Israel." Radio speech. 21                                   January 1969.
TR-1073                         Symposium on Halakhah. HUC-JIR. 12                                      December 1974.
TR-1172 - TR-1174               "Whither Liberal Religion?" Symposium.
                                        HUC-JIR. October 1975.
TR-1124 - TR-1126               Faculty Centennial academic lecture.
                                         October- November 1975.
TR-1141                         Symposium on prayer. HUC-JIR. April
                                         1976.
C-66 - C-69                     HUC. Colloquia on Passover and the
                                         Haggadah. March 1979.
C-348                           Interview. 22 October 1980.
C-447 - C-448                   Students. Speech. HUC-JIR. n.d.
C-1522 - C-1528                 "An Episcopal-Jewish Colloquium."
                                        Cincinnati, Ohio. n.d.

C-1522 - C-1528         "An Episcopal-Jewish Colloquium." Cincinnati, Ohio. n.d.

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