George Vida Papers, The Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y., ARC.1000.071, (Box #, Folder #).

Funding for the retrospective conversion of the original finding aid documents to produce this guide using Archivists’ Toolkit was made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Rabbi George Vida was born in Csongrad, Hungary. In 1931, he was ordained by Breslau's Jewish Theological Seminary. From 1930-1938, Rabbi Vida served as a rabbi in Gablonz, Czechoslovakia. In June, 1939 Rabbi Vida and his family immigrated to the United States. In September, 1940, Vida became the rabbi of Temple Beth Shalom in Haddon Heights, New Jersey. Rabbi Vida then became a chaplain in the United States Army, working with displaced persons in Europe. When the war was over, Rabbi Vida returned to the United States and from 1947-1950 served as rabbi at Temple Beth El in Troy, New York. He was recalled to active duty in 1950 for the Korean War, after which he returned to Germany to work with displaced persons. On his return to the United States Rabbi Vida founded Congregation Beth Tikva in Rockville, Maryland, and subsequently retired to Berkeley, California where he served as Scholar in Residence at Congregation Beth El.

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