We continue Sarah Ganton’s story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star and performer with the USO, then a radio personality. We’re very fortunate to have a rich record of her life through the archives of the American Jewish Historic Society, one of the five partners of the Center of Jewish History. Join us in…
We continue Sarah Ganton’s story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star and performer with the USO, then a radio personality. We’re very fortunate to have a rich record of her life through the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, one of the five partners of the Center of Jewish History. Join us…
We continue Sarah Ganton’s story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star and performer with the USO, then a radio personality. We’re very fortunate to have a rich record of her life through the archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, one of the five partners of the Center of Jewish History. Join us in celebrating…
Fascinating find. We’ve got a juicy series going about Picon’s incredible career; read more about her here! Evening Dress worn by Molly Picon Silk 1930s Collection of Yeshiva University Museum Gift of Sarah Safford yumuseum: In the mid-1970s, Sarah Safford, a dancer from New York was driving in Mahopac in Upstate New York when she came upon an abandoned truck in the middle of…
We’re delighted to kick off a series close to our hearts: the story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star, performer with the USO and radio personality–not to mention Yente the Matchmaker in Fiddler in the Roof. Some called her "the Jewish Charlie Chaplin"; others, “the Jewish Helen Hayes.” We think she stands grandly on her own. Former…
It Came From the Stacks: Moby Dickby Melanie J. Meyers, M.S., Senior Reference Services Librarian, Special Collections, Center for Jewish History One of the strengths of the YIVO library collection is the amazing wealth of works translated into various languages, Yiddish or Hebrew in particular. This version of Herman Melville’s classic work Moby Dick (Or, Mobi Diḳ, if you prefer), was printed in Tel Aviv, circa 1951, by…
Food and the Jews of Alsace-Loraineby David P. Rosenberg, M.P.A., Reference Services Research Coordinator, Center for Jewish History “Circles of Justice: Law, Culture and the Jews of Metz in 18th Century France” is now on view in The David Berg Rare Book Room here at the Center. Related programming includes “Sex, Yiddish and the Law: Jewish Life in Metz in the 18th Century” this Monday,…
Women in the Performing Arts: Molly Picon by J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History The transition of the performance industry of America from stage to film was difficult for many to manage. One of the most beloved Jewish American actresses who managed that transition successfully was Molly Picon. We all remember her as the elderly but impish Yente in…
NYT: Jewish Identity, Spelled in Yiddish Modern Yiddish transliteration was created by early-20th-century scholars who saw Judaism as a nationality based on language and were fighting rising anti-Semitism. The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is one of the five partners of the Center for Jewish History.
“Knaidel” is the Winning Wordby David P. Rosenberg, M.P.A., Reference Services Research Coordinator, Center for Jewish History Perhaps you heard that a Yiddish word won the National Spelling Bee for Arvind Mahankali. Yes, knaidel is spelled K-n-a-i-d-e-l according to Webster’s Third New International Dictionary–the official dictionary of the National Spelling Bee. As you may know, Yiddish is a fusion language of principally German, Hebrew…