A Blog for Northeastern University Jewish Studies Faculty, Students, and Community
By Lori Lefkovitz. One of the many unsettling and remarkable aspects of sheltering in place all of these weeks is how one day blends into the next and itโs hard to remember what day of the week it is. Today, I found myself happily surprised by the length of daylight and had to remind myself… Continue reading Reading the Book of Ruth on the Holiday of Shavuot
The following article, contributed by Jay Ruderman, President of the Ruderman Family Foundation, and Dr. Hanna Shaul Bar Nissim, highlights the expansion of Jewish communal philanthropy during the current crisis. The Ruderman Family Foundation is a loyal and much appreciated supporter of the Northeastern Jewish Studies Program, sponsoring the Ruderman Chair (held by Professor Lori… Continue reading In Jewish Philanthropy, a Case Study of How a Crisis Can Expand Communal Giving
By Phil Brown. My son Michael Littenberg-Brown is Vice-President of United Hatzalah of Israel (no connection to NY Hatzalah), which does EMT work, especially with minutes-long response time on 1,000 ambucycles (with 6,000 Jewish, Muslim, and Christian volunteers), custom-outfitted motorcycles with lifesaving capabilities. They've added lots of COVID-related work -- among other things, their volunteers… Continue reading Hallelujah and More
An undergraduate student uses the Gideon Klein Award to create an educational animated project By Yael Sheinfeld, 2019-2020 Gideon Klein Scholar. For my Gideon Klein presentation, I am creating an animated short centered around the childrenโs book The Childrenโs Tree of Terezin [for more about the Gideon Klein Award, see below this article]. The book,… Continue reading Bringing to Life the Children’s Tree of Terezin
By Laurel Leff. Iโve always wanted to honor Shabbat, Iโve always meant to honor Shabbat, but I never have. I wasnโt willing to lose a day I desperately needed to catch up on the weekโs work, and to do the errands and chores that had plagued me all week long. In this lockdown era, however,… Continue reading Rethinking Shabbat in Lockdown
Academic Video Online Database has Jewish Studies Documentaries By Debra Mandel. While working from home, our screen time has increased enormously. We are balancing zoom sessions, binge watching series, and tuning in to difficult daily news.ย To add to this mix, the Northeastern Library has wonderful streaming videos and music to choose from. Here is… Continue reading Enrich your Screen Time!
By Simon Rabinovitch. This past fall I taught for the first time Northeastern's introductory course to Jewish religion, history, and culture (JWSS/PHIL 1285) and took the students to a couple of spots in Boston relevant to Jewish history in the city. We strolled down the street from where our class met, to the Columbus Avenue… Continue reading Digital History of the Jews of Boston
By Joel Bresler. My love of Sephardic music began in my college years. I loved Renaissance music, especially Spanish Renaissance music. A group named Hespรจrion XX brought out a double LP of Christian and Sephardic music. (See here for a discussion of performing Sephardic music as Early Music, but thatโs a whole separate discussion. Iโm grateful for… Continue reading In Search of Sephardic Music
By Alexander Levering Kern. While we will surely remember this April as the trying time of Coronavirus/COVID-19, for three of the world's great faiths this is also a deeply holy season, made somehow more precious by the sense of suffering and struggle that we share. As Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities observe Passover, Easter, and… Continue reading Anatomy of Yes: A Poem, with Questions to Ponder
By Debra Mandel. As you finish up your research projects and ponder your next ones, visit the libraryโs Jewish Studies Subject Guide , a handy gateway exploring Jewish scholarship, information and multimedia in databases, periodicals, encyclopedias and websites. Key databases include Jewish Studies Source, a multidisciplinary gateway to Jewish civilization and Index to Jewish Periodicals which… Continue reading Jewish Studies Research Resources and Information at your Fingertips
Northeastern Jewish Studies Blog 