Hanukkah and American Judaism, 1841-1876

‘Tis the season for holiday traditions and rituals – and for social media posts like this one that try to give some historical perspective to why we celebrate the way we do. So many holidays cluster around the winter solstice, such as Christmas and Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve (or Saturnalia or your basic pagan ...

Reading the Apocalypse

A “Chronological Chart of the Visions of Daniel & John” showing the creator’s interpretation of the prophecies and setting 1843 as the date of the apocalypse.

Claire Jones, a summer intern from Princeton University, has previously posted about her project centered on Judaica at AAS. This is the next installment in her findings. When I started working on the Judaica collection, I’ll admit I didn’t exactly have a clear idea of what I was expecting to find. I think I was envisioning a lot ...

An Odd Fellow

Fig. 1: Mordecai Manuel Noah, from a miniature in oil by the elder Jarvis, 1840, found in Simon Wolf, Mordecai Manuael Noah: A Biographical Sketch, 1897

Claire Jones, a summer intern from Princeton University, has previously posted about her project centered on Judaica at AAS. This is the next installment in her findings. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve made plenty of mistakes while searching AAS’s online catalog, especially during my first few weeks here, when I was checking dozens or hundreds of ...

Finding John Levy

JohnLevy_0001

A couple of weeks ago, Claire Jones, an intern from Princeton University, posted about her project centered on Judaica at AAS. This is the next installment in her findings. From its cover, the book looked totally ordinary. I had picked the title—The Life and Adventures of John Levy—from my list of memoirs for a few reasons. First, if the ...

Judaica at AAS: A Summer Intern’s Experience

Claire Jones, summer intern from Princeton, paging a book in the American Antiquarian Society stacks.

Stay tuned throughout the summer for updates on Judaica at AAS from Claire Jones, an intern from Princeton University. Thanks to AAS chairman Sid Lapidus and the Princeton Internships in Civic Service program, Claire is working with Elizabeth Pope, curator of books, to identify, improve, and promote AAS’s Judaica collection. Last month, I arrived at AAS ...