Fri, Dec 17
12:00PM
Fri, Dec 17
12:00PM
max weinreich center
Blut-bilbulim in Sovetn-farband
Speaker: Elissa Bemporad, Jerry and William Ungar Assistant Professor of East European Jewish History at Queens College, The City University of New York
This is a Yiddish language event.
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
max weinreich center
Thu, Dec 16
07:30PM
Thu, Dec 16
07:30PM
concert
Chamber Music of Bach and Schumann: Schumann's Bicentennial
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NAME OF THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CHANGED TO:
Chamber Music of Barber, Britten and Brahms
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble:
Robert La Rue, cello
Inessa Zaretsky, piano
Program:
Samuel Barber Sonata Op.6
Allegro mo non troppo
Adagio/Presto
Allegro appassionato
Benjamin Britten Sonata Op.65
I. Dialogo
II. Scherzo-pizzicato
III. Elegia
IV. Marcia
V. Moto Perpetuo
Intermission
Johannes Brahms Sonata Op.99
Allegro vivace
Adagio affetuoso
Allegro passionato
Allegro molto
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik
Chamber Music of Barber, Britten and Brahms
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble:
Robert La Rue, cello
Inessa Zaretsky, piano
Program:
Samuel Barber Sonata Op.6
Allegro mo non troppo
Adagio/Presto
Allegro appassionato
Benjamin Britten Sonata Op.65
I. Dialogo
II. Scherzo-pizzicato
III. Elegia
IV. Marcia
V. Moto Perpetuo
Intermission
Johannes Brahms Sonata Op.99
Allegro vivace
Adagio affetuoso
Allegro passionato
Allegro molto
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik
Presented by:
concert
Wed, Dec 15
06:00PM
Wed, Dec 15
06:00PM
discussion
Living Record: Prewar Poland Preserved on Film
On the eve of the Second World War, and armed only with American passports and a color-film home movie camera, noted writer Glenn Kurtz's grandparents journeyed from New York to Poland to pay a visit to their friends and family. These rare films, shot in the late 1930s, only months before the war was to begin, offer the rarest of glimpses into a world that was soon to be destroyed.
In conjunction with the Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO exhibition 16mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland, these images serve as a striking reminder of what east European Jews’ daily lives were like in the few years before the Second World War. This evening’s program will feature a screening of clips and a conversation between Mr. Kurtz; Roberta Newman, curator of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s collection of home movies; Zachary Levine, curator of the YUM exhibition; and Lindsay Zarwell, Archivist of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archives at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They will discuss the impact of these powerful images and the challenges we face today to understand and preserve the past through the artifacts that remain. These potent films serve as a reminder that, even when living memory has faded, the history and the legacy of the Jewish community so devastated by the Holocaust live on.
In conjunction with the Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO exhibition 16mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland, these images serve as a striking reminder of what east European Jews’ daily lives were like in the few years before the Second World War. This evening’s program will feature a screening of clips and a conversation between Mr. Kurtz; Roberta Newman, curator of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research’s collection of home movies; Zachary Levine, curator of the YUM exhibition; and Lindsay Zarwell, Archivist of the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archives at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. They will discuss the impact of these powerful images and the challenges we face today to understand and preserve the past through the artifacts that remain. These potent films serve as a reminder that, even when living memory has faded, the history and the legacy of the Jewish community so devastated by the Holocaust live on.
Presented by:
discussion
Tue, Dec 14
12:00PM
Tue, Dec 14
12:00PM
dora and mayer tendler lecture
We've translated it, to be read by the common people - Jewish historical writing in Yiddish before the Haskalah
Speaker: Anna Rutkowski, Doctoral candidate, History, Jagiellonian University, Cracow
Presented by:
dora and mayer tendler lecture
Tue, Dec 14
06:00PM
Tue, Dec 14
06:00PM
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in the Aftermath of the Schwarzbard Trial
Meet the Faculty: 6:00pm | Seminar begins: 6:30pm
Presenter: David Engel, Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University; Senior Fellow of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University.
Moderator: Gennady Estraikh, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, New York University
The 1926 assassination in Paris of Ukrainian exile leader Symon Petliura by the Jewish anarchist Scholem Schwarzbard and the 1927 trial that resulted in Schwarzbard's acquittal strained relations between two of the most visible and vocal European minorities. During the 1920s Jewish and Ukrainian leaders had sought possibilities for cooperation and alliance in political settings from the Polish parliament to the European Minorities Congress. The seminar will explore how those leaders endeavored to maintain cooperation while simultaneously assuming conflicting positions regarding Schwarzbard's act.
David Engel is Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University and a senior fellow of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. He has edited twelve volumes in the series "Gal-Ed: On the History and Culture of Polish Jews" and has published eight books on various aspects of the history of modern east European Jewry, the Holocaust, Zionism, and Jewish historiography. His most recent books are "Zionism: A Short History of a Big Idea" (Longmans) and "Historians of the Jews and the Holocaust" (Stanford University Press). He is currently at work on an annotated collection of documents concerning the assassination of Symon Petliura in 1926 and the trial of the assassin, Scholem Schwarzbard, in 1927.
Gennady Estraikh, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, New York University, specializes in Jewish and Yiddish intellectual history. Gennady Estraikh is the author and editor of books and articles on Yiddish culture in the Soviet Union, including 'In Harness: Yiddish Writers' Romance with Communism (2005), "Yiddish in the Cold War" (2008) and "David Bergelson: From Modernism to Socialist Realism" (2007). He is coeditor of the forthcoming volume "Translating Sholem Aleichem: History, Politics and Art." Eistrakh's research on the links between Yiddish and Ukrainian intellectuals has appeared in "Modernism in Kyiv: Jubilant Experimentation." (ed. Makaryk and Tkacz, 2010)
Inaugurated in 2008 thanks to a major gift from the family of Ruth Gay , the Ruth Gay Seminar in Jewish Studies takes place several times a year at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Established in honor of Ruth Gay (1922-2006), the noted American Jewish historian and writer, the seminar series is given by scholars who have used the resources of the YIVO Archives and who wish to share their research with the public.
Presenter: David Engel, Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University; Senior Fellow of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University.
Moderator: Gennady Estraikh, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, New York University
The 1926 assassination in Paris of Ukrainian exile leader Symon Petliura by the Jewish anarchist Scholem Schwarzbard and the 1927 trial that resulted in Schwarzbard's acquittal strained relations between two of the most visible and vocal European minorities. During the 1920s Jewish and Ukrainian leaders had sought possibilities for cooperation and alliance in political settings from the Polish parliament to the European Minorities Congress. The seminar will explore how those leaders endeavored to maintain cooperation while simultaneously assuming conflicting positions regarding Schwarzbard's act.
David Engel is Greenberg Professor of Holocaust Studies, Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Professor of History at New York University and a senior fellow of the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. He has edited twelve volumes in the series "Gal-Ed: On the History and Culture of Polish Jews" and has published eight books on various aspects of the history of modern east European Jewry, the Holocaust, Zionism, and Jewish historiography. His most recent books are "Zionism: A Short History of a Big Idea" (Longmans) and "Historians of the Jews and the Holocaust" (Stanford University Press). He is currently at work on an annotated collection of documents concerning the assassination of Symon Petliura in 1926 and the trial of the assassin, Scholem Schwarzbard, in 1927.
Gennady Estraikh, Associate Professor of Yiddish Studies, New York University, specializes in Jewish and Yiddish intellectual history. Gennady Estraikh is the author and editor of books and articles on Yiddish culture in the Soviet Union, including 'In Harness: Yiddish Writers' Romance with Communism (2005), "Yiddish in the Cold War" (2008) and "David Bergelson: From Modernism to Socialist Realism" (2007). He is coeditor of the forthcoming volume "Translating Sholem Aleichem: History, Politics and Art." Eistrakh's research on the links between Yiddish and Ukrainian intellectuals has appeared in "Modernism in Kyiv: Jubilant Experimentation." (ed. Makaryk and Tkacz, 2010)
Inaugurated in 2008 thanks to a major gift from the family of Ruth Gay , the Ruth Gay Seminar in Jewish Studies takes place several times a year at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Established in honor of Ruth Gay (1922-2006), the noted American Jewish historian and writer, the seminar series is given by scholars who have used the resources of the YIVO Archives and who wish to share their research with the public.
Presented by:
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Sun, Dec 12
02:00PM
Sun, Dec 12
02:00PM
symposium
Shloyme Mikhoels Memorial on the 120th Anniversary of his Birth
Famed Soviet Yiddish actor and director Shloyme Mikhoels were discussed by Prof. Jeffrey Veidlinger, an expert on Soviet Yiddish theater; Prof. Gennady Estraikh, a specialist in Soviet Jewish history and culture; and Joshua Rubenstein, an expert on the end of the Stalin era.
Presented by:
symposium
Thu, Dec 09
03:00PM
Thu, Dec 09
03:00PM
drench memorial lecture
This Theatre is a Battlefield: How Antifascist and Zionist Performance Forged a New Jewish-American Identity, 1933-1948
Garrett Eisler (CUNY Graduate Center)
This talk focuses on some of the key stage and screen artists who rallied American support for the Jews of Europe and Palestine in the 1940s. Through these struggles, Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ben Hecht, and Kurt Weill consistently stood at the vanguard of a Jewish-American "Cultural Front."
This talk focuses on some of the key stage and screen artists who rallied American support for the Jews of Europe and Palestine in the 1940s. Through these struggles, Paul Muni, Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ben Hecht, and Kurt Weill consistently stood at the vanguard of a Jewish-American "Cultural Front."
Presented by:
drench memorial lecture
Thu, Dec 09
06:00PM
Thu, Dec 09
06:00PM
film screening and talk
This event has been postponed until spring 2011. Please check back for updated information.
The Jews of San Nicandro
John Davis (University of Connecticut) in connection with the publication of his new book The Jews of San Nicandro (Yale University Press).
Not many people know of the utterly extraordinary events that took place in a humble southern Italian town in the first half of the 20th century—and those who do have struggled to explain them. In the late 1920s, a crippled shoemaker had a vision where God called upon him to bring the Jewish faith to this “dark corner” in the Catholic heartlands, despite his having had no prior contact with Judaism itself. By 1938, about a dozen families had converted at one of the most troubled times for Italy’s Jews. The peasant community came under the watchful eyes of Mussolini’s regime and the Catholic Church, but persisted in their new belief, eventually securing approval of their conversion from the rabbinical authorities, and emigrating to the newly founded State of Israel, where a community still exists today.
Not many people know of the utterly extraordinary events that took place in a humble southern Italian town in the first half of the 20th century—and those who do have struggled to explain them. In the late 1920s, a crippled shoemaker had a vision where God called upon him to bring the Jewish faith to this “dark corner” in the Catholic heartlands, despite his having had no prior contact with Judaism itself. By 1938, about a dozen families had converted at one of the most troubled times for Italy’s Jews. The peasant community came under the watchful eyes of Mussolini’s regime and the Catholic Church, but persisted in their new belief, eventually securing approval of their conversion from the rabbinical authorities, and emigrating to the newly founded State of Israel, where a community still exists today.
Presented by:
film screening and talk
Mon, Dec 06
06:30PM
Mon, Dec 06
06:30PM
sephardic music festival scholar series
Sepharad: Voices From Across the Strait
Program curator: Samuel R. Thomas
Artists: Vanessa Paloma and ASEFA
The Strait of Gibraltar has long served as a bridge between North Africa and Iberia, facilitating transcontinental kingdoms for centuries and as an important passage for Sephardic migrants. Moroccan cultural expressions remain central to the perpetuity of Sephardic culture. As a part of the sixth annual Sephardic Music Festival, this event provides an opportunity to explore aspects of Sephardic musical culture through performances by singer and scholar Vanessa Paloma and ASEFA, performing North African and Jewish music in a contemporary way. An audience-interactive panel discussion follows with the artists, led by ethnomusicologist and curator, Samuel R. Thomas.
Artists: Vanessa Paloma and ASEFA
The Strait of Gibraltar has long served as a bridge between North Africa and Iberia, facilitating transcontinental kingdoms for centuries and as an important passage for Sephardic migrants. Moroccan cultural expressions remain central to the perpetuity of Sephardic culture. As a part of the sixth annual Sephardic Music Festival, this event provides an opportunity to explore aspects of Sephardic musical culture through performances by singer and scholar Vanessa Paloma and ASEFA, performing North African and Jewish music in a contemporary way. An audience-interactive panel discussion follows with the artists, led by ethnomusicologist and curator, Samuel R. Thomas.
Presented by:
sephardic music festival scholar series
Sun, Dec 05
01:00PM
Sun, Dec 05
01:00PM
hanukkah celebration
Hanukkah
1-3pm: Family Afternoon
Examine Hanukkah lamps from the Museum's collection in the Discovery Room. Hunt for holiday themed details hidden in objects displayed in our galleries. Design a festive stained glass panel to be illuminated by the Hanukkah candles. Join a Hanukkah sing-along following the art workshop.
2pm: Exhibition Highlight Tour
5pm: Lighting of the Hanukkiah
Examine Hanukkah lamps from the Museum's collection in the Discovery Room. Hunt for holiday themed details hidden in objects displayed in our galleries. Design a festive stained glass panel to be illuminated by the Hanukkah candles. Join a Hanukkah sing-along following the art workshop.
2pm: Exhibition Highlight Tour
5pm: Lighting of the Hanukkiah
Presented by:
hanukkah celebration
Sun, Dec 05
03:00PM
Sun, Dec 05
03:00PM
concert
Come to the Cabaret - A Chanukah Cabaret!
With Yiddish and Sephardic songs and stories: A rollicking Trio by Paul Schoenfield -- pianist Ted Rosenthal playing jazz improvisations on Jewish and Chanukah songs -- Zalmen Mlotek and Guests from the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene -- Ladino Songs performed by Elie Massias -- and, of course, Isaiah Sheffer of PRI's Selected Shorts, as host and storyteller. An annual musical event at the Center given in celebration of a wonderful, joyous and freilach holiday.
Presented by:
concert
Fri, Nov 26
Fri, Nov 26
holidays and closures
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Center for Jewish History is closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.
Presented by:
holidays and closures
Thu, Nov 25
Thu, Nov 25
holidays and closures
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Center for Jewish History is closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.
Presented by:
holidays and closures
Mon, Nov 22
06:30PM
Mon, Nov 22
06:30PM
film screening and discussion
Adventures in Listening: Kurt Masur, A Film by Amit Breuer
Kurt Masur, one of the world’s great maestros, challenges the next generation of young musicians and conductors by stretching their limits, their perspectives and abilities. The film highlights some of Maestro Masur’s master classes around the world, interweaving teaching with life experiences to develop a comprehensive portrait of one of the most respected conductors of our time. Maestro Masur will join us for this premier showing in New York.
Presented by:
film screening and discussion
Thu, Nov 18
07:00PM
Thu, Nov 18
07:00PM
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO: The Fall Concert
A program of rarely heard masterworks from the Sidney Krum Jewish Music and Yiddish Theater Memorial Collections at YIVO performed by young artists from premier American music schools. The Fall Concert focused on unique Yiddish folk songs, theater and art songs, and songs of the labor movement and the Holocaust, featuring works by Sholem Secunda, Avraham Goldfaden, Mordecai Gebirtig, Mark Warshavsky, and others.
Preconcert Lecture: "Reimagining Tradition or Preserving Its Legacy: Two New Approaches to Old Yiddish Songs" (Sponsored by the Jewish Music Forum)
Asya Vaisman, Visiting Research Scholar at Indiana University
Preconcert Lecture: "Reimagining Tradition or Preserving Its Legacy: Two New Approaches to Old Yiddish Songs" (Sponsored by the Jewish Music Forum)
Asya Vaisman, Visiting Research Scholar at Indiana University
Presented by:
concert
Wed, Nov 17
03:00PM
Wed, Nov 17
03:00PM
graduate seminar
Journeying to the Jews: Literary Ethnography along the Eastern Front, 1914-1918
Samuel Spinner, Lillian Goldman Fellow at CJH, 2009, PhD candidate at Columbia University.
Dr. Jeffrey Shandler, Professor of Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, responding.
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting.
Intended for an academic audience; space is limited.
Dr. Jeffrey Shandler, Professor of Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, responding.
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting.
Intended for an academic audience; space is limited.
Presented by:
graduate seminar
Tue, Nov 16
06:30PM
Tue, Nov 16
06:30PM
book signing and lecture
Michael Goldfarb - Emancipation: How liberating Jews from the ghetto led to Revolution and Renaissance
Michael Goldfarb was the London-based voice of National Public Radio for almost twenty years when he became interested in the struggle of immigrants and minorities to succeed in a new country. This contemporary history reflects the journey of European Jews as they became increasingly integrated into European society.
When Jews left the ghetto, Jewish history changed and Western culture was transformed. Until the French Revolution, Jews were largely isolated, disenfranchised and powerless. Afterwards, their liberation enabled them to make extraordinary contributions to modernity in the areas of science, music, philosophy and culture.
From Warsaw to Damascus, Paris and Berlin, Jews were obtaining more and more rights and made their mark as doctors, lawyers, educators and businessmen. Yet Theodore Herzl continued to pursue the Zionist dream of a Jewish state.
Mr. Goldfarb presents the history of emancipation with the excitement of a reporter breaking news and the insights of a scholar whose informed observations animate this fascinating story.
Books will be available for purchase & signing.
When Jews left the ghetto, Jewish history changed and Western culture was transformed. Until the French Revolution, Jews were largely isolated, disenfranchised and powerless. Afterwards, their liberation enabled them to make extraordinary contributions to modernity in the areas of science, music, philosophy and culture.
From Warsaw to Damascus, Paris and Berlin, Jews were obtaining more and more rights and made their mark as doctors, lawyers, educators and businessmen. Yet Theodore Herzl continued to pursue the Zionist dream of a Jewish state.
Mr. Goldfarb presents the history of emancipation with the excitement of a reporter breaking news and the insights of a scholar whose informed observations animate this fascinating story.
Books will be available for purchase & signing.
Presented by:
book signing and lecture
Mon, Nov 15
06:00PM
Mon, Nov 15
06:00PM
lecture
Anna del Monte and the Origins of Jewish Emancipation
Kenneth Stow (University of Haifa)
A century before the infamous "Mortara case," a young Roman Jew, Anna del Monte, the daughter of a well-to-do family of the Ghetto, is kidnapped from her family home and imprisoned in the Casa dei Catecumeni. The aim of the action is to convert her to Catholicism. A well-educated and articulate woman, Anna left a diary in which she recollects the days in which men and women of the Church tried all ways to "steal her soul." Her courage and ability to rebut the arguments of her kidnappers won her back to her family and community. The rare testimony she left opens a window not only on the complex history of Jewish-Christian relations, but also on the clash between modern civil conscience and ruling authority at the dawn of the Emancipation Era.
A century before the infamous "Mortara case," a young Roman Jew, Anna del Monte, the daughter of a well-to-do family of the Ghetto, is kidnapped from her family home and imprisoned in the Casa dei Catecumeni. The aim of the action is to convert her to Catholicism. A well-educated and articulate woman, Anna left a diary in which she recollects the days in which men and women of the Church tried all ways to "steal her soul." Her courage and ability to rebut the arguments of her kidnappers won her back to her family and community. The rare testimony she left opens a window not only on the complex history of Jewish-Christian relations, but also on the clash between modern civil conscience and ruling authority at the dawn of the Emancipation Era.
Presented by:
lecture
Sun, Nov 14
02:00PM
Sun, Nov 14
02:00PM
memorial event
Masha Benya Memorial
Masha Benya was an accomplished singer both of classical music and of Yiddish folksongs, who died in 2007. Three years after her death, friends remembered her with their recollections of Masha, with musical performances by Re'ut Ben-Ze’ev and Rafael Frieder, and with her recordings.
Presented by:
memorial event
Sun, Nov 14
02:00PM
Sun, Nov 14
02:00PM
children's workshop
Moving Images & Paper-Cut Folk Art from Jewish Poland
Take an imaginary trip as you view 16mm: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland from the collection of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Compiled and edited for this exhibition, they give a - literally - moving image of the places and faces once familiar to the American visitors in their Old Home. Write a postcard commenting on a still from the footage to someone with whom you would like to share your visit.
Help keep a famous Jewish Polish folk art alive as you learn to create multi-colored traditional paper cut with Jewish designs. For more experienced cutters (ages 12 and up), paper-cutting blades and stencils will be on hand.
The exhibition 16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland was developed in collaboration with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Sample versions are available for viewing at www.cjh.org/16mmPostcards.
Help keep a famous Jewish Polish folk art alive as you learn to create multi-colored traditional paper cut with Jewish designs. For more experienced cutters (ages 12 and up), paper-cutting blades and stencils will be on hand.
The exhibition 16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland was developed in collaboration with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Sample versions are available for viewing at www.cjh.org/16mmPostcards.
Presented by:
children's workshop
Sun, Nov 14
05:30PM
Sun, Nov 14
05:30PM
film screening and discussion
A Moroccan Jewish Odyssey
Join director, Eugene Rostow, for a screening of his fascinating film about the once-thriving Jewish community of Morocco. In 90 minutes, the documentary approaches the situation of the migrant or the immigrant or the refugee, who goes from a place he always called home to another home, whether the spiritual one of Israel or the ones primarily for earning a living, in France or Canada. The situation of the Moroccan Jews has its uniqueness, but it also has aspects that attest to the universality of the hopes and disappointments of those who have uprooted themselves.
The filmmakers have found footage from the past that communicates the flavor of the cloistered Jewish life in Moroccan towns and of the way that Jewish farmers lived in peace with their Arab neighbors. One sees Jewish traders dealing with Berbers and catches glimpses of Jewish Moroccan folkways. But one also learns of the anti-Semitism, a constant minor chord that occasionally became terrifyingly dominant in relationships often marked by cordiality and trust.
This evening is part of a year-long series of programs on Jews of Morocco made possible through the generous support of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.
The filmmakers have found footage from the past that communicates the flavor of the cloistered Jewish life in Moroccan towns and of the way that Jewish farmers lived in peace with their Arab neighbors. One sees Jewish traders dealing with Berbers and catches glimpses of Jewish Moroccan folkways. But one also learns of the anti-Semitism, a constant minor chord that occasionally became terrifyingly dominant in relationships often marked by cordiality and trust.
This evening is part of a year-long series of programs on Jews of Morocco made possible through the generous support of the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation.
Presented by:
film screening and discussion
Tue, Nov 09
06:00PM
Tue, Nov 09
06:00PM
exhibit tour and discussion
16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland
6PM Exhibition Viewing
7PM Introduction and discussion with Samuel D. Kassow, 16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland brings to life the landscape of people in Poland through the amateur movies of American Jewish immigrants who traveled "back home" to visit their families, friends, and former communities in the 1920s and 1930s. Intended to be viewed by family and fellow landsmen – friends from the Old Country - these films offer a rare, intimate and - quite literally - moving picture of Jewish families, towns and society in pre-World War II Poland.
7PM Introduction and discussion with Samuel D. Kassow, 16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland brings to life the landscape of people in Poland through the amateur movies of American Jewish immigrants who traveled "back home" to visit their families, friends, and former communities in the 1920s and 1930s. Intended to be viewed by family and fellow landsmen – friends from the Old Country - these films offer a rare, intimate and - quite literally - moving picture of Jewish families, towns and society in pre-World War II Poland.
Presented by:
exhibit tour and discussion
Mon, Nov 08
03:00PM
Mon, Nov 08
03:00PM
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Empire of Charity: American Jews and the Rebuilding of Polish Lithuania, 1919-1939
Rebecca Kobrin, Assistant Professor of History, Columbia University.
Between 1919 and 1939, Jewish emigres in the United States sent millions of dollars to rebuild their former homes scattered throughout Polish Lithuania. This talk focuses on the role Jewish emigres and their philanthropy played in reshaping political, social, and economic life in Brisk and Vilna, the two historic intellectual centers of Lithuanian Jewry. While the stated goal of Jewish emigre generosity was to relieve economic distress, it often caused a reshaping of Jews' understanding of their place in the new nation-states of Eastern Europe during this era of political and economic upheaval.
Between 1919 and 1939, Jewish emigres in the United States sent millions of dollars to rebuild their former homes scattered throughout Polish Lithuania. This talk focuses on the role Jewish emigres and their philanthropy played in reshaping political, social, and economic life in Brisk and Vilna, the two historic intellectual centers of Lithuanian Jewry. While the stated goal of Jewish emigre generosity was to relieve economic distress, it often caused a reshaping of Jews' understanding of their place in the new nation-states of Eastern Europe during this era of political and economic upheaval.
Presented by:
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Mon, Nov 08
07:00PM
Mon, Nov 08
07:00PM
lecture & performance
Josh Waletzky: Boiberik and Beyond - Yiddish Songs for the 21st Century
One of the leading contemporary composers of Yiddish song, Josh Waletzky grew up in a family that was deeply embedded in the secular Yiddish world of Camp Boiberik and the Sholem Aleichem folkshuln. In this performance and conversation with fellow Boiberikaner Itzik Gottesman, Associate Editor of the Yiddish Forward, we will trace Waletzky’s influences and development as a songwriter and composer—from his days at Boiberik to his pioneering work in the early days of the klezmer revival of the 1970s and 80s, to his critically-acclaimed 2001 album Crossing the Shadows (Ariber di shotns), to his latest compositions. Waletzky is also an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, whose vast catalogue includes the seminal documentaries about Jewish life in Europe, Image Before My Eyes and Partisans of Vilna (which was followed by a Grammy-nominated soundtrack), and he served as a consultant on the script and music for Barbra Streisand's film Yentl. A reception will follow the program. This presentation is part of the An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture Series.
Presented by:
lecture & performance
Sun, Nov 07
09:00AM
Sun, Nov 07
09:00AM
conference
Jewish Merchants in the New World, 1800-1900
Keynote: Author Gene Dattel
Panel includes presentations on specific areas of merchant activity and development in the 19th century, including finance, retail and industry. Includes lunch, round table discussions, plenary discussion and conclusion.
Panel includes presentations on specific areas of merchant activity and development in the 19th century, including finance, retail and industry. Includes lunch, round table discussions, plenary discussion and conclusion.
Presented by:
conference
Thu, Nov 04
06:30PM
Thu, Nov 04
06:30PM
panel discussion
Boris Pahor's Necropolis: A Slovenian Story of Culture, Conflict, and Persecution on the Northeastern Border of Italy
The aftermath of WW I brought about a new geopolitical configuration, perceived as detrimental by most of the ethnic minorities that had made up the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the cosmopolitan port city of Trieste, the ethnic Slovenes became the target of discrimination. With the advent of Fascism, those who resisted Italian efforts at assimilation were imprisoned, shot, or sent to concentration camps.
In 1941 Boris Pahor, who later became one of the most prominent Slovene authors, was drafted into Mussolini’s army. He returned to Trieste, a city occupied by the Nazis, after the armistice in 1943. He joined the Yugoslav resistance forces and was arrested in 1944 and sent to Dachau, Struthof, Harzungen and Bergen-Belsen. His memoir of his camp experiences, Necropolis, recently published in English by Dalkey Archive Press, will be the centerpiece of this event.
Jože Pirjevec, University of Primorska, Slovenia; Uri Cohen, Columbia University, Annie Cohen-Solal, NYU and Michael Biggins, University of Washington Libraries and Pahor’s translator - will join to explore Trieste's cultural diversity then and now, and how one of Europe's most multicultural cities became an epicenter of racist violence a full decade before the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.
This program is part of PURELY ITALIAN: Racial Policies and the Persecution of Minorities in Fascist Italy, a series of programs and an exhibition offering a new reading of the Fascist mindset and policies on race and minorities. For the full schedule of programs, please visit www.primolevicenter.org.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust presents Beyond the Racial Laws: Fascist Anti-Semitism Revisited on Wednesday, November 3 at 6:30 pm.
Boris Pahor, Trieste and its rich literary heritage will be prominently featured in the 2011 PEN World Voices Festival.
In 1941 Boris Pahor, who later became one of the most prominent Slovene authors, was drafted into Mussolini’s army. He returned to Trieste, a city occupied by the Nazis, after the armistice in 1943. He joined the Yugoslav resistance forces and was arrested in 1944 and sent to Dachau, Struthof, Harzungen and Bergen-Belsen. His memoir of his camp experiences, Necropolis, recently published in English by Dalkey Archive Press, will be the centerpiece of this event.
Jože Pirjevec, University of Primorska, Slovenia; Uri Cohen, Columbia University, Annie Cohen-Solal, NYU and Michael Biggins, University of Washington Libraries and Pahor’s translator - will join to explore Trieste's cultural diversity then and now, and how one of Europe's most multicultural cities became an epicenter of racist violence a full decade before the Nazi seizure of power in 1933.
This program is part of PURELY ITALIAN: Racial Policies and the Persecution of Minorities in Fascist Italy, a series of programs and an exhibition offering a new reading of the Fascist mindset and policies on race and minorities. For the full schedule of programs, please visit www.primolevicenter.org.
The Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust presents Beyond the Racial Laws: Fascist Anti-Semitism Revisited on Wednesday, November 3 at 6:30 pm.
Boris Pahor, Trieste and its rich literary heritage will be prominently featured in the 2011 PEN World Voices Festival.
Presented by:
panel discussion
Wed, Nov 03
09:00AM
Wed, Nov 03
09:00AM
symposium
Racial Policies in Fascist Italy: New Documents and Perspectives
Chair: David Engel (New York University)
Speakers: Michele Sarfatti (CDEC, Milan), Annalisa Capristo (Center for American Studies, Rome), Guri Schwarz (University of Pisa) and Ilaria Pavan (University of Pisa). Respondents: Marion Kaplan (New York University), Elissa Bemporad (Queens College, CUNY), Lidia Santarelli (New York University).
This program will exemplify the revised scholarly work on Fascist anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Italy produced during the past 20 years.
In English-language Holocaust literature, Italians have generally been praised for ranking second only to Norway in the percentage of Jews saved from deportation and extermination. However, recent scholarship in Italy offers a far more nuanced view of the facts. A full appraisal of the history of Fascism before and during the war is crucial to understand the contradictions of the Italian case. New documents on the persecution of the Jews in Italy will be discussed by a panel of experts.
Please click here for more information.
Speakers: Michele Sarfatti (CDEC, Milan), Annalisa Capristo (Center for American Studies, Rome), Guri Schwarz (University of Pisa) and Ilaria Pavan (University of Pisa). Respondents: Marion Kaplan (New York University), Elissa Bemporad (Queens College, CUNY), Lidia Santarelli (New York University).
This program will exemplify the revised scholarly work on Fascist anti-Semitism and the Holocaust in Italy produced during the past 20 years.
In English-language Holocaust literature, Italians have generally been praised for ranking second only to Norway in the percentage of Jews saved from deportation and extermination. However, recent scholarship in Italy offers a far more nuanced view of the facts. A full appraisal of the history of Fascism before and during the war is crucial to understand the contradictions of the Italian case. New documents on the persecution of the Jews in Italy will be discussed by a panel of experts.
Please click here for more information.
Presented by:
symposium
Mon, Nov 01
02:00PM
Mon, Nov 01
02:00PM
lecture
Slovak Jewish Heritage Talk
In 2007, Dr. Maroš Borský launched the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route. A network linking 24 prominent Jewish heritage sites around Slovakia, it includes synagogue buildings, branches of the Museum of Jewish Culture, and three historic Jewish cemeteries. Dr. Borský will discuss his current work.
Presented by:
lecture
Mon, Nov 01
02:00PM
Mon, Nov 01
02:00PM
max weinreich lecture series
Slovak Jewish Heritage Talk
Speaker: Dr. Maroš Borský, The Slovak Jewish Heritage Route Project Director
In 2007, Dr. Maroš Borský launched the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route. A network linking 24 prominent Jewish heritage sites around Slovakia, it includes synagogue buildings, branches of the Museum of Jewish Culture, and three historic Jewish cemeteries. In this talk Dr. Borský discusses his current work.
In 2007, Dr. Maroš Borský launched the Slovak Jewish Heritage Route. A network linking 24 prominent Jewish heritage sites around Slovakia, it includes synagogue buildings, branches of the Museum of Jewish Culture, and three historic Jewish cemeteries. In this talk Dr. Borský discusses his current work.
Presented by:
max weinreich lecture series
Sun, Oct 31
08:30AM
Sun, Oct 31
08:30AM
international conference
Israel and Iran: From Cyprus the Great to the Islamic Republic
As tension between Israel and Iran escalates and with speculation that Israel is considering a pre-emptive strike against Iran, a group of renowned scholars will convene at Yeshiva University for a one-day conference to examine "Israel and Iran: From Cyrus the Great to the Islamic Republic."
The scholars participating in the conference include Yaakov Elman, professor of Judaic studies at Revel; Judith Goldstein, professor of anthropology at Vassar College; Aaron Koller, assistant professor of Bible at Yeshiva College; Mahnaz Moazzami, associate research scholar at Columbia University; Evan Resnick, assistant professor of political science at Yeshiva College; Barry Rubin, professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel; Daniel Tsadik, associate professor of Sephardic and Iranian Studies at Revel; and Dalia Yashar-Poor, professor at Harvard University.
Some of the major topics that will be addressed include Negotiating Empire: Living Jewishly Under the Achaemenids in Persia and Palestine; The Image of the Jews in Zoroastrian Literature; Facing the Music: The Role of Iranian Jews in Classical and Popular Persian Music; Iran’s Jewish Agenda; The Iran Lobby?: Domestic Business Interests and U.S. Foreign Policy Toward the Islamic Republic; and (Islamist) Iran on the World Stage: Motives, Methods, Goals and Implications.
The scholars participating in the conference include Yaakov Elman, professor of Judaic studies at Revel; Judith Goldstein, professor of anthropology at Vassar College; Aaron Koller, assistant professor of Bible at Yeshiva College; Mahnaz Moazzami, associate research scholar at Columbia University; Evan Resnick, assistant professor of political science at Yeshiva College; Barry Rubin, professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel; Daniel Tsadik, associate professor of Sephardic and Iranian Studies at Revel; and Dalia Yashar-Poor, professor at Harvard University.
Some of the major topics that will be addressed include Negotiating Empire: Living Jewishly Under the Achaemenids in Persia and Palestine; The Image of the Jews in Zoroastrian Literature; Facing the Music: The Role of Iranian Jews in Classical and Popular Persian Music; Iran’s Jewish Agenda; The Iran Lobby?: Domestic Business Interests and U.S. Foreign Policy Toward the Islamic Republic; and (Islamist) Iran on the World Stage: Motives, Methods, Goals and Implications.
Presented by:
international conference
Fri, Oct 29
09:30AM
Fri, Oct 29
09:30AM
professional development workshop series
Fundraising for Jewish Studies: Insights from the Academic and Foundation World
This event, part of the CJH/AJS Professional Development Series in Jewish Studies, features a conversation between David Ruderman, Joseph Meyerhoff Professor of Modern Jewish History and the Ella Darivoff Director of the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, and Judith Ginsberg, Executive Director of the Nash Family Foundation and former program officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities. The session was moderated by Michael Glickman, Chief Administrative Officer of the Center for Jewish History and head of the Center's development initiatives.
Fundraising for Jewish Studies considers how to cultivate support for specific projects and events, as well as how to involve donors and foundations in the long-term vision and aspirations of your program and institution. The session also explores how fundraising for Jewish studies has changed over the past few years, and ways in which Jewish studies programs can best communicate their goals and activities in these new economic times.
Fundraising for Jewish Studies considers how to cultivate support for specific projects and events, as well as how to involve donors and foundations in the long-term vision and aspirations of your program and institution. The session also explores how fundraising for Jewish studies has changed over the past few years, and ways in which Jewish studies programs can best communicate their goals and activities in these new economic times.
Presented by:
professional development workshop series
Fri, Oct 29
12:00PM
Fri, Oct 29
12:00PM
max weinreich lecture series
Der poet inem landshaft oder landshaft inem poet? Avrom Sutskevers poeme Sibir, 1936
Speaker: Leye Robinson, Columbia University
This is a Yiddish language event
This is a Yiddish language event
Presented by:
max weinreich lecture series
Thu, Oct 28
07:30PM
Thu, Oct 28
07:30PM
concert
Chamber Music of Mozart, Brahms and Shostakovich
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble will perform Mozart Trio in B-flat Major, Brahms Trio in C Minor and Shostakovich Trio in E Minor. The concert’s companion will be a web-based essay on the lives of Jews in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries with material drawn from the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
Presented by:
concert
Sun, Oct 24
10:00AM
Sun, Oct 24
10:00AM
Conference on the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Simon Dubnow
Simon Dubnow was born in 1860 in Mstistavl, Russia and was killed by the Nazis in the Riga Ghetto in 1941. Dubnow was the first to study Jewish social history and was a proponent of Jewish Diaspora nationalism. He opposed Zionism and Marxism, and he was active in the struggle for cultural autonomy for Jews in their countries of residence. Dubnow was a major theorist and proponent of secular Yiddish culture. He was influential in the founding of YIVO and a strong supporter of the Institute.
On October 24, 2010, YIVO conducted a day-long conference on the life and career of this renowned historian. Panels included "Dubnow on the East European Jewish Past," "Dubnovism in the 2oth Century" and "Dubnow and Jewish Ideologies of His Time." The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Robert Seltzer.
On October 24, 2010, YIVO conducted a day-long conference on the life and career of this renowned historian. Panels included "Dubnow on the East European Jewish Past," "Dubnovism in the 2oth Century" and "Dubnow and Jewish Ideologies of His Time." The keynote address was delivered by Prof. Robert Seltzer.
Presented by:
Fri, Oct 22
12:00PM
Fri, Oct 22
12:00PM
book party
Lenin's Jewish Question
For much of the twentieth century, rumors have circulated about Lenin's Jewish roots - often assumed to be nothing more than antisemitic propaganda. In his new book, Lenin's Jewish Question, Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern examines Lenin's controversial background, in particular the now-documented fact that Lenin had a maternal Jewish great-grandfather named Moshko Blank. Professor Petrovsky-Shtern discussed his discoveries about Moshko Blank, Blank's conversion to Christianity, and related questions, such as why Soviet communists sought to suppress any discussion of Lenin's Jewishness, why Russian racists attempted to portray Lenin as a Jew, and why Lenin approached the Jewish question as he did.
Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern is an Associate Professor of Jewish History at Northwestern University, specializing in the history of Russian Jewry. He is also the author of Jews in the Russian Army, 1827-1917: Drafted into Modernity and The Anti-Imperial Choice: the Making of the Ukrainian Jew.
Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern is an Associate Professor of Jewish History at Northwestern University, specializing in the history of Russian Jewry. He is also the author of Jews in the Russian Army, 1827-1917: Drafted into Modernity and The Anti-Imperial Choice: the Making of the Ukrainian Jew.
Presented by:
book party
Thu, Oct 21
06:30PM
Thu, Oct 21
06:30PM
dialogue and performance
Jewish Song and Prayer of Aleppo
The liturgy of the Syrian Jewish community synthesizes the maqam music of their Arab neighbors with their own Hebrew poetry and prayers. Mark Kligman, PhD, Professor of Jewish Musicology at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York will trace the development of this music which he explores in his book Maqam and Liturgy: Ritual, Music and Aesthetics of Syrian Jews in Brooklyn. Isaac Cabasso, Cantor of Congregation Beth Torah, a Syrian synagogue in Brooklyn, NY will lend his 50 years of experience in Syrian Hazzanut to the conversation, and will perform excerpts of the prayers in various maqamot.
Presented by:
dialogue and performance
Wed, Oct 20
06:00PM
Wed, Oct 20
06:00PM
book launch and panel discussion
Revisiting the American Soviet Jewry Movement: Gal Beckerman's book "When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry"
Join the American Jewish Historical Society, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the Forward for a panel discussion with:
Gal Beckerman: Forward journalist and author
Joshua Rubenstein: Activist and historian, Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International, USA
Boris Katz: Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and head of the Laboratory's InfoLab Group and former Soviet Refusenik
Moderated by Jane Eisner, editor of the Forward
Reception with wine & hors d'œuvres to follow
Gal Beckerman: Forward journalist and author
Joshua Rubenstein: Activist and historian, Northeast Regional Director of Amnesty International, USA
Boris Katz: Research Scientist at the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and head of the Laboratory's InfoLab Group and former Soviet Refusenik
Moderated by Jane Eisner, editor of the Forward
Reception with wine & hors d'œuvres to follow
Presented by:
book launch and panel discussion
Thu, Oct 14
06:30PM
Thu, Oct 14
06:30PM
exhibit opening and reception
Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life in Morocco
The exhibition will tell the story of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. Through the use of textual and graphical representations, maps, historic photographs, documents and quotes, the story of these Jews of North Africa and their history, which spans more than two millennia, will be presented.
Presented by:
exhibit opening and reception
Tue, Oct 12
03:00PM
Tue, Oct 12
03:00PM
cjh graduate seminar program
'To serve his stomach and his faith:' Little Rumania on the Lower East Side
Lara Rabinovitch, Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Fellow at CJH, 2009, PhD candidate at New York University
Dr. Annie Polland, Vice President, Education, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting
From the first years of the twentieth century and into the 1940s, dozens of Romanian restaurants, nightclubs, cafés, and wine-cellars dotted Second Avenue and a specific corridor of the Lower East Side known as Little Rumania. Though often ignored in histories of New York or of American Jewry, Little Rumania and specifically its gastronomic institutions served a distinctive social and cultural function among Jewish immigrants from Romania and within the greater landscape of New York City. This talk offers a glimpse into this rich past while probing the complex associations to the homeland evoked in the restaurants through their displays of Romanianness on the Lower East Side.
Dr. Annie Polland, Vice President, Education, Lower East Side Tenement Museum, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting
From the first years of the twentieth century and into the 1940s, dozens of Romanian restaurants, nightclubs, cafés, and wine-cellars dotted Second Avenue and a specific corridor of the Lower East Side known as Little Rumania. Though often ignored in histories of New York or of American Jewry, Little Rumania and specifically its gastronomic institutions served a distinctive social and cultural function among Jewish immigrants from Romania and within the greater landscape of New York City. This talk offers a glimpse into this rich past while probing the complex associations to the homeland evoked in the restaurants through their displays of Romanianness on the Lower East Side.
Presented by:
cjh graduate seminar program
Tue, Oct 12
06:00PM
Tue, Oct 12
06:00PM
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Protocols of Justice: Inside the Rabbinical Court of Metz, France (1771-1789)
Meet the Faculty: 6:00pm
Seminar: 6:30pm
RSVP required: fmohrer@yivo.cjh.org or call 212.294.6143
Presenter: Jay R. Berkovitz, Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Chair and Respondent: Elisheva Carlebach, Salo Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society, Columbia University
The record book (pinkas) of the Metz rabbinic court is one of the most treasured documents of the early modern period that is housed in the YIVO Archives. Covering the period 1771 to 1789, its pages open a window onto Jewish life in the years just prior to the French Revolution. The handwritten pinkas, penned in Hebrew by the court scribe and set in two leather-bound volumes, contains numerous cases brought before the rabbinic court by Jewish residents of Metz and neighboring towns. Decisions rendered by the court pertain to everyday life situations such as betrothal, marriage, bequests, commercial transactions and business disputes.
In this presentation, Professor Jay Berkovitz will examine several exemplary cases that came before the Metz beit din in order to learn how members of the Jewish community, as well as the judges of the court, negotiated the powerful winds of change. His talk will focus on efforts to navigate the plural jurisdictions of French and Jewish law, with particular attention to women, inheritance and family law.
Seminar: 6:30pm
RSVP required: fmohrer@yivo.cjh.org or call 212.294.6143
Presenter: Jay R. Berkovitz, Professor of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Chair and Respondent: Elisheva Carlebach, Salo Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society, Columbia University
The record book (pinkas) of the Metz rabbinic court is one of the most treasured documents of the early modern period that is housed in the YIVO Archives. Covering the period 1771 to 1789, its pages open a window onto Jewish life in the years just prior to the French Revolution. The handwritten pinkas, penned in Hebrew by the court scribe and set in two leather-bound volumes, contains numerous cases brought before the rabbinic court by Jewish residents of Metz and neighboring towns. Decisions rendered by the court pertain to everyday life situations such as betrothal, marriage, bequests, commercial transactions and business disputes.
In this presentation, Professor Jay Berkovitz will examine several exemplary cases that came before the Metz beit din in order to learn how members of the Jewish community, as well as the judges of the court, negotiated the powerful winds of change. His talk will focus on efforts to navigate the plural jurisdictions of French and Jewish law, with particular attention to women, inheritance and family law.
Presented by:
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Fri, Oct 08
12:00PM
Fri, Oct 08
12:00PM
yiddish language seminar
Oyf dor-doyres: vos di kinder fun der sheyres hapleyte hern and lozn zikh hern
Speaker: Hannah Kliger, Penn State Abington
This is a Yiddish language event.
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
yiddish language seminar
Tue, Oct 05
06:00PM
Tue, Oct 05
06:00PM
film screening and discussion
Going Home: The Return of Nathan Becker (Nosn Beker Fort Aheym) and 16mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland
6:00pm: Exhibition Tour 16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s Poland
6:30pm: Films and Discussion
Leaving home for another land is rarely a simple affair; returning can be even more fraught with emotion, confronting the realities of change and the frailties of memory. This evening of film and commentary will provide a glimpse into early 20thcentury immigrant experiences traveling back to homelands from sojourns in America. Seen through the lens of amateur movies of immigrant American Jews as well as through the screening of the fascinating, rarely-shown Yiddish/Russian propaganda-comedy The Return of Nathan Becker (Nosn Beker Fort Aheym, 1932), these films offer an intimate and – literally – moving picture of Jewish families, towns and societies in pre-World War II eastern Europe. The post-screening discussion will be led by J. Hoberman, film critic at The Village Voice and author of the classic history Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film between Two Worlds (newly reissued in an expanded edition) and Jonathan Brent, Executive Director of YIVO and author of Inside the Stalin Archives (2008) and Stalin's Last Crime (2003). Mr. Hoberman will be signing copies of his publication at the end of the program.
6:30pm: Films and Discussion
Leaving home for another land is rarely a simple affair; returning can be even more fraught with emotion, confronting the realities of change and the frailties of memory. This evening of film and commentary will provide a glimpse into early 20thcentury immigrant experiences traveling back to homelands from sojourns in America. Seen through the lens of amateur movies of immigrant American Jews as well as through the screening of the fascinating, rarely-shown Yiddish/Russian propaganda-comedy The Return of Nathan Becker (Nosn Beker Fort Aheym, 1932), these films offer an intimate and – literally – moving picture of Jewish families, towns and societies in pre-World War II eastern Europe. The post-screening discussion will be led by J. Hoberman, film critic at The Village Voice and author of the classic history Bridge of Light: Yiddish Film between Two Worlds (newly reissued in an expanded edition) and Jonathan Brent, Executive Director of YIVO and author of Inside the Stalin Archives (2008) and Stalin's Last Crime (2003). Mr. Hoberman will be signing copies of his publication at the end of the program.
Presented by:
film screening and discussion
Mon, Oct 04
04:30PM
Mon, Oct 04
04:30PM
film screening and symposium
Chaim Grade Memorial on the 100th Anniversary of his Birth
On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chaim Grade, one of the great Yiddish poets and novelists of the 20th century, Ruth Wisse discussed Grade's works; Allan Nadler discussed the milieu that Grade grew up in; Jonathan Brent shared his recent experience examining Grade's library and papers; and recorded remarks by Curt Leviant will be shown (not included in this video).
The symposium was preceded by a screening of the English-language film The Quarrel (Canada, 1991) based on Grade's story "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner."
An exhibition of Grade's books, manuscripts, and letters from the YIVO archives and library were on display.
The symposium was preceded by a screening of the English-language film The Quarrel (Canada, 1991) based on Grade's story "My Quarrel with Hersh Rasseyner."
An exhibition of Grade's books, manuscripts, and letters from the YIVO archives and library were on display.
Presented by:
film screening and symposium
Tue, Sep 28
03:00PM
Tue, Sep 28
03:00PM
cjh graduate seminar program
Communism on Trial: Jewish Politics and the Slansky Affair
Helaine Blumenthal, Cahnman Fellow at CJH, 2009, PhD candidate at University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Melissa Feinberg, Rutgers University, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting
In 1952, Communist Czechoslovakia staged one of the post-World War II era’s most blatant acts of state-sponsored anti-Semitism. The Slansky trial, as the event came to be known, falsely charged 14 leading government officials with crimes of high treason. Eleven of the 14 defendants were of Jewish origin, a fact which took on unprecedented prominence in what was otherwise a “typical” Soviet-like show trial. Eleven of the defendants were sentenced to death, while the remaining three received life imprisonment.
This paper demonstrates how the Czechoslovak show trial of 1952 greatly influenced the political lives of post-WWII Jewry. Taking a transnational approach, it illustrates how the Slansky Trial brought to the fore questions of Jewish loyalty, internally, to Judaism and the Jewish people and externally, to the countries in which they dwelled. It also examines how the trial reshaped the relationship between Jews and communism as well as the role and position of Jews in the Cold War.
Dr. Melissa Feinberg, Rutgers University, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, conducting
In 1952, Communist Czechoslovakia staged one of the post-World War II era’s most blatant acts of state-sponsored anti-Semitism. The Slansky trial, as the event came to be known, falsely charged 14 leading government officials with crimes of high treason. Eleven of the 14 defendants were of Jewish origin, a fact which took on unprecedented prominence in what was otherwise a “typical” Soviet-like show trial. Eleven of the defendants were sentenced to death, while the remaining three received life imprisonment.
This paper demonstrates how the Czechoslovak show trial of 1952 greatly influenced the political lives of post-WWII Jewry. Taking a transnational approach, it illustrates how the Slansky Trial brought to the fore questions of Jewish loyalty, internally, to Judaism and the Jewish people and externally, to the countries in which they dwelled. It also examines how the trial reshaped the relationship between Jews and communism as well as the role and position of Jews in the Cold War.
Presented by:
cjh graduate seminar program
Mon, Sep 27
06:00PM
Mon, Sep 27
06:00PM
panel discussion
Judaism and Sacred Space Meditations on Sukkah City
Inspired by the holiday of Sukkot and the creation of Sukkah City, this discussion brings together a multidisciplinary panel of scholars and academics to discuss the nature of sacred space in Jewish thought, narrative and law. The program will feature a panel of scholars in a highly interactive mode.
Two of the winning designs from Sukkah City will be on display at Yeshiva University Museum in The Center for Jewish History for viewing before and after the program - and throughout the holiday of Sukkot.
Panel Participants
Dr. Jill Katz, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, Yeshiva University
Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought, Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future, Yeshiva University
Dr. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Chair of Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University
Moderator
Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, University Chaplain, New York University
Two of the winning designs from Sukkah City will be on display at Yeshiva University Museum in The Center for Jewish History for viewing before and after the program - and throughout the holiday of Sukkot.
Panel Participants
Dr. Jill Katz, Adjunct Professor of Anthropology and Archaeology, Yeshiva University
Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought, Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future, Yeshiva University
Dr. Lawrence H. Schiffman, Ethel and Irvin A. Edelman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, Chair of Skirball Department of Hebrew and Judaic Studies, New York University
Moderator
Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life, University Chaplain, New York University
Presented by:
panel discussion
Tue, Sep 21
06:30PM
Tue, Sep 21
06:30PM
discussion and film excerpts
Remembering Grace Paley: A panel discussion, with excerpts from Lilly Rivlin's new film, Grace Paley: Collected Shorts
Grace Paley combined a life as a master short story writer, often compared to Chekhov, with political activism, motherhood, teaching and being a cherished friend. Ranked among the great writers of her generation by peers like Philip Roth, Paley's work has been translated into 92 languages. New York's first official state author and poet laureate of Vermont, her most important work was filtered through her passion for social justice and her love of humanity. Join filmmaker Lilly Rivlin; Claudia Dreifus, prize-winning New York Times journalist and science writer; Vivian Gornick, writer and critic; Marianne Hirsch, Professor of English, Comparative Literature and Gender Studies, Columbia University; and Vera B. Williams, illustrator and writer--friends, colleagues and observers of Grace and her work--for an evening of stories and reflections mixed with excerpts from Rivlin's newly-released documentary Grace Paley: Collected Shorts.
Presented by:
discussion and film excerpts
Mon, Sep 20
07:00PM
Mon, Sep 20
07:00PM
multi-media lecture
The Hidden Musical Treasures of Romania
For three decades, fiddler Bob Cohen has roamed Romania like Indiana Jones with a tape recorder in search of remnants of lost Jewish musical traditions through field research with elderly Roma (Gypsy) musicians. From his work as a cultural dragoman, recordings with the Budapest-based ensemble Di Naye Kapelye, and popular blog exploring traditional music and grilled meat, Cohen has become a guru to many leading musicians in the American klezmer and Balkan music scenes. A fascinating polyglot with an encyclopedic knowledge of Eastern Europe's minority ethnic populations, Cohen will inspire, educate and entertain during this special multi-media presentation. This presentation is part of the An-sky Institute for Jewish Culture Series as well as CTMD and World Music Institute's New York World Festival: Music of the Black Sea. A reception will follow the event.
Presented by:
multi-media lecture
Sun, Sep 19
02:00PM
Sun, Sep 19
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Memories of Ancestral Homes
Panel: Professors Mihai Grunfeld, Mimi Schwartz, Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer.
Moderator: Renee Steinig
The presenters will discuss life in the towns after the Holocaust, personal experiences, impressions, and anecdotal stories.
Mihai Grunfeld, author of "Leaving, Memories of Romania", offers a rich and stimulating account of growing up in post-war Romania, haunted by the Holocaust his parents do not speak about. At age 18, he and his brother travel to Czechoslovakia and escape to Austria, Their journey takes them through several countries and finally the United States where he settles. Mihai Grunfeld is a professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at Vassar College.
Mimi Schwartz, author of "Good Neighbors, Bad Times, Echoes of My Father's German Village", grew up in America, hearing her father’s boyhood stories about his German village. Only when she heard about the remarkable story of the Torah being rescued by Christians on Kristallnacht, did she begin to understand what these stories mean. For twelve years, she traveled seeking answers, collecting stories, checking historical records. Mimi Schwartz, the author of five books and numerous essays, is a professor emerita at Richard Stockton College in N.J. where she teaches workshops in memoir and creative nonfiction.
Moderator: Renee Steinig
The presenters will discuss life in the towns after the Holocaust, personal experiences, impressions, and anecdotal stories.
Mihai Grunfeld, author of "Leaving, Memories of Romania", offers a rich and stimulating account of growing up in post-war Romania, haunted by the Holocaust his parents do not speak about. At age 18, he and his brother travel to Czechoslovakia and escape to Austria, Their journey takes them through several countries and finally the United States where he settles. Mihai Grunfeld is a professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at Vassar College.
Mimi Schwartz, author of "Good Neighbors, Bad Times, Echoes of My Father's German Village", grew up in America, hearing her father’s boyhood stories about his German village. Only when she heard about the remarkable story of the Torah being rescued by Christians on Kristallnacht, did she begin to understand what these stories mean. For twelve years, she traveled seeking answers, collecting stories, checking historical records. Mimi Schwartz, the author of five books and numerous essays, is a professor emerita at Richard Stockton College in N.J. where she teaches workshops in memoir and creative nonfiction.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Sun, Sep 19
02:00PM
Sun, Sep 19
02:00PM
children's workshop
Sukkah Build-Up
Visit Sukkah City: NYC 2010, a visionary village of re-imagined full scale sukkot in Union Square Park. Meet at 2 PM at the Museum to construct a sukkah model, following the traditional rules governing its design. Admire holiday related treasures from YUM's collection. Bring real foliage to cover the roof of your sukkah model.
Presented by:
children's workshop
Thu, Sep 16
07:00PM
Thu, Sep 16
07:00PM
book party
Judaism: A Way of Being, by David Gelernter
Join distinguished scholar and author David Gelernter as he seeks to answer the deceptively simple question: What is Judaism really about? Gelernter views Judaism as one of humanity's most profound and sublimely beautiful achievements. In his new book, Judaism: A Way of Being, he lays out Jewish beliefs on four basic topics - the sanctity of everyday life; man and God; the meaning of sexuality and family; good, evil and the nature of God's justice in a cruel world - and conveys a profound and stirring sense of what it means to be Jewish. David Gelernter is professor of computer science at Yale University and contributing editor at the Weekly Standard. He is the author of several books, including Mirror Worlds, The Muse in the Machine, and the novel 1939.
Presented by:
book party
Sun, Jul 25
12:00PM
Sun, Jul 25
12:00PM
First Annual New York Sephardic Jewish Book Fair
The book fair, hosted by the American Sephardi Federation, will bring together authors and book lovers that write about and enjoy books relating to the culture, history, philosophy, religion, languages and experiences of the Sephardic Jews, past and present. Hundreds of titles of Sephardic-oriented books, including many rare titles, will be available for sale by the Sephardic House bookstore, as well as by unique vendors that specialize in Sephardic Judaica.
Several visiting authors will discuss a wide range of topics including personal histories, Sephardic history, philosophy, culture and religion. The day's key author and speaker will be Dr. Marc D. Angel, founder of The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, North America's oldest Jewish congregation.
Several visiting authors will discuss a wide range of topics including personal histories, Sephardic history, philosophy, culture and religion. The day's key author and speaker will be Dr. Marc D. Angel, founder of The Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals and Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Shearith Israel, North America's oldest Jewish congregation.
Presented by:
Thu, Jul 22
03:30PM
Thu, Jul 22
03:30PM
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Written in Stone: Jewish Culinary Resistance to Mortality
Eve Jochnowitz
Presented by:
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Mon, Jul 19
06:00PM
Mon, Jul 19
06:00PM
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Zukhndik milkh un honik: yidish-teater in birobidzhan (In Search of Milk and Honey: Yiddish Theater in Birobidzhan)
Ber Kotlerman, Bar-Ilan University
Ber Boris Kotlerman was born in Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia and grew up in Birobidzhan. Since 2004 he has been a senior lecturer in the Judaica faculty of Bar-Ilan University and a professor of Yiddish Studies. In 2007 he founded the Far Eastern Research center for Jewish Culture and Yiddish which has already conducted two international summer programs in Yiddish.
Ber Boris Kotlerman was born in Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia and grew up in Birobidzhan. Since 2004 he has been a senior lecturer in the Judaica faculty of Bar-Ilan University and a professor of Yiddish Studies. In 2007 he founded the Far Eastern Research center for Jewish Culture and Yiddish which has already conducted two international summer programs in Yiddish.
Presented by:
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Sun, Jul 18
02:00PM
Sun, Jul 18
02:00PM
creative workshops for families @ yum studio
Tisha B'Av: Imagining the Temple
Learn about the architecture of the Temple in ancient
Jerusalem on the day that commemorates its destruction;
then make your own Temple model to take home. Ideal for ages 6 and up.
Presented by:
creative workshops for families @ yum studio
Tue, Jul 13
12:30PM
Tue, Jul 13
12:30PM
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Shimen Dzigan—der koyekh un koyekhlozikayt fun yidishn humor
Speaker: Marc Caplan
Presented by:
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Mon, Jul 12
03:30PM
Mon, Jul 12
03:30PM
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Seeking Shulamis: The Life and Times of Avrom Goldfaden's Most Celebrated Operetta
Professor Alyssa Quint, Princeton University
Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene
Dani Marcus, actress recently featured in The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer at the Folksbiene
Nimmy Weisbrod, actor recently featured in The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer at the Folksbiene
Alyssa Quint will discuss aspects of the operetta's narrative alongside some visual material. Zalmen Mlotek will accompany actors Dani Marcus and Nimmy Weisbrod in a number of musical selections from Shulamis. Quint and Mlotek's presentation is part of their work-in-progress, a bilingual (Yiddish/English) critical edition of the operetta that will include arrangements by Mr. Mlotek, an introduction by Alyssa Quint, and a translation into English by theater scholar Nahma Sandrow
presented in collaboration with the FOLKSBIENE: THE NATIONAL YIDDISH THEATRE
Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene
Dani Marcus, actress recently featured in The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer at the Folksbiene
Nimmy Weisbrod, actor recently featured in The Adventures of Hershele Ostropolyer at the Folksbiene
Alyssa Quint will discuss aspects of the operetta's narrative alongside some visual material. Zalmen Mlotek will accompany actors Dani Marcus and Nimmy Weisbrod in a number of musical selections from Shulamis. Quint and Mlotek's presentation is part of their work-in-progress, a bilingual (Yiddish/English) critical edition of the operetta that will include arrangements by Mr. Mlotek, an introduction by Alyssa Quint, and a translation into English by theater scholar Nahma Sandrow
presented in collaboration with the FOLKSBIENE: THE NATIONAL YIDDISH THEATRE
Presented by:
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Thu, Jul 01
02:00PM
Thu, Jul 01
02:00PM
lecture
As it is Written: Lectures on the Art of Hebrew Manuscripts and Books
Learn about recent research in the field of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts and decorated printed books, on the occasion of the exhibition A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books, currently on view at Yeshiva University Museum. The event is hosted by the Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters.
Hidden Treasure: The Intellectual Life of Medieval Ashkenazi Jews. Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University.
Making Hebrew Manuscripts in a Gentile World. Evelyn M. Cohen, independent scholar, New York.
Hebrew Manuscripts after Gutenberg. Emile G. L. Schrijver, Curator, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Special Collections, University of Amsterdam.
PLEASE NOTE: This event takes place in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
Hidden Treasure: The Intellectual Life of Medieval Ashkenazi Jews. Ephraim Kanarfogel, E. Billi Ivry Professor of Jewish History, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, Yeshiva University.
Making Hebrew Manuscripts in a Gentile World. Evelyn M. Cohen, independent scholar, New York.
Hebrew Manuscripts after Gutenberg. Emile G. L. Schrijver, Curator, Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Special Collections, University of Amsterdam.
PLEASE NOTE: This event takes place in the Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY.
Presented by:
lecture
Wed, Jun 30
06:00PM
Wed, Jun 30
06:00PM
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Tour conducted by Sharon Liberman Mintz, exhibition co-curator, presented in conjunction with a program at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on July 1, "As it is Written: Lectures on the Art of Hebrew Manuscripts and Books."
Presented by:
curator's tour
Thu, Jun 24
06:30PM
Thu, Jun 24
06:30PM
book signing & discussion
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
This just-published book by best-selling author Eric Metaxas is the first new biography in more than 40 years to tell the remarkable story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Young Pastor Bonhoeffer reacted to an early Nazi edict to ban anyone of Jewish descent from government employment by challenging the legitimacy of such "un-Christian" behavior in an essay entitled "The Church and the Jewish Question." Bonhoeffer's Christian faith coincided with his belief in responsible social action, and ultimately with his resort to violence. In 1943 Bonhoeffer was arrested as being part of a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler. Two years later he was executed. The complexity, drama, and personal heroism of Pastor Bonhoeffer reveal insights into 20th-century German history, and into the nature of courage.
Presented by:
book signing & discussion
Thu, Jun 17
09:00AM
Thu, Jun 17
09:00AM
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
This biennial conference, organized by the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society, will examine the notion of American Jewish "exceptionalism," or uniqueness, which has shaped conceptions of American Jewish history from its beginning. More than 40 papers will be given by a range of prominent academics from around the U.S., Canada, and Israel.
Presented by:
conference
Wed, Jun 16
09:00AM
Wed, Jun 16
09:00AM
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
This biennial conference, organized by the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society, will examine the notion of American Jewish "exceptionalism," or uniqueness, which has shaped conceptions of American Jewish history from its beginning. More than 40 papers will be given by a range of prominent academics from around the U.S., Canada, and Israel.
The following evening event is open to the public at special rates:
7:30-9:00: Roundtable: Is American Jewish History "Exceptional"?
Moderator: Aristide Zolberg (The New School)
Panelists: Jon Butler (Yale University), Ira Katznelson (Columbia University), Rebecca Kobrin (Columbia University), Beth Wenger (University of Pennsylvania)
Dessert reception to follow
Event Admission: $30, tickets available from SmartTix
The following evening event is open to the public at special rates:
7:30-9:00: Roundtable: Is American Jewish History "Exceptional"?
Moderator: Aristide Zolberg (The New School)
Panelists: Jon Butler (Yale University), Ira Katznelson (Columbia University), Rebecca Kobrin (Columbia University), Beth Wenger (University of Pennsylvania)
Dessert reception to follow
Event Admission: $30, tickets available from SmartTix
Presented by:
conference
Wed, Jun 16
01:00PM
Wed, Jun 16
01:00PM
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Presented by:
curator's tour
Tue, Jun 15
09:00AM
Tue, Jun 15
09:00AM
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
This biennial conference, organized by the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society, will examine the notion of American Jewish "exceptionalism," or uniqueness, which has shaped conceptions of American Jewish history from its beginning. More than 40 papers will be given by a range of prominent academics from around the U.S., Canada, and Israel.
The following evening event is open to the public at special rates:
6:00: Cocktail Reception Sponsored by Adam Matthew Digital
7:30: Harry Elson Memorial Lecture: Beyond Exceptionalism: American Jewry as a Port Jewry; Professor David Sorkin (University of Wisconsin)
Event Admission: $30, tickets available from SmartTix
The following evening event is open to the public at special rates:
6:00: Cocktail Reception Sponsored by Adam Matthew Digital
7:30: Harry Elson Memorial Lecture: Beyond Exceptionalism: American Jewry as a Port Jewry; Professor David Sorkin (University of Wisconsin)
Event Admission: $30, tickets available from SmartTix
Presented by:
conference
Sun, Jun 13
02:00PM
Sun, Jun 13
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Naturalization: Where are the Documents?
Speaker: Phyllis Kramer
Naturalization is a voluntary process which enables an Alien to become an American Citizen. The documents after 1906 reveal birthplace, birthdates, immigration and family; even photographs were required after 1924! Ms. Kramer will cover the history of naturalization in the United States, the four documents produced, derivative citizenship for women and children, and the myriad of Federal, State and County Courts involved. She will next discuss how to find the documents, outline a research plan starting with clues from the Census, then clues from the manifests, finally outlining the court system. She will document what is online and what is in the archives and share experiences with the many governmental agencies involved.
Phyllis is a practicing genealogist, with primary interest in Eastern European Jewish research. She developed the JewishGen education system and has taught over 1000 students online at JewishGen; her lessons and lectures emphasize using the Internet for Research. Phyllis has an MBA from Fordham University, and a B.S. from Cornell. She retired from IBM as a Business Consultant designing and implementing client Document Imaging Systems, after having held Systems Engineering, Product and Business Management positions.
At JewishGen Phyllis has developed 12 Shtetlinks web sites for her ancestor's Galician shtetls, created the online version of the 1891 Galician Business Directory, recruits volunteers, and is a member of the JewishGen Advisory Board. In 2000 Phyllis developed and managed the first ever Computer Education Lab at the International Jewish Genealogical Conference held in NYC. She has lectured at the 5 previous conferences and at multiple Jewish Genealogy Societies, JCCs, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Norwalk College.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Naturalization is a voluntary process which enables an Alien to become an American Citizen. The documents after 1906 reveal birthplace, birthdates, immigration and family; even photographs were required after 1924! Ms. Kramer will cover the history of naturalization in the United States, the four documents produced, derivative citizenship for women and children, and the myriad of Federal, State and County Courts involved. She will next discuss how to find the documents, outline a research plan starting with clues from the Census, then clues from the manifests, finally outlining the court system. She will document what is online and what is in the archives and share experiences with the many governmental agencies involved.
Phyllis is a practicing genealogist, with primary interest in Eastern European Jewish research. She developed the JewishGen education system and has taught over 1000 students online at JewishGen; her lessons and lectures emphasize using the Internet for Research. Phyllis has an MBA from Fordham University, and a B.S. from Cornell. She retired from IBM as a Business Consultant designing and implementing client Document Imaging Systems, after having held Systems Engineering, Product and Business Management positions.
At JewishGen Phyllis has developed 12 Shtetlinks web sites for her ancestor's Galician shtetls, created the online version of the 1891 Galician Business Directory, recruits volunteers, and is a member of the JewishGen Advisory Board. In 2000 Phyllis developed and managed the first ever Computer Education Lab at the International Jewish Genealogical Conference held in NYC. She has lectured at the 5 previous conferences and at multiple Jewish Genealogy Societies, JCCs, the Museum of Jewish Heritage and Norwalk College.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Thu, Jun 10
07:30PM
Thu, Jun 10
07:30PM
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe: Website Launch
YIVO launched the online version of The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, www.yivoencyclopedia.org. The program from that evening that is presented here includes remarks by Jonathan Brent, YIVO's executive director; Gershon Hundert, the encyclopedia's editor in chief; and Joseph Steinberg, whose charitable trust is the website's principal sponsor. Jeffrey Edelstein, the encyclopedia's project director, then gave a demonstration of the site's features.
Presented by:
Thu, Jun 03
07:00PM
Thu, Jun 03
07:00PM
Taste of Limmud NY
Participate in a uniquely creative Taste of Limmud NY. From documentary film to exhibit tours to music to visual midrash, experience Jewish history and culture through the arts. Check out these exciting sessions:
Outside the Box -- Get a sneak peak at a documentary on dual identity and family secrets with Lacey Schwartz, filmmaker and Director of Outreach for Be'chol Lashon.
Illuminated Midrash Mash-ups -- Dissect, remix and collage the museum's images into modern midrash comix through a hands-on workshop with JT Waldman, digital designer and Teaching Artist in Residence at the Yeshiva University Museum.
Museum Tour -- Take an inside look at two current exhibits with Zachary Paul Levine, Assistant Curator of the Yeshiva University Museum.
Jewish Identity through Music -- Learn how contemporary musicians incorporate and reinterpret traditional Jewish texts with percussionist and composer David Freeman
A One-Pot Seminar -- See what you can learn about an individual's identity and community from a cholent pot with Gabe Goldstein, Associate Director for Exhibitions and Programs at the Yeshiva University Museum.
Contact info@limmudny.org or 212-284-6968 for more information.
Outside the Box -- Get a sneak peak at a documentary on dual identity and family secrets with Lacey Schwartz, filmmaker and Director of Outreach for Be'chol Lashon.
Illuminated Midrash Mash-ups -- Dissect, remix and collage the museum's images into modern midrash comix through a hands-on workshop with JT Waldman, digital designer and Teaching Artist in Residence at the Yeshiva University Museum.
Museum Tour -- Take an inside look at two current exhibits with Zachary Paul Levine, Assistant Curator of the Yeshiva University Museum.
Jewish Identity through Music -- Learn how contemporary musicians incorporate and reinterpret traditional Jewish texts with percussionist and composer David Freeman
A One-Pot Seminar -- See what you can learn about an individual's identity and community from a cholent pot with Gabe Goldstein, Associate Director for Exhibitions and Programs at the Yeshiva University Museum.
Contact info@limmudny.org or 212-284-6968 for more information.
Presented by:
Fri, May 28
12:30PM
Fri, May 28
12:30PM
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Di hoyptshtot fun yidishland?
Speaker: Kalman Weiser, Silber Family Professor of Modern Jewish Studies, York University
This is a Yiddish language event.
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Thu, May 27
05:30PM
Thu, May 27
05:30PM
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO, Part II
This is the second in a new series of concerts devoted to rarely heard masterworks from the Sidney Krum Jewish Music and Yiddish Theater Memorial Collections at YIVO, performed by gifted young artists from The Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music, Mannes College, and the Lucy Moses School. This concert featured works by Aaron Copland, Grzegorz Fitelberg, Joseph Achron and others. Special guest appearances by singer Juliana Yaffe and pianist John Yaffe. Artistic Director, Yuval Waldman.
Presented by:
concert
Mon, May 24
03:00PM
Mon, May 24
03:00PM
drench memorial lecture
Coming to America? Max Weinreich and the Making of YIVO in New York, 1939-41
When WW II erupted, Max Weinreich was caught in western Europe. He was faced with a terrible choice: return home to YIVO's heart in an uncertain Vilna or come to its periphery in far-off New York City. His personal conflict mirrored the contest between YIVO's European and American branches over where the institute's center should lie and, implicitly, that of secular Yiddish culture and Ashkenazic Jewry as a whole.
Presented by:
drench memorial lecture
Sun, May 23
03:00PM
Sun, May 23
03:00PM
concert
Music in Our Time: Works by Contemporary American Jewish Composers
An extraordinary program of music by 20th- and 21st- century composers whose works are in the forefront of artistic contributions to Jewish music and culture. Featured on the program will be the world premiere of Biblical Chants: Variations and Improvisations on "Song of the Sea" by Dick Hyman, the world famous jazz pianist and composer; Ellen Gould, actress and playwright; and Ken Peplowski, internationally renowned clarinetist. All three will be performing this work which was commissioned by the American Society for Jewish Music. Works by noted Jewish composers Dan Asia, Gerald Cohen, Lori Leitman and Leo Kraft will be performed by chamber groups and soloists on flute, clarinet, cello, guitar, piano and voice.
Presented by:
concert
Sun, May 16
02:00PM
Sun, May 16
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
The JDC Archives: Resources for Genealogists
Speaker: Linda Levi, Director of Global Archives, The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
Since its inception in 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC, or popularly known as "the Joint") has borne witness to the greatest events of twentieth-century Jewish history. The JDC Archives documents JDC operations and activities overseas and serves as a record of life in Jewish communities throughout the world. Its extensive holdings include eye-witness accounts, correspondence, reports, logs, passenger lists, emigration cards, photographs, and much more. Participants will learn how the Archives are organized, see examples of rich genealogical records in the JDC archival collections, and find out how to conduct research at its repositories. New efforts to digitize the JDC collections will also be included in the discussion.
Linda Levi is Assistant Executive Vice President for Global Archives at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and is responsible for archives centers in NY and Jerusalem. Ms. Levi is a graduate of New York University and received her MA in Contemporary Jewish Studies from Brandeis University.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Since its inception in 1914, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC, or popularly known as "the Joint") has borne witness to the greatest events of twentieth-century Jewish history. The JDC Archives documents JDC operations and activities overseas and serves as a record of life in Jewish communities throughout the world. Its extensive holdings include eye-witness accounts, correspondence, reports, logs, passenger lists, emigration cards, photographs, and much more. Participants will learn how the Archives are organized, see examples of rich genealogical records in the JDC archival collections, and find out how to conduct research at its repositories. New efforts to digitize the JDC collections will also be included in the discussion.
Linda Levi is Assistant Executive Vice President for Global Archives at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and is responsible for archives centers in NY and Jerusalem. Ms. Levi is a graduate of New York University and received her MA in Contemporary Jewish Studies from Brandeis University.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Thu, May 13
03:00PM
Thu, May 13
03:00PM
hort memorial lecture
Remembering (in) the Mother Tongue: The Role of Yiddish in Israeli Autobiographical Expressions
Hannah Pressman, New York University.
How does Yiddish both enable and complicate the remembrance of things past? Surveying Hebrew autobiographical writing of the mid- to-late 20th century, this talk highlights various authors' contrasting motivations for weaving mame-loshn into their confessional tales. Like the religious discourse dominating these works, Yiddish is a key component to the writers' challenge to the normative model advocated by secular Hebrew culture. The literary self-portraits discussed in this talk, viewed through the critical lenses of language and gender, offer a fascinating alternative vision of modern Israeli selfhood.
How does Yiddish both enable and complicate the remembrance of things past? Surveying Hebrew autobiographical writing of the mid- to-late 20th century, this talk highlights various authors' contrasting motivations for weaving mame-loshn into their confessional tales. Like the religious discourse dominating these works, Yiddish is a key component to the writers' challenge to the normative model advocated by secular Hebrew culture. The literary self-portraits discussed in this talk, viewed through the critical lenses of language and gender, offer a fascinating alternative vision of modern Israeli selfhood.
Presented by:
hort memorial lecture
Wed, May 12
07:30PM
Wed, May 12
07:30PM
concert
Music in the Age of the Wittgensteins, Part 4: Prokofiev and Zaretsky
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble will perform Prokofiev's symphonic composition "Peter and the Wolf," arranged by the composer for piano solo and narrator. We are also presenting a world premier of mini-operas by Inessa Zaretsky based on the stories by an absurdist early Soviet-era writer, Daniil Kharms.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik
Presented by:
concert
Sun, May 09
05:00PM
Sun, May 09
05:00PM
panel discussion
More Than a Book Launch...Passionate Pioneers: The Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960
With author Fradle Freidenreich.
Presented by:
panel discussion
Thu, May 06
07:30PM
Thu, May 06
07:30PM
holiday celebration
Parthenia Presents: Hot Off the Press: 2010 Edition
Join composers David Glaser and Frances White and the Parthenia ensemble in a discussion of new works for viols from the past 500 years, moderated by Harold Rosenbaum, conductor of the New York Virtuoso Singers, followed by a half-hour performance, reception and informal Q&A.
Presented by:
holiday celebration
Tue, May 04
03:00PM
Tue, May 04
03:00PM
cjh graduate seminar program
American Jews, Medicine, and the Politics of Displaced Persons after World War II
Rebecca Cutler, Morris and Alma Schapiro Fellow at CJH 2009, presenting
Dr. Atina Grossmann, Professor of History, Cooper Union, responding
Dr. Atina Grossmann, Professor of History, Cooper Union, responding
Presented by:
cjh graduate seminar program
Tue, May 04
06:30PM
Tue, May 04
06:30PM
lecture
Traces of Esther: The Jewish Presence in Contemporary Catalan Literature
The second of two lectures with The Catalan Center at NYU. Manuel Forcano, Professor of Semitic Studies and Vice President of the Catalan Council for the Arts (CONCA).
Presented by:
lecture
Mon, May 03
06:30PM
Mon, May 03
06:30PM
lecture
A Certain Identity: Crypto-Jews around the World
Thousands of Iberian Jews went "underground" at the time of the Inquisition and the expulsion from Spain. They dispersed across Europe, across the ocean to South America and the Caribbean, and to North Africa and the Middle East. With tremendous tenacity, they preserved their heritage, married among themselves, and passed it down from generation to generation. Gloria Mound, Director of the Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies in Israel, will illuminate their fascinating history, their presence in the Caribbean and in European countries, as well as previously unsuspected links with French Huguenots. Casa Shalom-Institute for Anusim Studies works to uncover the ancestry of Anusim, and help them find their way back to Judaism. Its new, highly esteemed library, opened in 2005 by President Yitzchak Navon, comprises a unique collection of more than 2,000 books, 5,000 documents and a computer data base relating to secret or hitherto unknown Jewish Communities world-wide, providing a wealth of resources for academic researchers and genealogists.
Presented by:
lecture
Sun, May 02
11:00AM
Sun, May 02
11:00AM
workshop
Third Annual Family Puppet Festival
Enjoy and explore puppetry traditions with performances and workshops, featuring the Czechoslovak-American Marionette Theatre (performances at 11 and 1:30) and Headless Horse Dance. Make your own puppets and get a chance to participate in the performance!
Presented by:
workshop
Sun, May 02
04:00PM
Sun, May 02
04:00PM
multi-media lecture
Ber Borokhov: A Revolutionary of Yiddish Philology
The third annual program in memory of Dr. Mordkhe Schaechter. Prof. Eugene Orenstein of McGill University spoke on the topic, "Ber Borokhov: A Revolutionary of Yiddish Philology." Prof. Joshua (Shikl) Fishman spoke about Dr. Schaechter; music was by Janet Leuchter and Lauren Brody.
PLEASE NOTE: This program is entirely in Yiddish.
PLEASE NOTE: This program is entirely in Yiddish.
Presented by:
multi-media lecture
Sun, May 02
04:00PM
Sun, May 02
04:00PM
discussion and book signing
A History of Jewish Catalonia
This beautifully and copiously illustrated book traces the rich and fertile history of the Jews in Catalonia from the earliest references, that is, from the time of the late Roman Empire and the Early Middle Ages, until the drastic decree of expulsion by the Catholic Monarchs. It captures their wedding songs, conveys the smells from their cooking pots, and reconstructs the soaring intellectual edifice they created despite the difficulties of a daily life fraught with religious persecution and social degradation. The authors, Silvia Planas and Manuel Forcano, will engage in a dialogue about the book with each other and with the audience. Book sale and signing follows.
Presented by:
discussion and book signing
Fri, Apr 30
12:30PM
Fri, Apr 30
12:30PM
lecture
Batkhonim, purim-sphilers, shpilmener: der breyshes-mitos fun yidishn teater
Title: Jesters, actors, troubadors - the myth of the genesis of Yiddish theater
Speaker: Zehavit Stern, University of California, Berkeley
This is a Yiddish language event.
Speaker: Zehavit Stern, University of California, Berkeley
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
lecture
Thu, Apr 29
07:00PM
Thu, Apr 29
07:00PM
pen world voices festival at cjh
Homesick: Eshkol Nevo in Conversation with Michael Orthofer
Eshkol Nevo is one of Israel's most exciting new voices. Like many other successful writers before him, he studied copywriting, but then went on to psychology and both disciplines inform his work. He writes short stories, has also penned a non-fiction book called The Breaking Up Manual, and two novels, Homesick and World Cup Wishes. He has been the chosen artist of Israel's Cultural Excellence Foundation - one of Israel's highest recognitions for excellence in the arts - since 2008. He will be joined by Michael Orthofer, managing editor at the Complete Review and its Literary Saloon for a discussion about art, home, living under threat, and, of course, the art of breaking up.
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature: A week-long celebration of books and writing from around the globe, featuring 50+ events, 150 writers, and 40 countries. This cross-cultural literary exchange includes conversations, panel discussions, readings, a translation slam, and an all-star Cabaret. New York City, April 26-May 2, 2010. For more information visit the festival website.
PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature: A week-long celebration of books and writing from around the globe, featuring 50+ events, 150 writers, and 40 countries. This cross-cultural literary exchange includes conversations, panel discussions, readings, a translation slam, and an all-star Cabaret. New York City, April 26-May 2, 2010. For more information visit the festival website.
Presented by:
pen world voices festival at cjh
Wed, Apr 28
06:30PM
Wed, Apr 28
06:30PM
lecture
Daughters of Sara, Mothers of Israel: Jewish Women of Medieval Gerona
ASF is pleased to join with The Catalan Center at NYU for the first of two lectures on the Jews of Catalonia. We welcome Sylvia Planas, Director of the Institut d'Estudis Nahmànides and the Museum of Jewish History of Girona.
Presented by:
lecture
Tue, Apr 27
03:00PM
Tue, Apr 27
03:00PM
hort memorial lecture
Fun mayn royzeles tog bukh: Moyshe-Leyb Halpern's Committed Love Poems
Riki Ophir, University of California, Berkeley.
Some of Halpern's most fascinating poems are written to and about his wife, at times as a fictional dialog with her, at times as if taken from her diary. However, these poems tell not merely of the speaker's love to his Royzele, but are always committed to aesthetic judgment. Modeled on the ballad, the Yiddish folk song or the conventions of Yiddish dialogue, these poems challenge preconceived poetic forms in a way that calls into question our conception of romantic love, poetry, and the concrete world outside.
Some of Halpern's most fascinating poems are written to and about his wife, at times as a fictional dialog with her, at times as if taken from her diary. However, these poems tell not merely of the speaker's love to his Royzele, but are always committed to aesthetic judgment. Modeled on the ballad, the Yiddish folk song or the conventions of Yiddish dialogue, these poems challenge preconceived poetic forms in a way that calls into question our conception of romantic love, poetry, and the concrete world outside.
Presented by:
hort memorial lecture
Wed, Apr 21
05:00PM
Wed, Apr 21
05:00PM
discussion and film excerpts
A Panel Discussion with Moshe Idel about His Book Old Worlds, New Mirrors: On Jewish Mysticism and 20th-Century Thought
Panelists: Vivian Liska, David N. Myers, Galili Shahar.
Moderator: David B. Ruderman.
Event taking place at the University of Pennsylvania will be broadcast live and interactively at CJH. Visit www.primolevicenter.org for more information.
Moderator: David B. Ruderman.
Event taking place at the University of Pennsylvania will be broadcast live and interactively at CJH. Visit www.primolevicenter.org for more information.
Presented by:
discussion and film excerpts
Mon, Apr 19
03:00PM
Mon, Apr 19
03:00PM
cjh graduate seminar program
Gentleman's Agreement and Crossfire: Anti-Semitism at the Movies
Rachel Gordan, Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Fellow at CJH, 2009; Ph.D. Candidate at Harvard presenting
Dr. Tisa Wenger, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Yale University, responding
Dr. Tisa Wenger, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Yale University, responding
Presented by:
cjh graduate seminar program
Fri, Apr 16
12:30PM
Fri, Apr 16
12:30PM
max weinreich center
Vos zol zayn di batsiung tsvishn khurbn-limudim un yidishe-limudim?
What Should be the Relationship Holocaust Studies and Jewish Studies?
Speaker: Cecile E. Kuznitz, Bard College
This is a Yiddish language event.
Speaker: Cecile E. Kuznitz, Bard College
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
max weinreich center
Thu, Apr 15
06:30PM
Thu, Apr 15
06:30PM
lecture
Biblical Images and Secular Representations: The Performance of Antiquity in Contemporary Israeli Culture
Yael Zerubavel, Rutgers University.
The Bible contributed to the shaping of Israeli national identity and culture during its formative years and the early decades following the foundation of the state. Biblical images, symbols and themes were reinterpreted, secularized, and transformed in Israeli official iconography, literature, art, and popular culture. Although the Bible has been politicized and its role debated within Israeli culture since the 1970s, recent cultural developments indicate a new surge of secular interest in it. The discussion of the changing attitudes toward the Bible provides a distinct lens to understanding major trends within contemporary Israeli culture.
The Bible contributed to the shaping of Israeli national identity and culture during its formative years and the early decades following the foundation of the state. Biblical images, symbols and themes were reinterpreted, secularized, and transformed in Israeli official iconography, literature, art, and popular culture. Although the Bible has been politicized and its role debated within Israeli culture since the 1970s, recent cultural developments indicate a new surge of secular interest in it. The discussion of the changing attitudes toward the Bible provides a distinct lens to understanding major trends within contemporary Israeli culture.
Presented by:
lecture
Wed, Apr 14
01:00PM
Wed, Apr 14
01:00PM
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Presented by:
curator's tour
Tue, Apr 13
03:00PM
Tue, Apr 13
03:00PM
dialogue and performance
Establishing Beys Ya'akov: Legitimizing Girls Religious Education
Agnieszka Oleszak, University College, London.
Beys Ya'akov was a network of religious schools for girls in prewar Poland first established by Sarah Schenirer in 1917. In 1919, Beys Ya'akov was taken over by Agudas Israel, which proved to be a turning point in the school's development. Its rapid growth made it a popular and successful educational institution among Orthodox Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. This presentation aimed to reconstruct the early history of Beys Ya'akov and to illustrate the process of legitimizing the idea of institutionalized religious education for Jewish girls.
Beys Ya'akov was a network of religious schools for girls in prewar Poland first established by Sarah Schenirer in 1917. In 1919, Beys Ya'akov was taken over by Agudas Israel, which proved to be a turning point in the school's development. Its rapid growth made it a popular and successful educational institution among Orthodox Jews in Central and Eastern Europe. This presentation aimed to reconstruct the early history of Beys Ya'akov and to illustrate the process of legitimizing the idea of institutionalized religious education for Jewish girls.
Presented by:
dialogue and performance
Sun, Apr 11
02:00PM
Sun, Apr 11
02:00PM
film
Blessed is the Match
Narrated by Joan Allen, this is the first documentary feature about Hannah Senesh, the World War II-era poet and diarist who became a paratrooper, resistance fighter and modern-day Joan of Arc. Blessed is the Match retraces the perilous mission of Hannah and 31 other Jewish-Palestinian parachutists and looks back on the life of a uniquely talented and complex girl who came of age in a world descending into madness. 2008, 85 minutes
Presented by:
film
Thu, Apr 08
05:30PM
Thu, Apr 08
05:30PM
exhibit opening
Painting to Remember: The Destroyed Synagogues of Germany by Alexander Dettmar
Very few of Germany's nearly 3,000 synagogues survived the Holocaust. The loss of these houses of worship – from highly ornate to extremely simple – signified a loss of hundreds of years of Jewish communal life and culture. Alexander Dettmar is an artist laboring against forgetting. He is determined that no one forget what was once such a vibrant aspect of their history. These gorgeous paintings have succeeded on every level. They are beautiful, thoughtful, and important. They have captured the attention of museum goers throughout Germany. For the first time, they will be shown outside of Germany.
Presented by:
exhibit opening
Thu, Apr 01
03:00PM
Thu, Apr 01
03:00PM
choseed memorial lecture
Marginal and Marginalized: Tales of the Destitute, Orphaned, and Disabled in Jewish Eastern Europe
Dr. Natan Meir, Portland State University. How do we reconstruct the history of those who were unable to write their own stories? This lecture explored the lives and experiences of Jews at the margins of society-including poor orphans and widows and the physically and mentally disabled-in 19th- and early 20th-century Eastern Europe. This "history from the margins" attempts to move us towards a richer and fuller portrait of East European Jewish society than ever before.
Presented by:
choseed memorial lecture
Thu, Mar 25
06:30PM
Thu, Mar 25
06:30PM
lecture
Spinoza's Jewish Children: Profiles in Jewish Secularism of the Modern Era
Daniel Schwartz (George Washington University)
Presented by:
lecture
Wed, Mar 24
03:00PM
Wed, Mar 24
03:00PM
cjh graduate seminar program
From Black Market to Dinner Table: International Clandestine Aid and Its Hungarian Jewish Recipients in the 1950s
Zachary Levine, Dr. Sophie Bookhalter Fellow at CJH, 2009; Ph.D. Candidate at NYU presenting.
Dr. Paul Hanebrink, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, conducting
Dr. Paul Hanebrink, Associate Professor of History, Rutgers University, responding
Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies, Rutgers University, conducting
Presented by:
cjh graduate seminar program
Tue, Mar 23
06:00PM
Tue, Mar 23
06:00PM
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Jewish Tavernkeepers and Liquor Traders in 19th Century Poland
Presenter: Glenn Dynner, Professor of Judaic Studies, Sarah Lawrence College
Moderator and Respondent: Moshe Rosman, Professor of Jewish History, Bar Ilan University, Horace Goldsmith Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies, Yale University
By the end of the 18th century, Jews comprised the vast majority of tavernkeepers in Poland-Lithuania, leasing taverns and distilleries from the nobility. According to most historians, Polish Jews were driven out of the liquor trade over the course of the next century. Yet 19th century archival sources, including an invaluable collection of personal petitions (kvitlakh) sent to R. Eliyahu Guttmacher, housed in the YIVO Archives, provide evidence of the continued existence of Polish Jewish liquor traders, both open and surreptitious. The involvement of Jews in this sector of the Polish economy during this later period points to the fact that traces of the feudal economic system survived amidst a period of rapid industrialization and modernization. While Jewish tavernkeeping was vigorously opposed by powerful groups in Polish society, one crucial group continued to provide them with cover: the very local Christians they were accused of victimizing. This talk analyzes the robust but technically illegal Polish Jewish liquor trade during the nineteenth century.
Moderator and Respondent: Moshe Rosman, Professor of Jewish History, Bar Ilan University, Horace Goldsmith Visiting Professor of Jewish Studies, Yale University
By the end of the 18th century, Jews comprised the vast majority of tavernkeepers in Poland-Lithuania, leasing taverns and distilleries from the nobility. According to most historians, Polish Jews were driven out of the liquor trade over the course of the next century. Yet 19th century archival sources, including an invaluable collection of personal petitions (kvitlakh) sent to R. Eliyahu Guttmacher, housed in the YIVO Archives, provide evidence of the continued existence of Polish Jewish liquor traders, both open and surreptitious. The involvement of Jews in this sector of the Polish economy during this later period points to the fact that traces of the feudal economic system survived amidst a period of rapid industrialization and modernization. While Jewish tavernkeeping was vigorously opposed by powerful groups in Polish society, one crucial group continued to provide them with cover: the very local Christians they were accused of victimizing. This talk analyzes the robust but technically illegal Polish Jewish liquor trade during the nineteenth century.
Presented by:
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Sun, Mar 21
02:00PM
Sun, Mar 21
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret
Speaker: Steve Luxenberg
Steve's mother told everyone she was an only child, sometimes within minutes of meeting them. When Steve heard that his mother had been hiding the existence of a sister, he was bewildered. Through personal letters and photographs, official records and archival documents, as well as dozens of interviews, Steve revisits his mother's world in the 1930s and 1940s in search of how and why the secret was born. He pieces together the story of his mother?s motivations, his aunt's unknown life, and the times in which they lived. His search takes him to imperial Russia and Depression-era Detroit, through the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Philippine war zone, and back to the places where his Aunt languished in anonymity.
Steve Luxenberg, an associate editor of The Washington Post, has worked for more than 30 years as a newspaper editor and reporter. Steve's journalistic career began at The Baltimore Sun, where he worked for 11 years. He joined The Post in 1985 as deputy editor of the newspaper's investigative/special projects staff, headed by assistant managing editor Bob Woodward. In 1991, he succeeded Woodward as head of the investigative staff. Post reporters working with Steve have won several major reporting awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes for explanatory journalism. From 1996 to 2006, Steve was the editor of The Post's Sunday Outlook section, which publishes original reporting and provocative commentary on a broad spectrum of political, historical and cultural issues.
In his current role as a Post associate editor focusing on special projects, Steve has directed coverage of in-depth stories on the causes and consequences of the financial crisis that unfolded in the fall of 2008. He grew up in Detroit, where Annie's Ghosts primarily takes place. He is married and has two grown children. A book-signing will follow the presentation.
Steve's mother told everyone she was an only child, sometimes within minutes of meeting them. When Steve heard that his mother had been hiding the existence of a sister, he was bewildered. Through personal letters and photographs, official records and archival documents, as well as dozens of interviews, Steve revisits his mother's world in the 1930s and 1940s in search of how and why the secret was born. He pieces together the story of his mother?s motivations, his aunt's unknown life, and the times in which they lived. His search takes him to imperial Russia and Depression-era Detroit, through the Holocaust in Ukraine and the Philippine war zone, and back to the places where his Aunt languished in anonymity.
Steve Luxenberg, an associate editor of The Washington Post, has worked for more than 30 years as a newspaper editor and reporter. Steve's journalistic career began at The Baltimore Sun, where he worked for 11 years. He joined The Post in 1985 as deputy editor of the newspaper's investigative/special projects staff, headed by assistant managing editor Bob Woodward. In 1991, he succeeded Woodward as head of the investigative staff. Post reporters working with Steve have won several major reporting awards, including two Pulitzer Prizes for explanatory journalism. From 1996 to 2006, Steve was the editor of The Post's Sunday Outlook section, which publishes original reporting and provocative commentary on a broad spectrum of political, historical and cultural issues.
In his current role as a Post associate editor focusing on special projects, Steve has directed coverage of in-depth stories on the causes and consequences of the financial crisis that unfolded in the fall of 2008. He grew up in Detroit, where Annie's Ghosts primarily takes place. He is married and has two grown children. A book-signing will follow the presentation.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Fri, Mar 19
12:30PM
Fri, Mar 19
12:30PM
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Kinderland - yidishe lernbikher un der banem fun heym un heymland
Kinderland - Yiddish textbooks and the concept of home and homeland
Evita Wiecki, University of Duesseldorf
This is a Yiddish language event.
Evita Wiecki, University of Duesseldorf
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by:
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Sun, Mar 14
04:00PM
Sun, Mar 14
04:00PM
concert
Glories on Glories
Performed by the combined choirs of the Hebrew Union College-School of Sacred Music (Joyce Rosenzweig,
Conductor) and the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary (Hazzan Joann Rice, Director).
Presented by:
concert
Thu, Mar 11
07:00PM
Thu, Mar 11
07:00PM
book party
Jacob's Cane: A Jewish Family's Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of London and Baltimore
"In Jacob's Cane, Elisa New has created a breathtaking exploration of her 'roots' - a detective story written with the lyrical heart of a poet and an historian's keen eye for detail. It is an extraordinary journey through five generations of an American family, told with the dramatic sweep of a great novel." - Andrea Mitchell, NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Elisa New is professor of English and American literature and language at Harvard University. She is the author of The Line's Eye and The Regenerate Lyric. She lives with her husband, economist Larry Summers, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.
Elisa New is professor of English and American literature and language at Harvard University. She is the author of The Line's Eye and The Regenerate Lyric. She lives with her husband, economist Larry Summers, in Brookline, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.
Presented by:
book party
Wed, Mar 10
01:00PM
Wed, Mar 10
01:00PM
lecture
Curator's Tour: Letters of Conscience: Raphael Lemkin and the Quest to End Genocide
Presented by:
lecture
Wed, Mar 10
06:30PM
Wed, Mar 10
06:30PM
panel discussion
Genocide and the "Responsibility to Protect": The Evolution of International Law
RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT ("RtoP" or "R2P") is a new international political/legal norm developed to address the international community's failure to prevent and stop genocides, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. A distinguished panel will explore the evolution of the developing norm, its current status in law and politics, and its greatest challenges going forward.
Panelists include:
Roberta Cohen, Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution and Senior Adviser to the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Doris Mpoumou, Director of the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (invited)
Sheri Rosenberg, Professor of Clinical Law and Director of the Human Rights and Genocide Clinic and Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law at Columbia University and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Law and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
Nicole Deller, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Moderator
A tour of the related exhibition, "Letters of Conscience: Raphael Lemkin and the Quest to End Genocide," will precede the program at 6:00 pm.
Sponsored by CJH, Yeshiva University Museum, Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Cardozo Law School
Panelists include:
Roberta Cohen, Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution and Senior Adviser to the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement
Doris Mpoumou, Director of the International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (invited)
Sheri Rosenberg, Professor of Clinical Law and Director of the Human Rights and Genocide Clinic and Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Matthew Waxman, Associate Professor of Law at Columbia University and Adjunct Senior Fellow for Law and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations
Nicole Deller, Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Moderator
A tour of the related exhibition, "Letters of Conscience: Raphael Lemkin and the Quest to End Genocide," will precede the program at 6:00 pm.
Sponsored by CJH, Yeshiva University Museum, Program in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Cardozo Law School
Presented by:
panel discussion
Mon, Mar 08
06:30PM
Mon, Mar 08
06:30PM
panel discussion
Czernowitz in Jewish Memory
Co-sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum of New York, Consulate General of Romania and Ukrainian Institute of America
Czernowitz-"Vienna of the East"-is the site of two different powerful memories. To some, it was home to an assimilationist Austro-German Jewish culture; to others, it was a hub for the creation of modern Yiddish language and culture. A panel of historians and writers, including Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer, the authors of a new volume entitled Ghosts of Home: The Afterlife of Czernowitz in Jewish Memory;Susannah Heschel, scholar of modern Judaism, descendant of rabbinic families from the Czernowitz region; Norman Manea, Romanian-born writer and professor of European studies and culture; Boris Sandler, editor of the Yiddish Forverts and author and producer of a new documentary film Glimpses of Yiddish Czernowitz; and Atina Grossmann, scholar of modern German and European history, discussed and debated the reconciliation of these two different memories within the broader history of Jewish emancipation, assimilation and resistance in Eastern Europe.
Czernowitz-"Vienna of the East"-is the site of two different powerful memories. To some, it was home to an assimilationist Austro-German Jewish culture; to others, it was a hub for the creation of modern Yiddish language and culture. A panel of historians and writers, including Marianne Hirsch and Leo Spitzer, the authors of a new volume entitled Ghosts of Home: The Afterlife of Czernowitz in Jewish Memory;Susannah Heschel, scholar of modern Judaism, descendant of rabbinic families from the Czernowitz region; Norman Manea, Romanian-born writer and professor of European studies and culture; Boris Sandler, editor of the Yiddish Forverts and author and producer of a new documentary film Glimpses of Yiddish Czernowitz; and Atina Grossmann, scholar of modern German and European history, discussed and debated the reconciliation of these two different memories within the broader history of Jewish emancipation, assimilation and resistance in Eastern Europe.
Presented by:
panel discussion
Sun, Mar 07
04:00PM
Sun, Mar 07
04:00PM
conference
Zionism on the Jewish Street: Urban Geography and Nationalism at the Turn of the 20th Century
This conference brings together leading historians of Zionism and modern Israel to explore the origins of cultural, religious and political Zionism as the movement emerged at the turn of the 20th century. It will explore many sides of early Jewish nationalism including the emergence of mass politics and new expressions of modern Jewish culture in the press, visual culture, architecture and the urban sphere.
Speakers include: Steven Zipperstein (Stanford University), Marsha Rozenblit (University of Maryland), Barbara Mann (Jewish Theological Seminary), Jenna Weissman Joselit (George Washington University), Jonathan Krasner (Hebrew Union College ? Jewish Institute of Religion), David Brenner (University of Houston), Joshua Karlip (Yeshiva University), Michael Berkowitz (University College, London), Jess Olson (Yeshiva University), Alexander Mishory (Open University of Israel, Rice University), Nina Spiegel (American University).
For information and registration, visit www.yu.edu/cis.
Speakers include: Steven Zipperstein (Stanford University), Marsha Rozenblit (University of Maryland), Barbara Mann (Jewish Theological Seminary), Jenna Weissman Joselit (George Washington University), Jonathan Krasner (Hebrew Union College ? Jewish Institute of Religion), David Brenner (University of Houston), Joshua Karlip (Yeshiva University), Michael Berkowitz (University College, London), Jess Olson (Yeshiva University), Alexander Mishory (Open University of Israel, Rice University), Nina Spiegel (American University).
For information and registration, visit www.yu.edu/cis.
Presented by:
conference
Thu, Mar 04
07:00PM
Thu, Mar 04
07:00PM
book discussion
Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
Jeffrey Herf, eminent historian and a professor at the University of Maryland, discusses his new book, Nazi
Propaganda for the Arab World (Yale University Press), a detailed account of how Hitler's Germany planted the seeds of its own brand of virulent anti-Semitism in the Middle East.
Presented by:
book discussion
Mon, Feb 22
06:00PM
Mon, Feb 22
06:00PM
max weinreich center
Avrom Sutzkever Memorial
YIVO co-sponsored a memorial event for Avrom Sutzkever's shloyshim (one-month anniversary of his death) together with the Congress for Jewish Culture, the Forward, the Workmen's Circle, and CYCO. Participants included Professor David Fishman, Professor Benjamin Harshav, Barbara Harshav, Boris Sandler, Khayim Wolfe, and others. The program includes lectures, recitations of poetry, a musical performance, and recordings of Sutzkever reading from his works.
The program is in Yiddish and English; most of the talks are in Yiddish followed by English translations.
The program is in Yiddish and English; most of the talks are in Yiddish followed by English translations.
Presented by:
max weinreich center
Sun, Feb 21
02:00PM
Sun, Feb 21
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Treasure Hunt at Division of Old Records
Speaker: Joseph Van Nostrand, Senior Mgmt. Analyst, NY County Clerk's Office
Mr. Van Nostrand will discuss the use and interrelationship of the various record series at the Division of Old Records for use in genealogy. He will discuss the information provided in the NY County naturalizations (1792-1924) with emphasis on the dichotomy in the records before and after 1895. Additionally, the census records for 1855, 1870, 1905, 1915 and 1925 and their varying information and means of access, depending on the year, will be explored. Mention will be made of the business records and the genealogical information they provide. Of course, court proceedings in civil actions such as divorces, guardianships, changes of name, foreclosures, and other torts will be included. Joseph Van Nostrand has been the supervising archivist at the Division of Old Records of the New York County Clerk for almost thirty years.
The Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Mr. Van Nostrand will discuss the use and interrelationship of the various record series at the Division of Old Records for use in genealogy. He will discuss the information provided in the NY County naturalizations (1792-1924) with emphasis on the dichotomy in the records before and after 1895. Additionally, the census records for 1855, 1870, 1905, 1915 and 1925 and their varying information and means of access, depending on the year, will be explored. Mention will be made of the business records and the genealogical information they provide. Of course, court proceedings in civil actions such as divorces, guardianships, changes of name, foreclosures, and other torts will be included. Joseph Van Nostrand has been the supervising archivist at the Division of Old Records of the New York County Clerk for almost thirty years.
The Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Thu, Feb 18
06:30PM
Thu, Feb 18
06:30PM
reading
Salonika 1943
Salonika 1943 recounts the last years of the culturally unique, centuries-old Jewish community of Salonika through the eyes of an Italian diplomat who, in spite of Italy's alliance to Germany and in fact taking advantage of it, struggles to save those he can. Stories of ordinary people are woven together with songs, legends and tales from the Jewish tradition, many containing prophetic premonitions of future horrors.
Script by Ferdinando Ceriani, Gian Paolo Cavarai, Antonio Ferrari. Musical director Evelina Meghnagi. Staging in the US directed by Alan Adelson.
Starring: Robert Zukerman, Lily Balsen, and Galeet Dardashti. The performance is in English.
Script by Ferdinando Ceriani, Gian Paolo Cavarai, Antonio Ferrari. Musical director Evelina Meghnagi. Staging in the US directed by Alan Adelson.
Starring: Robert Zukerman, Lily Balsen, and Galeet Dardashti. The performance is in English.
Presented by:
reading
Wed, Feb 17
07:30PM
Wed, Feb 17
07:30PM
concert
Music in the Age of the Wittgensteins, Part 3: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert - Music of Imperial Vienna
Phoenix Chamber Ensemble performing.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
Presented by:
concert
Tue, Feb 16
06:30PM
Tue, Feb 16
06:30PM
lecture
Between Sacred and Profane: Jews and the Modern City: Three Snapshots
David Myers (UCLA). A series of talks by fellows
at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies (UPenn) who are engaged in a critical analysis of the notions of the "secular" and "religious" as they affect all aspects of
Jewish life over the past three centuries.
Presented by:
lecture
Thu, Feb 11
07:00PM
Thu, Feb 11
07:00PM
conversation
NY Premiere: Children of the Bible
Director: Nitza Gonen. Israel 2009, 53 mins. Hebrew and Amharic w/English subtitles.
The rapper and informal educator, Jeremy "Cool" Habash, exposes us to the complex situations facing Ethiopian-Israeli youth. Jeremy works towards changing the humiliated and depressed image of the Ethiopian community in Israel, both in its own eyes and in the eyes of Israeli society, by bringing members of the Ethiopian community closer to their tradition – the songs, the meaning of the Ethiopian names, stories about the lives of the Ethiopian community and about the journey that has taken on mythical proportions.
Followed by Closing Night Reception
The rapper and informal educator, Jeremy "Cool" Habash, exposes us to the complex situations facing Ethiopian-Israeli youth. Jeremy works towards changing the humiliated and depressed image of the Ethiopian community in Israel, both in its own eyes and in the eyes of Israeli society, by bringing members of the Ethiopian community closer to their tradition – the songs, the meaning of the Ethiopian names, stories about the lives of the Ethiopian community and about the journey that has taken on mythical proportions.
Followed by Closing Night Reception
Presented by:
conversation
Wed, Feb 10
01:00PM
Wed, Feb 10
01:00PM
lecture
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Curator's Tour: In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis
Presented by:
lecture
Wed, Feb 10
02:00PM
Wed, Feb 10
02:00PM
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Salvador
Director: Nissim Mossek. Israel, 2006, 70 mins. Bulgarian, English, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
On the night of December 3, 1940, at the Black Seaport of Varna, Bulgaria, The Salvador - a rickety, old, sail-powered coal freighter - is finally towed out to sea and 352 Bulgarian Jews begin their voyage to Palestine. Ten hellish days later, the vessel is shattered to pieces on the shore, not far from Istanbul. Most of its passengers are lost at sea. While some of the survivors return to Bulgaria, most struggle on towards their original destination against all odds.
On the night of December 3, 1940, at the Black Seaport of Varna, Bulgaria, The Salvador - a rickety, old, sail-powered coal freighter - is finally towed out to sea and 352 Bulgarian Jews begin their voyage to Palestine. Ten hellish days later, the vessel is shattered to pieces on the shore, not far from Istanbul. Most of its passengers are lost at sea. While some of the survivors return to Bulgaria, most struggle on towards their original destination against all odds.
Presented by:
conversation
Wed, Feb 10
06:30PM
Wed, Feb 10
06:30PM
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Azi Ayima
Director: Sami Shalom Chetrit. Israel 2009, 77 mins. Hebrew, Moroccan and French w/ Hebrew and English subtitles
The filmmaker embarks on a journey with his mother in search of classmates from her elementary school, the Alliance, which she attended 60 years ago in the little village of Gurama in the Tafilalt region of Morocco. Through their stories of past and present, Morocco is reconstructed and comes to life through vivid memories. It is a story of transition, cultural crisis, social survival and also lots of faith, optimism, joy and dignity, told for the first time by Moroccan women of the first generation to immigrate to Israel.
Post-screening discussion with Sami Shalom Chetrit
The filmmaker embarks on a journey with his mother in search of classmates from her elementary school, the Alliance, which she attended 60 years ago in the little village of Gurama in the Tafilalt region of Morocco. Through their stories of past and present, Morocco is reconstructed and comes to life through vivid memories. It is a story of transition, cultural crisis, social survival and also lots of faith, optimism, joy and dignity, told for the first time by Moroccan women of the first generation to immigrate to Israel.
Post-screening discussion with Sami Shalom Chetrit
Presented by:
conversation
Wed, Feb 10
08:30PM
Wed, Feb 10
08:30PM
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Queen Khantarisha
Director: Israela Shaer-Meoded. Israel, 2009. 53mins. Hebrew w/English subtitles.
This award winning documentary follows two Yemenite writers - one is a songwriter and lyricist of love; The other is a Jerusalem-born, religious poet and writer, who touches on demons, madness, rape, and rebellion and has garnered her community's denunciation. The film explores the personal costs of straddling the ambitions of their creative expression within their conservative communities.
This award winning documentary follows two Yemenite writers - one is a songwriter and lyricist of love; The other is a Jerusalem-born, religious poet and writer, who touches on demons, madness, rape, and rebellion and has garnered her community's denunciation. The film explores the personal costs of straddling the ambitions of their creative expression within their conservative communities.
Presented by:
conversation
Tue, Feb 09
08:30PM
Tue, Feb 09
08:30PM
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 2
Director: Haim Bouzaglo. Israel/France, 2008, 160 mins. French, Moroccan, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
The turbulent journey continues as some of the families arrive in pre-state Israel, while others are held at a work-camp in Cyprus. In their new place, tensions grow between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and between secular and religious.
The turbulent journey continues as some of the families arrive in pre-state Israel, while others are held at a work-camp in Cyprus. In their new place, tensions grow between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and between secular and religious.
Presented by:
conversation
Tue, Feb 09
09:30PM
Tue, Feb 09
09:30PM
conversation
20th Anniversary Reprise: Pillar of Salt
Director: Haim Shiran. Israel, 1979, 58 mins. Hebrew w/English subtitles.
Based on the autobiographical novel by sociologist Albert Memmi, this drama captures the cultural richness and social complexity of a Jewish boy's life in Tunisia. Thirteen-year-old Alexander grapples with the conflicting pressures from surrounding French and Arab societies. A story about childhood, family ties, and community with insights into class, colonialism, and religious conflict.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Shiran, recipient of the ASF Pomegranate Award
Based on the autobiographical novel by sociologist Albert Memmi, this drama captures the cultural richness and social complexity of a Jewish boy's life in Tunisia. Thirteen-year-old Alexander grapples with the conflicting pressures from surrounding French and Arab societies. A story about childhood, family ties, and community with insights into class, colonialism, and religious conflict.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Shiran, recipient of the ASF Pomegranate Award
Presented by:
conversation
Mon, Feb 08
02:00PM
Mon, Feb 08
02:00PM
conversation
Coco
Director: Gad Elmaleh. France, 2009, 95 mins. French w/English subtitles. Brief partial nudity.
In this comic drama written, directed and starring Gad Elmaleh, Coco is a flamboyant self-made man who becomes a royal pain when planning the biggest show to date - the bar mitzvah of his son Samuel. This event will become, for him, a moment of truth about his role as a father and for realizing what is important in life.
In this comic drama written, directed and starring Gad Elmaleh, Coco is a flamboyant self-made man who becomes a royal pain when planning the biggest show to date - the bar mitzvah of his son Samuel. This event will become, for him, a moment of truth about his role as a father and for realizing what is important in life.
Presented by:
conversation
Mon, Feb 08
04:30PM
Mon, Feb 08
04:30PM
conversation
NY Premiere: Across the River
Director: Duki Dror. Israel, 2009. 60 mins.
Moshe Rachamim searches for a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Israeli Ethiopian community. Against the "silencing" policy of the Public Health Authority and the denial of the Ethiopian community, Moshe sets out to expose the disease and stop it from spreading. A journey back to his isolated village in Ethiopia reveals a story about a curious young man, who marked the way to the exodus of the Ethiopian Jews, and now feels he must save his community.
Moshe Rachamim searches for a way to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the Israeli Ethiopian community. Against the "silencing" policy of the Public Health Authority and the denial of the Ethiopian community, Moshe sets out to expose the disease and stop it from spreading. A journey back to his isolated village in Ethiopia reveals a story about a curious young man, who marked the way to the exodus of the Ethiopian Jews, and now feels he must save his community.
Presented by:
conversation
Mon, Feb 08
08:30PM
Mon, Feb 08
08:30PM
conversation
NY Premiere: Salvador: The Ship of Shattered Hopes
Director: Nissim Mossek. Israel, 2006, 70 mins.
Bulgarian, English, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
On the night of December 3, 1940, at the Black Seaport of Varna, Bulgaria, The Salvador - a rickety, old, sail-powered coal freighter - is finally towed out to sea and 352 Bulgarian Jews begin their voyage to Palestine. Ten hellish days later, the vessel is shattered to pieces on the shore, not far from Istanbul. Most of its passengers are lost at sea. While some of the survivors return to Bulgaria, most struggle on towards their original destination against all odds.
Bulgarian, English, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
On the night of December 3, 1940, at the Black Seaport of Varna, Bulgaria, The Salvador - a rickety, old, sail-powered coal freighter - is finally towed out to sea and 352 Bulgarian Jews begin their voyage to Palestine. Ten hellish days later, the vessel is shattered to pieces on the shore, not far from Istanbul. Most of its passengers are lost at sea. While some of the survivors return to Bulgaria, most struggle on towards their original destination against all odds.
Presented by:
conversation
Sun, Feb 07
01:00PM
Sun, Feb 07
01:00PM
conversation
US Premiere: Léon - A New Encounter
Directors: Jack & Margalit Matitiahu. Spain, 2008. 90 mins.
Spanish/Ladino with English subtitles.
The northern Spanish town of Léon, a town with a rich but little-known Jewish history, is revealed through testimonies, interviews and fascinating stories. Among those are the life of the Jewish Kabbalist and philosopher, Moses de Léon; the excavations at Puente del Castro revealing a 10th century Jewish settlement; and Agaden - the mystical spot among the Aquilianos, where a group of banished Jews got lost on their way to Portugal.
Post-screening discussion with Margalit Matitiahu.
Spanish/Ladino with English subtitles.
The northern Spanish town of Léon, a town with a rich but little-known Jewish history, is revealed through testimonies, interviews and fascinating stories. Among those are the life of the Jewish Kabbalist and philosopher, Moses de Léon; the excavations at Puente del Castro revealing a 10th century Jewish settlement; and Agaden - the mystical spot among the Aquilianos, where a group of banished Jews got lost on their way to Portugal.
Post-screening discussion with Margalit Matitiahu.
Presented by:
conversation
Sun, Feb 07
03:30PM
Sun, Feb 07
03:30PM
conversation
Mashalá and !Fiestaremos!
Mashalá
Director: Cyrus Sundar Singh. Canada, 2008. 46 mins.
This stunning documentary follows Canadian singer Ellen Gould Ventura on a journey of spiritual and musical discovery through Sephardic song. Joining forces with a group of gifted musicians from Chile, Morocco, Italy and Venezuela, Ellen created the band Mashalá, which performs Sephardic music – a haunting blend of Jewish and Arabic sounds.
!Fiestaremos!
Director: Kathleen Regan. USA, 2008, 30mins. English with songs in Ladino.
An intimate look at the important efforts of musician Judy Frankel, whose work with many Sephardic communities helped to preserve and extend their rich musical tradition. The film follows Frankel's journey from folk singer in Boston in the sixties, to her work with medieval and renaissance consorts.
Post-screening discussion with Kathleen Regan and Samuel Thomas, performer and ethnomusicologist.
Director: Cyrus Sundar Singh. Canada, 2008. 46 mins.
This stunning documentary follows Canadian singer Ellen Gould Ventura on a journey of spiritual and musical discovery through Sephardic song. Joining forces with a group of gifted musicians from Chile, Morocco, Italy and Venezuela, Ellen created the band Mashalá, which performs Sephardic music – a haunting blend of Jewish and Arabic sounds.
!Fiestaremos!
Director: Kathleen Regan. USA, 2008, 30mins. English with songs in Ladino.
An intimate look at the important efforts of musician Judy Frankel, whose work with many Sephardic communities helped to preserve and extend their rich musical tradition. The film follows Frankel's journey from folk singer in Boston in the sixties, to her work with medieval and renaissance consorts.
Post-screening discussion with Kathleen Regan and Samuel Thomas, performer and ethnomusicologist.
Presented by:
conversation
Sun, Feb 07
05:30PM
Sun, Feb 07
05:30PM
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 1
Director: Haim Bouzaglo. Israel/France, 2008, 184 mins.
French, Moroccan, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
An epic drama following the challenging journey of Jewish families from Poland, France, Morocco and Algeria making Aliya to pre-state Israel in 1946/1947. On their way, they endure major obstacles trying to fulfill their dream and rebuild their lives in a Jewish state.
Post-screening refreshments and discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
French, Moroccan, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
An epic drama following the challenging journey of Jewish families from Poland, France, Morocco and Algeria making Aliya to pre-state Israel in 1946/1947. On their way, they endure major obstacles trying to fulfill their dream and rebuild their lives in a Jewish state.
Post-screening refreshments and discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
Presented by:
conversation
Sun, Feb 07
09:00PM
Sun, Feb 07
09:00PM
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 2
Director: Haim Bouzaglo. Israel/France, 2008, 160 mins.
French, Moroccan, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
The turbulent journey continues as some of the families arrive in pre-state Israel, while others are held at a work-camp in Cyprus. In their new place, tensions grow between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and between secular and religious.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
French, Moroccan, Hebrew w/English subtitles.
The turbulent journey continues as some of the families arrive in pre-state Israel, while others are held at a work-camp in Cyprus. In their new place, tensions grow between Arabs and Jews, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, and between secular and religious.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
Presented by:
conversation
Sat, Feb 06
07:30PM
Sat, Feb 06
07:30PM
conversation
A Matter of Size
Directors: Sharon Maymon and Erez Tadmor. France, Germany, Israel, USA, UK, 2009, 92 mins.
Hebrew, Japanese w/English subtitles
Herzel, a 340-pound chef living with his mother, is frustrated by the relentless pursuit of slim and perpetual diet groups and fitness regimes. All that starts to change when Herzel discovers the one place where fat guys can be rock stars - the world of sumo wrestling.
Hebrew, Japanese w/English subtitles
Herzel, a 340-pound chef living with his mother, is frustrated by the relentless pursuit of slim and perpetual diet groups and fitness regimes. All that starts to change when Herzel discovers the one place where fat guys can be rock stars - the world of sumo wrestling.
Presented by:
conversation
Sat, Feb 06
09:30PM
Sat, Feb 06
09:30PM
conversation
US Premiere: Honor
Director: Haim Bouzaglo. Israel, 2009, 90 minutes
French, Moroccan, Hebrew, w/English subtitles. Brief partial nudity.
Starring Zeev Revah, Raymond Abecasis, Albert Iluz and many more of the leading stars of Israeli cinema, Honor portrays two Moroccan organized crime families that suffer the tragedies of their respective lives.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
French, Moroccan, Hebrew, w/English subtitles. Brief partial nudity.
Starring Zeev Revah, Raymond Abecasis, Albert Iluz and many more of the leading stars of Israeli cinema, Honor portrays two Moroccan organized crime families that suffer the tragedies of their respective lives.
Post-screening discussion with Haim Bouzaglo
Presented by:
conversation
Thu, Feb 04
07:30PM
Thu, Feb 04
07:30PM
conversation
Opening Night: NY Premiere Coco
Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Festival and the
'Pomegranate Award' Ceremony to the Festival Founders.
Coco
Director: Gad Elmaleh. France, 2009, 95 mins.
French w/English subtitles. Brief partial nudity.
In this comic drama written, directed and starring Gad Elmaleh, Coco is a flamboyant self-made man who becomes a royal pain when planning the biggest show to date - the bar mitzvah of his son Samuel. This event will become, for him, a moment of truth about his role as a father and for realizing what is important in life.
Followed by Opening Night Reception
Coco
Director: Gad Elmaleh. France, 2009, 95 mins.
French w/English subtitles. Brief partial nudity.
In this comic drama written, directed and starring Gad Elmaleh, Coco is a flamboyant self-made man who becomes a royal pain when planning the biggest show to date - the bar mitzvah of his son Samuel. This event will become, for him, a moment of truth about his role as a father and for realizing what is important in life.
Followed by Opening Night Reception
Presented by:
conversation
Wed, Feb 03
06:00PM
Wed, Feb 03
06:00PM
reading
Writers on View: 4th Annual Writers Read
Join host Linda Shires and writers and poets Gabriel Brownstein, Jennifer Michael Hecht, Dara Horn, Henry Israeli and Sima Rabinowitz for original poems and stories in dialogue with the exhilarating exhibition In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis, currently on view.
Presented by:
reading
Mon, Feb 01
03:00PM
Mon, Feb 01
03:00PM
racolin memorial lecture
Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in Subcarpathian Rus': The Destruction of Jewish Life in a Multiethnic Region during World War II
Raz Segal of Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University, situated the Holocaust in Subcarpathian Rus' in the multiethnic context of the region during the interwar period and WWII.
Presented by:
racolin memorial lecture
Mon, Feb 01
06:30PM
Mon, Feb 01
06:30PM
panel discussion
Diplomacy and Genocide: Challenges for the Future
Raphael Lemkin's tireless efforts to build a world free of genocide set a high standard for the global actors of today. A distinguished panel of diplomats, policy makers and scholars discuss the issues and opportunities in diplomatic approaches to the prevention of genocide in the contemporary international community. Panelists include:
Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Genocide Prevention
Mone Dye, Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN
Joe Mellot, U.S. Department of State - Public Diplomacy
Ambassador Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large on War Crimes Issues
Sponsored by CJH and Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
Francis Deng, Special Adviser to the UN Secretary General on Genocide Prevention
Mone Dye, Permanent Mission of South Africa to the UN
Joe Mellot, U.S. Department of State - Public Diplomacy
Ambassador Stephen Rapp, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large on War Crimes Issues
Sponsored by CJH and Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation
Presented by:
panel discussion
Sun, Jan 31
03:00PM
Sun, Jan 31
03:00PM
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO
This is the first concert in a new series devoted to rarely heard masterworks from the Sidney Krum Jewish Music and Yiddish Theater Memorial Collections at YIVO, performed by gifted young artists from The Juilliard School, The Manhattan School of Music and other premier conservatories in the metropolitan New York area. The inaugural concert features works by Sergei Prokofiev (Overture on Hebrew Themes), Ernest Bloch ("Nigun" from his Baal Shem Suite), Joachim Stutchewsky (Kinah), Leo Zeitlin (Reb Nakhman's Nigun) and Joel Engel (The Dibbuk Suite for solo piano).
Presented by:
concert
Wed, Jan 27
06:00PM
Wed, Jan 27
06:00PM
reading and music
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Conclusion of a daylong series of programs starting at 9 am with the ceremony of the reading of the names of Jews deported from Italy, which will be held, along with the opening of the installation DePortees by Jack Sal, at the Italian Cultural Institute at Park Ave. and 68th St. The evening program at CJH will conclude the day with the reading of testimonies of Italian survivors. Full program at www.primolevicenter.org.
Presented by:
reading and music
Sun, Jan 24
12:00PM
Sun, Jan 24
12:00PM
participatory performance
A Day of Transfer and Exchange with Mierle Laderman Ukeles
Create your own covenant and join the artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles for a participatory exchange and performance within her site-specific installation.
A second performance will take place at 3:00pm.
A second performance will take place at 3:00pm.
Presented by:
participatory performance
Tue, Jan 19
03:00PM
Tue, Jan 19
03:00PM
tell memorial lecture
A Lesser Evil: Jewish-Lithuanian Political Cooperation at the Beginning of the 20th Century
Dr. Darius Staliunas, Deputy Director, Lithuanian Institute of History, discussed how Lithuanian politicians tried to build relations with Jews at the beginning of the 20th century, how relations developed after WWI and more.
Presented by:
tell memorial lecture
Sun, Jan 17
02:00PM
Sun, Jan 17
02:00PM
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Polish Records: What They Contain, Where They Are and How to Get Them
Speaker: Hadassah Lipsius
Hadassah will discuss the various types of records and documents available from the Greater Poland area. She will show examples of different vital record formats which were based on the time period and the governing ruler. She will demonstrate how to identify what records are available for your ancestral town, how to acquire them and how to use them to further your genealogy research. The regions that she will cover include Congress Poland, Russian Pale of Settlement (Bialystok area), Galicia, and Prussia.
Hadassah Lipsius is a member of the Executive Council of the Jewish Genealogical Society of NY, a board member of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland and a member of the Board of Governors of Jewishgen. She was co-chair of the 26th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Das takes pride that her family were city dwellers (i.e. Warszawa and St. Petersburg) for over 200 years.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Hadassah will discuss the various types of records and documents available from the Greater Poland area. She will show examples of different vital record formats which were based on the time period and the governing ruler. She will demonstrate how to identify what records are available for your ancestral town, how to acquire them and how to use them to further your genealogy research. The regions that she will cover include Congress Poland, Russian Pale of Settlement (Bialystok area), Galicia, and Prussia.
Hadassah Lipsius is a member of the Executive Council of the Jewish Genealogical Society of NY, a board member of Jewish Records Indexing-Poland and a member of the Board of Governors of Jewishgen. She was co-chair of the 26th IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy. Das takes pride that her family were city dwellers (i.e. Warszawa and St. Petersburg) for over 200 years.
The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at CJH will be open 12:30 to 1:45 PM for networking with other researchers and access to research materials and computers.
Presented by:
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Wed, Jan 13
01:00PM
Wed, Jan 13
01:00PM
lecture
Curator's Tour: Hyman Bloom: A Spiritual Embrace
Presented by:
lecture
Sun, Jan 10
11:00AM
Sun, Jan 10
11:00AM
symposium
Imagination and Catastrophe: Art and the Aftermath of Genocide
Join filmmakers, writers, and musicians to discuss the complexity of creating art that deals with genocide and its aftermath. These artists and critics will discuss how the imagination wrestles with historically catastrophic events. The program will include segments of films, readings of fiction and poetry and a musical presentation, "The Golden Peacock" by Hugo Weisgall. In the creation of art out of catastrophe, genocide can be understood in more complex ways.
"To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." - Theodore Adorno
Join Atom Egoyan, director, writer, producer, Academy Award nominee; Peter Balakian award winning poet; Emily Duncan-Brown, soprano; Donna-Lee Frieze scholar of genocide, philosophy and film studies, Marcie Hershman novelist; Laura Leon, pianist, and R. Clifton Spargo, writer to discuss:
"To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric." - Theodore Adorno
Join Atom Egoyan, director, writer, producer, Academy Award nominee; Peter Balakian award winning poet; Emily Duncan-Brown, soprano; Donna-Lee Frieze scholar of genocide, philosophy and film studies, Marcie Hershman novelist; Laura Leon, pianist, and R. Clifton Spargo, writer to discuss:
- Is the artist obligated to tell the truth about history?
- What is the ethical impact of fictionalizing genocide?
- How does the artist use his or her medium to depict the horrors of history without sentimentality?
- What are the artistic and ethical issues in representing genocide from a distance and across the span of generations?
Presented by:
symposium
