Beth Chayim Chadashim records, 1948, 1967-2013, bulk bulk

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Summary

Creators:
Beth Chayim Chadashim (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Abstract:
The collection consists of administrative records, membership records, financial records, outreach and event records, religious service texts, publications, subject files, photographs, and other materials used and/or created by Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), 1948, 1967-2013. Founded in 1972 as the world’s first lesbian and gay synagogue, BCC is an inclusive community of progressive lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual Jews, their families, and friends.
Extent:
36.9 Linear Feet 22 archive boxes + 5 archive flat boxes + 4 archive binder boxes + 3 archive cartons
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Beth Chayim Chadashim Records, Coll2012-133, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of administrative records, membership records, financial records, outreach and event records, religious service texts, publications, subject files, photographs, and other materials maintained and/or created by Beth Chayim Chadashim, 1948, 1967-2013. Records dated prior to the founding of the temple in 1972 consist exclusively of religious texts. The administrative records include meeting minutes, membership lists, records of the president, correspondence, and other operational records. The financial records include financial reports, ledgers, receipts, and budget reports. The outreach and event records comprise promotional material, advertisements, event programs, and informational pamphlets and booklets. Other records include periodicals, texts used or referenced for religious services, clippings, mass mailings, photographs, and assorted artifacts.

Biographical / historical:

The world’s first synagogue for gay and lesbian Jews grew out of a weekly rap group meeting on April 4, 1972 at Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) in Los Angeles. The three men and one woman who attended that meeting were all Jewish. MCC founder Reverend Troy Perry encouraged them to start a congregation and offered free use of church facilities. About a dozen women and men came to an ad hoc meeting to found the Metropolitan Community Temple in May of that year.

After services on January 26, 1973, the fledgling synagogue changed its name to Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC), Hebrew for “House of New Life.” That same night, a fire destroyed the MCC church, and BCC temporarily moved into the Leo Baeck Temple in Bel Air. There in 1973, BCC received a Holocaust survivor Torah from the town of Chotebor, Czechoslovakia, on permanent loan from Westminster Synagogue in London.

The Union of American Hebrew Congregations (now Union for Reform Judaism) accepted BCC into their union on June 9, 1974, the first gay and lesbian congregation accepted by a mainstream religious organization in the world. BCC also became a founding member of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish Organizations and hosted international conferences in 1978 and 1982, along with several Western regional conferences.

In 1977 BCC purchased its own building at 6000 West Pico Boulevard and in 1983 hired its first ordained rabbi and later its first invested cantor. At a time when most temples still used male pronouns for God, BCC created the first gender-neutral prayer book. BCC was also a pioneer in egalitarian worship services with lay service leaders and in the creation of life cycle rituals for lesbian and gay individuals and couples.

In the 1980s, BCC helped found Nechama, a Jewish Response to AIDS, which was initially housed at BCC and later moved to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles (it later became the independent nonprofit group Los Angeles Jewish AIDS Services). In 1987 BCC inaugurated its Persons with AIDS dinners, providing food and community support to individuals and their friends and families.

In 1995 as members began to raise children in greater numbers, BCC began its first children’s program, Yeladim B’Lev (“Children in the Heart”). By 2007 BCC had established an active religious school program known as Ohr Chayim.

Source: Beth Chayim Chadashim website ©2012 at http://www.bcc-la.org/history/.

Acquisition information:
Part of the collection was gifted at an unknown date presumably by BCC member and ONE Incorporated board member Jesse Jacobs. Other parts of the collection were gifted in multiple donations from Tracy Moore between June 2011 and May 2014.
Processing information:

Part of collection formerly housed in boxes A214, A214a, A214b, A214c, A214d, A214e, A214f, A214g, A214i, A215, A216, A217, A218, A220, A221, A222, and A223.

Collection processed by Kyle Morgan, 2012.

Supplemental material processed by Kyle Morgan, 2014.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged in the following series:

Series 1. Administrative records, 1972-2013

Series 2. Financial records, 1972-2009

Series 3. Outreach and event records, 1972-2013

Series 4. Religious services records, 1948, 1967-2013

Series 5. Publications, 1973-2012

Series 6. Subject files, 1973-2010

Series 7. Photographs, 1977-2009

Series 8. Audiovisual and graphic materials, religious artifacts, and other objects, 1978-2011

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Restricted access to some membership and financial records. Please consult archivist.

Terms of access:

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the ONE Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at USC Libraries as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.

Preferred citation:

[Box/folder #, or item name] Beth Chayim Chadashim Records, Coll2012-133, ONE National Gay & Lesbian Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California

Location of this collection:
909 West Adams Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90007, US
Contact:
(213) 821-2771
askone@usc.edu
Website