Dear Mr. Editor, I have been in the country only two months, and I find myself in such terrible circumstances that I need your advice. So begin many of the letters submitted to the Bintel Brief. In 1897, Abraham Cahan founded the Jewish Daily Forward, a Yiddish newspaper based on the Lower East Side of New York City. Included in the newspaper was a…
Hartford Hartford is home to the first and largest Jewish community in the state of Connecticut. The earliest mention of a Jew in the state was David the Jew, of Hartford, who was fined 20 shillings for illegal trading in 1659. Afterwards, there were scattered references to the small Jewish community in Connecticut. For example, in 1670 Hartford was visited by Assur Levy, one…
In July 2018, the Center for Jewish History received a rare collection of Jewish bonds and financial paper in support of settlement in the land of Israel and later the State of Israel. The donor collector was donated by financier John Herzog, Chairman Emeritus of Herzog, Heine, Geduld, Inc., a firm founded by his father in 1926 and about which John wrote A Billion…
I’m Jaime Taylor, the Center for Jewish History’s systems librarian. My job has two components: I administer the catalog software, and I also do strange things with the catalog records themselves. As such, by chance I see records for all sorts of interesting items that I might not otherwise realize the Center holds. Some months ago I read a title, “Trinitite from Trinity Nuclear…
16thstreet: Join the Center for Jewish History and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research on a quest to examine the #Jewish exploration of the heavens as we present our new exhibition: From as early as Genesis, Jews have pondered the expanse that surrounds our planet, as well as their place in them. Astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences appear frequently in books published by rabbis and…
By Andrey Filimonov, Archival Services Manager at the Center for Jewish History Screenshots from “Civil Disobedience—Demonstration and Clergy Arrest at Soviet Consulate, November 18, 1985.” Original archival material found in the Records of the Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews and Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue and Renewal, I-505; box 100; VHS tape 69; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY; http://digital.cjh.org/4633168 One…
By Andrey Filimonov, Archival Services Manager at the Center for Jewish History “Zions Captives”: documentary on Ida Nudel (watch online: http://digital.cjh.org/4585693) Original archival material found Houston Action for Soviet Jewry Records I-500; box 35; VHS tape 022; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY; PID http://digital.cjh.org/798129 Screenshot from “Zions Captives, documentary on Ida Nudel” Original archival material found Houston Action for Soviet Jewry Records…
By Sarah Glover, Archivist and Digitization Projects Liaison Letter from Kurt H. Hohenemser to James F. Hornback, leader of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, February 2, 1952 “We immigrated 4 ½ years ago from Germany into this country for the main reason to leave behind us the sorry scene of racial persecution which, during the Nazi regime, caused the death of the greater part…
A Guide to Research Today (August 21, 2017) marks the anniversary of Hawai’i as the 50th state. We thought it would be a good opportunity to share some resources for researching the history of the Jewish community in Hawai’i. Chaplain conducts High Holy Day services in Hawaii, 1953. National Jewish Welfare Board, Records. Call # I-337.B14.F007.0332, American Jewish Historical Society According to Jewish Virtual…
By David Myers, President/CEO of the Center for Jewish History The final song of the smash Broadway hit Hamilton asks with great poignancy: “Who will tell your story?” The line is a telling reminder that those who lack power or fail to live long enough, such as Alexander Hamilton, often don’t get to leave behind their own version of the past. The task of…
