No. 6 Spring/Summer 2001 Diverse Programming Offers LBI Master ‘Something for Everyone’ Catalogue Goes ‘On-Line’ During Center’s Inaugural Year In a major step forward in access to the unique collec- ast approaching the conclu- SYMPOSIUMS tions housed at the Center, the sion of its inaugural year, Leo Baeck Institute master cat- the Center for Jewish AND MAJOR EVENTS alogue is now on-line, accessi- History has emerged as one ble to Internet users throughout of the preeminent sites in Professionals from Jewish museums the world. This catalogue con- New York City for the around the country and abroad gathered sists of the Institute’s archive, Fintellectual exploration of the Jewish for the Annual Conference of the Council library and periodical collec- experience. A diverse program of lec- of American Jewish Museums, hosted at tions. The catalogue can be tures, symposiums, films, concerts and the Center January 21 to 24, 2001. Held accessed through either the other special events—each sponsored in conjunction with the Council of Leo Baeck website by one of the Center’s five partner insti- Archives and Research Libraries in Jewish (www.lbi.org) or through the tutions or by another leading organiza- Studies, the conference featured website of the Center for tion in Jewish life—has entertained and Jewish History (www.cjh.org). Continued on page 2 enlightened thousands of participants The combined library and since the Center’s formal opening to archive collections of the Leo the public in October 2000. Baeck Institute encompass the most comprehensive documen- tation available for the study of the history of German-speaking Jewry. The master catalogue provides information on and descriptions of more than 10,000 archival records, 1,250 memoirs, 70,000 books and 750 periodicals. It also con- tains unique access to the Institute’s Austrian Heritage Collection. The creation of the on-line catalogue was a project Miller Photography of more than ten years’ dura- A. M. Rosenthal, former executive editor tion that included the retro- and columnist at The New York Times, poses spective conversion of card a question to the panel during “Israel and catalogs. the Arabs: The Illusion of Change.” Professor Elie Wiesel addresses the memorial tribute to his Eminence John Cardinal O’Connor, jointly sponsored at the Center by the American Jewish Historical Society, the Jewish Community Relations Council and UJA-Federation of New York. Continued on page 4 The Center for Jewish History News Spotlight On: Published by the Center for Jewish History 15 West 16th Street New York, NY 10011 212-294-8301 New Acquisitions Fax: 212-294-8302 Web site: www.cjh.org he American Jewish Historical Society has added a number Board of Directors of personal papers and letters to its archival collections: John Bruce Slovin, Chair Hancock, dated June 24, 1771, to Aaron Lopez, which is Kenneth J. Bialkin, Vice Chair included in the Society’s current exhibit, “Seeing Ourselves”; Erica Jesselson, Vice Chair Salomon Carvalho to Isaac Leeser; a petition signed by Judah P. Joseph Greenberger, Secretary Benjamin; and a printed letter from Daniel L. Peixotto to Isaac TLeeser, dated 1832, regarding fasting during the cholera epidemic. Michael A. Bamberger The Society also has acquired 11 reels of film about the Catskills in New Joseph D. Becker York for its Catskills Institute Archive. The films provide a unique record of George Blumenthal recreational life in the Catskills in the 1950s and 1960s before the decline of Marlene Brill the region and are an example of early home movies in color. Eva Cohn *********** Henry L. Feingold A generous grant from the Irving Tershel Book Fund in Latvian and Baltic Michael Jesselson Jewish Studies has enabled the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research to bolster Leon Levy its collection of Judaica from the former Soviet Union, especially the Baltic Theodore N. Mirvis States of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The YIVO Library has entered into Edgar J. Nathan, 3rd an agreement with MIPP International, a dealer specializing in publications Nancy T. Polevoy from the Baltics, and has added to its collections such works as the exhibition Robert Rifkind catalogue, Vilna Ghetto Posters-Jewish Spiritual The Center for Jewish History Resistance; The Estonian Lois S. Cronholm Folklore Archives; The Great Vice President Synagogue of Vilnius, a detailed description of its Ira Berkowitz Chief Financial Officer architecture and history; Hands Bringing Life and Suzanne Maltz Director of Development Bread, an illustrated work on Lithuanians who risked their Barbara Goldberg lives rescuing Jews during the Director of Public Relations Holocaust; and The Book of Lynne Winters Sorrow, containing illustra- Program Coordinator tions and descriptions of more Michael Winter than 200 sites of the Nazis’ Director of Operations mass murder of Jews. I American Jewish Historical Society Michael Feldberg, Executive Director American Sephardi Federation John Hancock writes to Jewish Vivienne Roumani-Denn, merchant Aaron Lopez, June 24, 1771. (From the collections of the American Executive Director Jewish Historical Society) Leo Baeck Institute Carol Kahn Strauss, Executive Director YIVO Institute For Jewish Research Carl J. Rheins, Executive Director The public facilities at the Center for Jewish History, includ- Yeshiva University Museum ing the auditorium, the Great Hall, the mezzanine and class- Sylvia Herskowitz, Director rooms, are available to rent by organizations and individuals. A recently published brochure provides details on the Center’s rental facilities. For further information and a copy The Center Newsletter is made possible, in part, by of the brochure, please contact Lynne Winters, program coor- The Liman Foundation. dinator, at 212-294-8307. Jessica Weber Design, Inc., NYC Design 12 Continued from page 1 Subsequent lectures sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society covered diverse topics and periods in a keynote address by Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi, the Salo W. American history and included “The Jewish Confederates” Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at with author Robert N. Rosen; “President Ulysses S. Grant Columbia University, visits to many of New York’s leading and Anti-Semitism,” presented by Professor John Y. Simon museums, and workshops on such topics as exhibition devel- of Southern Illinois University; John Atlas, author of the opment, issues of conservation, and Holocaust art restitution. recently published Bellow: A Biography, speaking on “Saul February brought to the Center a two-day symposium, Bellow’s Adventures in America”; “President Franklin D. sponsored by Tel-Aviv University, Brandeis University, the Roosevelt and the Holocaust” with Ambassador William American Jewish Committee and the Zalman Shazar Center, Vanden Heuvel, chairman of the Franklin and Eleanor on “Israeli Historical Revisionism: From Left to Right.” Roosevelt Institute; and “President John F. Kennedy: the Some of academia’s leading scholars on Jewish history and Family Legacy and the Jewish Vote” with Kennedy advisor thought, from the United States, Canada and Israel, con- and author Theodore C. Sorenson. vened to discuss and debate, in often controversial and emo- The American Sephardi Federation sponsored a Scholars tional sessions, issues of history, culture and memory. Series, which brought several distinguished speakers to the Against the background of continuing violence in the Center to discuss topics in Sephardic thought and history. Middle East, The New Republic brought together at the On January 10, Professor Nitzhia Shaked of San Francisco Center on April 25 a panel of well-known writers and State University discussed “Maimonides: The Man, The thinkers to debate “Israel and the Arabs: The Illusion of Rabbi, The Philosopher,” and on May 10 Sjimon den- Change.” Panelists included Martin Peretz, chairman and Hollander arrived from the University of Leiden, The editor-in-chief of The New Republic; Leon Wieseltier, literary Netherlands, to speak on “Christianity, Islam and Judaism— editor of The New Republic; Michael Walzer, co-editor of One Man’s Journey.” Dissent and professor at the Institute of Advanced Studies, The Leo Baeck Institute sponsored a number of lectures Princeton University; Mort Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of on a wide range of topics, all touching on its mission as the U.S. News & World Report; and Laurence Grafstein, manag- world’s foremost resource on the history of German- ing director of Gramercy Communications Partners. speaking Jewry. “Art, Music and Education as Strategies for His Eminence John Cardinal O’Connor was warmly Survival: Theresienstadt, 1941–45” was discussed by Anne remembered in a tribute sponsored on May 15 by the E. Dutlinger on March 29; Melinda G. Guttman, professor American Jewish Historical Society, the Jewish Community of speech, theater and media studies, John Jay College, Relations Council and UJA-Federation of New York. spoke on “The Enigma of Anna O: A Biography of Bertha Among those offering reminiscences were His Eminence Pappenheim”; Edwin Black discussed his recent book, Edward Cardinal Egan, former mayor Edward I. Koch, Mrs. IBM and the Holocaust. Mary O’Connor Ward and Elie Wiesel. Yeshiva University Museum sponsored several discus- sions, talks and gallery tours with the artists whose works were featured in exhibitions this year. The Museum also LECTURES hosted Dr. Alan Brill, assistant professor of Jewish mysti- cism at Yeshiva University, for a talk on “Legends and The American Jewish