Visitors view Nova Music Festival Exhibition


    The Moment Music Stood Still: The Nova Music Festival Exhibition
    is a powerful memorial dedicated to the lives lost and forever changed at the Nova Music Festival in Re’im Israel on October 7, 2023.

    The traveling exhibition opened in Tel Aviv in December 2023 and has since been viewed in New York City, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Detroit where I recently was privileged to see it. The exhibition travels next to Miami.

    Through a primary source collection of remnants and personal artifacts salvaged from the festival grounds, as well as video testimonies and written first-person accounts, visitors are invited to experience the stories, memories and messages of those who were present at the festival.

    The Detroit pop-up exhibit centers around a unifying call from survivors: “We will dance again,” and serves as a testament to both the vibrancy of life before the tragedy and the strength that emerges in its aftermath.

    The exhibition website provides press coverage, including a very powerful CBS Sunday Morning segment. Due to security measures, an upcoming schedule is not readily available but there is an option to sign up via email for a NOVA Newsletter.

    If you have already viewed the exhibition or are able to attend in the coming months, please share your impressions. 

    May the exhibition continue to serve as an enduring memorial enabling viewers to “bear witness” to the events that occurred on that day and to look with hope and healing toward the future.

      Nova Music Festival   Israel–Hamas war   Museum exhibitions   Difficult Topics  

    WEVD Music Collection
    Treasures from The David and Ina Shiff WEVD Music Collection at NYPL 


    A recent article from the Jewish Telegraph Agency recounts how the New York Public Library acquired a ‘treasure trove’ of Jewish and Yiddish music after being hidden in a cantor’s basement in Yonkers for 40 years.

    Sheet music, manuscripts and orchestral arrangements for close to 4,000 musical works — including cantorial music, Hasidic melodies, Yiddish theater, klezmer and opera — that were performed live on the radio station WEVD between 1927 and 1995 are now part of NYPL’s Dorot Jewish Division

    At the NYPL’s main branch on Wednesday, November 13 at 7:00 pm there will be a live musical performance and a panel conversation to celebrate the Library’s acquisition of rare sheet music and manuscripts from the legendary New York radio station WEVD.

    Tickets for “WEVD and the Sounds of Jewish New York” are sold out but the event will be live-streamed here.

    How fortunate we are to have access to the WEVD Music Collection which contributes to the understanding of Jewish and Yiddish music history in the United States and which allows us to reflect on the importance of preserving such cultural artifacts.

    To follow up on an important discussion post by   Vivian Awumey  on A Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Is Changing the Way We Interact With Online Exhibitions, a professional development opportunity is available to learn more about Yitskhok Rudashevski.

    Echoes & Reflections will offer a free webinar Yitskhok Rudashevski: A Teenager’s Account of Life and Death in the Vilna Ghetto on November 18, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET.

    There are additional posts about Teenage Holocaust Graphic Novel Diarists and Diaries of the Holocaust here on the TPS Teachers Network. 

    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum provides valuable background on Children's Diaries during the Holocaust along with primary source material on Holocaust Diaries.

    The following Critical Thinking Questions help frame discussion on this topic:

    • Why are diaries an important part of the historical record?
    • What makes children’s diaries distinct? What can we learn from them?
    • How are some of these accounts different from that of Anne Frank?

      Yitskhok Rudashevski    Holocaust education    Teenage Diarists    Holocaust Diaries

    92nd Street Y

    The Southern Jewish weekly. (Jacksonville, FL) 18 Mar. 1949, p. 11. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn78000090/1949-03-18/ed-1/ 

    One-hundred-and-fifty years ago, New York City's 92nd Street Y was founded as a community and performance center, an inclusive meeting place where people could go to make their lives more meaningful. A recent CBS Sunday Morning segment caught the attention of this former New Yorker who has great memories of the Y while growing up during my own teen years.

    In the broadcast, correspondent Faith Salie talked with 92NY's CEO Seth Pinsky about its remarkable history, stemming from a simple mission. A group of German Jewish civic leaders saw a large number of Eastern European Jews coming to the United States. Recognizing that this population needed a home, a safe place, the leaders vowed to "create a Jewish version of the YMCA."

    A Library of Congress item of interest includes The House on 92nd Street, a movie picture poster showing stars William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, and Siigne Hasso. The actual 1945 film The House on 92nd Street is available here.

    The house on 92nd Street

    The house on 92nd Street. [S.l.: s.n] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2004666081/>

    The Milstein Family Communal Archives Project (led by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research) also provides this overview of the 92nd Street Y.

    By extension, a good number of YMCA resources can be found through the Library of Congress while a history of YMCAs is available here.

    In an era where community bonds are increasingly vital, organizations like the YMHA, JCC's and YMCA's continue to play a crucial role in fostering social cohesion and individual development. These institutions have evolved far beyond their original missions to offer youth development programs, senior citizen services, family support initiatives, community health programs, career development resources while fostering community cohesion and addressing social issues. 

    Please feel free to share how your local Y or Jewish community center has had a positive meaningful impact over the years. 

      Community Centers    Social Services    Senior Citizens    Youth Development    American Jews  

    Hasting Street exhibit

    If your July 4 holiday travel plans find you in Michigan, be sure to visit an exhibit of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan on view at the Detroit Historical Museum.

    "In the Neighborhood: Everyday Life on Hastings Street" takes visitors on a walk back in history to Hastings Street’s time from 1880-1930 as an enclave for Detroit’s Jewish immigrants, where everyday life was full of the choices, adversities, innovations, triumphs, tensions, and synergies that defined this incomparable place.

    Prior to 1930, Hastings Street, which later became a center for Black culture and commerce, was home to many immigrants, including working-class Jews who fled Eastern Europe driven by the terror and violence of antisemitism. This new exhibit, presented by Jewish Historical Society of Michigan, follows Jewish immigrants’ experiences from Europe to Detroit to Hastings Street. A fascinating blend of artifacts and storytelling gives visitors a rare peek into Jewish life of the period.

    The Detroit Jewish News offers this writeup on the exhibit while Detroit Public Radio provides background on the Black Bottom section of the city where Jewish immigrants lived.

    On a personal note, a family member contributed a samovar to the exhibit and our relative is featured in a video preview Behind the Hastings Street Exhibit.

    Thank you for your interest in this important exhibit highlighting the history of the Detroit Jewish community.

      Jewish Historical Society of Michigan    Detroit Historical Museum     Museums     Jewish Americans  

    2024 Days of Remembrance Commemoration

    2024 Days of Remembrance Commemoration

    Next week (May 5-12) begins the 2024 Days of Remembrance, the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust, established by Congress to honor victims and survivors.

    The Days of Remembrance Commemoration will take place in the US Capitol’s Emancipation Hall on Tuesday, May 7 at 11:00 A.M ET.  The ceremony will be livestreamed here.

    The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum makes resources available for groups planning to host such an observance including suggested readings, poster sets, videos, sample proclamations and more.

    As a retired school librarian and Holocaust educator, I continue to support colleagues engaged in teaching this important and timely subject. I am glad to provide an updated Holocaust Learning Resources list with information about other Holocaust Remembrance observances taking place this month and throughout the year.

    Holocaust Learning Resources

    Thank you for your interest and support.

      Yom HaShoah    United States Holocaust Memorial Museum    Holocaust Education    Days of Remembrance  

    Passover 2024 during the war

    Passover 2024 during the war - Why is this night different?

    Passover 2024 will be celebrated from April 22 to April 30, starting at sundown on Monday, April 22 and ending after nightfall on April 30 in the United States. The Hebrew name, Pesach, means "to passover" because the plague in Egypt that killed all firstborns passed over the Israelites' homes, sparing the lives of their children.

    Please see a recap of resources previously shared on the TPS Teachers Network and some updated items that bring special meaning to the holiday. Supplements for conducting a seder in the post October 7 world are included.
    During this year's Passover observance, we are challenged to use freedom to wrestle with the crisis in Israel and Gaza, and with cases of injustice and oppression around the world. Passover is a reminder that it is our duty to stand for those who are unable to stand for themselves. 

    Thank you for your support and may Passover 2024 be a happy, healthy & peaceful holiday for those who celebrate!

    Taylor Swift Haggadah

    A page from the Taylor Swift Haggadah by Na'ama Ben-David and Shelley Atlas Serber (The Jewish Chronicle)

      Passover    Haggadah    Taylor Swift  

    The Philadelphia Writing Project invites 3rd -12th grade teachers and university faculty to explore the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History’s exhibits and historical primary sources. Register here.

    WHAT AND WHEN

    "Intersections Between Jewish History and Labor History in America" — Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 5:00-7:00pm ET

    WHERE

    Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

    101 S Independence Mall E

    PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVE

    • Information about scheduling free field trips to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
    • FREE after-hours museum admission
    • ACT 48 credit
    • Free Museum membership, including 10% discount in the gift shop
    If you register and later find you are unable to attend, please let us know by emailing philadelphiawp@gmail.com.
     
    MORE ABOUT PHILWP'S LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PROJECT

    This workshops is part of a series of professional development offerings designed by PhilWP teacher consultants, who have been creating curriculum materials and professional development to support civically engaged argument writing in K-12 classrooms. This work is supported by a Teaching with Primary Sources grant from the Library of Congress.

    Teachers in our Philadelphia Writing Project network are engaging in inquiries and creating curriculum resources to support civically engaged argument writing in K-12 classrooms. Our resources draw upon (1) primary sources from the Library of Congress and local institutions; (2) argument writing approaches from the National Writing Project’s College, Career, and Community Writers Program; and (3) Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy Framework.

    Library of Congress Esther Scroll

    Library of Congress Esther Scroll made at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem

    The Jewish holiday of Purim is a joyous one, commemorating the saving of the Jews from annihilation in 5th century BCE Persia. The story is recounted in the Book or Scroll of Esther (also known as the Megillah in Hebrew) where Esther, a young Jewish woman, plays the leading role in rescuing her people from a massacre at the hands of the evil villain Haman, advisor to Persian king Ahasuerus.

    The word Purim means “lots” and refers to the mechanism by which Haman chose the date for the Jews’ destruction. The holiday is traditionally celebrated with wild abandon — costumes, drinking, feasting, revelry — and by reading the megillah (Scroll of Esther) and giving gifts to friends and the poor.

    For Purim 2024, falling on March 23, here are some updated resources including Library of Congress primary source material and a reflection on the significance of the holiday during the current Israel Hamas War.

    This year, as we prepare to observe Purim, a normally joyous holiday, there is much to mourn: the terrible events of October 7, the incomprehensible suffering of the hostages being held by Hamas, the ongoing war and the daily toll it is taking along with a resurgence of Antisemitism in the United States and the many other tragic events taking place around the world.

    Throughout history, the Jewish people have dealt with misfortune and adversity. Yet they move on, rather than focus only on the past. Survivors of the Holocaust managed to celebrate Purim in the immediate aftermath of the war, even in the Displaced Persons camps. They did not despair but instead chose to live life to the fullest, building a future for a better tomorrow.

    Landsberg

    Children in costume for the Purim holiday at the Landsberg DP camp, Germany, after World War II. (Yad Vashem Photo Archive)

      Purim    Jewish Holidays    Book of Esther    Antisemitism  

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