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Blogs Categories: Jewish American History

Blogs Categories: Jewish American History

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Highlighting the Holidays: Happy Hanukkah

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In 2014, December 16 marked the first day of Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by the forces of Antiochus IV. Also referred to as the Festival of Lights, Hanukkah recalls the event. According to the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism, at the re-dedication …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Jewish American Heritage: A Surviving Text

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May marks Jewish American Heritage Month, and this year’s theme, designated by the Jewish American Heritage Month Coalition, honors the 100th anniversary of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). From its founding in 1914 to aid starving Jews in Palestine and Europe during World War I to life-saving rescues during war years to settling …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

"A Dudele": A Little Song for Jewish Heritage Month

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Jewish vocal music culture in the United States reflects the variety of the many different parts of the diaspora from which the Jewish immigrants originally came, as well as different song traditions among Jewish denominations. This essay will examine some of the Jewish folksongs curated by the Recorded Sound section, the Music Division, and the …