U.S, Papers of Rabbi Samuel Langer, 1929-1969

This database contains a total of 5,650 entries, extracted from the published newspaper clippings in Rabbi Samuel Langer's personal scrapbook, as well as the names mentioned in the various papers, both printed and handwritten, in his files, compiled by his daughter, Judith Shulamith Langer.

About Rabbi Langer

Rabbi Samuel Langer was born in 1905 and died in 1996. He served many various congregations along the Eastern Seaboard as a rabbi and an educational director, including Shenandoah, Penn; Morristown, New Jersey; Salisbury, Maryland; Caldewell, New Jersey; Temple Sons of Jacob, Ozone Park, New York; Congregation Sons of Israel, Peabody, Massachusetts; Congregation B'nai Abraham, Meriden, Connecticut; Beth Israel Center, St. Albans, Queens, New York; Westbury Hebrew Congregation, Westbury, Long Island, New York; Ahavath Achim Congregation, Atlanta, Georgia; the Rosedale Jewish Center, Rosedale, Queens, New York; and the Woodruff Avenue Temple ~ Congregation Ahavath Achim, Brooklyn, New York.

About the Database:

This database contains information extracted from life cycle events such as:

• Births, Pidyon HaBens


• Bar and Bas Mitzvahs


• Confirmations


• Hebrew School and Religious School Graduations


• Aufrufs and Weddings


• Funerals and Unveilings


• Cornerstone Laying


• Selling of Chometz


• Installation of Officers


• Rosh HaShonah Greetings

It also contains information on people that Rabbi Langer knew from the synagogues in which he belonged and the communities in which he resided after his retirement. These people included:

• Congregants


• Congregational officers


• Rabbis


• Cantors


• Hebrew School teachers


• Communal Leaders


• Jewish Organizational Leaders


• Guest Speakers


• Visitors

The following are the fields included in the Rabbi Samuel Langer Database:

• Surname: Person's family or last name


• First Name: This field also includes any middle name or title, including Miss, Dr., Rabbi


• Event or Title: This field is used to describe either the "event" such as a bar mitzvah or the installation of officers, or this field might give the role a person played in a synagogue or institution, such as Trustee or Sisterhood President.


• Synagogue or Organization: This field gives the name of the synagogue or other organization


• Date: Most of the items I worked with had a date connected to them, but where there was no date given or suggested, usually a time period corresponding to when Rabbi Langer served in that community was given, or else it was left as "undated". The date is set up as three separate fields for DAY, MONTH, and YEAR.


• Place: There are three place or location fields: (1) CITY or NEIGHBORHOOD (2) GEOGRAPHIC DESIGNATION - any additional description that might occasionally be used, such as Long Island or Queens, (3) STATE


• Source: Ninety nine percent of the data comes from either Rabbi Langer’s personal scrapbook or his various rabbinic files. The other one percent comes from the compiler's files, for over the years, as she has done genealogy, invariably some of what was once in her father’s files migrated, with his permission, to her files.


• Comment: This field might contain a Hebrew name, a date of death, a date of burial, how the person participated in a program, the name(s) of other family members -- any data that would not readily fit in the other fields