Whittemore Library: Heritage Months: Jewish American Heritage Month

May is Jewish American Heritage Month

Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) recognizes the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to history and culture. It was officially established by President George W. Bush in 2006.

American Jewish History

Jews in America: The First 500 Years by Matthew B. Schwartz
ISBN: 9781532644115

Publication Date: 2019

Timeline in American Jewish History
Educational resource from the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College.
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
"Presents educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore, and celebrate the history of Jews in America."

Mazal Tov, Amigos! Jews and Popular Music in the Americas by Amalia Ran (Editor); Moshe Morad (Editor)
ISBN: 9789004184473

Publication Date: 2016

Antisemitism in American History (ADL)
"The history of Jews in America is a history of the ongoing negotiation between hard-won legal freedoms and the lingering social effects of racial and religious prejudice as it persists and reignites in this country."
Tulane University's Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience
"Through co-curricular programming, research opportunities, and internships, Tulane students both contribute to and benefit from a holistic understanding of the historical and contemporary experience of American Jews."

American Jewry: Transcending the European Experience? by Christian Wiese (Editor); Cornelia Wilhelm (Editor)
ISBN: 9781441126221

Publication Date: 2016

Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another (Op Ed, New York Times)
"It’s a tense time in the Jewish family group chats. The consensus that held American Jewry together for generations is breaking down."

Distribution of American Jews in the United States

Notable Jewish Americans

Jewish American Food Traditions

American Jews, who for the most part were of Eastern European ancestry, incorporated into their cuisine many foods and dishes that were traditionally cooked and treasured by their ancestors. I Modern times American Jews also incorporate into their cuisine traditional Jewish foods from other parts of the world.

As many Jews keep a Kosher Kitchen (these are ritually correct dietary practices - for example, meat products may not be eaten together with milk products but have each to be eaten separately with strictly designated time spans between them) you will find that many of the recipes follow these dietary practices.

American Foodways: The Jewish Contribution: Menus
"In addition to "Kitchen Judaism," Jewish food has permeated the American restaurant scene. Some of these restaurants are kosher, some are historically Jewish, and others simply use the Jewish influence on American cuisine to present something new."
American Jewish Cuisine
"Many of the Tribe’s most iconic foods–such as blintzes, borscht, and brisket–were considered normal regional cuisine in the countries where they originated. It was not until Jews moved to the United States, and continued eating these foods, that they took on Jewish cultural significance."
List of Popular Jewish Foods You Should Know About
If you have visited a Jewish household, you may have encountered traditional Jewish food that is special to that family, but new to you. This is a basic guide to some of the Jewish foods you might see, and to terminology.
Moment’s Top Ten Jewish-American Foods
Moment Magazine's editors put their tastebuds to work to come up with a list of their ten most favorite Jewish-American foods. We’re willing to bet you eat them more often than apple pie.
‘Traditional’ Jewish American foods keep changing, with cookbooks playing an influential role in how Jews mark Rosh Hashana
"I have been fascinated by the changing character of what are considered “Jewish” foods as expressed in cookbooks. These recipes have shaped the foods that American Jews have eaten, guiding what scholars call “vernacular religion,” or religion as it is lived."

American Jewish Music

UCLA's Milken Archive of Jewish Music
"The Milken Archive was founded in 1990 when Lowell Milken perceived an opportunity to preserve and disseminate a body of music that had helped shape the American Jewish experience."
- The Database of Recorded Jewish Music
- 13-Episode Podcast: 'American Jewish Music from the Milken Archive with Leonard Nimoy'
Library of Congress's 'Jewish Song in America'
"Jewish vocal music culture in the United States reflects the variety of the many different parts of the Diaspora from which the Jewish immigrants originally came, as well as different song traditions among Jewish denominations..."
A Fine Romance: Jews & American Music
"To me, the story of the Jewish imprint on American music is the not the story of Jewish composers shunning their Judaism to become more American; rather, it’s the story of defining and expanding what it means to be Jewish, what it means to be Jewish in America and what it means to be an American."