Watch recording here

View meeting recording here

Moldovan Symposium

Sunday, March 10, 2024, 9:30AM

The theme of the symposium this year will be “War & Memory in Jewish Material Culture.” Shalom Sabar will speak on "Souvenirs of the Six-Day War as Conveyors of Socio-Historical Messages from the Past to Modern Israel'' view recording here

Rabbi Joseph Topek will speak on “Beyond the Civil War: Memory and Iconography in Early American Jewish Veteran Culture.” view recording here

This was an in person meeting at the Center for Jewish History: 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011.

David Sclar is the curator of the current exhibition on Maimonides. This was an in person event at Yeshiva University Museum (Center for Jewish History). View a recording of the event here.

Brad Kolodny, founder and president of the Jewish Historical Society of Long Island, and author of Seeking Sanctuary: 125 Years of Synagogues on Long Island and The Jews of Long Island 1705-1918. Watch the recording here.

Joshua Teplitsky is Joseph Meyerhoff Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History, Director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the co-editor of Be Fruitful! The Etrog in Jewish Art, Culture and History. View a recording of the meeting here.

View the meeting recording here.

Guided tour will meet at 10:30 AM at Sotheby's, 1334 York Ave (between 71st & 72nd St), NYC. This is an in-person meeting only, please RSVP to info@harrygfriedmansociety.org

Marilyn Kushner, Curator and Head, Department of Prints, Photographs and Architectural Collections at the New-York Historical Society will speak about the current exhibition, "I'll Have What She's Having": The Jewish Deli. The meeting will take place in-person at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West at 77th Street.

Julie-Marthe Cohen, Curator of Cultural History at the Jewish Historical Museum of Amsterdam will speak about how Jewish ritual textiles represent a rich cultural and social historical source when studied beyond their physical appearance, illustrating this by showing a number of Dutch Jewish textiles of the collection of the Jewish Museum in Amsterdam. Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish Torah mantles, for example, display a unique form, which not only clearly differs from that of other Dutch Ashkenazi Torah mantles, but reveal specific deeper cultural meanings . This will be a virtual (Zoom) event only.

The meeting will be in person at The Jewish Museum (1109 Fifth Avenue at East 92nd Street).

 J. H. (Yossi) Chajes, Wolfson Professor of Jewish Thought in the Department of Jewish History at the University of Haifa will speak on "The Kabbalistic Tree", based upon his recently published book of this title. Professor Chajes is the preeminent authority on the Kabbalistic custom of Ilanot, the genre of graphic tree-like displays on parchment rolls as aides to visualizing kabbalistic understanding that were created and used by rabbis since the fourteenth century for study and contemplation. He will present the history of Jewish kabbalah generally but with a particular emphasis on one of its most striking material manifestations, the Kabbalistic ilan or tree, a graphic form that promoted and facilitated engagement with kabbalah. Chajes’s book is the first study published about this material. After the meeting, Professor Chajes will be happy to autograph copies of his book which will be available for purchase in the Jewish Museum bookstore.

Members of the Harry G. Friedman Society are invited to a private tour of the exhibition for the Sotheby's Judaica auction of The Halpern Judaica Collection led by John D. Ward, Sharon Mintz and Shaul Seidler-Feller. 

Anyone who wishes to attend should please RSVP to info@harrygfriedmansociety.org  by Thursday, December 8th.  This is an in person event only, RSVP required. It will take place at Sotheby’s: 1334 York Avenue.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/the-halpern-judaica-collection-tradition-and-treasure-part-i?locale=en

This event will take place in person at Temple Emanu-El: 1 East 65th Street, New York, NY 10065. Proof of vaccination required for entry, masks optional.

Present day Iraq, historically ancient Babylonia, boasted a substantial Jewish presence from the time of Ezra the Scribe, but virtually no relics of its ancient and medieval Jewry have survived. Skilled Jewish silversmiths from the 18th to 20th centuries, made Baghdad an important center within the Islamic world for the production of such Jewish ritual objects as Torah cases and amulets. These objects and their relationship to Jewish traditions and practices will be discussed and illustrated.

This lecture will be held at the Center for Jewish History: 15 West 16th Street. Proof of vaccination required for entry.

Members of the Harry G. Friedman Society are invited to a private tour of the exhibition for the 2022 Sotheby's Judaica auction led by John D. Ward, Sharon Mintz and Shaul Seidler-Feller.  The auction and exhibition will highlight an array of Judaica from modern masters of silver such as Ludwig Wolpert and Menachem Berman, and also pieces by artists of the Bezalel School, including a series of original drawings by Zev Raban for his famous Haggadah.  Other Judaica includes early and important Italian ketubbot,  Seder Towels from Germany and Alsace, and a magnificent 18th century Torah Crown from Italy.  Books and manuscripts in the sale include the iconic Haggadot by Ben Shahn and Agam, as well as an important miniature illustrated early 18th century Brit Milah (circumcision) book written and illustrated by the talented scribe Jacob Sofer of Berlin.

Anyone who wishes to attend should please RSVP to info@harrygfriedmansociety.org  by Thursday June 9th This is an in person event only, RSVP required. It will take place at Sotheby’s: 1334 York Avenue.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/important-judaica?locale=en

Jewish creators of craft produced unique homemade artifacts in the 1980's, identifiable due to their distinct Judaic imagery. These items include holiday themed tablecloths, with embroidered candles, Kiddush cups, matzahs, etc. and crocheted kippot with Hebrew letters, Jewish stars, and additional imagery. This talk will show the novelty of their craftwork. Earlier modes of domestic craft by Jewish-American makers will be discussed to contextualize the sudden appearance of these tablecloths and kippot, and analysis of the larger cultural and economic framework will follow. The talk will also analyze how this phase of traditional Jewish crafting was facilitated by new machine-made imitations of handmade craft, specifically mass-produced cross stitch kits, and by changing attitudes towards public displays of Jewish identity.

NOTE: this event will be both in person and virtual. In person will be held at Temple Emanu-El (1 East 65th Street) proof of vaccination and booster required. The lecture will be livestreamed for members, please see your email for details.

Dr. Olga Melasecchi, Director of the Museo Ebreico di Roma, will speak on "The Menorah: Cult, Myth and History". Based on the cooperative exhibition between the Jewish Museum of Rome and the Vatican Museums, this talk will review the origins, history and afterlife of the menorah with a special emphasis on its connection with Rome. There it was brought in 70 CE, there it disappeared at the time of the Vandalic invasion in 455 CE and from there sprang the extensive usage by both Jews and Christians as a pre-eminent religious symbol.