Join us this evening in person or online! Temple Emanu-El Celebrates America at 250 A New World, A New Choice: Jews and the American Revolution Dr. Jonathan Sarna in conversation with Dr. Laura Arnold Leibman streicker.nyc/events/sarna...

Day 3 of Caribbean American Heritage Month features the second largest Jewish community in the Americas prior to 1825: Suriname! At its early peak it had about 2,000 Jews, about half of whom by 1800 had partial African ancestry. Many early US spiritual leaders came from there such as JJ Lyons.

Second day of National Caribbean American Heritage Month! Prior to 1825 the largest and most influential was the Dutch Island of Curaçao which had about 1500 Jews around the time of the US Revolution (vs by which had about 300). Shown here the beautiful Penha house . Photo by L. Leibman

Early modern antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jews and English libraries. In a London "News-letter" of 1649, there is a report that "the Jews" were offering 600,000 pounds to buy St. Paul's to turn into a synagogue and another 200,000 for the "Oxford Library." 1/ #BookHistory #JewishStudies

Some of the amazing clothes and hats at the American Dream exhibit at Western Reserve Historical Society designed by or worn by Jewish American women in Cleveland.

If you get to Cleveland this summer, highly recommend the awesome “Icons in Ink: The Jewish Comics Experience” curated by Samantha Baskind and Roy Schwartz at the Maltz Museum, Respect for All Humanity.

Beautiful Stained glass and art at Congregation Mishkan Or this evening as part of the The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) scholars conference.

Mazel tov to Joyce Antler of Brandeis University for winning the LeeMax Freedman Award from The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS)!! So richly deserved for her incredible scholarship and mentorship and role in changing the field. ❤️❤️❤️ Here with Karla Goldman

Wonderful conversation this afternoon with Alanna E. Cooper, Robin Judd, and Shaul Kelner about Robin and Shaul’s magnificent books. At the The American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) conference. #ajhs2026 #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth

On this last day of Jewish American Heritage Month 2026, the former Temple Tifereth Israel East 107th Street and Ansel Road. Built/occupied 1924. Now part of the Maltz Performing Arts Center of CWRU. Historic photo: Cleveland Historical. Other images: Laura Leibman

On this 29th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, this incredible early American Mikveh (ritual bath) at the Nidhe Israel Synagogue complex in Barbados, dating to the 1650s. Archeological work has changed our understanding of Jewish ritual life and the maintaining of traditions in the Americas.

In her Sunday Times column, UK-based columnist and author Hadley Freeman writes frequently about antisemitism, gender, and politics. Freeman joins JWA's podcast to discuss the wave of violent attacks on British Jews in the United Kingdom: buff.ly/XGAp45s

On this 28th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, the beautiful historic Sephardic Synagogue in Mexico City. #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #jewishmexico #synagogue

On this 27th day in Jewish American Heritage Month, the wonder of dedos! Dedos are these wonderful ceramic photos that people included on gravestones and that were popular in the early the twentieth century, particularly among immigrants. Did your family use dedos? If so where we they from?

On this 26th Day of Jewish American Heritage Month, sharing this amazing resource on the Jews of Charleston. I love how it visualizes the community in 1788, 1833, 1910, and 2020 and gives you a sense of key people in each of these moments in time. Kudos to everyone a the Pearlstine/Lipov Center.

On this 24th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, these beautiful quilts from The Breman Museum in Atlanta. During the 19th century quilts became an important part of the work done by synagogue sisterhoods. They helped raise money for the poor and sheltered soldiers during the Civil War.

On this 21st day of Jewish American Heritage Month, Shavuot traditions beyond cheesecake! One of my favorite things about Laura Yares’s wonderful book Jewish Sunday Schools: Teaching Religion in Nineteenth-Century America (2023) is the discussion of flowers and Shavuot in the book in the 19thC

On this 20th day of Jewish American Heritage Month and in honor of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, Rabbi Isaac Karigal who published the first Rabbinical sermon in the thirteen colonies. Shavuot marks the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai. Images courtesy ehive.com/collections/...

On the 19th day of Jewish American Heritage Month singing the praises of this magnificent new book from Shari Rabin. A work of impecable scholarship, The Jewish South is hands down one of the best written academic books I have read in years. #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #jewishsouth #jewishhistory

On the 17th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, the beautiful house of Moses Myers and Eliza Judah. Myers fought in the Revolution on behalf of the Patriots and also helped run provisions to the rebels through St. Eustatius. #jewishamericanheritagemonth #america250

Day 16 of Jewish American Heritage Month. One of my favorite synagogues: The gorgeous Eldridge Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side. #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #jewishritual #synagogue

Stumbled across this wonderful illustration of the British invasion of Curaçao in 1800. Pen-and-ink and watercolor. Watermarks: J. Honig & Zoonen; and, shield. Library of Congress Web site as a raster image. Vault Acquisitions control no. 2000-62. www.loc.gov/item/2001622...

The book should focus on one of the Institute's core research areas: History of the Hebrew Book, Halakha (Responsa Literature), Jewish History, Kabbalah and Hasidism, Hebrew Literature, or Women’s and Gender Studies within Jewish Studies. Deadline: June 30. @biajs.bsky.social @uclhjs.bsky.social

#Chancen | Call for applications for the The Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Award for Scholarly Excellence in Research of the Jewish Experience | Details: www.jewishstudies.de/de/nachricht... Deadline for applications: July 15, 2026

Some Georgian cultural history served up for the weekend. #Skystorians giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Just in: State officials in New York say the Salmon River district's special education program confined young children with disabilities in wooden boxes. Parents weren't notified.

One of the unreservedly good things of 2026 is @schuneke.bsky.social new book on lesbian women in Nazi Germany. I Will Not Abandon You is a tremendous work of history, deeply researched, original, modest, and refreshing. A 🧵

On this 15th day of Jewish American Heritage Month highlighting the amazing work of CUNY grad student Miriam Entin on the history of mikv’aot (ritual baths) in the 19th and early 20th centuries. www.gc.cuny.edu/people/miria... #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #jewishritual #mikveh

Also check out this incredible Adam and Eve mola www.glencairnmuseum.org/exhibitions-...

H/t Julie Dweck, this wonderful auction of molas coming up including ones with a bunch of biblical scenes. Many years ago I found one in Panama with a scene with Adam and Eve eating not an apple but a strawberry that was utterly charming. www.danaauctions.com/auction/290-...

On the 14th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, the beautiful Snoa (synagogue) of Curaçao that supported and inspired so many of the synagogues in the early United States. The final photo is of the Rabbi’s house that formed part of the complex #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #america250 #synagogue

On this 14th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, some of the beautiful landhuizen belonging to the Jews of Curaçao as well as the type of houses the enslaved people who worked on the estates lived in. Curaçao was a crucial source of support for all of the early congregations in the 13 colonies.

For those in Brooklyn who are interested in Jews, 1776, art, or any combination thereof, I am speaking this Sunday at the Brooklyn Heights Synagogue. Click the link to register in advance! www.bhsbrooklyn.org/bhs-events/t... #jewishamericanheritagemonth #america250

On this 13th Day of Jewish American Heritage Month another fantastic reading list! Includes some classics by Ruth Behar, Michael Twitty, and Emily Bowen Cohen as well as some new classics by Shari Rabin and Sandy Fox! Huge congratulations to everyone on the list! #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth

For those who missed it in person, here is the video from the Jews and 1776 talk at the Library of Congress: www.loc.gov/item/video-1... #nationaljewishheritagemonth #America250

Lovely end to a wonderful first day of the Modern Thought Conference at Princeton University featuring a keynote by Dean Jim Robinson of University of Chicago Divinity School on Commentary and/as Philosophy. See what’s on today’s program here: judaic.princeton.edu/events/comme...

On this 12th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, remembering Jewish pets of blessed memory at Hartsdale Pete Cemetery, the oldest Pet Cemetery in the United States. Wondering what rites and ceremonies you or people you know of have used to cement their pets’ Jewish identity?

On the 11th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, this beautiful circumcision shield by Jewish silversmith Myer Myers of Congregation Shearith Israel - The Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue. Circumcision was an important rite of passage both for baby boys and adult conversos returning to Judaism.

Shout out today to all the mothers and stepmothers today. In their honor, a post for Rachel Gratz Etting who married Solomon Etting just after the Revolutionary War ended. She not only raise their own seven kids, but the four from his first marriage after his first wife died. #jewishmom

On the 10th Day of American Jewish Heritage Month, this year wonderful first book by Benjamin Steiner! Really appreciate the attention to the breadth of the US and the transatlantic approach. #JewishAmericanHeritageMonth #jewishlife #JewishMarriage

On this 9th day of Jewish American Heritage Month, this moving graphic memoir by Miriam Katin about a mother and daughter and how they escaped from the Nazis during World War II. Appreciated the attention to female experiences and pet ownership. Read more here: drawnandquarterly.com/books/we-are...

Writing about the relationship between houses and bodies today and returned to this wonderful illustration of "A New House," from Tobias Kohen’s Ma’aseh Tobiah (Venice, 1707), p.106a. Heb 7459.800, Houghton Library, Harvard University.

For those who missed it last night, here is the conversation between myself, Andrew Silow-Carroll and Dan Tadmor of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History for a discussion about the First Salute Exhibit which opened last week! www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD2Y... #America250

Need Funding? When I was at the Library of Congress this week the pointed out they are always looking for more applicants. Pay is 5k/month for 4-11 months. Should already have PhD. www.loc.gov/programs/joh...

Today on the 9th day of Jewish American Heritage Month this wonderful nineteenth century silhouette of Mr and Mrs Charles Tobias and their magnificent dog! Made by famed artist Edouart while the couple was vacationing in Saratoga Springs NY in 1844. Read here: muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/articl...

On the 8th day of National Jewish Heritage month, a portrait of Rabbi Aboab da Fonseca, the rabbi of Recife. When the colony fell to the Portuguese, he fled back to Amsterdam, where he was buried. Read more about him in Jews Across the Americas nyupress.org/978147981932...

A wonderful review of the First Salute exhibit at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History! www.wsj.com/arts-culture...

Huge shout out to the magnificent staff at the Library of Congress and to everyone who came to the event this afternoon on Jews and the Revolution. Below are a few of the beautiful objects they retrieved from their collections for the special showing before and after my talk.

For the 6th day of Jewish American Heritage month the Pinto prayer book of 1766–the first Jewish prayer book published in English in what would become the United States. It was crucial for the younger generation who didn’t necessarily understand Spanish or Portuguese, but also for Ashkenazi Jews

On the fifth day of Jewish American Heritage month sharing this magnificent book by Evelyn Maria Dean-Olmsted on Mexican Syrian Jewish community. Should be mandatory reading for anyone who wants to understand some of the key differences between Jewish life in the US and other North Am. countries