Photo above: Rabbi David Hill during his trip to the USSR in 1981. (Citation: Photographs and Negatives, 1981-1982. David Hill Papers; P-888; box 1, folder 8; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.) Project Update: Digitization of Soviet Jewry collections from the American Jewish Historical Society Thanks to generous support from the National Historical Publications & Records Commission (NHPRC), the Center for…
The Issue is Silence: An Address by Rabbi Joachim Prinz, President of the American Jewish Congress, at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963 From American Jewish Congress records Courtesy of American Jewish Historical Society Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights is on view through October 09, 2015 A new exhibit on display in The David…
The First Female Ordained Rabbi: Regina Jonas By Jackie Brettschneider, Research Intern, Center for Jewish History As early as high school, Regina Jonas talked about becoming a rabbi. At the time not one woman was ordained to the position. Jonas’s pursuit came with many hardships and obstacles because she was a woman. Jonas, however, pursued ordination whole-heartedly because of her dedication to Jewish history,…
By Nicole Siegel, Research Intern and Graduate Student at Fordham University Click here for the first blog post on Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina http://16thstreet.tumblr.com/post/123372636972/kahal-kadosh-beth-elohim-charleston-south With the destruction of the Georgian Synagogue of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) in the fire of 1838, the congregation found it necessary to build a new structure, one that is still in use today. The rise…
Photos from the exhibit opening of Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights is on view through October 09, 2015 A new exhibit on display in The David Berg Rare Book Room at the Center for Jewish History recounts the efforts made by American Jews and African…
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Charleston, South Carolina By Nicole Siegel, Research Intern and Graduate Student at Fordham University One of the oldest congregations in America, Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) of Charleston, South Carolina, dates back to 1749 and is currently the fourth oldest congregation in the United States. Originally a Sephardic Orthodox Congregation, the community quickly embraced the ideas of Reform Judaism, becoming…
This image is from the first Jewish queer zine – it is preserved in the Jewish Counter Culture collection (Call number I-504) in the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society here at the Center. This artifact will be part of a special display during an upcoming program presented by the American Jewish Historical Society on June 23rd: Changing Lives, Making History: CBST –…
Xavier High School Students Visit Center for Jewish History This blog post originally appeared in the Xavier ENews, used with permission. On April 21, two sections of the senior World Religions elective visited the Center for Jewish History, located at 15 West 16th Street—right across the street from Xavier. All students received two tours of the museum: one tour on Jewish identity across modern…
By Zachary Loeb, M.S.I.S. Reference Services Librarian – Patron Services “Comrades, the First of May is the bridge between ourselves and the future. It is the mighty cable which connects us with the international proletariat. Let us meet the great holiday of the proletariat; not with the dangerous indifference of the defeated, but with the joy of the victory of to-morrow.” – The Central…
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. Take a minute to access one of the thousands of digitized Holocaust artifacts including over 300 oral histories and over 200 memoirs. Access.cjh.org A few selections:American Jewish Historical Society’s Photograph: Markers for graves of 80 victims found dead of Nazi brutality in the concentration camp at Ludwigslust http://access.cjh.org/210628 Leo Baeck Institute’s National Socialism Collection http://access.cjh.org/355965 Yeshiva University Museum’s Poster:…