Press Release from Library of Congress--100 Years of the Hebraica Collection at LOC

Library of Congress to Mark Centennial of Hebraic Collection With Publication, Exhibition A century ago, New York philanthropist Jacob H. Schiff purchased an initial collection of nearly 10,000 Hebrew books and pamphlets from bibliophile and book dealer Ephraim Deinard for the Library of Congress. This gift formed the nucleus of what is today one of the world’s greatest collections of Hebraic materials and Judaica, comprising some 200,000 items. The Library is celebrating the centennial of its Hebraic Collection with the publication this month of "Perspectives on the Hebraic Book: The Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lectures at the Library of Congress" and an exhibition titled "Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912-2012." "Perspectives on the Hebraic Book" comprises the texts of the Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lectures on the Hebraic Book, which were delivered annually from 2000-2009 at the Library of Congress. The compilation is edited by Peggy K. Pearlstein, head of the Hebraic Section in the Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division. The broad scope of the lectures was designed to reflect the wide-ranging scholarly interests of Myron M. Weinstein (1927-1998), who served his 29-year career at the Library of Congress in the Hebraic Section, which he headed from 1980 until his retirement in 1984. The lecture series and its publication in book form were made possible by Weinstein’s sisters, Muriel Sterne and the late Helen Avati, with additional support from Project Judaica Trust Fund. Each chapter analyzes unique perspectives on the Hebrew manuscript and book. Joseph R. Hacker, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, discusses the printing of Hebrew books in the 16th-century Ottoman Empire. Grace Cohen Grossman, Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, examines 18th- and 19th- century Hebrew prayer broadsides. Bernard Dov Cooperman, University of Maryland, offers a view of the impact of printing on Italian Jewish piety. Jonathan D. Sarna, Brandeis University, chronicles the Jewish book in America. Zachary M. Baker, Stanford University, reflects on the Yiddish theater and its legacy. Marsha L. Rozenblitt, University of Maryland, explores 19th-century Viennese Jewry through the Isak Noa Mannheimer prayer book. Gershon Greenberg, American University, investigates the struggles of Hasidic religious thinkers to find a response to the Holocaust. Evelyn M. Cohen, an independent scholar, compares two 15th-century Joel ben Simeon manuscripts. Doris A. Hamburg, National Archives and Records Administration, describes the conservation of the 1478 Joel ben Simeon manuscript known as "The Washington Haggadah," which is housed in the Library of Congress. The rare item was rebound by the Library of Congress before its display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art last spring. "Perspectives on the Hebraic Book: The Myron M. Weinstein Memorial Lectures at the Library of Congress," a 240-page softcover book with 30 illustrations, is available for $35 in the Library of Congress Shop, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540-4985. Credit-card orders are taken at (888) 682-3557, or shop on the Internet at www.loc.gov/shop. "Words Like Sapphires: 100 Years of Hebraica at the Library of Congress, 1912-2012," will be on view Oct. 25, 2012, through March 16, 2013, in the South Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The exhibition, made possible by generous support from the Abby and Emily Rapoport Trust Fund at the Library of Congress, will feature more than 60 items dating from the 7th century through the present. Items from 15 countries in nine languages include Hebrew manuscripts, incunabula (pre-1501 books), torah scrolls, Yiddish sheet music and contemporary limited edition artists’ books. More than half of the items in the exhibition have never been displayed. The Hebraica publication and exhibition are part of the Library’s "Celebration of the Book," which includes an exhibition, June 25 through Sept. 29, on "Books That Shaped America" and a series of programs, symposia and other events that explore the important and varied ways that books influence our lives. The Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 151 million items in various languages, disciplines, and formats. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, publications and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov.

Kestenbaum auction this week

Auction Thurs., June 21st 2012 at 3pm Fine Judaica: Printed Books, Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Graphic & Ceremonial Art Featuring: The Cassuto Collection of Judeo-Iberian Books Exhibition: Sun. 17th - Wed. 20th June Catalogue here. For further information please contact Jackie Insel Jackie@Kestenbaum.net Kestenbaum & Company 242 West 30th Street, New York NY 10001 Tel: (212) 366.1197• Fax: (212) 366.1368 www.kestenbaum.net

Conference of Judaica Collection Curators

*Curating and Cultivating Exchange:* *The First International Conference of Judaica Collection Curators* The Conference will begin on Monday, June 4th and will end on Wednesday, June 6th 2012. The conference will be held at the National Library of Israel which is located in the Edmond Safra Campus in Givat Ram, Jerusalem. The full program may be found on our website: http://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/jewish-collection

Braginsky Collection Update

For those who missed this on H-Judaic last week. Subject: Braginsky Collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books: new German website From: Schrijver, Emile Subject: Braginsky Collection: new German website The fourth exhibition of the private Braginsky Collection of Hebrew manuscripts and printed books, in the Landesmuseum in Zurich, Switzerland, closed on 11 March 2012. The exhibition is now available on the fantastic new German website by Ardon Bar-Hama in which all books, ketubbot and megillot can be seen and in which each showcase and each item is fully clickable. It also contains the splendid Israel Museum film on the making of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts, which should be part of every class on Hebrew book making: www.braginskycollection.ch. The exhibition was a cooperation of the Landesmuseum in Zurich and the Bibliotheca Rosenthaliana, Special Collections, University of Amsterdam. The new site contains 25 items that cannot be seen on www.braginskycollection.com.

Emile Schrijver at Columbia April 19

Review of Yoel Finkelman, Strictly Kosher Reading

Yoel Finkelman. Strictly Kosher Reading: Popular Literature and the Condition of Contemporary Orthodoxy. Boston Academic Studies Press, 2011.

Reviewed by Moshe Sherman (Touro College) Published on H-Judaic (March, 2012)

see: URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=3D34095

New Website Roundup

Jewish Heritage Europe web site: http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu

Sephardi Mizrahi Studies: http://sephardimizrahistudies.org/

JDC Archives: http://archives.jdc.org

"Zucker Holy Land Travel Manuscript" at Penn Libraries:
http://sceti.library.upenn.edu/zucker/index.cfm .