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May is Jewish-American Heritage Month!

by Kathleen Barnard on 2023-05-01T00:00:00-04:00 in 5. Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity | 0 Comments

(Image from Canva.com)

Celebrate the culture and contributions of Jewish Americans during Jewish American Heritage Month this May! Jewish American Heritage Month has been celebrated since 2006 and highlights over 350 years of Jewish contributions to American culture. May was chosen as Jewish American Heritage Month in recognition of the 350^th Anniversary of American Jewish History, which was organized by the Commission for Commemorating of American Jewish History and celebrate in May 2004.

(source: https://www.jewishheritagemonth.gov/about/)

To commemorate Jewish American Heritage Month, check out some of these resources available from the Whittemore Library and beyond!

Whittemore Library Jewish American Heritage Month LibGuide: Find a wide variety of resources and links to research materials about Jewish American Heritage Month compiled by the Whittemore Library librarians.

Check out some of the great resources on Jewish American history available from the National Archives: https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/jewish-american-heritage.
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has a wealth of information on Jewish American history. Make sure to check out their Jewish American History Month resources for educators and community members.
Check out the Pew Research Center’s "10 Key Findings About Jewish Americans" to learn more about the Jewish American community.
Brandeis University’s American Jewish Population Project “provides policy makers, researchers, and educators with essential data on the composition and size of the US Jewish population.” (source: https://ajpp.brandeis.edu/)
The The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women features essays and information about Jewish women from all over the world!
The Jews of Color Initiative’s “mission is to advance racial equity in the U.S. Jewish community by centering the leadership of Jews of Color and ensuring that our communities and institutions reflect the multiracial reality of the Jewish people.” (source: https://jewsofcolorinitiative.org/). You can check out their report Beyond the Count “has brought a multifaceted tapestry of JoC experiences to the forefront of our communal conversation on race and racism in the Jewish community.” (source: https://jewsofcolorinitiative.org/newsletter/top-5-teachings-from-beyond-the-count/)
“Global Boston is a digital project chronicling the history of immigration to greater Boston since the early nineteenth century.” (source: https://globalboston.bc.edu/) Check out their page on Jews in Boston to learn about the Jewish American history of the city.

Check out our Kanopy and Academic Video Online databases to watch films and documentaries! Check out the following titles to learn more about Jewish and Jewish American history!

The Jewish Music Research Centre, based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, “is an academic institution dedicated to the documentation, research, and publication of scholarly materials about music conceived, performed, and consumed within Jewish social frameworks in the past and present.” (source: https://jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/history-goals).

The Forward has compiled their list of the "150 Greatest Jewish Pop Songs". Ranging from Bob Dylan to Beastie Boys and everything in-between, this list features links to video and audio, as well essays about their choices.

Books available from the Whittemore Library and the Minuteman Library Network (please note some titles are eBooks). Children and YA book titles compiled by Samantha Westall, Curriculum Librarian.

Fiction

People of the Book: A Novel by Geraldine Brooks

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay: A Novel by Michael Chabon

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

Everything is Illuminated: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer

The Dovekeepers: A Novel by Alice Hoffman

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Bread Givers: A Novel by Anzia Yezierska

Non-Fiction

The Jewish Identity Project: New American Photography by Susan Chevlowe ; with essays by Joanna Lindenbaum and Ilan Stavans

The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism edited by Dana Evan Kaplan