Magnes collection on the San Francisco Chapter of the American Council for Judaism, 1943-1970

The American Council for Judaism was an anti-Zionist organization formed in 1943 with regional chapters in Richmond, Dallas, Chicago and San Francisco. It was committed to the principle that Judaism is a religion, not a nationality, and it rejected national rights or obligations for American Jews that were other than American. The San Francisco Chapter, initially under the leadership of Rabbi Irving Reichert, Monroe E. Deutsch, and Hattie Hecht Sloss, was the most active chapter of the ACJ in the nation.

The collection consists of a small number of original documents, including correspondence, booklets and brochures, and clippings. Much of the collection consists of photocopies of the original Bay Area materials in the American Council for Judaism collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society. These photocopied materials include correspondence, minutes, reports, speeches, sermons, and membership lists dating from 1943 through 1949. ǂb Included is an extensive exchange between San Francisco Chapter members Hattie Hecht Sloss and Rabbi Irving Reichert, on the one hand, and the ACJ’s national director, Rabbi Elmer Berger, on the other hand, on national policy and local community activity. The collection also provides insight into the San Francisco Chapter’s views on resettlement, Jewish political nationalism, and Palestine.