max weinreich center
Blut-bilbulim in Sovetn-farband
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center
concert
Chamber Music of Bach and Schumann: Schumann's Bicentennial
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: Center for Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute
concert
discussion
Living Record: Prewar Poland Preserved on Film
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: Center for Jewish History, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish History
discussion
dora and mayer tendler lecture
We've translated it, to be read by the common people - Jewish historical writing in Yiddish before the Haskalah
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
dora and mayer tendler lecture
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Ukrainian-Jewish Relations in the Aftermath of the Schwarzbard Trial
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
symposium
Shloyme Mikhoels Memorial on the 120th Anniversary of his Birth
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
symposium
drench memorial lecture
This Theatre is a Battlefield: How Antifascist and Zionist Performance Forged a New Jewish-American Identity, 1933-1948
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
drench memorial lecture
film screening and talk
This event has been postponed until spring 2011. Please check back for updated information.
The Jews of San Nicandro
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: Primo Levi Center
film screening and talk
sephardic music festival scholar series
Sepharad: Voices From Across the Strait
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: American Sephardi Federation, Yeshiva University Museum, Co-sponsors: The Foundation for Iberian Music, American Jewish Historical Society, American Society for Jewish Music, the Institute for Sephardic Studies, AsefaMusic and Shemspeed
sephardic music festival scholar series
hanukkah celebration
Hanukkah
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: the Yeshiva University Museum
hanukkah celebration
holidays and closures
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Center for Jewish History is closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.
Presented by: the Center for Jewish History
holidays and closures
holidays and closures
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Center for Jewish History is closed for the holiday on Thursday and Friday.
Presented by: the Center for Jewish History
holidays and closures
film screening and discussion
Adventures in Listening: Kurt Masur, A Film by Amit Breuer
Presented by: Leo Baeck Institute in cooperation with Manhattan School of Music
film screening and discussion
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO: The Fall Concert
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
concert
book signing and lecture
Michael Goldfarb - Emancipation: How liberating Jews from the ghetto led to Revolution and Renaissance
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: the Leo Baeck Institute
book signing and lecture
lecture
Anna del Monte and the Origins of Jewish Emancipation
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: Centro Primo Levi and the Italian Academy at Columbia University
lecture
memorial event
Masha Benya Memorial
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
memorial event
children's workshop
Moving Images & Paper-Cut Folk Art from Jewish Poland
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: the Yeshiva University Museum
children's workshop
film screening and discussion
A Moroccan Jewish Odyssey
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: the American Sephardi Federation
film screening and discussion
exhibit tour and discussion
16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of American Jewish Visitors to 1930s 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: the Yeshiva University Museum
exhibit tour and discussion
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Empire of Charity: American Jews and the Rebuilding of Polish Lithuania, 1919-1939
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
lecture and performance
Josh Waletzky: Boiberik and Beyond - Yiddish Songs for the 21st Century
Presented by: Center for Jewish History and Center for Traditional Music and Dance
lecture and performance
conference
Jewish Merchants in the New World, 1800-1900
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: Gomez Mill House
conference
panel discussion
Boris Pahor's Necropolis: A Slovenian Story of Culture, Conflict, and Persecution on the Northeastern Border of Italy
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: Center for Jewish History, Centro Primo Levi, co-sponsored by the PEN World Voices Festival and Dalkey Archive Press in collaboration with the Consulate General of Slovenia
panel discussion
symposium
Racial Policies in Fascist Italy: New Documents and Perspectives
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: Centro Primo Levi, CDEC, Milan, NYU Skirball Department for Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò
symposium
lecture
Slovak Jewish Heritage Talk
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
lecture
max weinreich lecture series
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. In this talk Dr. Borský discusses his current work.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich lecture series
international conference
Israel and Iran: From Cyprus 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.
Presented by: YU Center for Israel Studies, Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs, co-sponsored by Yeshiva University Museum, the Sephardic Studies Program, and the Bernard Revel Graudate School of Jewish Studies at YU
international conference
professional development workshop series
Fundraising for Jewish Studies: Insights from the Academic and Foundation World
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: AJS and Center for Jewish History
professional development workshop series
max weinreich lecture series
Der poet inem landshaft oder landshaft inem poet? Avrom Sutskevers poeme Sibir, 1936
This is a Yiddish language event
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich lecture series
concert
Chamber Music of Mozart, Brahms and Shostakovich
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
Presented by: Center for Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute
concert
Conference on the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Simon Dubnow
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: Max Weinreich Center at YIVO Institute for Jewish History, co-sponsored by Hunter College and the Posen Foundation
book party
Lenin's Jewish Question
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
book party
dialogue and performance
Jewish Song and Prayer of Aleppo
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
dialogue and performance
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"
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: American Jewish Historical Society and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
book launch and panel discussion
exhibit opening and reception
Two Thousand Years of Jewish Life in Morocco
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
exhibit opening and reception
cjh graduate seminar program
'To serve his stomach and his faith:' Little Rumania 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: the Center for Jewish History
cjh graduate seminar program
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Protocols of Justice: Inside the Rabbinical Court of Metz, France (1771-1789)
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
yiddish language seminar
Oyf dor-doyres: vos di kinder fun der sheyres hapleyte hern and lozn zikh hern
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
yiddish language seminar
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
6:30pm: 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: Center for Jewish History, Yeshiva University Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish History
film screening and discussion
film screening and symposium
Chaim Grade Memorial on the 100th Anniversary of his Birth
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
film screening and symposium
cjh graduate seminar program
Communism on Trial: Jewish Politics and the Slansky Affair
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: the Center for Jewish History
cjh graduate seminar program
panel discussion
Judaism and Sacred Space Meditations on Sukkah City
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: Yeshiva University Museum and the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU
panel discussion
discussion and film excerpts
Remembering Grace Paley: A panel discussion, with excerpts from Lilly Rivlin's new film, Grace Paley: Collected Shorts
Presented by: Center for Jewish History, co-sponsored by Jewish Women's Archive
discussion and film excerpts
multi-media lecture
The Hidden Musical Treasures of Romania
Presented by: Center for Jewish History, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, World Music Institute
multi-media lecture
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Memories of Ancestral Homes
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
children's workshop
Sukkah Build-Up
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
children's workshop
book party
Judaism: A Way of Being, by David Gelernter
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
book party
First Annual New York Sephardic Jewish Book Fair
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: the American Sephardi Federation
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Written in Stone: Jewish Culinary Resistance to Mortality
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
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 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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
creative workshops for families @ yum studio
Tisha B'Av: Imagining the Temple
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
creative workshops for families @ yum studio
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Shimen Dzigan—der koyekh un koyekhlozikayt fun yidishn humor
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
Seeking Shulamis: The Life and Times of Avrom Goldfaden's Most Celebrated Operetta
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
uriel weinreich program in yiddish language, literature and culture
lecture
As it is Written: Lectures on the Art of Hebrew Manuscripts and Books
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: the Yeshiva University Museum
lecture
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
curator's tour
book signing & discussion
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Presented by: the Leo Baeck Institute
book signing & discussion
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
Presented by: the American Jewish Historical Society
conference
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
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: the American Jewish Historical Society
conference
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
curator's tour
conference
2010 Biennial Scholars' Conference on American Jewish History
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: the American Jewish Historical Society
conference
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Naturalization: Where are the Documents?
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe: Website Launch
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Taste of Limmud NY
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: the Yeshiva University Museum
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Di hoyptshtot fun yidishland?
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO, Part II
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
concert
drench memorial lecture
Coming to America? Max Weinreich and the Making of YIVO in New York, 1939-41
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
drench memorial lecture
concert
Music in Our Time: Works by Contemporary American Jewish Composers
Presented by: Center for Jewish History, Centro Primo Levi, co-sponsored by the PEN World Voices Festival and Dalkey Archive Press in collaboration with the Consulate General of Slovenia
concert
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
The JDC Archives: Resources for Genealogists
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
hort memorial lecture
Remembering (in) the Mother Tongue: The Role of Yiddish in Israeli Autobiographical Expressions
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
hort memorial lecture
concert
Music in the Age of the Wittgensteins, Part 4: Prokofiev and Zaretsky
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik
Presented by: Center for Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute
concert
panel discussion
More Than a Book Launch...Passionate Pioneers: The Story of Yiddish Secular Education in North America, 1910-1960
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
panel discussion
holiday celebration
Parthenia Presents: Hot Off the Press: 2010 Edition
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
holiday celebration
cjh graduate seminar program
American Jews, Medicine, and the Politics of Displaced Persons after World War II
Dr. Atina Grossmann, Professor of History, Cooper Union, responding
Presented by: the Center for Jewish History
cjh graduate seminar program
lecture
Traces of Esther: The Jewish Presence in Contemporary Catalan Literature
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
lecture
lecture
A Certain Identity: Crypto-Jews around the World
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
lecture
workshop
Third Annual Family Puppet Festival
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
workshop
multi-media lecture
Ber Borokhov: A Revolutionary of Yiddish Philology
PLEASE NOTE: This program is entirely in Yiddish.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
multi-media lecture
discussion and book signing
A History of Jewish Catalonia
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
discussion and book signing
lecture
Batkhonim, purim-sphilers, shpilmener: der breyshes-mitos fun yidishn teater
Speaker: Zehavit Stern, University of California, Berkeley
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
lecture
pen world voices festival at cjh
Homesick: Eshkol Nevo in Conversation with Michael Orthofer
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: Center for Jewish History and PEN
pen world voices festival at cjh
lecture
Daughters of Sara, Mothers of Israel: Jewish Women of Medieval Gerona
Presented by: the American Sephardi Federation
lecture
hort memorial lecture
Fun mayn royzeles tog bukh: Moyshe-Leyb Halpern's Committed Love Poems
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
hort memorial lecture
discussion and film excerpts
A Panel Discussion with Moshe Idel about His Book Old Worlds, New Mirrors: On Jewish Mysticism and 20th-Century Thought
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: the Center for Jewish History
discussion and film excerpts
cjh graduate seminar program
Gentleman's Agreement and Crossfire: Anti-Semitism at the Movies
Dr. Tisa Wenger, Assistant Professor of American Religious History, Yale University, responding
Presented by: the Center for Jewish History
cjh graduate seminar program
max weinreich center
Vos zol zayn di batsiung tsvishn khurbn-limudim un yidishe-limudim?
Speaker: Cecile E. Kuznitz, Bard College
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center
lecture
Biblical Images and Secular Representations: The Performance of Antiquity in 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: Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History, UPenn and CPL
lecture
curator's tour
A Journey Through Jewish Worlds: Highlights from the Braginsky Collection of Hebrew Manuscripts and Printed Books
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
curator's tour
dialogue and performance
Establishing Beys Ya'akov: Legitimizing Girls Religious Education
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
dialogue and performance
film
Blessed is the Match
Presented by: Yeshiva University Museum and Center for Jewish History
film
exhibit opening
Painting to Remember: The Destroyed Synagogues of Germany by Alexander Dettmar
Presented by: the Leo Baeck Institute
exhibit opening
choseed memorial lecture
Marginal and Marginalized: Tales of the Destitute, Orphaned, and Disabled in Jewish Eastern Europe
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
choseed memorial lecture
lecture
Spinoza's Jewish Children: Profiles in Jewish Secularism of the Modern Era
Presented by: Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History, UPenn and CPL
lecture
cjh graduate seminar program
From Black Market to Dinner Table: International Clandestine Aid and Its Hungarian Jewish Recipients in the 1950s
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: the Center for Jewish History
cjh graduate seminar program
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
Jewish Tavernkeepers and Liquor Traders in 19th Century Poland
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
ruth gay seminar in jewish studies
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Annie's Ghosts: A Journey into a Family Secret
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
Kinderland - yidishe lernbikher un der banem fun heym un heymland
Evita Wiecki, University of Duesseldorf
This is a Yiddish language event.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center: yiddish language seminar
concert
Glories on Glories
Presented by: American Jewish Historical Society and American Society for Jewish Music
concert
book party
Jacob's Cane: A Jewish Family's Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of London and Baltimore
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: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
book party
lecture
Curator's Tour: Letters of Conscience: Raphael Lemkin and the Quest to End Genocide
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
lecture
panel discussion
Genocide and the "Responsibility to Protect": The Evolution of International Law
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: Yeshiva University Museum and Center for Jewish History
panel discussion
panel discussion
Czernowitz in Jewish Memory
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: Center for Jewish History, Leo Baeck Institute and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
panel discussion
conference
Zionism on the Jewish Street: Urban Geography and Nationalism at the Turn of the 20th Century
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: Centro Primo Levi, CDEC, Milan, NYU Skirball Department for Hebrew and Judaic Studies, and Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò
conference
book discussion
Nazi Propaganda for the Arab World
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
book discussion
max weinreich center
Avrom Sutzkever Memorial
The program is in Yiddish and English; most of the talks are in Yiddish followed by English translations.
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
max weinreich center
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Treasure Hunt at Division of Old Records
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
reading
Salonika 1943
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: Primo Levi Center
reading
concert
Music in the Age of the Wittgensteins, Part 3: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert - Music of Imperial Vienna
This program is made possible through the generous support of Mr. & Mrs. Leonard Blavatnik.
Presented by: Center for Jewish History and Leo Baeck Institute
concert
lecture
Between Sacred and Profane: Jews and the Modern City: Three Snapshots
Presented by: Yeshiva University Museum, Center for Jewish History, UPenn and CPL
lecture
conversation
NY Premiere: Children of the Bible
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
lecture
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Curator's Tour: In the Beginning: Artists Respond to Genesis
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
lecture
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Salvador
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Azi Ayima
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER: Queen Khantarisha
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 2
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
20th Anniversary Reprise: Pillar of Salt
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Coco
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
NY Premiere: Across the River
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
NY Premiere: Salvador: The Ship of Shattered Hopes
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
US Premiere: Léon - A New Encounter
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Mashalá and !Fiestaremos!
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 1
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Revivre (Rebirth): Part 2
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
A Matter of Size
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
US Premiere: Honor
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
conversation
Opening Night: NY Premiere Coco
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: the American Sephardi Federation
conversation
reading
Writers on View: 4th Annual Writers Read
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
reading
racolin memorial lecture
Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide in Subcarpathian Rus': The Destruction of Jewish Life in a Multiethnic Region during World War II
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
racolin memorial lecture
panel discussion
Diplomacy and Genocide: Challenges for the Future
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: the Center for Jewish History
panel discussion
concert
The Sidney Krum Young Artists Concert Series at YIVO
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
concert
reading and music
International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Presented by: Primo Levi Center
reading and music
participatory performance
A Day of Transfer and Exchange with Mierle Laderman Ukeles
A second performance will take place at 3:00pm.
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
participatory performance
tell memorial lecture
A Lesser Evil: Jewish-Lithuanian Political Cooperation at the Beginning of the 20th Century
Presented by: the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
tell memorial lecture
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
Polish Records: What They Contain, Where They Are and How to Get Them
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 and the Ackman & the Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute at Center for Jewish History
jewish genealogical society programs at cjh
lecture
Curator's Tour: Hyman Bloom: A Spiritual Embrace
Presented by: the Yeshiva University Museum
lecture
symposium
Imagination and Catastrophe: Art and the Aftermath of Genocide
"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: the Center for Jewish History
symposium
