Mon, Dec 26
Mon, Dec 26

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, December 26 for Christmas.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Dec 25
Sun, Dec 25

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, December 25 and Monday, December 26 for Christmas.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Dec 22
06:30PM
Thu, Dec 22
06:30PM

panel discussion

YIVO, Liberalism & the Jewish Response to Fascism

Founded in 1925 in Vilna (Lithuania, then Poland), YIVO is the only Jewish Institution of Eastern Europe to survive both the Holocaust and Soviet occupations. From its early years in the ‘20s to its looting by the Nazis in 1941, YIVO experienced and responded to the profound political, social, and spiritual transformations taking place throughout Eastern Europe, Russia, and the West. Under enormous political duress and organizational strain, the YIVO Institute maintained the integrity of its mission, and survived the war.

In light of recent political events in the United States, the question of how organizations and inpiduals respond to the emergence of authoritarianism—how we as a society maintain our integrity, both ethical and intellectual—is more pressing than ever. How, then, did YIVO respond to the rise of Fascist and nationalist movements in the ‘20s and ‘30s? What was the response of Jewish intellectuals then, and what parallels can be drawn to today?

Join us for a panel discussion with Paul Berman, Cecile Kuznitz, and Richard Wolin, moderated by Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s Executive Director, as we consider the perse responses to the emergence of Fascism throughout the 20th century—and on into the present.


Presented by:

panel discussion

Wed, Dec 21
07:00PM
Wed, Dec 21
07:00PM

concert

Yuval Waldman 70th Birthday Concert Celebration

On the occasion of his 70th birthday, violinist and champion of Jewish music Yuval Waldman play a recital-lecture of works by Jewish composers which he commissioned or gave the premiere performance of. The program includes Thoughts and Feelings, a never before heard work by Joachim Stutschewsky which Stutschewsky wrote in 1981 at the age of 90, Variations on "Hatikvah" by Yehiel Goyzman, Waltz from an Unknown Country by Paul Alan Levi (U.S. Premiere), the world premiere of a new work by Alex Weiser, and Fantasy on "Jerusalem of Gold" by Yuval Waldman himself. All of the living composers were in attendance to introduce their works and celebrate this occasion at YIVO.

Program

Fantasy on “Jerusalem of Gold” – Yuval Waldman (1946- )
Thoughts and Feelings – Joachim Stutschewsky (1891-1982)
Waltz from an Unknown Country – Paul Alan Levi (1941- )
Premiere – Alex Weiser (1989- )
Variations on “Hatikvah” – Yehiel Goyzman (1849-1913)


View Video


Presented by:

concert

Tue, Dec 20
07:00PM
Tue, Dec 20
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss The Collected Stories by Grace Paley. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Sun, Dec 18
02:00PM
Sun, Dec 18
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

DNA Leads an Adopted Daughter to her Birth Mother: Kelly's Story

Speakers: Karen Franklin and Kelly Moore

Kelly Moore, raised Catholic in Albany, NY,  was told at an early age that she was adopted. In her mid-twenties, she starting searching for her birth parents. A simple FamilyTree DNA test  yielded surprising results - she had many Jewish matches and one extremely close match. Karen Franklin was able to provide Kelly with extensive research about her family. Karen and Kelly will discuss the DNA analysis and matching methodology and share the story of Kelly's reunion with her birth parents.

Karen Franklin is director of Family Research at the Leo Baeck Institute, and is active in Jewish Genealogy and Jewish Museums. Kelly Moore has a B.A. in Sociology and a long held interest in genealogy, and is an aspiring search angel. Kelly has developed an extensive background in DNA analysis related to adoption.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Sun, Dec 18
05:00PM
Sun, Dec 18
05:00PM

music performance and special reception

Sigd: An Ethiopian Jewish Celebration

Chassida Shmella partners with AJHS in celebrating the Ethiopian Jewish holiday, Sigd. An evening of rituals, a music performance, a special reception featuring Ethiopian food, and a curated display of items from the American Association for Ethiopian Jews collection.


Presented by:

music performance and special reception

Thu, Dec 15
06:30PM
Thu, Dec 15
06:30PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Reclaim the Records: Using Freedom of Information Laws for Genealogical and Archival Research

Brooke Schreier Ganz, founder of Reclaim The Records, states:
“Tired of being told by archives, libraries, and government agencies that the records they hold are "unavailable" to the public, only available behind a paywall, or only available to view if you can visit them onsite? We were too, so we figured out how to do something about it.

We're Reclaim The Records, a new not-for-profit activist group. We use state Freedom of Information (FOI) laws to obtain copies of previously-inaccessible archival record sets, which we then freely post online, without any copyrights or usage restrictions. Our work has enabled the first-ever public access to millions of archival records from New York and New Jersey, from marriage records to registered voter lists to tax rolls. We started with a first-of-its-kind lawsuit in the Supreme Court of New York in 2015 -- and won! -- and are now spreading our legal work to other cities and states.

This presentation will walk through the history and legal basics of FOI laws, and will teach researchers how to file their own state FOI requests for any genealogical or archival records they may want to see returned to the public domain.”


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Wed, Dec 14
06:30PM
Wed, Dec 14
06:30PM

curator's tour

Odessa: Babel, Ladyzhensky, and the Soul of a City

Explores the vital creative character and dramatic social context of pre- and post-revolutionary Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) through the work of two of the city’s most important artists – the writer Isaac Babel and the painter Yefim Ladyzhensky.


Presented by:

curator's tour

Wed, Dec 14
07:00PM
Wed, Dec 14
07:00PM

book talk

Klezmer: Music, History and Memory

Walter Zev Feldman (NYU Abu Dhabi) with discussant James Loeffler, (University of Virginia). Emerging in 16th-century Prague, the klezmer became a central cultural feature of the largest transnational Jewish community of modern times. This book is the first comprehensive study of both the musical structure and the social history of the klezmer.


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book talk

Tue, Dec 13
03:00PM
Tue, Dec 13
03:00PM

lecture

The Yiddish Theater in America and Poland between the Two World Wars

YIVO’s Vilna Collections Scholar-in-Residence, Alyssa Quint, will share her impressions of YIVO’s vast Esther Rachel Kaminska Theater Museum Archive and will offer insights about the colossal achievement of the trans-Atlantic interwar Yiddish stage, focusing on the most important theater centers in New York, Warsaw, Lodz, and Vilna.


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lecture

Sun, Dec 11
12:00PM
Sun, Dec 11
12:00PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

GenealogyIndexer.org: Searching Historical European Directories and Other Sources

GenealogyIndexer.org: Searching Historical European Directories and Other Sources

GenealogyIndexer.org is a free website where you can search more than 800,000 pages of historical European directories (business, address, telephone), Yizkor books, Polish and Russian military documents, community and personal histories, Galician secondary school reports, and more. Containing millions of personal names – often with towns, street addresses, and occupations, and sometimes with vital dates or patronymics – this huge collection is mostly comprised of data not searchable elsewhere. Logan Kleinwaks, the website’s creator, will provide an overview of the more than 2,000 sources, primarily from 1844 to 1942, with a focus on newly added sources and new search functionality. He will also discuss the use of directories in a recently-announced restitution process for Warsaw properties.


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family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Sun, Dec 11
01:00PM
Sun, Dec 11
01:00PM

workshop

Hanukkah Craft Workshop

Inspired by the beautiful textiles and clothing found in YUM’s newest exhibition Uncommon Threads: Clothing & Textiles from the Yeshiva University Museum Collection, this drop-in workshop invites families to create fabric appliqué Hanukkah gelt pouches. This multi-sensory activity is suitable for all ages, including individuals who are blind or who have low vision.


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workshop

Sun, Dec 11
03:00PM
Sun, Dec 11
03:00PM

concert

The Annual Chanukah Concert

With Zalmen Mlotek, Artistic Director, National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene; singers Daniella Rabbani and Robert  Abelson; as well as klezmer clarinetist, Dmitri (Zisl) Slepowich. Yiddish folk and theater songs and a Chanukah sing-along. Plus a special story read by the Emmy-Award winning actress, Ellen Gould.


Presented by:

concert

Sun, Dec 11
03:00PM
Sun, Dec 11
03:00PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

How to Design and Construct a Family History Book Entirely by Yourself

How to Design and Construct a Family History Book Entirely by Yourself

There is probably no gift that can have greater impact on future generations than the book of your family history and stories. We all have spent considerable amounts of time gathering genealogical and historical materials and information. How do we take this mass of stuff and share it with our family?

While there are many professional editing and book design firms available to help you create your family history book, their fees can be expensive and they often have a limited set of templates they prefer to use. With today’s self-publishing software and digital printing vendors, taking a do-it-yourself approach to the entire process is an alternative worth considering. Elayne and Steve Denker, who have self-published four family history books, will discuss the practicalities of how to design and construct your family history book, including organization, page layout, aesthetics, and document reproduction.


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Thu, Dec 08
06:30PM
Thu, Dec 08
06:30PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Workshop: Mapping your Family History

Workshop: Mapping your Family History

The Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute recently launched a searchable online map of New York’s historical synagogues (synagoguemap.cjh.org). Moriah Amit, the Institute’s senior reference librarian, will provide a tutorial on how to use this map to identify the synagogue(s) your immigrant ancestors most likely attended. She will then demonstrate how you can create your own map of locations relevant to your family history using Google Maps. Please bring a list of towns, such as your ancestors’ birthplaces, or specific addresses, such as your ancestors’ places of residence, to use during the guided practice portion of this workshop. If you do not already have a Google account, please create one in advance at accounts.google.com and bring your username and password.


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Thu, Dec 08
07:00PM
Thu, Dec 08
07:00PM

music

Yiddish Open Mic

We want your talent in Yiddish! Join celebrated host, actor, and singer Shane Baker, and special guests for a fun, intimate night of Yiddish performance. Bring your instruments, poems, monologues, manifestos, and films in Yiddish. Sign up starts at 7:00pm, open mic starts at 7:30pm.


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Presented by:

music

Wed, Dec 07
06:30PM
Wed, Dec 07
06:30PM

book talk

Leopold Zunz: Creativity in Adversity

Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor Emeritus of the Jewish Theological Seminary and President Emeritus of LBI, presents his new biography of a key figure in the 19th-century development of the academic study of Judaism. Leopold Zunz inspired a generation of young Jews who streamed into German universities and altered forever the understanding of Judaism. With David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus of Hebrew Union College.


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Presented by:

book talk

Tue, Dec 06
04:00PM
Tue, Dec 06
04:00PM

symposium

The Flavor of Jewish Life: An Exploration of Cooking, Culture and International Connection

Food opens a fascinating door to culture and history. Join Danielle Rehfeld, chef and founder of The Inherited Plate, in conversation with experts on global Jewish life today. Sessions also offer insight into contemporary challenges of Jewish communities from Iran to Russia to Europe, and practical insight into how to trace your own global Jewish history.


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symposium

Mon, Dec 05
07:00PM
Mon, Dec 05
07:00PM

reading and discussion

Have I Got a Story for You

The Forward’s published fiction is an artistic trove. For every Isaac Bashevis Singer—who contributed to the Forward for over 50 years—several important writers, many of them women, remained untranslated and unknown. Now, in Have I Got a Story for You: More Than a Century of Fiction from the Forward edited by Ezra Glinter, 42 Yiddish-language stories are translated for the first time. Ezra Glinter, Dara Horn, and the translators will read from the stories, give us a taste of the Yiddish originals, and engage in a discussion of the work. Join us to celebrate these stories as they are given life in a new language.


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reading and discussion

Thu, Dec 01
05:30PM
Thu, Dec 01
05:30PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

No Shushing Allowed: A Library Social Hour

Please join us for our first genealogy-oriented library social hour. You will have the opportunity to speak with the librarians and archivists who make the Center for Jewish History’s genealogy materials accessible. We would like to get to know all of you a little better, learn about how you are using our collections and services, and find out what we can do to better support your research. Light refreshments will be served.


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Thu, Dec 01
06:30PM
Thu, Dec 01
06:30PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Genealogy Research at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwartzman Building

Genealogy Research at the New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwartzman Building

A lecture at the Center for Jewish History
as part of the Family History Today series.

The New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building is home to one of the largest research collections in the United States, making it an essential resource for genealogists everywhere. Philip Sutton, reference librarian at the Schwarzman Building’s Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History, and Genealogy, will provide an orientation to family history source materials in the various research divisions of the Schwarzman Building.


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Thu, Dec 01
07:30PM
Thu, Dec 01
07:30PM

concert

Phoenix Favorites: Music by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms

The Phoenix Chamber Ensemble will perform Beethoven’s "Ghost" Trio in D Major, Op. 70, No.1, Schubert’s Fantasie for violin and piano D934, and Brahms’ Piano Quartet in C minor.  Cyrus Beroukhim - violin; Andrew Gonzales - viola; Coleman Itzkoff - cello; Inessa Zaretsky and Vassa Shevel - piano.

This program is made possible by the generous support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the Stravinsky Institute Foundation.


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concert

Wed, Nov 30
06:30PM
Wed, Nov 30
06:30PM

curator's tour

out of the whirlwind: Hugh Mesibov’s Book of Job

In 1972, the American artist Hugh Mesibov painted an ambitious 40-foot-wide mural based on the biblical Book of Job for Temple Beth El in Spring Valley, New York. Promoted by its recent relocation, the synagogue donated this monumental painting to Yeshiva University Museum. This curator’s tour focuses on the artist, his preparatory process for the commission, and the place of Job within modern culture.


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curator's tour

Wed, Nov 30
07:00PM
Wed, Nov 30
07:00PM

lecture

We Were Neighbors: Remembering Middle Eastern Jewish Communities

ASF is presenting compelling voices and visuals in honor of the date chosen by the Knesset to commemorate the Middle Eastern Jewish experience. The event will feature:
  • scholarly, first-person reflections by award-winning writers Lucette Lagnado (The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World) and André Aciman (Out of Egypt)
  • exhibition by Leslie Starobin (The Last Address, a multi-year, photo-montage and oral history and book project exploring the enduring texture of memory and culture in the lives of Sephardic families from dispersed Jewish communities, including Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Iran, and Lebanon)
  • exhibition by Zion Ozeri/David Suissa (who are presenting photographs that capture the last remnants of once vibrant Jewish communities in Yemen, Tunisia, and Morocco, as well as the perpetuation and reinterpretation of Sephardi traditions in Israel today)
  • exclusive Diarna: Geo-Museum of North African and Middle Eastern Jewish Life digital documentation on endangered sites and the last primary source generation


Presented by:

lecture

Mon, Nov 28
07:00PM
Mon, Nov 28
07:00PM

lecture

Israel in Three Anthems

Michael A. Figueroa (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) addresses three anthems that have helped shape Israeli society—“Ha-Tikva,” “L’Internationale,” and “Yerushalayim shel Zahav,” analyzing these songs as performances of collectivity representing the multifaceted nature of Zionism and the shifting political landscape in Israel.


Presented by:

lecture

Fri, Nov 25
Fri, Nov 25

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Friday, November 25 for Thanksgiving.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Nov 24
Thu, Nov 24

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 for Thanksgiving.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Wed, Nov 23
Wed, Nov 23

holidays and closures

The Center will close at 2pm on Wednesday, November 23. It will remain closed Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 for Thanksgiving.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Tue, Nov 22
06:30PM
Tue, Nov 22
06:30PM

celebration

Norman Manea Celebration

With the occasion of his 80th Anniversary, YIVO organized a festive celebration of Norman Manea, holocaust survivor and one of the most important contemporary Jewish-Romanian-American writers. Norman Manea’s work has been translated and acclaimed in more than 25 languages and received important international prizes. Speakers Leon Botstein, President of Bard College, Robert Boyers, editor of Salmagundi, Edward Hirsch, poet and president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, and Michael Shafir, professor at Babes-Bolyai University Cluj, Romania, discussed Norman Manea, his work, and his influence. The event concluded with a dialogue between Norman Manea and Jonathan Brent, Executive Director of YIVO, on "Jewishness and Literature."


View Video


Presented by:

celebration

Sun, Nov 20
02:00PM
Sun, Nov 20
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Family Secrets, Jewish-Christian Relations and the Holocaust

Speakers: Professor Katharina von Kellenbach and Pastor Heidi Neumark

Professor von Kellenbach and Pastor Neumark are Lutheran theologians whose families carefully disguised their connections to Jews and Judaism. Both families tried to rebuild lives by disassociating and denying the trauma and guilt of the Holocaust. Neumark accidentally discovered that she was descended from a prominent Jewish German family and that her grandfather was murdered in a concentration camp. Von Kellenbach became inadvertently aware that her uncle belonged to the SS and was tried for the mass murder of the Jews in Pinsk, Belarus.These revelations compelled both speakers to go on a journey of discovery that led them through archives across several countries and into Jewish-Christian and Jewish-German dialogue.

Heidi Neumark is a graduate of Brown University and Lutheran Theological Seminary. She is the pastor of the multicultural, multilingual Trinity Lutheran Church on Manhattan's Upper West Side. In her book, "Hidden Inheritance: Family Secrets, Memory and Faith", she tells of her discovery of her previously unknown German-Jewish ancestry, as well as antisemitism in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Katharina von Kellenbach is a Professor of Religious Studies at St. Mary's College of Maryland, the Honors College of the State of Maryland. She completed her PhD at Temple University. Her areas of expertise include Holocaust Studies, Jewish-Christian relations, feminist theology and interreligious dialogue. Her recent book, "The Mark of Cain: Guilt and Denial in the Lives of Nazi Perpetrators,"uses the archival documents of prison chaplains to examine Christian discourses of forgiveness and Nazi perpetrators' moral self-reflection in post-war West Germany.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Thu, Nov 17
06:00PM
Thu, Nov 17
06:00PM

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

No Shushing Allowed: A Library Social Hour

Please join us for our November library social hour. You will have the opportunity to speak with the librarians and archivists who make the materials housed at Center for Jewish History accessible. This is a wonderful opportunity to get to know fellow researchers as well as staff, learn about how others use the collections, and talk about books, archives, and research in general. Light refreshments will be served.


Presented by:

family history today: genealogy programs at the center

Thu, Nov 17
07:00PM
Thu, Nov 17
07:00PM

music

The Ted Rosenthal Quintet Presents: The Great Jewish American Songbook

An evening of jazz interpretations of famous Jewish composers including George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, Harold Arlen, and Jerome Kern, and a post-performance talk by Ted Rosenthal about the Jewish immigrants contributions to the American jazz repertoire of the 20th century.


Presented by:

music

Wed, Nov 16
06:30PM
Wed, Nov 16
06:30PM

discussion

Out of the Ghetto: Struggle, Resistance, and the Human Spirit. The Ringelblum Archive Publication Project

Historian Eleonora Bergman (Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw) discusses the monumental project to publish the entire Oyneg-Shabes Archive, secretly gathered in the Warsaw Ghetto by Emanuel Ringelblum and colleagues. With Samuel Kassow (Trinity College), moderator and respondent, and Robert Shapiro (Brooklyn College), panelist.


View Video


Presented by:

discussion

Wed, Nov 16
06:30PM
Wed, Nov 16
06:30PM

curator's tour

Uncommon Threads: Clothing & Textiles from the Yeshiva University Museum Collection

Join curator Bonni-Dara Michaels for a tour of Yeshiva University Museum’s newest exhibition featuring garments, textiles and jewelry spanning three centuries. Highlights include a gold bracelet that belonged to the wife of the Hatam Sofer, a pearl and silver embroidered lectern cover of a Chief Rabbi of Izmir, a custom-made 1950 Hattie Carnegie wedding gown, and a 1969 Ark curtain made by Ina Golub for Temple Beth Ahm in New Jersey.


Presented by:

curator's tour

Wed, Nov 16
07:00PM
Wed, Nov 16
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction by Ruth Franklin. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Mon, Nov 14
06:30PM
Mon, Nov 14
06:30PM

course

Gershom Scholem: Kabbalah, Messianism, and History

Join us for this four-week course taught by Dr. Yitzhak Lewis of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research that considers the work of Gershom Scholem, widely regarded as one of the 20th century's most important Jewish thinkers. The course will explore Scholem's thought on mysticism, nationalism, and history, among other themes, and contextualize his work within the intellectual and political movements of his time. Click here for the full course description. To enroll and claim your 10% CJH membership discount, please use this link.

Meets once weekly from Monday, November 14 – Monday, December 12 (except November 21) at 6:30 pm.


Presented by:

course

Mon, Nov 14
07:00PM
Mon, Nov 14
07:00PM

staged reading

Benghazi-Bergen-Belsen

Join the American Jewish Historical Society and American Sephardi Federation in celebrating the publication of Benghazi Bergen-Belsen, the first novel about the Holocaust of Libyan Jews, hear a staged reading from the upcoming theatric adaptation premiering at La Mama March 2017, and meet Yossi Sucary for Q&A.


Presented by:

staged reading

Sun, Nov 13
03:00PM
Sun, Nov 13
03:00PM

reading and discussion

Beauty Queen of Jerusalem

Join the American Sephardi Federation and author Sarit Yishai-Levi for a reading and discussion of her award-winning book, The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem. Described by a reviewer as a “romantic and engaging novel [which] has been an Israeli bestseller for more than two years” and which is now an international bestseller available in English translation from St. Martin’s Press, Yishai-Levi explores the lives of four generations of Sephardi women who come together and apart in the vibrant city of Jerusalem from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the 1970s.

Sarit Yishai-Levi is a renowned Israeli journalist, notable for being the first Israeli to interview Yasser Arafat. She has also interviewed major political and cultural figures like Muhammad Ali, Ariel Sharon, Leah Rubin, and Hugh Hefner. In researching her novel, Sarit has become an expert in Israeli history and Sephardic culture (she is an eighth-generation Jerusalemite--a rare heritage to claim!), and as readers and reviewers alike have commented, the novel truly brings both to life in new and exciting ways.


Presented by:

reading and discussion

Sun, Nov 13
06:00PM
Sun, Nov 13
06:00PM

book talk and reception

Celebration of the New Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary: the Annual Mordkhe Schaechter Memorial Program

A celebration of the first English-Yiddish dictionary in nearly fifty years. Now you can say almost anything you want in Yiddish!

The Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary is published by Indiana University Press in conjunction with the League for Yiddish.

Program:
Keynote Speaker: Sholem (Solon) Beinfeld, editor-in-chief of the Comprehensive Yiddish-English Dictionary (Indiana University Press, 2013)

Panel discussion: Gitl Schaechter-Viswanath, Paul Glasser, editors-in-chief and Chava Lapin, associate editor of the Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary; Leyzer Burko - moderator

Musical Program: Lorin Sklamberg, lead vocalist of The Klezmatics and YIVO Sound Archivist

Co-sponsored by the League for Yiddish

This program is in Yiddish and English.


View Video


Presented by:

book talk and reception

Tue, Nov 08
02:00PM
Tue, Nov 08
02:00PM

lecture

Fountain of Judaism: JDC Aid to Traditionalist Jews in Poland

Glenn Dynner (Sarah Lawrence College, Fred and Ellen Lewis/JDC Archives Fellow) will describe how religious freedoms in interwar Poland resulted in an influx of Jewish traditionalists (Orthodox and Hasidic Jews) from the Soviet Union and Germany who were assisted by JDC. With the outbreak of war JDC assistance moved from relief to rescue.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Nov 02
07:00PM
Wed, Nov 02
07:00PM

concert

Young Jewish American Composers

A concert of new classical works by young Jewish American composers, featuring conversations with the composers exploring how Jewish history and identity informs the creation of new works of art music.


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Presented by:

concert

Sun, Oct 30
02:00PM
Sun, Oct 30
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Long Island's Jewish History

Speaker: Rhoda Miller

Publication of Jewish Community of Long Island, the story of Long Island's Jewish heritage, has brought earlier histories of Long Island's Jewry into a new perspective, and reflects the transition from an agricultural region to a suburban dream. Social history is an important part of genealogical research and much of this book was researched through the use of genealogical material.

Rhoda Miller is a Certified Genealogist and Past President of the JGS of Long Island. She is a co-author of the book, and a contributing author to the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer.

She often presents at conferences and also teaches genealogy and Holocaust courses.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Thu, Oct 27
03:00PM
Thu, Oct 27
03:00PM

max weinreich fellowship lecture

Yiddish Writers Do the Holy Land: Yehoash, Tsivyon and Opatoshu's Travels to Palestine

Yaad Biran (Hebrew University) will speak about how many Yiddish writers traveled to Palestine in the first half of the 20th century and published their impression in newspaper articles or books. The encounters of Yiddish writers with the Holy Land and the Zionist Yishuv opens the door to fascinating contemplations on the nature of modern Jewish identity. The lecture will focus on three such writers who left to Palestine from New York City: Yehoash, a Poaley Tsionist and the story of his failed immigration in 1914; Tsivyon, a Bundist who criticized the Zionist project in his 1921 visit; and Yosef Opatoshu, a socialist writer who turned his experience in 1934 into a novella, offering an unusual understanding of old and new Palestine.


View Video


Presented by:

max weinreich fellowship lecture

Thu, Oct 27
06:30PM
Thu, Oct 27
06:30PM

gallery talk

Odessa: Babel, Ladyzhensky, and the Soul of a City

Join scholar Jess Olson for a gallery talk and tour of Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibition exploring the vital creative character and dramatic social context of pre- and post-revolutionary Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) through the work of two of the city’s most important artists - the writer Isaac Babel and the painter Yefim Ladyzhensky.


Presented by:

gallery talk

Wed, Oct 26
07:00PM
Wed, Oct 26
07:00PM

book talk

How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses? Women and Jewish American Identity in Contemporary Graphic Memoirs

Tahneer Oksman and New Yorker contributor Liana Finck discuss Oksman’s new book How Come Boys Get to Keep Their Noses: Women and Jewish American Identity in Contemporary Graphic Memoirs, drawing connections between graphic storytelling and the unstable postmodern Jewish self.


Presented by:

book talk

Tue, Oct 25
Tue, Oct 25

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Tuesday, October 25 Simchat Torah.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Mon, Oct 24
Mon, Oct 24

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, October 24 Shemini Atzeret.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Oct 23
Sun, Oct 23

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, October 23 Erev Shemini Atzeret.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Oct 20
07:00PM
Thu, Oct 20
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss Arguing With the Storm: Stories by Yiddish Women Writers edited by Rhea Tregebov. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Wed, Oct 19
01:00PM
Wed, Oct 19
01:00PM

family workshop

Model Torah Workshop

Assemble a model Torah scroll with wooden rollers, parchment-like paper, a beautiful fabric mantle, and bells.  Includes a scavenger hunt about the story of “Creation” in the new exhibition Uncommon Threads:Clothing & Textiles from the Yeshiva University Museum Collection.


Presented by:

family workshop

Tue, Oct 18
Tue, Oct 18

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Tuesday, October 18 for Sukkot.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Mon, Oct 17
Mon, Oct 17

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, October 17 for Sukkot.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Oct 16
Sun, Oct 16

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, October 16 for Erev Sukkot.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Oct 13
06:30PM
Thu, Oct 13
06:30PM

course

Mysticism and Morality: Clarice Lispector in Context

Join us for this four-week course taught by Dr. Rebecca Ariel Porte of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. Central questions will include: In what way is Clarice Lispector’s writing moral? How does Lispector’s mysticism fit into, advance, or subvert traditions of Jewish mysticism? Where can we find traces of Lispector’s response anti-Semitic violence? 

Meets once weekly from Thursday, October 13 - Thursday, November 3 at 6:30 pm.

For the full program description, click here.   CJH members are entitled to a 10% discount which can be redeemed by enrolling here.


Presented by:

course

Thu, Oct 13
07:30PM
Thu, Oct 13
07:30PM

concert

Fathers and Sons: Music by Rimsky-Korsakov, Shostakovich and Weinberg

Phoenix Chamber Ensemble performing Rimsky-Korsakov’s Piano Trio, Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No.2, Op.67, and Weinberg’s "Toccata" from Piano Trio op.24. This program is made possible by the generous support of the Blavatnik Family Foundation.


Presented by:

concert

Wed, Oct 12
Wed, Oct 12

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Wednesday, October 12 for Yom Kippur.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Tue, Oct 11
Tue, Oct 11

holidays and closures

The Center will close at 2:00pm on Tuesday, October 11 for Erev Yom Kippur.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Oct 09
09:00AM
Sun, Oct 09
09:00AM

conference

The Blood Libel Then and Now: The Enduring Impact of an Imaginary Event

The blood libel accusation of Jews committing ritual murder has been the basis for hateful examples of organized anti-Semitism since its fabrication in the Middle Ages. This conference explores the impact of the blood libel over the centuries in a wide variety of geographic regions with a focus on how cultural memory was created, elaborated, and transmitted.


View Video


Presented by:

conference

Thu, Oct 06
06:30PM
Thu, Oct 06
06:30PM

panel discussion and cle course

Women at the Wall, on the Bus, and in Front of the Court: Religious Women as Agents of Change through the Israeli Supreme Court

As societies evolve, are courts agents of or brakes on social change?  Which should they be? These always important questions are especially salient in Israel in many contexts, none more so than with regard to the status of women. Religious women have increasingly turned to the courts to challenge particular ways in which women are marginalized or excluded, generally in the enforcement of religious dictates.  This is a setting where Israel's dual commitment-to being both Jewish and democratic-creates particular tensions. In recent years, the Israeli Supreme Court has decided numerous cases of this sort, grappling with issues ranging from gender segregation on public transportation to state funding of political parties that exclude female candidates and from women's prayer services at the Western Wall (the three Women of the Wall cases) to the exclusion of women from radio broadcasts.

This evening will be in two parts. First, Asher Dan Grunis, the immediate past President of the Israel Supreme Court, will participate in a general conversation about the Court and its role.  Then three experts-a law professor, a professor of gender studies, and an attorney who has brought such lawsuits-will describe and analyze the ways in which religious women and women's movements have become engines of social and legal change in Israel through litigation, particularly at the Israeli Supreme Court.


Presented by:

panel discussion and cle course

Thu, Oct 06
07:00PM
Thu, Oct 06
07:00PM

book launch and food tasting

Sweet Noshings

Between Rosh Hashana's meals and Yom Kippur's fasting, join AJHS and the Center for Jewish History for a book launch and food tasting in celebration of the publication of Sweet Noshings, a new cookbook by popular blogger Amy Kritzer ("What Jew Wanna Eat"). Come hear her talk and try some of her delicious recipes!

"Sweet Noshings is for cooks of all religions who love to eat, try new recipes, and cook for others. It's just the best thing ever when someone takes a bite of my rugelach or brisket and you can see the joy on their face. Pure delight. I'm overjoyed to say each one of these recipes does that!" (Amy Kritzer).


Presented by:

book launch and food tasting

Tue, Oct 04
Tue, Oct 04

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Tuesday, October 4 for Rosh Hashana.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Mon, Oct 03
Mon, Oct 03

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, October 3 for Rosh Hashana.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Oct 02
Sun, Oct 02

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, October 2 for Erev Rosh Hashana.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Sep 29
06:30PM
Thu, Sep 29
06:30PM

book talk

Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece

How did the Jews of Salonica, once known as the Jerusalem of the Balkans, fashion a new identity as Greek Jews after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire? Devin E. Naar’s (University of Washington) new book, Jewish Salonica: Between the Ottoman Empire and Modern Greece, explores the history of the world's largest Sephardic Jewish community at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle East on the eve of the Holocaust. Join us for a conversation between Dr. Naar and Emily Greble (City College of New York). Jewish Salonica draws on research conducted at the Center for Jewish History in the archival holdings of the American Sephardi Federation and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.


Presented by:

book talk

Thu, Sep 29
07:00PM
Thu, Sep 29
07:00PM

conversation

Sacred & Stolen: Confessions of a Museum Director

How did an 11th-century door to the Holy Ark of the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo find its way to an American museum? Dr. Gary Vikan, former director of the Walters Art Museum, recounts this and other amazing tales from his remarkable 30-year career as a scholar, curator and museum director.


Presented by:

conversation

Wed, Sep 28
06:30PM
Wed, Sep 28
06:30PM

panel discussion

Restitution, Justice, and Memory

In conjunction with the exhibition, Stolen Heart,  which deals with expropriation of Berlin’s Jews, historian Elazar Barkan (Columbia University) will lead a panel of scholars and restitution-seekers in a discussion of the historical, legal, moral, and emotional aspects of restitution. Barkan is the author of The Guilt of Nations (2000), a historical survey of restitution from 1945 Germany to Bosnia.


View Video


Presented by:

panel discussion

Tue, Sep 27
07:30PM
Tue, Sep 27
07:30PM

lecture

An Intimate Rivalry: The Jews and Classical Islam

Jewish-Muslim relations in the pre-modern era are popularly portrayed as a precursor of conflict in the contemporary Middle East. Drawing on religious texts, historical documents and other materials, cultural historian Ross Brann (Cornell University) offers a rich and more complex portrait of early Jewish-Muslim relations, one that is characterized by the creative dynamics of minority-majority interaction.  This series is made possible by the generous support of Bruce Slovin, Chair Emeritus & Founder of the Center for Jewish History.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, Sep 25
02:30PM
Sun, Sep 25
02:30PM

lecture

The Other in the Mirror: Interpretations of Christian and Islamic Origins by Heinrich Graetz and Abraham Geiger

In the 59th Leo Baeck Memorial Lecture, Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth College) compares the approaches of two Jewish historians whose work aimed not simply at assimilation into German culture and the German academic community, but something much more radical: a reconfiguration of the map of Western civilization.


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Presented by:

lecture

Thu, Sep 22
06:30PM
Thu, Sep 22
06:30PM

exhibition opening and artist performance

Holy Trash: My Genizah

According to Solomon Schechter, Genizah is “the storeroom or depository in a synagogue a cemetery in which worn-out and heretical or disgraced Hebrew books or papers are placed. In medieval times…their sanctity and consequent claim to preservation were held to depend on their containing the "names" of God.” What’s between the Genizah and today’s Jewish archive?

Holy Trash: My Genizah is a new project by fine arts and performance artist Rachel Libeskind created especially for the AJHS exhibition space in the great hall of the Center for Jewish History. My Genizah presents a contemporary interpretation of the traditional Genizah. Crafted with texts and objects formerly belonging to the AJHS collections, My Genizah is a hardedge, personal commentary on the making of the Jewish archive from the documents of the Genizah, and on today’s archival procedures of sorting, cataloguing, and organizing history.

Libeskind will perform her own original piece on opening night. The exhibition will be up through December 2016.


Presented by:

exhibition opening and artist performance

Thu, Sep 22
07:00PM
Thu, Sep 22
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss The Sound of Our Steps by Ronit Matalon, translated from the Hebrew by Dalya Bilu. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Tue, Sep 20
12:00PM
Tue, Sep 20
12:00PM

book talk

Where the Jews Aren't - A Book Talk with Masha Gessen

Author Masha Gessen will discuss the complex, strange, and heart-wrenching story of Birobidzhan, the Soviet “Jewish Autonomous Region.”, and read an excerpt from her new book. YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent will join Ms. Gessen for a conversation, and lead an audience Q&A session.


View Video


Presented by:

book talk

Tue, Sep 20
07:00PM
Tue, Sep 20
07:00PM

lecture

Jews and Racial Shifts in Early America

Laura Arnold Leibman will discuss her current book project, exploring definitions of race since the colonial era, and sources related to family histories of Jews of mixed African and Jewish descent in the United States and Caribbean prior to 1840.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, Sep 18
10:30AM
Sun, Sep 18
10:30AM

conference

SOLD OUT: The Ghetto and Beyond: The Jews in the Age of the Medici

Marking the 500th anniversary of the creation of the Venice ghetto, this conference presents new scholarship examining how the ghetto unexpectedly allowed Jewish culture and religion to flourish in spite of the restrictions and stigmatization it imposed. For more information, please visit cjh.org/ghettoandbeyond.


Presented by:

conference

Thu, Sep 15
06:30PM
Thu, Sep 15
06:30PM

film

Berlin Films: Grand Hotel

In this lavish adaptation of the Austrian-Jewish writer Vicki Baum's genre-defining 1929 novel, Menschen im Hotel, plots and intrigue unfold among a cast of colorful Weimar-era characters.  With film scholar Noah Isenberg (The New School). (USA, 1932. dir. Edmund Goulding)


Presented by:

film

Wed, Sep 14
06:30PM
Wed, Sep 14
06:30PM

film

Berlin Films: Mendelsohn’s Incessant Visions

He drew sketches on scraps of paper and sent them from the WWI trenches to a young cellist in Berlin. She thought he was a genius and helped him become the busiest architect in Germany.  Gav Rosenfeld (Fairfield University) introduces this cinematic meditation on Erich and Louise Mendelsohn. (Israel, 2011. dir. Duki Dror)


Presented by:

film

Wed, Sep 14
06:30PM
Wed, Sep 14
06:30PM

curator's tour

Odessa: Babel, Ladyzhensky, and the Soul of a City

A curator’s tour of Yeshiva University Museum’s exhibition exploring the vital creative character and dramatic social context of pre- and post-revolutionary Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) through the work of two of the city’s most important artists – the writer Isaac Babel and the painter Yefim Ladyzhensky.


Presented by:

curator's tour

Tue, Sep 13
06:30PM
Tue, Sep 13
06:30PM

film

Berlin Films: Menschen am Sonntag

Years before they became major players in Hollywood, a group of young Jewish filmmakers made this effervescent, sunlit silent about a handful of city dwellers enjoying a weekend outing, which offers a rare glimpse of Weimar-era Berlin. With film scholar Noah Isenberg (The New School). (Germany, 1930. dir. Robert Siodmak, Edgar G. Ulmer, Billy Wilder, Fred Zinnemann)


Presented by:

film

Sun, Sep 11
09:30AM
Sun, Sep 11
09:30AM

symposium

Rembrandt and the Jews

This cross-disciplinary symposium explores the character of Rembrandt’s depictions of biblical subjects, his perspective on Jewish sources, and the master’s place within the larger context of art history and theological discourse; with Steven Nadler, Shelley Perlove, Simon Schama, Meir Soloveichik, Leon Wieseltier, Jacob Wisse and Michael Zell.


Presented by:

symposium

Thu, Sep 08
07:00PM
Thu, Sep 08
07:00PM

lecture

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Sholem Aleichem: Notes from a Yiddish Writer’s Biographer

Jeremy Dauber, professor of Yiddish at Columbia and the author of the first comprehensive biography of the writer, will talk about Sholem Aleichem's life, his work, and his legacy – and the struggle to encapsulate all of that between two hard covers.  Sponsored by the Naomi Prawer Kadar Foundation, Inc.


View Video


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Sep 07
07:00PM
Wed, Sep 07
07:00PM

panel discussion and reception

The Newest Dish on Jewish Fish

6 pm Curatorial tour of Nourishing Tradition
7 pm Featured panel discussion
8 pm Book signing and cocktail reception

Discover the Jewish culinary renaissance of fishy fare from heimishe herring to lustrous lox with Ina Yalof, author of Food and the City, in conversation with Have I Got a Story for You editor Ezra Glinter, Modern Jewish Cooking author and food journalist Leah Koenig, and The Gefilteria founders Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern.

The program includes a special curatorial tour of the Center for Jewish History’s exhibition, Nourishing Tradition: Jewish Cookbooks and the Stories They Tell, as well as a book signing and reception over signature cocktails concocted by The Gefilteria, with the panelists' books available for purchase.


Presented by:

panel discussion and reception

Mon, Sep 05
Mon, Sep 05

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, September 5 in honor of Labor Day.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Sep 04
Sun, Sep 04

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, September 4 and Monday, September 5 in honor of Labor Day.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Aug 28
01:00PM
Sun, Aug 28
01:00PM

memorial

Nusakh Vilne Memorial: Revelations from the Archives and the Significance of History

Join us in commemorating the Jewish community of Vilna through poetry, music, and presentation. This year, Ruth Baran-Gerold and Michael Fox recite poetry; Pearl Teitelbaum and Lauren Brady perform music; and YIVO Executive Director Jonathan Brent delivers a presentation, “The YIVO Vilna Collections: Revelations from the Archives and the Significance of History." Chaired by Elliott Palevsky. 

A reception will follow the presentations.


Presented by:

memorial

Wed, Aug 17
07:00PM
Wed, Aug 17
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss Miriam's Daughters: Jewish Latin American Women Poets edited by Marjorie Agosín. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Wed, Aug 03
07:00PM
Wed, Aug 03
07:00PM

concert

Alicia Svigals & Lauren Brody: A Zumer Concert

Violinist/vocalist/composer Alicia Svigals and accordionist Lauren Brody will perform a program of Yiddish songs old and new and of euphoric klezmer fiddle music, in their first concert reunion since the days of their 1990's all-women band Mikveh.


Presented by:

concert

Wed, Jul 27
06:30PM
Wed, Jul 27
06:30PM

conversation

In Plain Sight: The Marvelous, Unlikely History of Bard Professor Justus Rosenberg

Refugee, smuggler, resistant, intellectual. Even before the age of 21, Professor Justus Rosenberg had lived many lives. Sarah Wildman — author of a major profile of Professor Rosenberg for the New York Times and the celebrated memoir Paper Love — will speak to Rosenberg about his life and work.

Professor Justus Rosenberg is believed the last living member of the American-sponsored Emergency Rescue Committee (headed by Varian Fry).  Working out of Marseille, Fry's gang smuggled anti-fascist artists and intellectuals out of occupied Europe.  Rosenberg himself was a refugee, born in 1921 in the Free City of Danzig. He was captured by the Gestapo in a round-up of mostly foreign Jews in Grenoble but escaped from a transit camp and joined the French Resistance. In the last year of the war, Rosenberg served the Americans in reconnaissance and, post-war, worked for UNWRA.

Professor Rosenberg is a Professor Emeritus of comparative literature at Bard College, where he still teaches, and the head of the Justus & Karin Rosenberg Foundation. Join us to hear his story on this special evening.

A reception will follow the program.


View Video


Presented by:

conversation

Tue, Jul 19
07:00PM
Tue, Jul 19
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, as part of the book club’s Reading Women series, we’ll meet to discuss The Puttermesser Papers by Cynthia Ozick. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Wed, Jul 13
06:00PM
Wed, Jul 13
06:00PM

lecture

Translation in Pre-Zionist Jewish Literature

Ken Frieden will show the importance of translations, focusing on the Yiddish/Hebrew tales told by Nahman of Bratslav (1806-10/1815) and the German/Yiddish/Hebrew sea narrative Oniya so`ara (1815-18?). Frieden’s book Travels in Translation refutes the familiar history, in connection with the modern Hebrew literature, Zionism, and the return to spoken Hebrew. Although Mendele Moykher Sforim (S. Y. Abramovitsh) was dubbed “the Grandfather” by Sholem Aleichem and crowned “the Creator of the nusah” by H. N. Bialik, Abramovitsh also had grandfathers. Two generations before Ben Yehuda’s journey to Palestine and the so-called “revival” (tehiya), Nathan Sternharz, Mendel Lefin, and other writers contributed to the development of modern Hebrew and Eastern Literary Yiddish. Despite maskilic efforts to emulate the style of the biblical Prophets and the Zionists’ claim to return to ancient Israelite origins, modern Jewish literature came into existence in translation—explicitly or implicitly—from other languages. Some of the most creative pathways in Jewish writing include translations from German into Yiddish and Hebrew, from Hebrew into Yiddish, and from Yiddish into Hebrew and English.


Presented by:

lecture

Tue, Jul 12
02:00PM
Tue, Jul 12
02:00PM

lecture

Rescue through Collaboration: The Rescue Activities of the Comité d’Aide aux Refugiés in Italian-Occupied Southeastern France

Luca Fenoglio received his Ph.D. in History from the University of Edinburgh. Fenoglio is a recipient of the 2016 Martin and Rhoda Safer/JDC Archives Fellowship. He will use the fellowship toward his research on the rescue activities of the Jewish Comité d’Aide aux Refugiés in Nice and Jewish self-help in Axis-occupied France.

This lecture will present the rescue activities of the Comité d’Aide aux Refugiés, known as Comité Dubouchage, during World War II. The Comité Dubouchage helped Jews prior to the great roundup across Vichy France of August 1942. It later assisted Jewish refugees in the Italian occupation zone between November 1942 and September 1943. This lecture will survey the organization’s origins and activities, and examine the roles of some of the Comité’s most prominent members.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Jul 06
06:30PM
Wed, Jul 06
06:30PM

course

Primo Levi: Memory, Meaning, and the Holocaust

Primo Levi was an Italian chemist before his experience at Auschwitz thrust him to the forefront of international attention as a witness to Nazi atrocities. Join us for this 4-week course, taught by Dr. Suzanne Schneider of the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research, to explore the substance and legacy of Levi's testimony. To learn more, email info@thebrooklyninstitute.com.


Presented by:

course

Mon, Jul 04
Mon, Jul 04

holidays and closures

Happy Independence Day! The Center is closed.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Jul 03
Sun, Jul 03

holidays and closures

Happy Independence Day! The Center is closed.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Jun 30
04:00PM
Thu, Jun 30
04:00PM

theater

Othello

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.


Presented by:

theater

Wed, Jun 29
03:30PM
Wed, Jun 29
03:30PM

lecture

German-Jewish Women in the Czech Lands after the End of World War II: Multiple Geographical Displacements in Gendered Perspective (Magdalena Robitscher-Hahn – A Case Study)

Monika Hanková, Prins Foundation Fellow at CJH, will present the unique biography of Magdalena Robitscher-Hahn, a German-Jewish doctor from the Sudetenland, whose life story allows for analysis of specific theoretical issues connected with biographies of German-Jewish women from former Czechoslovakia. This particular life story will be part of a publication focusing on several biographies in gendered perspective. It will explore various identities in detail, including gendered aspects of discrimination that German Jews suffered within the national Czech context after World War II. The aim is to demonstrate significant differences in Jewish women's perception of their post-war experience using examples of life stories of individuals from different language environments in Czechoslovakia and subsequently their experiences of emigration.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Jun 29
06:00PM
Wed, Jun 29
06:00PM

exhibition opening

Nourishing Tradition: Jewish Cookbooks and the Stories They Tell

To celebrate the exhibition Nourishing Tradition: Jewish Cookbooks and the Stories They Tell, the Center for Jewish History is excited to welcome Bonnie Slotnick, owner of Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks. Bonnie will share some of her experiences with Jewish cookbooks over many years of selling out-of-print cookbooks, and bring a fresh perspective to the real significance of historical and contemporary culinary texts.  For a closer look at the materials on view, Curator Melanie Meyers will provide a brief tour of the exhibition.  And—of course—refreshments will be served.

On view in The David Berg Rare Book Room at the Center for Jewish History, “Nourishing Tradition” features objects from the collections of all five Center partners—American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research—and they illustrate the diverse, rich traditions of Jewish cuisine worldwide.


Presented by:

exhibition opening

Tue, Jun 28
08:00PM
Tue, Jun 28
08:00PM

theater

Othello

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.


Presented by:

theater

Mon, Jun 27
03:00PM
Mon, Jun 27
03:00PM

max weinreich center fellowship lecture

The Yingl Who Would be Pope: A Study in Jewish Cultural Plasticity

This talk considers the recurrent fantasia of a Jew who ascends to a status "more Catholic than the Pope." Dating back to the early modern period in Yiddish (and far earlier in Hebrew), the most persistent instantiation of this fantasy is the narrative of the Catholic pope of Jewish origin. This evergreen motif raises a set of questions about Jewish cultural and ethnic plasticity that take on special urgency in the 1940's, when two crucial texts appear. One is the Lithuanian linguist Yudl Mark's children's story Der yidisher poyps ("The Jewish Pope;" New York, 1947), a retelling of a story from the Basel Mayse bukh of 1602, in which a kidnapped Jewish boy is raised by priests and ascends to the papacy. The second is Isaac Bashevis Singer's widely anthologized "Zeidlus the Pope" (Zeydlus der ershter; New York, 1943), which reimagines the tale of ascent (and subsequent fall) as the demonic seduction of an all-too-willing adult scholar. The resurgence of this papal fantasy during the Holocaust and its immediate aftermath suggests a rhetorical strategy for strenuously asserting that not only was geography not destiny, but neither was ethnicity or confessional affiliation. These stories present a single, dramatic leap over the chasms that marked off the domain and demesne of Eastern European Jewry; emerging when they did, they limn an all-too-desperate act of imaginative flight.


Presented by:

max weinreich center fellowship lecture

Sun, Jun 26
02:00PM
Sun, Jun 26
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

You've Found the Town Name - Now What?

Speaker: Phyllis Kramer

Phyliis Kramer will review Eastern European historical geography and cover researching a town using JewishGen's town pages, maps and gazeteers, Routes to Roots, Jewish Records Indexing-Poland, Google and other key web sites. She will address what kinds of information might exist and where it might be found. She will discuss how to find others researching the same town or area, and what information to keep, how to organize it, and where to keep it.

Phyllis is the Vice-President for Education and Special Projects at JewishGen, and a long time member of JGS. She is a practicing genealogist with primary interest in Eastern European Jewish Research.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Sun, Jun 26
08:00PM
Sun, Jun 26
08:00PM

theater

Othello

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.


Presented by:

theater

Thu, Jun 23
08:00PM
Thu, Jun 23
08:00PM

theater

Othello

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.


Presented by:

theater

Thu, Jun 16
08:00PM
Thu, Jun 16
08:00PM

theater

Othello

ASF’s theatrical season (Merchant of Venice, Nabucco) concludes with David Serero’s Othello, a Moroccan adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic play about love and war, reason and race, fortuna and virtù. The production features Serero (as Othello), a diverse cast, and traditional music.


Presented by:

theater

Wed, Jun 15
07:30PM
Wed, Jun 15
07:30PM

chelsea music festival

Daydreams in Music: Einstein and His Violin

As part of its exploration of Gravity, the Chelsea Music Festival presents a program celebrating Albert Einstein’s contributions to science as well as his lifelong love for his violin and chamber music. Einstein is known to have said that “life without playing music is inconceivable…I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music…I get most joy in life out of music.” The program will celebrate the music that inspired and helped Einstein search for answers, with works by Mozart, Beethoven and the New York Premiere of The Nature of Light by 2016 Festival Composer-in-Residence Michael Gandolfi.


Presented by:

chelsea music festival

Tue, Jun 14
05:30PM
Tue, Jun 14
05:30PM

pop-up exhibition/celebration

A Family Fun Night of Baseball In Celebration of the Pop-Up Exhibition Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American

Join us a special event for all ages: A Family Fun Night of Baseball, in celebration of Chasing Dreams: Baseball and Becoming American, a pop-up exhibition from Philadelphia’s National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) that will be on display here on 15 West 16th Street from April 14 through July 31, 2016.  The exhibit weaves together America’s favorite pastime and national identity with the story of American Jewish immigration and integration. Both educational and entertaining, the event will feature a Family Guide developed by NMAJH exclusively for the exhibit and have a fun baseball-park theme (hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, etc.). It will also include distinguished speakers on baseball who will discuss the close ties between Jews and the sport, AJHS archivists who will explain the significance of the baseball items in the AJHS collection, and some exciting activities for kids of all ages!


View Video


Presented by:

pop-up exhibition/celebration

Mon, Jun 13
Mon, Jun 13

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, June 13 for Shavuot.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Jun 12
Sun, Jun 12

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, June 12 for Shavuot.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Jun 09
06:30PM
Thu, Jun 09
06:30PM

panel discussion

From Vienna to New York: Jewish Exiles Remember "Austria" in the Aftermath of the Holocaust

It has been remarked that, before the total destruction of Austria's Jewish culture in the Holocaust, the “only true Austrians” were the Jewish Austrians. Join us for a discussion between scholars of Jewish-Austrian culture and former Jewish-Austrian exiles on how “Old Austria” is remembered in the United States today. Tim Corbett, a Prins Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Jewish History, speaks about his new research in the archives of the Leo Baeck Institute. The discussion that follows includes Professor Jess Olson (Yeshiva University) and former exiles and New York residents Trudy Jeremias and Kurt Sonnenfeld.


Presented by:

panel discussion

Wed, Jun 08
07:00PM
Wed, Jun 08
07:00PM

book talk & multimedia presentation

The Last Days of Stalin

Stalin’s sudden collapse and death in March 1953 was as dramatic and mysterious as his life. In his new book The Last Days of Stalin, Joshua Rubenstein presents a fresh, riveting account of the dictator’s final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, and the unfolding of Soviet and international events that followed. Guiding us through video, photo, and personal accounts of the time, Joshua Rubenstein will share his research and compelling conclusions. Two witnesses will share accounts of Russian Jews’ reactions to Stalin’s death. He will then be joined by Jonathan Brent, Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and author of Stalin’s Last Crime, for a discussion of the challenges—and significance—of studying this turning point in the twentieth century.

Following the presentations, a reception and book signing will be held in the Paul S. and Sylvia Steinberg Great Hall.

This event is sponsored by a generous grant from Dina and Jonathan Leader.


Presented by:

book talk & multimedia presentation

Tue, Jun 07
06:00PM
Tue, Jun 07
06:00PM

film

The New Land Film Festival

A two-night series of documentaries depicting the era of the Russian cultural migration and the people who defined it including films by David Grubin Sergey Kokovkin, Michael Drob, and Edward Staroselsky. The first evening will feature short Q&A sessions with David Grubin and Emilia Kabakov, and Michael Drob, and the second evening will feature a Q&A with Edward Staroselsky.


View Video


Presented by:

film

Mon, Jun 06
06:00PM
Mon, Jun 06
06:00PM

film

The New Land Film Festival

A two-night series of documentaries depicting the era of the Russian cultural migration and the people who defined it including films by David Grubin Sergey Kokovkin, Michael Drob, and Edward Staroselsky. The first evening will feature short Q&A sessions with David Grubin and Emilia Kabakov, and Michael Drob, and the second evening will feature a Q&A with Edward Staroselsky.


View Video


Presented by:

film

Sun, Jun 05
12:00PM
Sun, Jun 05
12:00PM

Women in Jewish History Wikipedia Edit-a-thon

The Center for Jewish History will host a Wikipedia edit-a-thon focused on women in Jewish history. In this hands-on workshop and community editing session, attendees will learn the basics of editing Wikipedia and will be encouraged to improve Wikipedia’s coverage of Jewish women. Attendees may come and go at any time between 12 and 5 pm. No Wikipedia editing experience necessary. Please bring your own laptop or other device.


Presented by:

Thu, Jun 02
06:00PM
Thu, Jun 02
06:00PM

archival leaders advocate: annual seminar at the center
http://archivalleaders.cjh.org/

Imagining Archives Against Annihilation: Two Acts and A Proposition


Speaker: Michelle Caswell

In the 1970s, feminist communication scholars first proposed the term “symbolic annihilation” to describe the ways in which women are absent, underrepresented, or misrepresented in mainstream media. Taking this concept as a starting point, the first act of this talk examines the ways in which mainstream archival practice has symbolically annihilated communities of color and LGBTQ communities through absence, underrepresentation, and misrepresentation. In the face of such symbolic annihilation, marginalized communities have formed their own independent community-based archives that empower them to establish, enact, and reflect on their presence in ways that are complex, meaningful, and substantive. Based on interviews with dozens of community archives founders, staff, and users, this first act proposes a tripartite structure for assessing the impact of such archives on the individuals and communities they serve: ontological impact (in which members of marginalized communities get confirmation “I am here”); epistemological impact (in which members of marginalized communities get confirmation “we were here”); and social impact (in which members of marginalized communities get confirmation “we belong here”). In the second act, this talk examines the relationship between symbolic and actual annihilation. Symbolic annihilation both precedes and succeeds actual annihilation in that communities are rendered nonexistent, invisible, or expendable before they are subject to violence, and then, after violence, such acts are often rendered invisible or expunged from the record, magnifying and mimicking the violence itself. Finally, this talk ends with a proposition for archivists to “imagine otherwise,” that is, to conceive of and build a world in which communities that have historically been and are currently being marginalized due to white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, gender binaries, colonialism, and ableism are fully empowered to represent their past, construct their present, and envision their futures as forms of liberation.


Presented by:

archival leaders advocate: annual seminar at the center
http://archivalleaders.cjh.org/

Thu, Jun 02
06:30PM
Thu, Jun 02
06:30PM

book talk

And After the Fire - A Novel by Lauren Belfer

The New York Times bestselling author speaks about her story of Susanna and Sara, one living in today’s America and one living in 18th-century Germany, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives. With musicologist Michael Marissen.


Presented by:

book talk

Wed, Jun 01
07:00PM
Wed, Jun 01
07:00PM

reading group

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, we’ll meet to discuss The Seven Good Years by Etgar Keret. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

reading group

Mon, May 30
Mon, May 30

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, May 30 in honor of Memorial Day.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, May 29
Sun, May 29

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, May 29 and Monday, May 30 in honor of Memorial Day.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, May 26
07:00PM
Thu, May 26
07:00PM

lecture

The Rav in Israel

Join Rabbi Meir Soloveichik as he reflects on the relationship between Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik - the Rav - and Israel, and the significance the Rav's views on Israel have for future generations.  There will be a special viewing of a Commemorative Compendium issued on the occasion of the Rav’s only visit to the Land of Israel in 1935.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, May 25
07:00PM
Wed, May 25
07:00PM

lecture

An Erwin Schulhoff Retrospective with the Downtown Chamber Players

A prolific composer whose teachers included Reger and Debussy, Schulhoff (1894-1942) perished in the Holocaust. The program includes Schulhoff’s “Hot Sonata for Saxophone and Piano,” his “String Quartet No. 1” and piano music of tangos, blues, ragtime and waltzes.  Michael Beckerman (NYU) speaks on Schulhoff’s life and times.


Presented by:

lecture

Tue, May 24
06:30PM
Tue, May 24
06:30PM

workshop

Be your own Family History Archivist!

How can you preserve irreplaceable artifacts from your own family history? Our highly specialized archivists and librarians will answer your questions about organizing and safely storing your family photos, documents, books, audio/video recordings, and digital files.


Presented by:

workshop

Tue, May 24
07:00PM
Tue, May 24
07:00PM

film

With God against Man

Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, France, courageously rescued thousands of refugees, many of them Jews, from the Nazis in the spring of 1940 by issuing visas contrary to the strict orders of his government. In June 2013, filmmaker Semyon Pinkhasov followed a group of visa recipient families, along with members of the Sousa Mendes family, as they embarked on a pilgrimage retracing their families' footsteps after 73 years. They were “searching for Sousa Mendes” – looking for traces and clues of a lost history.  See the trailer here: http://sousamendesfoundation.org/with-god-against-man/. Film length is 47 minutes. Guided tours of the exhibition given before and after the screening. Refreshments provided.


Presented by:

film

Mon, May 23
06:30PM
Mon, May 23
06:30PM

lecture

A Family Historian Uncovers Mysteries of 19th Century German-Jewish Immigrant Families

Karen Franklin, Leo Baeck Institute’s Director of Family Research, reveals the surprising discoveries she made while researching two families, including an amazing invention and the connection between these families and their German relations on the eve of World War II.  With historian Allan Amanik (Brooklyn College).


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, May 22
03:00PM
Sun, May 22
03:00PM

exhibit opening

A Tribute to Sholem Aleichem

An afternoon of discussion and dramatic performances kicked off the exhibition of the Sholem Aleichem Family Archive and other related materials from the YIVO archives.  Featured speakers and performers included Shane Baker, Eleanor Reissa, Jonathan Brent, David Fishman, Mikhail Krutikov, Curt Leviant, and Alisa Solomon - and Sholem Aleichem himself!


Presented by:

exhibit opening

Thu, May 19
06:30PM
Thu, May 19
06:30PM

lecture

Sephardic Dynasties: Irish Crypto Rabbis with a Converso Twist

Sarina Roffé traces the journey of the Kassins, a rabbinic dynasty with rumored Converso heritage, from Spain to modern Brooklyn. Roffé also explores the claims that some descendants are Crypto rabbis who serve a secret Jewish community in Ireland.


Presented by:

lecture

Thu, May 19
07:00PM
Thu, May 19
07:00PM

lecture

New Directions in Jewish Music

Based on her book New York Noise: Radical Jewish Music and the Downtown Scene, Dr. Tamar Barzel examines recent trends in Jewish music.  Uri Caine performs selections from Primal Light and other music from this radical Jewish music moment. The Jewish Music Forum in is a project of American Society for Jewish Music.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, May 18
07:00PM
Wed, May 18
07:00PM

concert

John Zorn’s Score for Filmworks XX: Sholem Aleichem

John Zorn and his ensemble will be featured in the first-ever live performance of music Zorn wrote to accompany the Filmworks Sholem Aleichem documentary. Drawing on and departing from traditions of Jewish music such as Klezmer, Zorn’s score is filled with lyricism, color, and a keen sense of irony and dark humor.


Presented by:

concert

Tue, May 17
07:00PM
Tue, May 17
07:00PM

celebration

From Casablanca to NYC: A Night of Moroccan Culture

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT AND THERE IS NO WAITING LIST


Presented by:

celebration

Mon, May 16
06:00PM
Mon, May 16
06:00PM

curator's tour

Odessa: Babel, Ladyzhensky, and the Soul of a City

Tour Yeshiva University Museum’s newest exhibition, exploring the vital creative character and dramatic social context of pre- and post-revolutionary Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) through the work of two of the city’s most important artists - the writer Isaac Babel and the painter Yefim Ladyzhensky.


Presented by:

curator's tour

Mon, May 16
06:30PM
Mon, May 16
06:30PM

discussion

A Forgotten Genocide: The Pogroms in Ukraine, 1918-1919, and their Impact on Memory and Politics

The pogroms of the Russian Civil War had a devastating impact on East European Jewry. By focusing on specific instances of anti-Jewish violence in Ukraine, and exploring the Soviet and international response, scholars of Russian Jewry and genocide studies present new research rethinking the legacy of the pogroms. Elissa Bemporad (Queens College, CUNY) , 2015-16 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Senior Scholar at CJH; also featuring Efim Melamed (Jewish Archival Survey in Ukraine), Jeffrey Veidlinger (University of Michigan) and Eric Weitz (City College and CUNY Graduate Center).


Presented by:

discussion

Mon, May 16
06:30PM
Mon, May 16
06:30PM

lecture

Family History Treasures at the National Archives

Christopher Zarr, Education Specialist for the National Archives at New York City, elucidates how to do basic genealogical research using Federal records at the National Archives, including census, immigration, and military service and pension records.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, May 15
01:00PM
Sun, May 15
01:00PM

tour

Focus on Family History at the Leo Baeck Institute

Join LBI archivists as they show selected collections of interest to family historians from the archival collections.


Presented by:

tour

Sun, May 15
02:00PM
Sun, May 15
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Leo Baeck Institute Family History Success Stories

Karen Franklin and Leo Baeck Institute staff share case studies using a variety of resources from the LBI collections and beyond. Strategies may be helpful to family historians at all levels of experience and with varying geographic interests.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Sun, May 08
11:00AM
Sun, May 08
11:00AM

special day-of-learning

Eichmann in Jerusalem: Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil

The Center for Jewish History invites you to join us for Eichmann in Jerusalem: Hannah Arendt and the Banality of Evil, a special educational program offered in conjunction with the Brooklyn Institute for Social Research. During this one-day program led by Dr. Samantha Hill, a Brooklyn Institute faculty member and fellow at Bard College's Hannah Arendt Center, participants will read selections from Arendt's famed New Yorker article alongside her personal correspondence, letters from contemporary scholars, and short critical essays. The event will include two lectures on Arendt's work by Dr. Hill, time for on-site reading, group discussions, and a final round table followed by an informal cocktail hour. No advance preparation is required, and lunch will be provided.

The full program description can be accessed by clicking here.


Presented by:

special day-of-learning

Sun, May 08
03:00PM
Sun, May 08
03:00PM

concert

Music in Our Time: 2016

This year's annual concert presents extraordinary Jewish instrumental and vocal works by several of the most important and exciting composers of our time: Steve Reich, Matti Kovler, Jonathan Comisar, Stanislav Fridman and the acclaimed Hevreh Ensemble performing works by composer and group member Jeff Adler.


Presented by:

concert

Thu, May 05
07:00PM
Thu, May 05
07:00PM

book talk

When Europe Was a Prison Camp - Father and Son Memoirs, 1940-1941, by Peter Schrag

Journalist Peter Schrag’s new book weaves a father’s memoir from 1941 with the son’s story of himself and his mother, begun in the 1980s. The author will appear in conversation with National Jewish Book Award-winner Marion Kaplan.


Presented by:

book talk

Thu, May 05
07:30PM
Thu, May 05
07:30PM

concert

From West to East: Music of Couperin, Franck, Faure and Dvorak

Members of the Phoenix Chamber Ensemble and Horszowsky Trio join forces. The program includes the Franck Violin Sonata and the Dvorak "Dumky" Trio. Jesse Mills-violin, Raman Ramakrishnan-cello, Vassa Shevel-piano, Inessa Zaretsky-piano.


Presented by:

concert

Wed, May 04
06:30PM
Wed, May 04
06:30PM

film

Persona Non Grata

A Japanese film depicting the life of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who saved the lives of 6,000 Jewish refugees during World War II by issuing transit visas for them to Japan.


Presented by:

film

Tue, May 03
07:00PM
Tue, May 03
07:00PM

a one-act play and conversation

A Forbidden Conversation: Speaking, the Unspoken, and the Conversations on Israel in America

Actor Gili Getz will present a new personal non-fiction monologue inspired by the heated arguments that his family had during the 2014 war in Gaza.  Post-performance, Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein (14 Street Y) and Steven M. Cohen (Hebrew Union College) will lead a discussion.


Presented by:

a one-act play and conversation

Tue, May 03
07:00PM
Tue, May 03
07:00PM

book talk

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, we’ll meet to discuss The Heidi Chronicles: Uncommon Women and Others & Isn't It Romantic by Wendy Wasserstein. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

book talk

Sat, Apr 30
Sat, Apr 30

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Saturday, April 30 for Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Fri, Apr 29
Fri, Apr 29

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Friday, April 29 for Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Thu, Apr 28
Thu, Apr 28

holidays and closures

The Center will close at 2:00pm on Thursday, April 28 for Erev Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Wed, Apr 27
06:30PM
Wed, Apr 27
06:30PM

sidney krum young artists concert series

A Musical Journey from Russia

In 1908, a group of young musicians, with the encouragement of their teacher, composer Rimsky-Korsakov, organized the Society for Jewish Folk Music to create a modern national style of Jewish concert music. This program highlights their music and follows their journey from Russia to Europe, Palestine, and the United States.  Sponsored by the Estate of Sidney Krum.


Presented by:

sidney krum young artists concert series

Sun, Apr 24
Sun, Apr 24

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Sunday, April 24 for Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sat, Apr 23
Sat, Apr 23

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Saturday, April 23 for Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Fri, Apr 22
Fri, Apr 22

holidays and closures

The Center will close at 2:00pm on Friday, April 22 for Erev Passover.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Tue, Apr 19
07:00PM
Tue, Apr 19
07:00PM

book talk and food tastings

Kosher USA: How Coca-Cola Came to the Passover Seder and Other Tales of Modern Kosher Food

Kosher USA follows the journey of kosher foods through the modern industrial food system, traces how iconic products such as Coca Cola tried to become kosher, what made Manischewitz wine the very first kosher name brand to gain an African American audience, and more.


Presented by:

book talk and food tastings

Mon, Apr 18
07:00PM
Mon, Apr 18
07:00PM

lecture

New Sounds of Old Judeo-Spanish Songs

Edwin Seroussi, Director, The Jewish Music Research Centre, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem. This talk is about some of the oldest recordings of Sephardic music (c.1906-1913), which have recently resurfaced in London. Recorded in a variety of locations, they feature the voices of legendary performers of the Judeo-Spanish song in the early 20th century.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, Apr 17
02:00PM
Sun, Apr 17
02:00PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Forgetting Fathers: Untold Stories from an Orphaned Past

Speaker: David Marshall, PhD

In his book "Forgetting Fathers," Marshall weaves together the stories of his grandfather and great-grandfather with his own quest to solve the mystery of his family's past. Beginning as a search for his lost family name, he learns about his grandfather, who spent part of his childhood in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, and reconstructs the life and death of his great-grandfather, a Russian immigrant tailor on the Lower East Side who died at age thirty-six in a sanitarium for the treatment of mental and nervous diseases.

David Marshall is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at University of California, Santa Barbara.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Sun, Apr 17
08:00PM
Sun, Apr 17
08:00PM

opera

Nabucco

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero,The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves).


Presented by:

opera

Thu, Apr 14
07:00PM
Thu, Apr 14
07:00PM

book talk

German Jewry and the Allure of the Sephardic - John M. Efron

As German Jews struggled for emancipation, they distanced themselves from their fellow Ashkenazim in Poland and idealized the Sephardim of medieval Spain. John Efron (Berkeley) explains how German Jews depicted the Sephardim as worldly, moral, and beautiful—products of a tolerant Muslim environment.


Presented by:

book talk

Thu, Apr 14
08:00PM
Thu, Apr 14
08:00PM

opera

Nabucco

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero,The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves). 

Dates and times:  April 14 (8 pm) and April 17 (8 pm).


Presented by:

opera

Wed, Apr 13
07:00PM
Wed, Apr 13
07:00PM

panel discussion

The Image of the Haggadah

Join Marc Michael Epstein, Ronnie Perelis, Smadar Rosensweig and Meir Soloveichik for a lively multi-disciplinary discussion about the imagery of the Haggadah and what it teaches us about the meaning and historical celebration of Passover.


Presented by:

panel discussion

Tue, Apr 12
02:00PM
Tue, Apr 12
02:00PM

lecture

"We cannot ignore this opportunity for service": Phi Epsilon Pi‘s Student Refugee Program, 1936-1940

In the late 1930s, Phi Epsilon Pi, a Jewish collegiate fraternity, undertook an expansive national effort to bring over dozens of Central European Jewish refugees who were previously expelled from universities due to the rise of Nazism. This aid work invites new frameworks for understanding American Jewish communal efforts on behalf of European Jewry in the years leading up to World War II. Shira Kohn, CJH Taube/Koret Early Career Scholar Fellow, will present new research. Rebecca Kobrin (Columbia University), respondent.


Presented by:

lecture

Tue, Apr 12
07:00PM
Tue, Apr 12
07:00PM

book talk

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, we’ll meet to discuss Savage Coast by Muriel Rukeyser. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

book talk

Tue, Apr 12
08:00PM
Tue, Apr 12
08:00PM

opera

Nabucco

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero,The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves). 

Dates and times:  April 12 (8 pm), April 14 (8 pm) and April 17 (8 pm).


Presented by:

opera

Mon, Apr 11
07:00PM
Mon, Apr 11
07:00PM

live musical celebrating the opening of the 2016 baseball season

Jews on First (aka The Right Pitch): A Jewish Musical about More than Getting on Base

Jews on First, adapted from Larry Ruttman’s award winning book American Jews & America’s Game - is an exploration of Jewish assimilation, identity, and guts viewed through the lens of America’s favorite pastime. It tells the story of Myron “Butch” Cedarbaum as he faces the biggest crisis of his life: to pursue his dream or the path his loving parents have sacrificed so hard to ensure —law school. The play is a dramatic examination of Jews’ enduring and mysterious love of baseball.


Presented by:

live musical celebrating the opening of the 2016 baseball season

Sun, Apr 10
07:00PM
Sun, Apr 10
07:00PM

opera

Nabucco

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero,The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves). 

Dates and times:  April 10 (7 pm), April 12 (8 pm), April 14 (8 pm) and April 17 (8 pm).


Presented by:

opera

Thu, Apr 07
06:00PM
Thu, Apr 07
06:00PM

exhibit opening and reception

Portugal, The Last Hope: Sousa Mendes’ Visas for Freedom

Portugal was the “last hope” for those trying to escape Nazi oppression. Aristides de Sousa Mendes, the Portuguese Consul-General in Bordeaux, France, courageously rescued thousands of refugees, many of them Jews, in the spring of 1940 by issuing visas contrary to the strict orders of his government.

A new exhibition in the American Sephardi Federation's Leon Levy Gallery, “Portugal, The Last Hope,” commemorates the 50th anniversary of Aristides de Sousa Mendes being posthumously named Righteous Among Nations by Yad Vashem.


Presented by:

exhibit opening and reception

Thu, Apr 07
07:00PM
Thu, Apr 07
07:00PM

roundtable discussion

Yearning to Breathe Free: The Jewish Response to the Global Refugee Crisis

The Synagogue at Eldridge Street provided a safe haven for the first wave of Jewish immigrants. This roundtable will bring together speakers from several Jewish organizations to discuss the work being done to assist refugees from Syria who are arriving in Europe and the U.S. pledging asylum.

This event will take place at the Museum at Eldridge Street.


Presented by:

roundtable discussion

Wed, Apr 06
03:00PM
Wed, Apr 06
03:00PM

opera

Nabucco

An opera by Giuseppe Verdi, adapted by and starring David Serero as Nabucco. Building on the biblical accounts of the Babylonian Exile found in Jeremiah and Daniel, Verdi's Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar) combines political and love intrigues with some of the greatest songs ever written (including Va, pensiero,The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves). 

Dates and times:  April 6 (3 pm), April 10 (7 pm), April 12 (8 pm), April 14 (8 pm) and April 17 (8 pm).


Presented by:

opera

Wed, Apr 06
06:00PM
Wed, Apr 06
06:00PM

curator's tour

Odessa: Babel, Ladyzhensky, and the Soul of a City

Tour YUM’s newest exhibition, exploring the vital creative character and dramatic social context of Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) through the work of two of the city’s most important artists – the writer Isaac Babel and the painter Yefim Ladyzhensky.


Presented by:

curator's tour

Wed, Apr 06
06:00PM
Wed, Apr 06
06:00PM

musical performance

Last Musik: Songs for Eternity featuring Ute Lemper

6:00pm Cocktails
7:00pm Concert
8:30pm Dinner with the artists

Thirty years ago, Francesco Lotoro, an Italian musician, took on a unique challenge - to track down, transcribe and record all the music written in concentration camps. He has already collected 18,000 scores, among them are many masterpieces that without him would have disappeared. The concert is a benefit to support his quest for witnesses and survivors who may still be able to contribute long lost scores or melodies, and to help him create a digital archive and public home for this amazing collection.


Presented by:

musical performance

Tue, Apr 05
06:00PM
Tue, Apr 05
06:00PM

lecture

The People and the Book - The World We Make with Words

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, a global religious leader, philosopher and bestselling author, will explore how words and texts have powerfully shaped 4,000 years of Jewish history and how Jews have gone about interpreting, treasuring, and adding to texts through times of political challenges and cultural changes. Assistant Professor in the Ohio State University's department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, Lynn Kaye, an expert on rabbinic literature and Jewish thought and past Assistant Congregational Leader at Congregation Shearith Israel, will join Rabbi Sacks in conversation following his talk.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, Apr 03
02:30PM
Sun, Apr 03
02:30PM

dramatic reading

Burning Words: A History Play by Peter Wortsman

In one of the first debates of the print era,  Johannes Reuchlin, a humanist Christian jurist, clashed with Johannes Pfefferkorn, a Jewish butcher converted to Christianity and a willing tool of the Dominican Order in their quest to burn Jewish books. Magda Teter (Fordham) offers scholarly commentary on this multimedia dramatic reading of scenes from a play about zealotry, censorship, and religious tolerance directed by Max Shulman.


Presented by:

dramatic reading

Wed, Mar 30
06:30PM
Wed, Mar 30
06:30PM

symposium

In the Valley of David and Goliath: Digging Up Evidence on the United Monarchy

Join Yosef Garfinkel, Shalom Holtz and Lawrence Schiffman for presentations and a lively discussion about the excavations and discoveries at Khirbet Qeiyafa (Elah Fortress) near Jerusalem and what they suggest about the era and figure of King David and our understanding of the Bible.


Presented by:

symposium

Tue, Mar 29
06:00PM
Tue, Mar 29
06:00PM

exhibit opening and discussion

Stolen Heart: The Theft of Jewish Property in Berlin’s Historic Center, 1933 - 1945

Stolen Heart explores the critical issue of the state-sponsored “Aryanization” and plundering of Berlin’s Mitte (city center) and the murder of many of its former property owners. The Nazi theft of Jewish-owned properties is illustrated through the narrative of its impact on 5 Jewish families and city maps that illustrate the changing face of Berlin over the last 100 years. Made possible by generous support from the Sydney E. Frank Foundation.


Presented by:

exhibit opening and discussion

Mon, Mar 28
06:30PM
Mon, Mar 28
06:30PM

film and discussion

Watching the Moon at Night

This powerful and timely documentary inspired by the historian Walter Laqueur explores the causes and consequences of terrorism and anti-Semitism around the globe. Creative camerawork and the poems of Nobel laureate Wislawa Szymborska are part of this exquisitely rendered cinematic essay. With filmmakers Bo Persson and Joanna Helander and journalist/educator/author and friend of Daniel Pearl, Asra Nomani.  Moderated by Jonathan Brent, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.


Presented by:

film and discussion

Sun, Mar 27
02:30PM
Sun, Mar 27
02:30PM

book talk

The New World Haggadah: A Passover Story for a Diverse America

Join us for the launch of a new Haggadah edited by Ilan Stavans, Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College and one of today's foremost interpreters of Sephardic culture, which explores the journeys of Jews expelled from Spain.


Presented by:

book talk

Wed, Mar 23
03:00PM
Wed, Mar 23
03:00PM

lecture

Mixed-Sex Dancing in Yiddish Culture and the YIVO Archives

Contemporary popular culture often portrays mixed-sex Jewish dancing as either absolutely forbidden or as the punch line of a joke, yet Yiddish and German writers used Jewish social dance as a powerful metaphor for modernization and acculturation. In literary texts depicting settings such as weddings and Purim balls, young people challenge the social order through their partner choice on the dance floor, and frequently suffer tragic consequences. Dance conveys the temptations and gendered paths of acculturation, and it manifests itself in a way that both serves a dramatic function and has entertainment value. Drawing upon a variety of materials from the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and other Center for Jewish History partners, Sonia Gollance (UPenn) discusses the social and literary significance of the mixed-dance trope in Jewish literature and the documentary evidence for this controversial cultural practice.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Mar 23
07:00PM
Wed, Mar 23
07:00PM

film screening and q&a with the director

France, Jewish Identity and the Holocaust: Yellow Stars of Tolerance and Cojot

This program showcases new documentary work by American filmmakers who examine Jewish identity in France today, revisiting holocaust and genocide traumas, memory and commemoration in France in the late 20th century/early 21st century. Highly relevant given the recent occurrences in France.


Presented by:

film screening and q&a with the director

Mon, Mar 21
07:30PM
Mon, Mar 21
07:30PM

concert

The Momenta String Quartet - Jewish Composers, Old and New

The Momenta String Quartet, Bernice Diener Ensemble-in-Residence at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University performs the work of Jewish composers with music by Felix Mendelssohn, Milton Babbitt (in honor of the centenary of his birth) and a world premiere by YU faculty composer David Glaser.


Presented by:

concert

Thu, Mar 17
08:00PM
Thu, Mar 17
08:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

For Sabbath and On the Banks of the Tigris

For Sabbath
Director: Oron Cohen

Filmmaker Oron Cohen deftly films his Iraqi grandmother, Malka, while she teaches him how to make the traditional dish shes been perfecting since'50, kubba. A scented tribute to the women we all hold dear to our heartsour talented grandmothers.

On the Banks of the Tigris
Director: Marsha Emerman

When Majid Shokor escaped from Iraq he discovered that the songs he loved as a child in Baghdad have a hidden history. To find out more, Majid makes a bold journey from his home in Australia to Israel, countries in Europe, and Iraq to meet Iraqi musicians, hear their music and stories, and unite them in a concert celebrating coexistence.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Wed, Mar 16
03:00PM
Wed, Mar 16
03:00PM

lecture

Yiddish Culture and Interwar Paris: The 1937 World's Fair & The Modern Jewish Culture Pavilion

Interwar Paris was an exciting, yet widely under-examined hub of immigrant Yiddish culture. During the 1920s and 1930s, approximately 150,000 immigrant Jews from eastern and central Europe came to Paris, transforming themselves from a disparate group of immigrants unsure of their place in France to a community connected and coalesced around a new, transnational Western European, Yiddish diaspora nationalism. Based on what is the first cultural history of the immigrant Jewish community in Paris, this talk will discuss the Modern Jewish Culture Pavilion at the 1937 World's Fair - a virtually unknown exhibition of global Yiddish culture. Constructed specifically for World's Fair, the Modern Jewish Culture Pavilion put Yiddish Paris on the world stage, and highlighted the communal power that culture could have for immigrant Jews in 1920s and 1930s Paris. Speaker:  Nick Underwood, PhD Candidate in modern European history and Jewish studies at the University of Colorado Boulder.


Presented by:

lecture

Wed, Mar 16
06:00PM
Wed, Mar 16
06:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Arabic Film

Directors: Eyal Sagui Bizawe & Sara Tsifroni

Back in the day, when there were only a few television channels to choose from and when Israel and Egypt were at war, families across Israel would gather in their homes on Friday nights to watch old Arab-language classics. How did Israeli television obtain these films? Why were they shown? This unexpected documentary brings us the stars, the stories, and takes us directly into living rooms brimming with nostalgia.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Wed, Mar 16
07:30PM
Wed, Mar 16
07:30PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Shore of Love

Director: Henry Barakat

Layla Mourad, the widely popular Egyptian film diva whose Sephardi (and Ashkenazi) Jewish roots have largely been forgotten, stars in this musical romance as a beautiful, penniless girl with a voice from the heavens. She marries Adel, a rich young bachelor while their scheming families try to break them up. Released in'50 and considered a masterpiece of the Golden Age of Cinema in Egypt, this classic includes many of Mourads most memorable songs.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Tue, Mar 15
06:00PM
Tue, Mar 15
06:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

My Emo Life

Director: Rafael Attias

In this introspective, historical and contemplative narrative, Rafael Attias creates a poetic exploration of place and belonging, weaving together themes of generational and geographical displacement, family continuity, fatherhood, marriage, and aging.

Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.
Followed by a Sneak Peek.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Tue, Mar 15
08:00PM
Tue, Mar 15
08:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Carvalho's Journey

Director: Steve Rivo

A real life nineteenth century American Western adventure, Carvalhos Journey tells the extraordinary story of Solomon Nunes Carvalho (18151897), a Sephardic Jew born in Charleston, South Carolina, who became a ground-breaking photographer, artist, and pioneer in American history.

Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.

Co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Mon, Mar 14
04:00PM
Mon, Mar 14
04:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Shattered Rhymes

Director: Sami Shalom Chetrit

A cinematic portrait of Algerian-born Moroccan-Israeli poet Erez Bitton, recipient of last years Pomegranate Award for Lifetime Achievement and the first Sephardi to win the Israel Prize in Literature. The film explores the social, cultural, and political experience of Moroccan and other immigrants to Israel through Bittons poetry and life milestones, especially his tragic loss of eyesight at age 11.
Filmmaker in attendance for Q&A.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Mon, Mar 14
06:00PM
Mon, Mar 14
06:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

A Song of Loves

Director: R. David Buzaglo

Why was risqué Arab pop music in the synagogue? Because the Moroccan-born rabbi, David Buzaglo, took inspiration from every source. Considered the greatest Hebrew liturgical poet of the 20th century, Buzaglos poetry was innovative yet faithful to a musical tradition dating back to Andalusian Spain, and had a major impact on Maghrebi Jews. This film is an intimate look at his life and legacy, from his prolific period in the Diaspora through the piyyut revolution in Israel today


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Mon, Mar 14
08:00PM
Mon, Mar 14
08:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Midnight Orchestra

Director: Jérôme Cohen-Olivar

In this cross-generational, interfaith comedy, the son of a once famous Jewish musician returns to his home country to bury his father. Aided by an eccentric cab driver , his search for the former members of his fathers band unexpectedly transforms his life forever. Starring Gad Elmaleh, Hassan El Fad, and Jade Chkif.

Followed by an After Party by ASFs Young Leadership BoardCharge of the After Party is included in the $25 ticket.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Sun, Mar 13
02:00PM
Sun, Mar 13
02:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Prince of Egypt

Director: Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells

In this animated retelling of Shemot (Exodus) accompanied by the soulful singing of Israeli-Yemeni legend Ofra Haza, Egyptian Prince Moses discovers his roots as a Jewish slave and embarks on a quest to free his people from bondage.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Sun, Mar 13
05:00PM
Sun, Mar 13
05:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Oro Macht Frei

Director: Jeffrey Bonna

In nineteen forty three, the Nazi-allied Italian Social Republic issued an order of arrest for all Jews, who had already suffered under Mussolini's Racial Laws, in its territory. This riveting documentary explores the aftermath through the testimonies of nine Roman Jews, archival footage, family photos, and the perspectives of renowned historians.
Filmmakers in attendance for Q&A.
Co-presented by Centro Primo Levy


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Sun, Mar 13
07:00PM
Sun, Mar 13
07:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Beqassor

Director: K. Amarnath

In this Bollywood classic featuring musical interludes, Pramila (aka Esther Abraham), a Baghdadi Jewish star and the First Miss India (1947), plays a young, naïve girl caught in the cross-fire of a deep-rooted sibling rivalry between her upright husband and her scheming brother-in-law. The brother-in-law exploits the girls trusting nature to falsely implicate her husband in a corruption case, and turns husband against wife by wrongly defaming her character.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Sat, Mar 12
09:00PM
Sat, Mar 12
09:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

How to Win Enemies

Director: Gabriel Lichtmann

Lucas is a young and handsome lawyer with a penchant for detective stories. Barbara is a lustful and smart lawyer who also loves literature. After a night together, Lucas awakes to find Barbara has gone, along with his financial savings. Determined to solve this mystery, Lucas finds himself in a captivating, twisted, romantic comedy plot.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Thu, Mar 10
07:00PM
Thu, Mar 10
07:00PM

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Opening Night

Performance, reception, and screening of Ensemble with Director in attendence for Q&A

Ensemble
In 1942, Ahmad, an Imam from Paris, makes a life-changing decision to help save as many children as possible after Isaac, a young Jewish boy escaping a Nazi concentration camp, finds refuge in his mosque. Inspired by a true story.


Presented by:

ny sephardic jewish film festival

Tue, Mar 08
06:30PM
Tue, Mar 08
06:30PM

lecture

Heritage Rediscovered: Slovakia 2016

More than a quarter-century has passed since the Communist regime collapsed in Slovakia. During that time the country has undergone dramatic changes, achieving its independence and joining NATO and the European Union.  Indeed, in 2016 it will take up the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU for the first time. How have these changes affected the life of the Jewish community, and what is the present condition of Slovak Jewish heritage? Dr. Maroš Borský from Bratislava, Slovakia's capital, will join us to discuss the overall situation of Jewish heritage, significant projects and future developments.  In 2012, Dr. Borský established a new Jewish Community Museum in the city’s only surviving synagogue, and currently serves as the museum's director and curator. He will speak about the success of the museum and describe how Slovakia's Jewish community has endeavored to preserve its precious heritage.


Presented by:

lecture

Tue, Mar 08
07:00PM
Tue, Mar 08
07:00PM

ruth gay seminar in jewish studies

Reclaiming the Cultural and Musical Heritage of the Karliner Hasidim

Over the past half century the Karliner Hasidic community has been searching for its lost cultural and musical heritage. Yitzhak Y. Melamed (Johns Hopkins University) provides an overview of this ongoing search and its challenges. Excerpts of Karliner music was performed. Sponsored by the Family of Ruth Gay.


Presented by:

ruth gay seminar in jewish studies

Thu, Mar 03
07:30PM
Thu, Mar 03
07:30PM

concert

Piano Fest: Music by Bach, Brahms, Barber, Mozart, Zaretsky, Stravinsky, Schnittke and Lavignac for 4, 6 and 8 hands

Phoenix Chamber Ensemble performing music by Bach, Brahms, Barber, Mozart, Zaretsky, Stravinsky, Schnittke and Lavignac. Featured musicians are Claire Belkovsky, Ellen Braslavsky, Niel Frankel, Vassa Shevel and Inessa Zaretsky.  This concert is made possible by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.


Presented by:

concert

Tue, Mar 01
07:00PM
Tue, Mar 01
07:00PM

book talk

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, we’ll meet to discuss Job by Joseph Roth, translated from the German by Ross Benjamin. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

book talk

Mon, Feb 29
06:00PM
Mon, Feb 29
06:00PM

exhibit opening & panel discussion

Professional Jokers: Jewish Jesters from the Golden Age of American Comedy

A panel discussion on Jews and comedy, featuring comedian Robert Klein, comedy writer Alan Zweibel, Old Jewish Comedians artist Drew Friedman, The Comedians author Kliph Nesteroff, Jewish popular culture scholar Dr. Eddy Portnoy, and a special surprise guest. This stellar panel was moderated by comedy writer Frank Santopadre.

In case you hadn't noticed, Jews have played a central role in American comedy. By the 1930s, acts like the  Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges became significant players in the world of comedy, launching a era during which Jewish comedians and writers became a major force in the world of humor. Dozens of legendary comics from Milton Berle to Jerry Lewis to Mel Brooks to Joan Rivers, among dozens and dozens of others, have earned a place in the pantheon of American comedy.


Presented by:

exhibit opening & panel discussion

Mon, Feb 29
06:30PM
Mon, Feb 29
06:30PM

lecture

The Rise of a New Judaism in Latin America

An unprecedented wave of mass conversions to Judaism over the past two decades is creating a new phenomenon in Latin America as converts establish communities from the ground up. Related to a larger continental shift away from Catholicism toward Evangelicalism, new converts to Judaism are creating new Jewish communities from Mexico to Chile. Rejected by traditional Jews in their countries and lacking a historical connection to Judaism, converts are offering new answers to old questions about what it means to be Jewish. Graciela Mochkofsky, a leading Argentine journalist, director of the new Spanish-language journalism initiative at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and former Prins Foundation Fellow at the Center for Jewish History, will provide insights into this unusual phenomenon.


Presented by:

lecture

Sun, Feb 28
02:00PM
Sun, Feb 28
02:00PM

exhibit opening

How a Poem Begins - Lynne Avadenka and the Poet Rahel

In this personally expressive and historically resonant exhibition, contemporary printmaker and book artist Lynne Avadenka engages in a visual dialogue with Rahel Bluwstein, one of the most important poets of pre-State Israel. Featuring color etchings, a folding screen and a multi-media installation, How a Poem Begins weaves together themes of artistic inspiration, women’s creativity and the combined power of and dialogue between words and images. Artist Lynne Avadenka will be present and will make remarks at the reception.


Presented by:

exhibit opening

Tue, Feb 23
06:00PM
Tue, Feb 23
06:00PM

exhibition viewing and talk

Burning Words: The Battle of Books

6:00pm: Exhibition Viewing and Reception
6:30pm: Talk by Elisheva Carlebach, Columbia University
7:00pm: Wine and cheese reception

One of the earliest controversies in Jewish-Christian relations was the 16th-century debate over whether Jews should be allowed to publish books on Jewish theology. These discussions took place within the framework of the Renaissance and the rise of humanism, leading to a weakening of the Church’s influence on theology and science and emphasizing the importance of the individual. This talk will focus on Johann Reuchlin, a German scholar of the period, who strongly advocated in favor of Jewish books, stressing the importance of Jewish ideas in the Christian world. He appealed to fairness, reason and due process and was one of the first to place Jews alongside Christians as part of the discourse on legal and human rights.


Presented by:

exhibition viewing and talk

Sun, Feb 21
12:30PM
Sun, Feb 21
12:30PM

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

From the Spanish Inquisition to the Present: A Search for Jewish Roots

Speaker: Genie Milgrom
Program : From the Spanish Inquisition to the Present: A Search for Jewish Roots

Genie Milgrom was born in Havana, Cuba, into a Roman Catholic family of Spanish Ancestry. She was always interested in her family genealogy, but when she learned of the possibility of having Converso Jewish roots, her search took on a deeper significance. In an unparalleled work of genealogy, she was able to fully document her unbroken maternal lineage back to 1480 Pre-Inquisition Spain and Portugal. She is the author of  My Fifteeen Grandmothers.

This meeting is co-sponsored by the American Sephardi Federation.

Also: at 12:30 in the Kovno Room, bring your brown-bag lunch for our Lunch & Learn. Genie Milgrom will be joining us to answer questions on Spanish & Portuguese citizenship and Jewish genealogy.


Presented by:

jewish genealogical society monthly meeting

Wed, Feb 17
06:30PM
Wed, Feb 17
06:30PM

lecture

Marc Chagall: Reflections of a Granddaughter

Marc Chagall is widely recognized as the preeminent Jewish artist of the 20th century, but little is known of his work to preserve Jewish culture. In this program, his granddaughter Bella Meyer interweaves images of Chagall’s artwork and personal letters to reflect on his life, passion for Yiddish and dedication to perpetuating Jewish heritage and culture.

Poetry, letters and materials of Marc Chagall from YIVO’s collection will be on display.


Presented by:

lecture

Tue, Feb 16
07:00PM
Tue, Feb 16
07:00PM

film and discussion

Flory's Flame

Meet Flory Jagoda.  Her trilling voice invokes the soulful musical Altarac family, whose heritage stretches back to pre-Inquisition Spain. Flory’s Flame introduces us to the legendary Sephardi musician who shares her inspiring life story interwoven with original songs. Post-screening conversation featuring Flory Jagoda.


Presented by:

film and discussion

Mon, Feb 15
Mon, Feb 15

holidays and closures

The Center is closed Monday, February 15th in honor of President's Day.


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Mon, Feb 08
06:30PM
Mon, Feb 08
06:30PM

a conversation

How They Lived: The Everyday Lives of Hungarian Jews, 1867-1940

Pre-war Jewish life in Hungary from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries was astonishingly diverse in language, religious practice, and lifestyle.  The population of Orthodox, Hasidic and assimilated Jews was unique among European Jewish communities, equally divided and strongly patriotic.  Join us for a fascinating evening as scholars of social history delve deeply into the thriving daily lives of these Hungarian, Yiddish, and German speaking Jews.  With Andras Koerner, author of the richly illustrated and highly acclaimed How They Lived: The Everyday Lives of Hungarian Jews, 1867-1940; Natalia Aleksiun, Graduate School of Jewish Studies at Touro College in New York and Assistant Professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences' Institute of History in Warsaw (Poland); Ilse Josepha Lazaroms, CJH Prins Post Doctoral Fellow, and Howard Nathan Lupovitch, Wayne State University.


Presented by:

a conversation

Thu, Feb 04
07:00PM
Thu, Feb 04
07:00PM

book talk

The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great War Crime Trial

Join us for a talk with Lawrence Douglas about his new book.

Demjanjuk’s legal odyssey began in 1975, when American investigators received evidence alleging he had collaborated in Nazi genocide. Demjanjuk was twice stripped of his American citizenship and sentenced to death by a Jerusalem court —only to be cleared in one of the most notorious cases of mistaken identity in legal history.


Presented by:

book talk

Tue, Feb 02
07:00PM
Tue, Feb 02
07:00PM

book talk

16th Street Book Club Meeting

This month, we’ll meet to discuss Her First American by Lore Segal. Join us! All 16th Street book club sessions are free and open to the public. Please try to bring your books or e-reading devices with you. RSVP recommended via email. To learn more, visit cjh.org/bookclub.


Presented by:

book talk

Thu, Jan 21
03:00PM
Thu, Jan 21
03:00PM

play with music

The Merchant of Venice

Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation invites you to experience David Serero’s Merchant of Venice, featuring a diverse cast and Sephardi music. The French-Moroccan baritone opera singer directs and stars (as Shylock) in his own Sephardi adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love, commerce, and bigotry. 

Dates and times:  Wednesday, January 13, 3 pm, Sunday, January 17, 7 pm, Tuesday, January 19, 8 pm, Thursday, January 21, 3 pm.


Presented by:

play with music

Thu, Jan 21
07:00PM
Thu, Jan 21
07:00PM

theater program

A Modest Suggestion

Join us for a special theater performance of Amy and Ken Kaissar's A Modest Suggestion, followed by a panel discussion with the show's director and actors.

In an anonymous conference room, in an anonymous city, an anonymous group of businessmen meet to discuss the next item on their agenda. As the four yes-men weigh the pros and cons of one pretty tough question, A Modest Suggestion asks: Why do racism and anti-Semitism exist? What does it mean to be Jewish? How does racism turn into violence? And, do Jews eat bacon?

The evening will provide a daring and thought-provoking discussion around some difficult topics - oh, and quite a few laughs too!


Presented by:

theater program

Tue, Jan 19
08:00PM
Tue, Jan 19
08:00PM

play with music

The Merchant of Venice

Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation invites you to experience David Serero’s Merchant of Venice, featuring a diverse cast and Sephardi music. The French-Moroccan baritone opera singer directs and stars (as Shylock) in his own Sephardi adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love, commerce, and bigotry. 

Dates and times:  Wednesday, January 13, 3 pm, Sunday, January 17, 7 pm, Tuesday, January 19, 8 pm, Thursday, January 21, 3 pm.


Presented by:

play with music

Mon, Jan 18
Mon, Jan 18

holidays and closures

The Center is closed on Monday, January 18th in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day


Presented by:

holidays and closures

Sun, Jan 17
07:00PM
Sun, Jan 17
07:00PM

play with music

The Merchant of Venice

Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation invites you to experience David Serero’s Merchant of Venice, featuring a diverse cast and Sephardi music. The French-Moroccan baritone opera singer directs and stars (as Shylock) in his own Sephardi adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love, commerce, and bigotry. 

Dates and times:  Wednesday, January 13, 3 pm, Sunday, January 17, 7 pm, Tuesday, January 19, 8 pm, Thursday, January 21, 3 pm.


Presented by:

play with music

Wed, Jan 13
03:00PM
Wed, Jan 13
03:00PM

play with music

The Merchant of Venice

Back by popular demand, the American Sephardi Federation invites you to experience David Serero’s Merchant of Venice, featuring a diverse cast and Sephardi music. The French-Moroccan baritone opera singer directs and stars (as Shylock) in his own Sephardi adaptation of Shakespeare’s play about love, commerce, and bigotry. 

Dates and times:  Wednesday, January 13, 3 pm, Sunday, January 17, 7 pm, Tuesday, January 19, 8 pm, Thursday, January 21, 3 pm.


Presented by:

play with music

Sun, Jan 10
02:00PM
Sun, Jan 10
02:00PM

symposium

Jewish Museums in the 21st Century

Eastern Europe is experiencing a dynamic boom in museums that examine the Jewish past. How are these histories revealed and what explains the increasing interest in Jewish culture and religion on the part of non-Jews? Culture critics, scholars and museum practitioners discuss the state of Jewish mu­seums in Europe and the U.S., how they represent Jewish history and why they matter. Featuring Olga Gershenson, Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Ruth Ellen Gruber, Norman Kleeblatt, Anna Manchin, Pamela Nadell , Benjamin Nathans, Edward Rothstein, and David Shneer. In honor of the Fall/Winter issue of the journal East European Jewish Affairs entitled “New Jewish Museums in Post-Communist Europe.”

For more information please visit www.cjh.org/jewishmuseums


Presented by:

symposium

Mon, Jan 04
07:00PM
Mon, Jan 04
07:00PM

yivo-bard winter program on ashkenazi civilization keynote address

In Those Nightmarish Days: Ghetto Reportage and Holocaust Witnessing

In the Warsaw and Lodz ghettos, reportage by Jewish journalists like Joseph Zelkowicz and Peretz Opoczynski individualized the ghetto experience and conveyed events in “real time.” Samuel Kassow (Trinity College) explains why these writings were so important. Samuel Kassow is the Jacob Kronhill Visiting Scholar in East European Jewish History at YIVO. Supported by the Kronhill Pletka Foundation.


Presented by:

yivo-bard winter program on ashkenazi civilization keynote address