Rambam Day School (Savannah, Ga.) Records

The Savannah Hebrew Day School merged with the Hebrew Community School in 1990 to become the Rambam Day School. The Savannah Hebrew Day School was a prominent Jewish educational institution in Savannah, Georgia during the second half of the nineteenth and most of the twentieth centuries. As a congregation-based school, it was intimately related to Congregation B’nai B’rith Jacob.

Congregation B’nai B’rith Jacob was founded in 1861. Their first synagogue was built in 1866 on the northeast corner of State and Montgomery streets in Savannah. While it is unknown when the Hebrew School was started, it may have existed from the beginning since, as an Orthodox congregation, they would have had an immediate need for a Hebrew School to train their young men for Bar Mitzvah. It seems that in addition to training their own congregants the Hebrew School was also open to the youth of the city’s other congregations who wished to learn Hebrew, because the other Jewish schools did not teach the language at the time.

By 1913, the Hebrew School reached an all-time high enrollment of 200 children. This achievement was partially credited to the popularity of Rabbi Charles Blumenthal, who reportedly made an indelible impression on the youth of Savannah.

The arrival of Rabbi Abraham I. Rosenberg (1913-1985) in 1945 also seems to have reinvigorated both the congregation and the Hebrew School. It was during his tenure that the student magazine, Kol Hatalmid was started. In addition, the names of graduates of the Savannah Hebrew Day School were published in the Savannah Jewish News. Finally, he began the process that eventually led to the relocation of the congregation in 1962 from the synagogue on Montgomery Street to a new location at the corner of Abercorn and Atlas streets.

The Savannah Hebrew Day School moved with the congregation to the new Abercorn Street location and took up residence in the Rabbi Abraham I. Rosenberg Education Center along with the Savannah Hebrew Day School and the Hebrew Community Montessori Preschool. When the Savannah Hebrew Day School merged with the Community Hebrew Academy in 1990 to become the Rambam Day School, the school was moved to the Jewish Educational Alliance (JEA) building on Abercorn and 60th streets.

Scope and Content: The Rambam Day School Records consist of copies of the Savannah Hebrew Day School student magazine Kol Hatalmid and board minutes from the Savannah Hebrew Day School and Rambam Day School.