Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

In 1654, a small ship carrying 23 Jewish refugees sailed into the port of present-day New York City. Fleeing oppression and discrimination, these courageous women and men faced resistance from the colonys leaders. Nevertheless, they secured the right to remain and became the first Jewish communal presence to settle on American soil. In so doing, they expanded the frontier of religious freedoms that would help define the bedrock principles upon which this Nation was built. During Jewish American Heritage Month, we honor these 23 refugees and the centuries of successive generations of Jewish Americans, who shaped by their own encounters with prejudice, persecution, and the promise of a better tomorrow have emboldened our Nation to stand up for justice, equality, and freedom.

The story of America was written, in part, by Jewish Americans who, through their words and actions, embraced the opportunity and responsibility of citizenship knowing full well that democracy is not born, nor sustained, by accident. Inspired by Jewish American communal leadership, our Nations first President pledged that our Government will give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. Inspired by Jewish American poetry, our shores have welcomed millions with the words Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free. Throughout our countrys history, Jewish Americans have proudly served our Nation in uniform, in elected office, and on our Nations highest courts. They have made enormous contributions to Americas cultural, scientific, artistic, and intellectual life, and they have marched, petitioned, and boarded buses to demand civil and political rights for all from womens rights to voting rights to workers rights.

Today, we continue to strive to live up to our founding ideals. As the scourge of white supremacy and antisemitic violence rises, my Administration remains committed to ensuring that hate has no safe harbor. That is why we have created new laws that give us more tools to combat hate crimes; developed the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism; provided assistance to religious organizations, places of worship, and nonprofits to protect their facilities and members; and named a new Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. My Administration will use the full force of our judicial system to confront bigotry and antisemitism wherever and whenever it surfaces.

The Jewish American story, and the story of our Nation as a whole, is fueled by faith, resilience, and hope. It is a story defined by a firm belief in possibilities, the resolve to make real the promise of America for all Americans, and a commitment to perfecting our Union, heeding the timeless words of Rabbi Tarfon, the first-century scholar who taught It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.

Three-hundred and sixty-eight years after those 23 brave Jewish refugees arrived in America, Jewish Americans continue to help our country thrive and prosper. This month, we honor the timeless traditions, heritage, and contributions of Jewish Americans that drive our progress as a Nation each and every day.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim May 2022 as Jewish American Heritage Month. Icall upon all Americans to visit JewishHeritageMonth.gov to learn more about the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of April, in the year twothousandtwenty-two, and of the Independence of the UnitedStates ofAmerica the twohundred and forty-sixth.

JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.

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A Proclamation on Jewish American Heritage Month, 2022

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

Jewish American Heritage Month is observed in May. Every year, the president issues a proclamation to make it official.

Beginning in 1981, presidents started designating a Jewish American Heritage Week in April or May. In 2006, George W. Bush was the first to proclaim May as Jewish American Heritage Month. Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, a Jewish American herself, co-led the legislative initiative setting aside a month to highlight the importance of Jewish people to our country.

As a religious and cultural minority in the US, the contributions and experiences of Jewish Americans have sometimes been omitted from our countrys national narrative, largely due to a history of bias against them. JAHM is designed to fully and authentically celebrate and honor their influence and impact on American society.

For many Jews, Jewish American Heritage Month is a time to be more intentional about celebrating their roots, for learning more about who they are and their rich history. For non-Jewish people, JAHM can be an opportunity to learn more about the culture, experiences and achievements of Jewish Americans and to make and deepen connections with Jewish people in their communities.

Because Jewish American Heritage Month is a relatively new observance, people are still in the process of creating their celebrations through gatherings, events, museum exhibits, learning opportunities, interfaith conversations and more. In that spirit, here are some ideas for defining your JAHM observance, either on your own or in community.

ClickThe Jewish American Heritage Month website hosts a wealth of resources for honoring JAHM, from National Archives articles and videos to a virtual Library of Congress museum exhibit entitled From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America.

ConnectIf you know someone of Jewish heritage, find out about their plans for celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month and ask whether there are activities you can join.

If you have Jewish heritage yourself, invite someone outside of that tradition to join you for a meal, gathering or event where they can learn more about Jewish faith and culture.

If theres a synagogue or Jewish community center in your area, check their website or contact their office to learn about outreach events and opportunities connected to JAHM.

ReadThe Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage offers an extensive booklist for JAHM, with a mix of fiction, nonfiction and childrens books.

ListenCan We Talk? is a monthly podcast from the Jewish Womens Archive, with topics ranging from comedy and poetry to personal stories and interfaith discussions. The Thanksgiving Seder episode from November 2018 has particular relevance for Jewish American Heritage Month. It might make a good entry point for someone new to the podcast, but theres goodness throughout each season.

WatchThe 2008 PBS documentary series The Jewish Americans offers a sweeping look at more than 350 years of Jewish-American history. You can watch clips on PBS or find the whole series on DVD through your library. The 2018 film GI Jews takes a close look at Jewish Americans serving in World War II and is available to watch online.

A quick online search will turn up many more lists of films and other media that offer insight into Jewish-American experience.

ShareThe National Museum of American Jewish History is yet another treasure trove of resources for learning and celebrating during Jewish American Heritage Month. The museum also provides easy shareables that you can post on social media to spread the word about JAHM to friends and family who may not know about it.

Older kids and teens can enjoy and learn from many of the same books, films and other resources as adults. Below are a few possibilities for younger kids.

ReadEach year the Association of Jewish Libraries honors three books with the Sydney Taylor Book Award, which celebrates books for young readers that authentically depict the Jewish experience. The award is named for writer Sydney Taylor, whose novel, All-of-a-Kind Family, was first published in 1951. The book was the first recipient of the Jewish Book Councils National Jewish Book Award for childrens literature in 1952. Its considered foundational to the development of American-Jewish childrens literature.

This list includes all the winners of the Sydney Taylor Book Award dating back to 1968, with options ranging from picture books to young adult reads. Our pick: The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco (1988, picture book).

WatchThe 1986 animated film An American Tail appears on many lists of movies about Jewish-American experience. It offers an earworm of a theme song and an age-appropriate story that introduces younger kids to Jewish immigrant experience.

Jewish American Heritage Month is a relatively new observance, but once you know about it, youll find so many unique people to learn about, stories to dive in to and reasons to celebrate.

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

Temple Ohave Israel, Brosville Borough, Pennsylvania. Ref# 15001032

Photograph courtesy of Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Temple Ohave Israel, Brownsville Borough, PennsylvaniaIn addition to providing religious services for Brownsville's Jewish community, Temple Ohave Israel also cultivated and strengthened the Jewish community by educating the community's children and by providing meeting space for social organizations, such as the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society; a Jewish Boy Scout troop; and the Co-ed Club, a Jewish youth club.

Jewish Center of Coney Island, Brooklyn, New YorkThe Jewish Center of Coney Island, built between 1929 and 1931, is significant under criterion A for its association with the Jewish Community Center movement of the late 1910s and 1920s and as an indication of the development of Brighton Beach, at the southern edge of Brooklyn, as a new, middle-class residential neighborhood with a substantial Jewish population in the 1920s.

Hyde Park, Burkeville, VirginiaThe property's successful operation provided the opportunity for agriculturally skilled Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany to Immigrate to America and expand the farm's productivity during the 1930s and early 1940s.

St. Thomas Synagogue--Beracha Veshalom Vegemiluth HasadimCharlotte Amalie, Virgin IslandsThe Synagogue of St. Thomas, called Beracha Veshalom Vegemiluth Hasidim (Blessing and Peace and Acts of Piety), built in 1833 in Charlotte Amalie on St. Thomas Island, is the second oldest and longest in continuous use synagogue in the United States. The congregation, originally Spanish and Portuguese Sephardic Jews, came to the Caribbean Basin to finance trade between the Europe and the New World. Commonly referred to as the St. Thomas Synagogue, it is located on the southeastern slope of Denmark Hill in one of the older residential areas of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin islands, to the north of the towns main business district.

New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society Synagogue and Creamery SiteVillage of Chesterfield, Town of Montville, ConnecticutThe New England Hebrew Farmers of the Emanuel Society Synagogue and Creamery Site, located in the town of Montville, Connecticut, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 2012 for both its historical and archaeological significance. The site includes the foundation remains of the synagogue, its associated mikvah, and a stone well, the foundation remains of the former creamery building (later converted into a dwelling and inn), a stone well, a barn, and several retaining walls.

Louis Brandeis House, Barnstable County, MassachusettsLouis Dembitz Brandeis (1856-1941) was the first Jewish person to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Appointed by President Woodrow Wilson to the Supreme Court on January 28, 1916, Louis Brandeis was already nationally known for his progressive views. Due at these views and ethnicity, his appointment aroused a storm of protest among large segments of the nations legal establishment. None the less, he was confirmed and took the oath on June 5, 1916. His name first became nationally known with the publication in 1914 of his book Other Peoples Money and How the Bankers Use It, which critiqued corporate power in the early 20th century

Hebrew Orphan Asylum, Baltimore, MarylandThe history of the Hebrew Orphan Asylum site spans nearly 200 years from its beginning in 1815 as Calverton, the country home of Baltimore banker Dennis Smith. An 1874 fire destroyed the Calverton mansion, and led to the construction of the present building, which was specifically designed as an orphanage and was dedicated in 1876.

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Jewish American Heritage Month - National Park Service

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

Meet the Orthodox mom of seven who local Republicans want to replace George Santos  Forward

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

Florida Gov. DeSantis appoints anti-trans, anti-abortion author to Sarasota's New College board of trustees  Creative Loafing Tampa

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

diaspora, populations, such as members of an ethnic or religious group, that originated from the same place but dispersed to different locations. The word diaspora comes from the ancient Greek dia speiro, meaning to sow over. The concept of diaspora has long been used to refer to the Greeks in the Hellenic world and to the Jews after the fall of Jerusalem in the early 6th century bce. Beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, scholars began to use it with reference to the African diaspora, and the use of the term was extended further in the following decades.

The concept of diaspora did not figure prominently in the social sciences until the late 1960s; the use of the plural form of the word came later still. Notwithstanding its Greek origins, the term formerly referred primarily to the Jewish experience, particularly the expulsion of Jewish people from their homeland to Babylonia (the Babylonian Exile) as well as the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple. The term, then, carried a sense of loss, as the dispersal of the Jewish population was caused by their loss of territory. Nonetheless, since ancient times the concept has also been used in a positive though much less-influential way to refer to the Greek colonization of the Mediterranean lands from the shores of present-day Turkey and Crimea to the Strait of Gibraltar, between the 6th and 4th centuries bce.

Both experiences, rooted in the Western tradition, have constituted stereotypes of diasporas, though other notable cases from the East developed in medieval and modern times. For instance, through Chinas long history, the spread of its population has often been perceived as a positive or at least neutral phenomenon, described in an ancient Chinese poem: Wherever the ocean waves touch, there are overseas Chinese. Indias influence also expanded, especially throughout the Indian Ocean region, through the settlement of its population beyond its own borders. More generally, worldwide, since the 19th century, the increase in the populations of unskilled labourers migrating to work in agricultural or industrial jobs has drawn particular attention.

Scholars have created various typologies of diasporas. In some reckonings, diasporas may be classified as victim, imperial/colonial, trade, or labour diasporas, according to the main motives for original migrationnamely, expulsion, expansion, commercial endeavours, or pursuit of employment, respectively. Other typologies emphasize historical or political factors, such as traditional/historical (Jewish, Greek, Phoenician) or stateless (Palestinian, Roma) diasporas. Most scholars accept that massive population movements since the middle of the 19th century have generated multiple diasporas that became especially visible in the late 20th century. As a world map of the impact of migrations would show, durable expatriate communities have been established around the globe.

The basic feature of diasporas is the dispersion from a common origin. This may be, as in the case of the black/African diaspora, a common history and a collective identity that resides more in a shared sociocultural experience than in a specific geographic origin. However, most diasporas have maintained a relationship with the place of origin and between the scattered groups themselves. Because the origins of recent diasporas are existing or potential nation-states, some authors qualify these as ethno-national diasporas to explicitly distinguish them from transnational networks in general that have developed in the context of globalization.

In the early 21st century, an estimated 10 percent of human beings lived in a diasporic situation. The number of individuals with dual citizenship exploded in a short period of time. For example, in the 1980s, four countries in Latin America allowed dual citizenship; by early 2000, the number permitting it had reached 10. Many countries set up organizations, institutions, procedures, and devices of all sorts to reach and capitalize on their expatriates. Financial remittances of migrants (not only first-generation) reached several hundred billion dollars per year and were increasingly channeled for productive collective projects, not just for individual consumption purposes. Another benefit to home countries comes in the form of social remittances: technology transfers, information or knowledge exchanges, and democratic values transmission, for example. Migrants and expatriates associations burgeoned in many host countries.

The emerging interest of diasporic populations in their countries of origin has led to concerns in host countries regarding possible conflicting loyalties. Some natives may fear a fifth column operating against national interests or suspicious ethnic networks involved in delinquent or terrorist activities. However, host countries have generally been supportive of diasporas and of their organizations. In addition, cooperation through diasporic groups creates opportunities abroad for the receiving countries. In some cases, however, diasporas come from origin countries where their members are not welcome and where free circulation is limited, making cooperation impossible. On the other side, xenophobia and a reluctance to accept foreign people have not disappeared and can spread in crisis situations.

Diasporas have generally brought about few problems regarding expatriates potentially divided loyalties, but when such conflicts arose in the past, expatriates tended to identify with the countries where they lived, worked, and raised children. Today, for the most part, such individuals and groups combine identities, feeling that they belong to both home and host countries and that they can mix both easily in their daily life in a nonexclusive and productive manner.

Many people claim to be living in a diaspora, to be part of a minority, or to have ancestors from a different ethnic group from that of the majority. They attach a positive value to this, viewing it as adding a premium of identity rather than a negative stigmatization. Individuals of the present day are able to keep in touch with relatives and maintain contacts abroad and at home, as well as to remain connected to cultural, cognitive, and symbolic values of remote places. Information and communication technologies have obviously facilitated this new proximity, but host countries evolution from homogeneous conceptions of citizenship toward more pluralistic, multiethnic approaches has also been crucial. More than in the past, political and socioeconomic integration may be dissociated from cultural and relational assimilation.

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

1. 78 years on, Jewish Holocaust rescuers want their story told  The Associated Press - en Espaol
2. 78 years on, Jewish Holocaust rescuers want their story told  10TV
3. Remembrance Day: Jewish Holocaust rescuers want their story told  KXAN.com

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

The French Jewish children who went to camp, but never came back  Haaretz

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Texas painter unites religion and art in images inspired by Jewish life in the South  NOLA.com

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Texas painter unites religion and art in images inspired by Jewish life in the South - NOLA.com

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Posted By admin on January 27, 2023

Jewish doctors in the Warsaw Ghetto secretly documented the effects of Nazi-imposed starvation, and the knowledge is helping researchers today podcast  The Conversation

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