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Tonight at sunset (Friday, September 15, 2023) through Sunday after nightfall, Jewish Americans and Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to welcome the year 5784 in the Jewish calendar! The Music Division does not disappoint with its holdings of both religious and secular music for this time. Here is a small sample of the gems in our holdings so that we may celebrate together.
Posted in: In The Muse
By: Suzanne Schadl
This is a question-and-answer guest post by Irene Madrigal — a Brooklyn native in her senior year at Barnard College in New York City where she studies English, History, and Spanish. Irene was selected for an internship in the Latin American, Caribbean, and European Division (LACE) through The Washington Center (TWC). When she’s not watching …
Posted in: 4 Corners of the World
By: Neely Tucker
No Jewish marriage is complete without a ketubah, a traditional legal document introduced during the wedding ceremony. The ketubah not only legitimizes the marriage but, following Jewish law, also spells out the groom’s financial and conjugal obligations to his bride during their life journey. The Library holds 11 of these ornate, beautiful traditional documents, spanning centuries and many nations.
Posted in: Timeless
By: Malea Walker
The following is a guest post by Robin Pike, Head, Digital Collection Services Section in the Serial and Government Publications Division. Robin conducted the following interviews with Ann Sneesby-Koch from History Colorado in Denver, CO, and Melissa Jerome from the University of Florida in Gainesville, FL. Chronicling America* has grown its collection of newspapers by …
Posted in: Headlines and Heroes
By: Neely Tucker
The handwritten Esther scroll, inked onto parchment and protected by a cylindrical case of silver filigree, is a delicate work of beauty and religious faith, more than a century old. It tells the biblical story of Queen Esther of Persia and how she helped save the nation’s Jews from annihilation by a wicked ruler. The …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Stephen Winick
Hanukkah this year will be celebrated from December 18 to December 26. Jewish children all over the world will be playing a gambling game with a traditional spinning top known as a dreidel. Many of them will also be told stories about the origin and meaning of the dreidel, stories which claim that the dreidel once had a subversive purpose or that it was created to commemorate a great miracle. These stories are themselves interesting folklore. Since the dreidel is a traditional toy used to play a traditional game, such stories about the dreidel and game can be called metafolklore--that is, folklore about folklore. In this blog, we'll take a look at some of these stories about the origin of the dreidel and examine the toy's real history.
Posted in: Folklife Today
By: Neely Tucker
This is a guest post by Hannah Freece, a writer-editor in the Library’s Publishing Office. “I broke par in Bingston.” With this enigmatic statement, private eye Toussaint Moore opens “Room to Swing,” Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award–winning 1957 novel, the newest addition to the Library of Congress Crime Classics series. It’s the hard-hitting story of a …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Nathan Dorn
Nathan discusses Joshua Montefiore, the first Jewish person to publish a law book in the United States.
Posted in: In Custodia Legis
By: Kelly Goles
Pic of the Week of the childhood home of Justice Louis Brandeis.
Posted in: In Custodia Legis
By: Malea Walker
How did U.S. newspapers report on the events of the Holocaust? What is History Unfolded? Read more about it and how you can contribute, become a researcher, and learn how to use the historic newspapers in Chronicling America!
Posted in: Headlines and Heroes