lecture
The Making of a Historian of East European Jewry and the Holocaust: Lucy S. Dawidowicz and the YIVO in Vilna, New York, and Offenbach – Live on Zoom
This talk by Nancy Sinkoff will explore the influence of the YIVO on Lucy S. Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a postwar American Jewish public intellectual and historian, who was central to the field that is now called “Holocaust Studies.” Witness to the vital Jewish world of pre-war Vilna, shaped by the group of refugee and survivor historians at the New York YIVO during the war, and an activist working with Jewish DPs and salvaging Jewish cultural treasures in Germany after the war, Dawidowicz played a principal role in the construction of postwar American Holocaust consciousness. With The Golden Tradition: Jewish Life and Thought in Eastern Europe (1967) and The War Against the Jews: 1933–1945 (1975), a classic of “intentionalist” Holocaust historiography that emphasized the centrality of Hitler’s antisemitic ideology to the Nazis’ “Final Solution,” Dawidowicz became a central authority on East European Jewry, the Holocaust, and antisemitism in the postwar years.
Buy Nancy Sinkoff’s book about Lucy S. Dawidowicz.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
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lecture
lecture
Immigrant Jewish Musicians and New York Mutual Aid Societies, 1920s-1960s – Live on Zoom
As hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants arrived in New York City in the early twentieth century, they formed mutual aid societies, labor unions, political and cultural clubs to find stability and solidarity. Known as landsmanshaftn, many of these societies were formed around the towns that the immigrants were from, e.g. the Kolomear Friends Association, the Independent Bialystoker Brotherly Love Association No. 1, the Krementchuger Ladies Benevolent Association, and so on. Offering burial services, sick benefits, emergency loans; landsmanshaftn also organized attendance at funerals, marriages, and bar mitzvahs of members, and held regular social events. The most elaborate events were Installation Banquets for new leadership and Anniversary Banquets, which were typically held every five years from the founding of the organization. They also held dances, masked balls, charity banquets for overseas causes, cultural nights, and Purim balls, among others.
Nearly all of these events involved the hiring of a Jewish orchestra to perform live at the event. They played marches and anthems during ceremonial functions, classical or Yiddish theatre compositions for listening, and Jewish and popular American music for dancing. The musicians they hired were almost exclusively Jewish and were often, but not always, klezmer orchestras. If the landsmanshaft had a bandleader among its members, his orchestra was generally hired for everything. Otherwise, they would hire popular New York klezmer musicians like Naftule Brandwein, Dave Tarras, or Shloimke Beckerman.
In this lecture, Dan Carkner will give an overview of the relationships between immigrant Jewish musicians and Jewish mutual aid societies in New York City from the 1910s to the 1960s. It will examine how these societies recreated aspects of the traditional musical culture of their hometowns back in Eastern Europe with a turn over time to modern American practices.
About the Speaker
Dan Carkner is a historian and library technician from Vancouver, Canada. He has a BA in History from Simon Fraser University (2017) and an MA in History from the University of British Columbia (2020). His current research interests relate to immigrant klezmer musicians in New York from the 1890s to 1920s, including their biographies and family histories, their professional relationships, and their efforts to copyright their compositions with the U.S. Library of Congress during the interwar years. He was a Music Editorial Board member of the Klezmer Institute's Scholarly Editions Project (2023–24) and an active volunteer for the Institute's Kisegof-Makonovetsky Digital Manuscript Project (KMDMP). He is a member of the board at the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture in Vancouver and works at the Centre for Postsecondary Accessible Resources BC (CAPER-BC) in Vancouver.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
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lecture
concert
Twenty Years of the Blavatnik Chamber Music Series at CJH: Phoenix Chamber Ensemble Performing Mozart and Mendelssohn in Celebration – In-Person Program and Live on YouTube
The Phoenix Chamber Ensemble is thrilled to be celebrating its 20th anniversary at the Center for Jewish History with this special concert. Join Phoenix Chamber Ensemble pianists Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky with frequent guest artists, Tesla Quartet members Michelle Lie (violin) and Austin Fisher (cello).
Program:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Sonata for Piano 4 hands in C Major, K.V. 521
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Piano Trio in D minor, Op.49
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano trio No.5 in C Major, K.548
Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Hebriden Overture, Op.26 arr. for Piano 4 hands, Violin and Cello by C. Burchard
Founded in 2005 by pianists Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky, the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble has, over the course of two decades, become a vital part of the New York classical community, presenting more than 70 public concerts in the Blavatnik Chamber Music Series at the Center for Jewish History. The ensemble has garnered a devoted following with its innovative programming and sensitive interpretations, earned an international reputation presenting concerts in Russia, Poland, Italy, and other European venues, and collaborated with numerous acclaimed guest artists, including clarinetist David Krakauer, the Grammy-nominated Enso Quartet, the Tesla Quartet, members of the Jasper String Quartet, the New York Little Opera Company, the Metropolitan Opera, and New York City Ballet.
Made possible by the Stravinsky Institute Foundation through the generous support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
Ticket Info:
In person: $10 general; $9 senior/student; $6 CJH member; click here to register
YouTube: Pay what you wish; click here to register
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concert
lecture
Systemic Yiddish Teaching in the Lodz Ghetto: Successes and Failures – Live on Zoom
The educational system in the Lodz Ghetto has already been described and analyzed more than once. Relevant chapters in canonical monographs have been devoted to this issue by Wolf Jasny, Yeshaya Trunk, and Yitzhak Rubin. In a series of exhaustive articles, Danuta Dabrowska wrote on this subject in the 1960s. Additionally, drawing both on the work of their illustrious predecessors and on new findings of their own, the functioning of this branch of the ghetto administration has been recounted by researchers of the younger generation such as Andrea Löw and Adam Sitarek. All of the above-mentioned publications considered the theme of the systematic teaching of Yiddish, which was implemented as a language of instruction in the ghetto in the autumn of 1940. However, the issue of Yiddish language instruction in the ghetto has not been discussed at any length anywhere and remains an important cultural. In this lecture, Monika Polit will consider the surviving documentation left by the Ghetto School Department and other texts produced by the administration of the Lodz Ghetto in order to elucidate the phenomenon of Yiddish as a language of instruction in the ghetto school system.
About the Speaker
Monika Polit is a professor and literary scholar who teaches Yiddish language and literature in the Department of Jewish History and Culture at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw. She is the author of numerous translations from Yiddish and studies of scholarly editions of sources. She has published, among others: Encyclopedia of the Ghetto. The Unfinished Project of the Lodz Ghetto Archivists (2014, compiled with Krystyna Radziszewska, Ewa Wiatr, Adam Sitarek, and Jacek Walicki); The Writings of Peretz Opoczynski (Ringelblum Archive, vol. 31, 2017); Jozef Zelkowicz, “The writer of these words is an employee of a ghetto institution...” From the Diary and Other Writings from the Lodz Ghetto (2019), The Ringelblum Archive: Underground Archive of the Warsaw Ghetto, vol. 7 (2022, compiled with Eleonora Bergman and Ewa Wiatr).
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required
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lecture
symposium
The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities (Sessions 1 - 3) – In-Person Program and Live on Zoom
This program gathers a remarkable group of scholars, writers, and thinkers for a day of urgently needed discussion about the recent surge of antisemitism on American college campuses. Focusing on the turmoil at Harvard University, Columbia University, and other elite bastions of higher education, the panelists will explore the complex history of Jews and American universities, analyze the factors contributing to the current crisis, and venture solutions for the future. The symposium is the latest event sponsored by the Center for Jewish History’s Jewish Public History Forum.
Click here for information on panels and speakers.
Please note: Tickets to the symposium do not include tickets to our keynote panel, “The Future of Jews and Elite Universities” at 3:30 pm. Click here to purchase tickets to that program, which will include the first three panels.
Special thanks to Adam Bellow, Ben Kravitz, and Melanie Notkin for their help in planning this symposium.
Ticket Info:
In person: $18 general admission; $11 CJH members; click here to register
Zoom: Pay what you wish; click here to register
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symposium
workshop
Shkheynim (Neighbors) – Live on Zoom
Join YIVO and the International Association of Yiddish Club for a discussion about the Polish comedy film Shkheynim (Neighbors), dubbed in Yiddish with English subtitles. Originally premiering in 1937 as Pietro wyzej (One Floor Up), the film was released in New York as a fully dubbed Yiddish version, retitled Shkheynim. While the Polish-language version of the film struggled to gain an audience in New York, the Yiddish-language release became a financial success.
Note that the film will not be shown during the program. Participants can watch the film online here. Each participant must register in advance and will receive a link to join the Zoom meeting on May 18.
The film follows two neighbors who are unrelated but share the same last name and live in the same apartment building. The two men are complete opposites; from their wide age gap, to their different tastes in music, the neighbors struggle to live in harmony together. Directed by Leon Trystan, co-director of the well-known Yiddish film A brivele der mamen (A Letter to Mother, 1938), Neighbors is notable for featuring the first on-screen appearance of a drag queen in Polish cinema.
Originally believed to be lost, the Yiddish-language dubbed version of Neighbors was discovered several years ago. In this program, Dr. Iosif Vaisman will be presented with the IAYC Lifetime Achievement Award. He will then lead a discussion in English about the film, highlighting key scenes and motifs.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required
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workshop
symposium
The End of an Era? Jews and Elite Universities (Keynote Session 4) – In-Person Program and Live on Zoom
Join Bill Ackman, CEO, Pershing Square Capital Management; Ambassador Deborah E. Lipstadt, Emory University, and Leon Wieseltier, Editor, Liberties, for a discussion of the future of Jews and elite universities.
Please note: Tickets to this program include the three panels in “The End of an Era?” symposium from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.
Special thanks to Adam Bellow, Ben Kravitz, and Melanie Notkin for their help in planning this symposium.
Ticket Info:
In person: $54 general admission; click here to register
Zoom: Pay what you wish; click here to register
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symposium
conversation
At Lunch with Lawrence Bacow – Live on Zoom
Julie Salamon (New York Times bestselling author) sits down with writer David Denby to discuss his latest book, Eminent Jews: Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, Mailer. David Denby is the New York Times bestselling author of Great Books. His other books include American Sucker and Lit Up. He was a film critic for New York magazine and The New Yorker, where he is now a staff writer. His essays have appeared in The New Republic and The Atlantic. He lives in New York City with his wife, novelist Susan Rieger.
Ticket Info: Free; register online for a Zoom link
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conversation
symposium
Music, Sound, and Antisemitism – Live on Zoom
This symposium, presented by the American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum and the Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation at the CUNY Graduate Center, with co-sponsorship by YIVO, features presentations that consider the historical and contemporary intersections between music, sound, and antisemitism.
Interdisciplinary and wide-ranging papers by scholars from across the globe explore the variety of ways in which sound and different types of music have been used to convey antisemitism. All papers will be followed by a Q&A session.
Non-presenters can register to participate in lunch on Wednesday, May 28 and Thursday, May 29 for a $30 fee.
For those unable to join us in person at YIVO, additional symposium presentations will take place on Zoom on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 and Thursday, June 5, 2025. Separate registration is required to receive the Zoom link.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
symposium
symposium
Music, Sound, and Antisemitism – Live on Zoom
This symposium, presented by the American Society for Jewish Music’s Jewish Music Forum and the Barry S. Brook Center for Music Research and Documentation at the CUNY Graduate Center, with co-sponsorship by YIVO, features presentations that consider the historical and contemporary intersections between music, sound, and antisemitism.
Interdisciplinary and wide-ranging papers by scholars from across the globe explore the variety of ways in which sound and different types of music have been used to convey antisemitism. All papers will be followed by a Q&A session.
Non-presenters can register to participate in lunch on Wednesday, May 28 and Thursday, May 29 for a $30 fee.
For those unable to join us in person at YIVO, additional symposium presentations will take place on Zoom on Wednesday, June 4, 2025 and Thursday, June 5, 2025. Separate registration is required to receive the Zoom link.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
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symposium
book talk
The New Jewish School in Music (1908-1938) as Part of the Jewish Cultural Renaissance – Live on Zoom
The history of the “New Jewish School of Music” began when several music students from the St. Petersburg Conservatory founded the Society for Jewish Folk Music in St. Petersburg in 1908. The end of this movement came with the 1938 invasion of Austria by Germany and the dissolution of the Viennese Society for the Promotion of Jewish Music that same year. The fascinating and dramatic history of the New Jewish School is the subject of From St. Petersburg to Vienna: The New Jewish School in Music (1908-1938) As Part of the Jewish Cultural Renaissance by Jascha Nemtsov. While many other national "schools" of music—such as the Russian, Czech, and Hungarian—were able to develop freely and establish themselves in an environment of cultural transparency, the Jewish school was violently suppressed. From St. Petersburg to Vienna was first published in 2004 in German, focusing on the reconstruction of the Jewish school’s historical development in Russia and, after 1917, increasingly in other Eastern and Central European countries.
Join YIVO for a discussion with Nemtsov about this recently-revised and translated edition of the book, led by YIVO Director of Public Programs Alex Weiser.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required
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book talk
lecture
Family History Today: Interpreting Your DNA Test Results for Ashkenazi Jews - Live on Zoom
Whether you've tested your DNA with the Center for Jewish History's AncestryDNA Reunion Project or taken a DNA test on your own, this program is here to help you sort through your DNA matches. Do you really have 150,000 new relatives? What is endogamy? How do you figure out who you're actually related to, when all you feel is overwhelmed? Come for the DNA science and stay for the tips and tricks that can help you make sense of it all. Presented by Jenny Rappaport, Head Genealogist at the Center for Jewish History.
About the Speaker
Jenny Rappaport is the Head Genealogist at the Center for Jewish History, where she helps patrons research their family history at the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute.
Ticket Info: Pay what you wish with a minimum donation of $5 per ticket; register here
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lecture
panel discussion
New Trends in YIVO Scholarship – Live on Zoom
Since 1925, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research has been a pioneer in the field of Jewish studies. At the core of YIVO since its founding was its commitment to scholarship which supported the Jewish “folk.” This manifested in a variety of initiatives, including youth autobiography contests and a youth research division (yugfor), an Economic-Statistical section (ekstat), and the establishment of various YIVO branches. These YIVO's activities continue to pique the interests of scholars, who have recently produced new scholarship analyzing these initiatives through the lens of new pioneering research methods.
Join YIVO for a panel discussion sharing new research on these historic YIVO initiatives featuring presentations by William Pimlott, Kamil Kijek, and Nicolas Vallois, followed by a conversation led by Jessica Kirzane.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
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panel discussion
conference
YIVO in America – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join us for a celebration of YIVO’s 100th anniversary with a conference focusing on how YIVO’s founding vision for Jewish social sciences has been realized in America since its headquarters shifted to New York City in 1940.
The destruction of East European Jewry during the Holocaust—including YIVO’s original headquarters in Vilna—challenged fundamental ideas about Jewish peoplehood and the Yiddish language’s role in it that had animated YIVO since its founding. Despite this, YIVO continued to publish scholarly works in America, support the study of Yiddish linguistics and folklore, and serve as a repository documenting East European Jewish history and culture. YIVO also developed new ventures, helping to create the field of Holocaust studies, playing a pioneering role in the teaching of Yiddish as it ceased being the mother tongue of the Jewish masses, and bolstering the development of Jewish studies more broadly.
In this conference, scholars will discuss YIVO’s work since 1940 touching on how YIVO’s purpose shifted in the American context, major achievements of YIVO’s work in America, YIVO’s role in the post-war evolution of Yiddish and Jewish studies, and what work lies ahead for YIVO and Jewish studies more broadly.
Scholars featured in this conference include Jonathan Brent, Leyzer Burko, Deborah Dash Moore, Hasia Diner, Eric Goldstein, Itzik Gottesman, Stefanie Halpern, Cecile Kuznitz, Rebecca Margolis, Anita Norich, Samuel Norich, Naomi Seidman, Mark Smith, and Kalman Weiser.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
conference
conference
YIVO in America – In-person Event and Live on Zoom
Join us for a celebration of YIVO’s 100th anniversary with a conference focusing on how YIVO’s founding vision for Jewish social sciences has been realized in America since its headquarters shifted to New York City in 1940.
The destruction of East European Jewry during the Holocaust—including YIVO’s original headquarters in Vilna—challenged fundamental ideas about Jewish peoplehood and the Yiddish language’s role in it that had animated YIVO since its founding. Despite this, YIVO continued to publish scholarly works in America, support the study of Yiddish linguistics and folklore, and serve as a repository documenting East European Jewish history and culture. YIVO also developed new ventures, helping to create the field of Holocaust studies, playing a pioneering role in the teaching of Yiddish as it ceased being the mother tongue of the Jewish masses, and bolstering the development of Jewish studies more broadly.
In this conference, scholars will discuss YIVO’s work since 1940 touching on how YIVO’s purpose shifted in the American context, major achievements of YIVO’s work in America, YIVO’s role in the post-war evolution of Yiddish and Jewish studies, and what work lies ahead for YIVO and Jewish studies more broadly.
Scholars featured in this conference include Jonathan Brent, Leyzer Burko, Deborah Dash Moore, Hasia Diner, Eric Goldstein, Itzik Gottesman, Stefanie Halpern, Cecile Kuznitz, Rebecca Margolis, Anita Norich, Samuel Norich, Naomi Seidman, Mark Smith, and Kalman Weiser.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
Ticket Info: Free; registration is required.
Presented by:
conference
