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Henry (Elchanon Tzvi) Guterman Papers

An inventory of the collection at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 25 Apr 2010

Biographical History

Henry Yitzak (Elchanon Tzvi) Guterman (1882-1966) was a Lithuanian-American rabbi and scholar, and chief orthodox rabbi of Scranton, Pennsylvania from 1909-1966.

Born in Lithuania, Guterman came to the United States at the age of 19. He was a founder of Scranton's Young Men's Hebrew Association as well as two Hebrew day schools in the city, and founded a daily Gemara Shiur (Talmudic lecture or discussion) in 1911 which continued for more than 50 years. According to the New York Times, Guterman was a "renowned Talmudic scholar...[and] a consultant on Jewish law to the chief rabbinate at Jerusalem." He received an honorary D.D. from Yeshiva in 1962. Although firmly Orthodox himself, he actively fostered and maintained good relations with Reform and Conservative rabbis and residents of the city as well as with the gentile community. He and his wife Lena had four children.

[Information taken from Guterman's obituary in the New York Times, 21 Oct 1966, and from Guterman's biographical page on kevarim.com]

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Henry Guterman Papers contains correspondence and writings. Almost all is handwritten in Yiddish or Hebrew.

Arrangement of the Collection

Material has largely been left in original order, grouped according to the original folder or envelope in which it was contained.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advance notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Subject Headings

Persons

Guterman, Henry.

Associated Titles

Talmud -- Study and teaching.

Subjects

Jews -- Pennsylvania.
Judaism -- Study and teaching.
Rabbis -- United States.

Places

Scranton (Pa.) -- Religious activity.

Genres and Forms

Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Lecture notes.
Research notes.

Occupations

Rabbis.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Henry (Elchanon Tzvi) Guterman Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Simeon Guterman, 1969.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Writings

Unidentified material

Inventory