Jewish Newspapers and Periodicals at the Library of Congress!

Back in 2013, which more or less feels like a millennium ago, started contracting at the Library of Congress. Now, after a six-month Covid furlough, I am back, but in a different division.

So I thought I’d take this time to specifically highlight Serial and Government Publications! They offer access to thousands of digitally and physically available newspapers, periodicals, and government docs. I took some pictures of Jewish-themed publications, which you can see below!

photo courtesy of Rachel Mauro

photo courtesy of Rachel Mauro

For more information on how to search for newspapers and periodicals at LOC, click here and here.

Stay safe out there, and don’t forget to vote!

Pride Month! And the DC Jewish Response to Enduring Racism.

Newly minted Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, DC / photo courtesy of wikipedia

In the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, and during action to protest police brutality against Black people, the Jewish community has mobilized. I’ve been watching from the sidelines, still quarantined in Silver Spring. Luckily, social distancing means more virtual expression. Check out these events, past or present!

I’m largely focused on Adas Israel, since I’m a member there. On June 5, my senior rabbis joined the Washington Interfaith Network for this press conference on racist violence, and challenging the gentrification that forces people of color from the city.

Rabbi Aaron Alexander offered this in his opening prayer:

We consciously decided, embedded, even legislated liberty and justice for some, but not all. And too many of us still decide, every single day with the choices we make, the money we spend, the space we claim, the land we develop, the people we displace, the wages we steal, the rods and staffs we wield, we somehow keep saying that your enough is enough for me, but not for all of you. And so, I am here, God, on behalf of, with the permission of, while asking forgiveness from my brothers and sisters behind me, to say enough is enough.

That evening, for Kabbalat Shabbat (which I’m linking to even though it feels sacrilegious, then again, the video is archived, right? :P), Adas hosted Ilana Kaufman, director of the Jews of Color Field Building Initiative.

Most Jewish spaces in America were created by and largely cater to white Ashkenazi Jews. Among other topics, Kaufman implored those congregants to not see themselves as separate from Jews of Color.

Our narrative and our history in the United States is the Jewish people who somehow presented as all white. And the story that we captured of presenting and being all white, I want to suggest that’s the anomaly. It’s such an important chapter of our history, but really no time in our 5,000 years have we thought we were all white. Or have we all operated just white Jews and Jews of Color. And so, we have learned this behavior of separation from this country. And this moment is inviting us to learn the behavior of coming back together.

In upcoming events, on June 25 and July 2, Sixth & I is hosting a Racial Justice Reading Group. They will be discussing The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

June is also Pride Month! Although the Capital Pride Parade has been postponed, on June 19 the Edlavitch JCC is hosting a Virtual Pride Shabbat with various Jewish LGBTQ+ organizations. Bet Mishpachah Rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin will be co-leading.

I’m grateful to the DC Jewish community for this light in the darkness! Stay safe, everyone.

How to Prepare for Jewish American Heritage Month During Coronavirus?

graphic courtesy of clipart-library.com

May is around the corner, but unlike the last few years, the Jewish American Heritage Month website hasn’t updated with all the celebratory events taking place around the nation. Most of us are still on lockdown, proverbial or otherwise, and cultural programming has taken a hit.

Washington Jewish Week published an article about how Jewish Community Centers (particularly our three local JCCs) and Sixth & I are struggling financially under COVID-19. Other Jewish institutions are more supported by philanthropy, according to JCC Association of North America CEO Doron Krakow, but JCCs build up revenue primarily through programming costs. The virtual world isn’t as lucrative.

Still, these organizations continue to put themselves out there. Here are some resources:

• Upcoming Virtual Programming at the Edlavitch DCJCC
• The Bender JCC promotes virtual classes on their Twitter, and started a new hashtag: #BenderJCCatHome
• Virtual Programming Guide from the Pozez JCC
• Sixth & I’s upcoming virtual events appear prominently on their Facebook page, which also includes videos of some recent programming.

Last summer, I took to the National Museum of American History to look for Judaism in the broader DC world. Physical museums may be closed this spring, but you can still find info on artifacts online. In lieu, perhaps, of the Capital Jewish Museum offering in-person programming this year, check out their virtual exhibits! The most all-encompassing one might be Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Community. It takes us from 1795, when the first Jews arrived here, to today!

Stay safe and healthy during these unprecedented times. And thank you to the members of our local Jewish organizations who continue to leave the lights on, however they can. The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington has started a COVID-19 Response Fund, which you can access here.

2014 in review for JewishDC!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

On a less personal but Jewish DC local note, before I get to my stats, I’d like to take a moment to comment on some of the bigger stories out of our area in the past few months–eg Barry Freundel’s voyeurism accusations and abuse of power at Kesher Israel, and more recently Ari Roth’s controversial departure from the DCJCC’s Theater J. I hope that we can all learn and grow, and find peace and renewal as a community in the secular new year.

But beyond these more negative chapters in our history, I’d like to pay credence to the overwhelming support that Rabbi Gil Steinlauf, of the synagogue to which I belong, Adas Israel, received after releasing his elegant missive about publicly coming out of the closet. I’m inspired not only by his bravery, but also by how local and worldwide Judaism is evolving to understand, respect and make room for LGBTQ people. Kol Hakavod!

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,700 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 45 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Save a piece of local Jewish culture in Mount Vernon

The 415 M Street mural / photo courtesy of JHSGW

As Jewish American History Month draws to a close, and amidst more distressing news of Jewish communities abroad, I thought this might be a good time to highlight a local effort to save a piece of our religious culture.

The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington has set up a donation page, hoping to raise at least $20,000 to remove and preserve the only known synagogue mural in Washington, DC.

The property at 415 M Street was purchased 100 years ago by the Young Men’s Hebrew Association, an organization, which ultimately grew into the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. (Full disclosure: I interned two years ago at JHGW, where I organized the archival papers pertaining to local JCCs, starting with YMHA at this address. My favorite artifact was a bound book of brochures and programs from 1918-23).

The property was then sold to the Hebrew Home for the Aged, which now exists as the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington, and Orthodox congregation Shomrei Shabbos, which painted the mural 90 years ago. From there, the property belonged to a couple of churches, and will be converted to condominiums later this summer.

As amazing as it is to consider the varied history of this one house, to say nothing of the rest of DC, it would be a shame for this meaningful staple of Jewish presence in DC to be lost. Please do what you can to donate and/or spread the word! In the mean time, check out this short documentary film about the property by former resident Stephanie Slewka.

Stats for Jews in DC and JewishDC!

Happy New Year’s Eve! Alas, this wasn’t exactly the way that I planned to write a December post. I had been hoping to make it to Sixth & I’s millenials panel discussion on the recent Pew Forum survey on Jewish American life moderated by Rabbi Shira Stutman, but bad weather detained me. That being said, I was delighted to learn that the entire panel was videotaped and posted online! You can also find the results of Sixth & I’s informal survey of DC-area millenial Jews.

I hope that this blog, like those results, show that Jewish pride is alive and well in the nation’s capital. I look forward to continue chronicling local events and culture in 2014, a year when I’ll be 100% free of grad school! 😀 In the meantime, check below for some highlights from 2013. Have a safe and fun holiday!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 3,000 times in 2013. If it were a cable car, it would take about 50 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

New Internship at the United States Holocaust Museum Library!

Books in a staff member’s office overlook a repository of the names of Holocaust victims / photo taken by Rachel Mauro

With all luck I’m entering what should be my final semester of Library Science school. 😀 As a capstone experience for my master’s degree, I have to take part in a field study practicum. And I thought, what better place than the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum research library?

Unlike many museum libraries, this one is mandated by Congress to be free and open to the public. It caters to all manner of patrons, from grade school students to international doctorate candidates; genealogists looking for lost relatives and Museum staff creating a new programming event. The collection is ever-growing, including a multi-lingual array of books, journals, DVDS, VHS and audio, photographs, electronic databases, machine-readable microfilm and more. The reference staff also provides access to the Museum’s archival material found here. For the library catalog, click here.

I am grateful for this experience to round off my Library Science education in a hands-on, practical way, as well as the opportunity to work for another Jewish organization in DC. Be sure to check out the library the next time you’re at the Museum; it’s on the 5th floor and open weekdays 10-5:30!

Summer Internship at the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington!

Sifting through the Society’s holdings on Jewish Community Centers in Washington, DC / photo taken by Rachel Mauro

Perhaps in tandem with Shavuot (studying old documents? OK, it’s a stretch :P), I’m pleased to check in with the news that I’ll be spending much of my summer at the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington, cataloging records spanning 100 years having to do with the Jewish Community Centers in the Washington area. I’m so excited to learn more about the storied histories of the JCC of Greater Washington and the DCJCC!

Beyond archival duties I’ll also be helping out in the Society where I can, including writing entries on their blog. Check out my inaugural post, chronicling a lecture by Interpretive Programs Manager David McKenzie on Jewish Washington: Scrapbook of an American Jewish Community.

And with school cooling off for a little while, I plan to be back here a bit more, too! Stay tuned for new features this summer, and chag sameach!

In Our Backyard: The S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection of Yiddish Books

Most of the S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection of Yiddish Books is available for public consumption on the 6th floor of McKeldin Library / photo taken by Rachel Mauro

As I journey into my second semester of Library Science school books are naturally on my mind. And studying at a university with a large Jewish Studies program, some of these books are invariably about Judaism.

Many of these texts are secondary sources—scholars who have written about Jewish history, culture, religion and etc. But libraries offer more than just scholarly articles sitting on shelves. Special collections handlers often care for and display primary sources…rare books, historical authors, and important pieces of our collective culture. In this day and age, these collections are often available to the public like never before as they get digitized and put online.

So you don’t even have to set foot on the University of Maryland College Park campus to be able to see part of the S.L. and Eileen Shneiderman Collection of Yiddish Books. Donated in 1996 by Mrs. Shneiderman when her husband passed, the collection consists of 395 international (and often autographed) books in Yiddish that the couple acquired during Mr. Shneiderman’s career as a journalist, poet and essayist. The books, ranging in subject matter from fiction, poetry and memoirs to journalism, shtetl history and Israeli policy, are largely available for public consumption at McKeldin Library. But you can find the full list of translated book titles on the university Web site, as well as a few scanned covers and inscriptions.

Living in a bustling city like Washington, DC with a large Jewish population often means that we’re involved in many forms of public activism. But let’s not forget, too, that we Jews are “the people of the book” with a long and detailed heritage written down for us. These cultural volumes are worth our attention. For more information on where to locate these books, check out the UMD card catalog.

Third Annual Jewish Community Hero Award Features Local Jewish Leaders

Graphic courtesy of Discovery Education

Who do you know who should be honored as a Jewish communal leader? The Jewish Federations of North America ask this question for a third year with their Jewish Community Heroes project. Individuals were allowed to nominate their mentors until late September. Official public voting wraps up the night of Nov. 10, then a panel of varied judges (including our own Rick Recht!) will choose five finalists from 20 semifinalists in the A small team will choose from 20 semifinalists from professional and volunteers categories. The overall winner will be announced in December.

Now’s your chance to stand up for Jewish heroes in the DC area! Close to home, several inspiring leaders have already been recognized for their contributions to the Jewish world. Learn more about them here, and click on their profile pages for more info!

• Daniel Ratner, Rockville, Md. AishDC board member and Shabbat hoster.
• Judy Lowitz, Rockville, Md. Pediatric nurse, community/Israel volunteer, kidney donor.
• Rabbi Reeve Brenner, Rockville, Md. Founder of Inclusionary Sports for kids with special physical needs.
• Dr. Erica Brown, Silver Spring, Md. Washington-area adult classes teacher on Jewish subjects.

A hearty mazel tov to all of these amazing leaders…and it’s just the tip of the iceberg here, folks. Check out the full nominees page for much more!

Read years’ past coverage here and here.