Notes

Cleveland's first Jewish newspaper, the Hebrew Observer, cannot be used for our purposes as it did not start publication until 1889.

Lloyd Gartner's History of Jewish Cleveland (1978), was created from thousands of index cards, carefully prepared from archive documents and newspaper accounts. Gartner often describes worship practices such as the language of the sermon, men praying with heads covered or uncovered, seating (mixed or sex-segregated) and music. But we can find no references to confirmations and the bar mitzvah - in fact the words are not even indexed.

Allan Peskin's short but focused This Tempting Freedom (1973, pdf, 10 MB), a study of the early years of Anshe Chesed, is our best account of the early movement toward reform, yet it too does not discuss confirmations.

Notes

The notice inviting the community to attend may had been intended to attract Jews who were not members or to show the general community that Jewish ritual was open and in English.

The June 13, 1864 Plain Dealer was only four pages, about half advertisements and notices, business and personal. The longest story of the day was a summary of Civil War news, but the confirmation story was nearly half a page long.

The "Aushe (sic) Chesed Kahal" is now Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple. The author, who should have written 50 days, not 40, for the Pentecost, paints an exotic picture of Oriental allure with "dark eyed dazzling daughters of Judah".

Confirmed that day were 12 girls, probably age 12, and only four boys, age 13.

Reverend G M Cohen, who came to Anshe Chesed in 1861, was a well educated chazan, but not ordained, He introduced mixed-gender seating, a choir and an organ. In 1866 he would leave with 34 members, to become cantor at Tifereth Israel. In 1867 he returned to lead Anshe Chesed again, until 1873 when an ordained rabbi, Michael Machol, was hired. Machol would serve Anshe Chesed until 1907.
[ see ECH ]  [ See Plain Dealer ]

The third synagogue, mentioned only as "the Polish", would have been Anshe Emeth, today Park Synagogue (though its History webpage gives 1869 - five years later - as the year founded). The roots of B'nai Jeshurun, "the Hungarian shul", also go back to this time..The Plain Dealer, written for English-speaking readers, would be much less likely to report about places where only foreign languages were used.