Center for Jewish History

Searching for that perfect holiday gift can be exhausting, and this season it may even be more difficult. Looking for some inspiration? Join us each week for Sunday shopping. We have lots of great finds from our archives in store for you! From the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York collection I-433, The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) is a photograph of a senior couple standing in front of shop window containing hats and purses. Did you know that every tim...e you shop Amazon.com you can support CJH? Go to smile.amazon.com & make sure you register. This is a simple, no-cost way to support CJH while you shop this holiday season. #shopping #shoppingonline #sundayshopping #giftofgiving See more

Trying to piece together your family's immigration story? Tune into the next episode of Genealogy Coffee Break on Tuesday, 11/10, at 3:30 PM ET. We'll discuss why you should track down your immigrant ancestors' U.S. naturalization records and how to do so.

The Center for Jewish History is celebrating 20 years of history, culture, and heritage. David Berg Rare Book Room Opening In 2013, the Center opened the David Berg Rare Book Room with the generous support of The David Berg Foundation. Through exhibitions and collections of rare books and first editions that would otherwise be out of view, the windowed room brings together Jewish written materials from around the world, in 23 different languages and dating back five and a ha...lf centuries. If you would like to share memories and photos of your visits to the Center, please tag us at #CJH20 or e-mail [email protected] and we will happily post them on social media. American Sephardi Federation The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) Yeshiva University Museum Leo Baeck Institute - New York YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

We are just two weeks away from the Center for Jewish History Virtual Gala! Please join us to honor Dr. Michael Braffman, Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Pennsylvania Hospital. Your gift will support the crucial work we are doing to preserve Jewish history for future generations and researchers. To be included in this special on-screen event visit gala.cjh.org

In Case You Missed It... Facing an escalating demand for entry into the United States by German-speaking Jews in Shanghai in early 1941, the United States Consulate called the JDC for help. No one forewarned Laura Margolis, a translator for immigration interviews, about the living conditions of 16,000 Jewish refugees from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, all desperate for food and housing. She set up a new JDC Shanghai office, which stood as a rock for Jewish ref...ugees under four directorships, four different regimes, and two wars. Drawing from the JDC Archives, testimonies, and memoirs, this lecture by Sara Halpern, PhD candidate at Ohio State University, offers a tale of how the JDC Shanghai office both a transnational American and an international Jewish relief organization and its ingenious directors navigated the regimes of the treaty port controlled by multiple powers, the Japanese puppet government, Chiang Kai-Shek, and Mao Zedong. In contrast to Europe during the same period, the small, isolated JDC office in Shanghai had to rely on the goodwill of the various consulates and local authorities to assist with the Jewish refugees’ survival and emigration to other destinations. Hailed by the senior administration in New York, the Shanghai job was one of the most difficult in the world. @jdcjoint @leobaeckinstitute

We are thrilled and grateful for this major gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation https://www.google.com//uk-billionaire-donates-nearly-/amp

The Center for Jewish History is celebrating 20 years of history, culture, and heritage. Moses Mendelssohn: Conversation and the Legacy of the Enlightenment Opens to the public In 2011, Moses Mendelssohn: Conversation and the Legacy of the Enlightenment opened to the public. This exhibit hosted by Leo Baeck Institute - New York focused on the great Jewish thinker and German Enlightenment philosopher, Moses Mendelssohn, and his role as a model of inter-religious dialogue ...and tolerance. Artifacts included original letters, manuscripts and the philosopher’s eyeglasses. From the collection of Leo Baeck Institute - New York is a portrait of Moses Mendelssohn by Johann Christoph Frisch. Contribution by Johann Gotthard von Müller, engraver, 77.108. If you would like to share memories and photos of your visits to the Center, please tag us at #CJH20 or e-mail [email protected] and we will happily post them on social media. American Sephardi Federation The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) Yeshiva University Museum Leo Baeck Institute - New York YIVO Institute for Jewish Research

In Case You Missed It... Karen Franklin, Director of Family Research at the Leo Baeck Institute, donates her voluminous family papers to LBI, providing her a unique dual perspective on the donation process as both a donor and a recipient. This session addresses what you can do to organize and prepare your collection for donation to ensure that the material will be accessible and meaningful to future researchers. Karen covers topics including the types of collections that are accepted, what to do with difficult and personal information, and requesting access restrictions. She also shares a few of the many family secrets she uncovered in the process of preparing her donation!. Leo Baeck Institute - New York National Endowment for the Humanities New York City Council

Do you say "Pógrom" or "Pogróm"? Join us this Tuesday at 3:30pm ET for a 20-minute coffee break to discuss the meaning and historical significance of these events in Jewish history. Librarian J.D. Arden will be joined by Ilya Slavutskiy from Rutgers University. * No registration required. Like and follow the CJH Facebook page to receive the live video notification, or open this home page at the start time. The recorded video, available after broadcast, will have autogenerated closed captions.