Moses J. Gries An Evaluation Based on his Sermons, American Jewish Archives, January 4, 1989, by Glenn M. Jacob and Dr. Jacob R. MarcusDownload
Rabbi Moses J. Gries of Cleveland, a Biography, American Jewish Archives, April 28, 1992, by Rabbi Helen CohnDownload
Excerpt from American Jewish Archives, MS-53: Moses Jacob Gries Papers, 1850-1934
Gries’s association with Tifereth Israel Congregation was illustrious – both for the growth of the congregation and the development of radical Reform Judaism. Soon after assuming his post in Cleveland, Gries supervised the congregation’s move from Huron Street into a new temple on the corner of Central and Fifth streets. During the 25 year period when Gries was rabbi the Temple’s membership increased 500%. And at one point during his tenure, the Temple’s sabbath school was the largest in the world.
Tifereth Israel Congregation, under the spiritual leadership of Rabbi Gries, embodied many of the radical Reform principals of the day: the Temple was one of the first to have women on the Board of Trustees, the Temple’s services were held on Sunday, there was little Hebrew in the liturgy, and the Torah was not read from the scroll. Gries encouraged the Temple and its services to be open to all. He advocated that a temple be more than just a place for worship or religious instruction – he wanted it to become a center of all congregational and communal life. Thus Tifereth Israel Congregation became one of the first congregations to advocate and conduct an “open temple.”
Gries was also involved in many other activities both locally and nationally. He was a charter member of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and held many CCAR offices, including president (1913-1915). Gries was a founder and on the first Board of Trustees of Cleveland’s Federation of Jewish Charities. He helped found and was first president of the Cleveland Council of Jewish Women (1893-1896). He founded the Jewish Religious Education Association of Ohio and was named its first president (1906-1908). He served as president of the Ohio Rabbinical Association and of the Cleveland Council Educational Alliance (1904). Gries was a member of the Hebrew Union College Board of Governors and the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Relief Committee. He participated in the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, the Excelsor Club, the City Club, and the local B’nai B’rith lodge. In 1910 Gries published the Jewish Community of Cleveland, a history of Cleveland’s Jewry.
