In 1963, congregants of Beth Israel-The West Temple, led by Louis Rosenblum, Herb Caron, and Rabbi Daniel Litt, founded the Cleveland Committee, later Council, on Soviet Anti-Semitism, the first American organization created to advocate for freedom for Soviet Jews. In 1970, this work led to the formation of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews under the leadership of Louis Rosenblum. With its national office located here from 1970 to 1973, the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews became the largest independent Soviet Jewry organization in the world. By the turn of the 21st century, the efforts begun here helped 1.6 million Jews leave the former Soviet Union. Between 1975 and 2003, an estimated 10,000 Soviet Jews were resettled in Cleveland, where the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the Jewish Family Service Association, other social agencies, schools, congregations, and thousands of volunteers helped these new Americans acclimate to American and Jewish life by assisting with housing, employment, and education in Jewish traditions. They and their children now live in freedom, enriching the region.
