Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture

Thank you CJF for your steadfast support!

Chanukah is here – the Festival of Lights! On each of the 8 days of Chanukah we’ll feature the impact made possible by the Annual Jewish Community Campaign on members of our own community over the past year. Because your support impacts more local organizations than days of Chanukah, on most days we doubled up two organizations:

#1: Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program: Your gift to the Annual Jewish Community Campaign supported Mapping Jewish Charleston - 18 months of work to process, catalog, and make accessible Jewish Heritage Collection (JHC) oral history recordings and manuscript materials acquired since their founding in 1995.

“For descendants and close associates of the interviewees, hearing the voice and the stories of a relative or loved one can be transformative. Perhaps the most dramatic instance—one of many—occurred this summer when a distant relative of the Furchgott family, who thought none of her relatives survived the Holocaust, connected to family historian Dale Dreyfoos by finding our 1997 interview with him online.

#2: BSBI Synagogue, Charleston, SC: Your gift to the Annual Jewish Community Campaign supported customized programs serving the local Israeli population (e.g. Passover seder and High Holiday services), Jewish seniors (Lunch and Learn programming) and Jewish residents at Cane Bay (Spoleto Event with transportation).

"At our Rosh HaShanah evening meal, one of the Israelis told me that if not for this program, his family would be home watching TV and the kids would have gone to the beach. He wanted for his family to increase their religious experience and also to interact with other members of the Jewish community."

Your support is changing people’s lives here in the greater Charleston area. It is not too late to make an END-of-YEAR GIFT to the ANNUAL JEWISH COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN.

Donate here or visit www.jewishcharleston.org for more ways to give today:

Cut Gems - Tablet Magazine Cut Gems

Sparkle sparkle! a scintillating article on Jews & diamonds by Jenna Weissman Joselit, citing deep research by Saskia Coenen-Snyder, both recent Sunday brunch speakers sponsored by the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture:
https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/297344/cut-gems

For more on Coenen-Snyder's research, see: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/649092/pdf

tabletmag.com How Jews brought diamonds from South Africa to Amsterdam to Midtown Manhattan

Opinion | Nikki Haley gets the history of the Confederate flag very wrong

Check out Associate Director Adam Domby's opinion piece in the Washington Post this week. Truth matters!!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/12/08/nikki-haley-gets-history-confederate-flag-very-wrong/

washingtonpost.com White supremacists didn't hijack the flag. It's always been a symbol of racism.

Tonight former Center director Shari Rabin will be talking at UNC on "The Jews as a Clas: Between Race and Religion in the Civil War South." Details below.

TONIGHT: Please join us:
Our Margolis lecture for 2019-2020
Oct 23, 7:00pm, Hill Hall, Free/Open to the public

‘The Jews as a Class’: Between Race and Religion in the Civil War South

One of the most infamous instances of American antisemitism is General Ulysses S. Grant’s 1862 General Order Number 11, which banned “Jews, as a class” from the Department of Tennessee. This presentation will revisit this language of southern Jews “as a class” in historical context, showing how Jews and non-Jews alike struggled to categorize Jews in a region – and a nation – dominated by Protestant religion and a rigid racial binary.

Shari Rabin is assistant professor of Jewish studies and religion at Oberlin College.

Details: jewishstudies.unc.edu

Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies

jobs.cofc.edu The Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program at the College of Charleston invites applications for a position as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies in the area of American Jewish life, broadly conceived, to begin August 16, 2020. The Program seeks an active scholar who will have the o...

Tulane receives transformational gift for Jewish Studies

Way to go Michael Cohen!!!!!

https://news.tulane.edu/pr/tulane-receives-transformational-gift-jewish-studies

news.tulane.edu Tulane University has received a generous gift from Stuart and Suzanne Grant of Wilmington, Delaware, to establish the Stua

Charleston native and Mao Zedong adviser Sidney Rittenberg, 98, dies

From ace reporter Adam Parker:

postandcourier.com He spent 35 years in China working on behalf of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution. Eventually, he came to condemn Mao and regret the role he played in upholding the regime,

Tea Time in America - Tablet Magazine Tea Time in America

Thanks to Jenna Weissman Joselit for the shout-out to our NEH Summer Institute, "Privilege & Prejudice: Jewish History in the American South"

tabletmag.com When Jews immigrated from Russia, they brought their samovars with them. But while their love of tea endured, their samovars quickly fell out of favor.

Sidney Rittenberg, Idealistic American Aide to Mao Who Evolved to Counsel Capitalists, Dies at 98

Born and bred in Charleston, SC, Sidney Rittenberg was a prominent character on the global stage, but if you want to learn more about his early years and family origins, check out his Jewish Heritage Oral History Interviews at https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu

nytimes.com Once a dedicated Communist, Mr. Rittenberg became disillusioned after 16 years in prison in China and returned to the United States to forge a lucrative career helping companies do business in China.

Weinfeld: Jewish life below the Mason-Dixon line

Thank you David Weinfeld for a wonderful shout-out for our NEH summer institute, "Privilege & Prejudice"!!

https://www.cjnews.com/perspectives/opinions/weinfeld-jewish-life-below-the-mason-dixon-line

cjnews.com David Weinfeld travels to Charleston, S.C. to learn about the history of the Southern Jewish community there.

Selma's only synagogue has 4 members and is fighting for its life - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

https://www.jta.org/2019/07/05/united-states/selmas-only-synagogue-has-4-members-and-is-fighting-for-its-life

Note photo credits for Amy Milligan, who participated in our NEH institute "Privilege and Prejudice: Jewish History of the American South." Congrats Amy!!

jta.org Temple Mishkan Israel stopped having weekly services in the 1970s. Its remaining caretakers want to turn it into a museum.

» Transmission of Trauma: Legacies of the Holocaust Studying the South

Click on the link to read Charleston Research Fellow Lucas Wilson's report on his work on the transmission of trauma in families of Holocaust survivors. The Center for Southern Jewish Culture is accepting applications for 2019/2020 fellows now through August 1.
https://blogs.cofc.edu/southern-studies-minor/2019/05/28/transmission-of-trauma-legacies-of-the-holocaust/

blogs.cofc.edu

Research Fellowships

The Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston invites applications for its research fellowship program. Fellowship stipends will amount to $500/week and, depending on availability, may include free housing.

Applicants must be working on projects of scholarship, public history, or artistic production that would benefit from research in Charleston. Preference will be given to those coming from out of state and those using materials from the Jewish Heritage Collection at the College’s Addlestone Library. Recipients may include senior scholars, graduate students, and independent scholars, as well as journalists, filmmakers, artists, and exhibition curators.

Applicants must submit a cover letter explaining their research needs in Charleston and the proposed length of the fellowship period; a curriculum vitae; and a 2-page proposal that describes the project. Applications should be emailed to Center director Dale Rosengarten and associate director Adam Domby, at [email protected]. We have two deadlines: August 1 for those hoping to visit during the academic school year (September-April) and March 1 for those hoping to visit during the summer (May-August).

More info at https://jewish-south.cofc.edu/research-fellowships/

jewish-south.cofc.edu Research Fellowships Charleston Research Fellowship The Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture at the College of Charleston invites applications for its research fellowship program. Fellowship stipends will amount to $500/week and, depending on availability, may include free housing. Ap...

» The Pollitzer Sisters in Charleston—And Around the World Studying the South

Enjoy this new blogpost from Charleston Research Fellow Melissa Klapper!

https://blogs.cofc.edu/southern-studies-minor/2019/06/12/the-pollitzer-sisters-in-charleston-and-around-the-world/

blogs.cofc.edu During my visit to Charleston last March as research fellow at the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture, I made a sort of pilgrimage to 5 Pitt Street, the house where sisters Anita, Carrie, and Mabel Pollitzer grew up. I was delighted not only to see a historical marker on the site, b...

Reading tea leaves – From Under the Fig Tree

Thoughts on our recent NEH Summer Institute on "Jewish History in the American South" by one of our visiting faculty members.

https://www.fromunderthefigtree.com/2019/06/11/reading-tea-leaves/

fromunderthefigtree.com Reading tea leaves Author mweckerPublished on June 11, 2019June 11, 2019Leave a comment on Reading tea leaves I've just returned home after having spent nearly a week -- and a most stimulating one, at that -- in Charleston, South Carolina, at an NEH-sponsored Summer Institute on Southern Jewry. Host...

Piccolo Spoleto's World of Jewish Culture series includes trio of documentaries

Join us!

https://www.postandcourier.com/features/piccolo-spoleto-s-world-of-jewish-culture-series-includes-trio/article_0ca92c1e-7ff4-11e9-9aa6-b332192e5b43.html

postandcourier.com The annual 10-day Piccolo Spoleto Festival program, A World of Jewish Culture, this year includes a film series, “Southern Jewish Life on the Big Screen” — three documentaries on pioneering

Jewish South Summer Institute – Summer Institute at the College of Charleston

We look forward to welcoming 25 scholars from across the country to Charleston today for our summer institute, “Privilege and Prejudice: Jewish History in the American South.”

While we hope to see you at the events associated with "A World of Jewish Culture," note that Institute events are restricted to official participants and faculty, as per the regulations of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Jewishsouthsummer.cofc.edu

jewishsouthsummer.cofc.edu For more than four decades, historians have been working diligently to shed light upon the experiences of Jews living in the American South. Yet despite concerted endeavors, the subject of southern Jewry has remained isolated from the broader field of southern history, as well as from American and J...

The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives

Two 19th-century ketubot. The first is from 1857 and is for the marriage of Solomon Joseph and Rebecca Abraham, both of Charleston, S.C. The other is from 1873 and is for the marriage of David Nieto and Esther Balasco—residents of Kingston, Jamaica.

College of Charleston Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program

While food may seem simple, what people eat is shaped not only by geography and the environment, but also by culture, religion, and the interaction of different groups over time.

On April 9, the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture proudly hosted food historian Marcie Cohen Ferris and James Beard Award–winning chef and author Michael Twitty for a conversation about two communities that have been cooking and eating in the South from the colonial period to the present day: Jews and African Americans. Drawing on their influential books, Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South and The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African American Culinary History in the Old South, Ferris and Twitty reflected on how foodways can illuminate our understanding of the region and its people.

This event was part of the College-wide World Affairs Signature Series on “Global Foodways.”

College of Charleston Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program

My Food is My Flag: Jewish, African American & Southern Foodways is one day away! Thanks to the Charleston City Paper for the coverage. Will you be joining us?

https://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/cofc-will-host-michael-twitty-and-marcie-cohen-ferris-for-tuesday-lecture-on-race-and-ethnic-identity-in-southern-food/Content?oid=27643599

Tomorrow is the day! We hope to see you there for what promises to be a fascinating conversation.

Coming up on April 9 - "My Food is My Flag": A Conversation about Jewish, African American, and Southern Foodways with culinary historians Michael Twitty and Marcie Cohen Ferris. We hope to see you there!

Faculty | Libraries’ Dale Rosengarten to Receive Folk Heritage Award

We are bursting with pride - our associate director Dale Rosengarten, is a recipient of the South Carolina General Assembly’s Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award, presented annually to recognize work that keeps the state’s traditional art forms alive! Dale was recognized for her important work in Advocacy, African-American Lowcountry Basketry & Southern Jewish Heritage.

https://library.cofc.edu/faculty-libraries-dale-rosengarten-to-receive-folk-heritage-award/

library.cofc.edu The College Libraries wish to congratulate our own Dale Rosengarten, founding director of the Jewish Heritage Collection, for being honored with the South Carolina General Assembly’s Jean Lan…

A History of American Jewish Women Shows How the Country Influenced Them, and Vice Versa

Congrats to Pamela Nadell on her New York Times review! We loved hosting her at Jewish studies this morning!

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/03/29/books/review/americas-jewish-women-pamela-s-nadell.amp.html

nytimes.com In “America’s Jewish Women” Pamela S. Nadell offers a sweeping historical tour, moving from colonial times through the feminist struggles and until today.

Coming up on April 9 - "My Food is My Flag": A Conversation about Jewish, African American, and Southern Foodways with culinary historians Michael Twitty and Marcie Cohen Ferris. We hope to see you there!

The Southern Jewish Historical Society will host its 44th annual conference from October 24-27 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The conference theme is “Jews, Race, and Public Memory.”

Proposals are due March 29!
https://www.jewishsouth.org/upcoming-conference

The Southern Jewish Historical Society will host its 44th annual conference from October 24-27 in Charlottesville, Virginia. The conference theme is “Jews, Race, and Public Memory.”

Proposals are due March 29!

https://www.jewishsouth.org/upcoming-conference

Museum focused on Southern Jewish history to open on Howard Avenue in 2020

https://www.nola.com/news/2019/03/museum-focused-on-southern-jewish-history-to-open-on-howard-avenue-in-2020.html

nola.com The museum will tell the stories of Jewish communities across the South.

Center Director Shari Rabin at tonight's mini-course on Southern Jewish History. The last session will be at 7pm on Monday, March 11 in Arnold Hall (JWST Room 100)!

Friday is the deadline to apply for our NEH Summer Institute, "Privilege and Prejudice: Jewish History in the American South." If you are a college or university professor (including advanced graduate students and non-tenure track folks), we hope to see you your application!

College of Charleston Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program

We’re famous!

Prof. Shari Rabin's Southern Jewish History course and the Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture hard at work! Stop by the Jewish Studies Center before the end of the semester to check out this incredible, student-curated exhibit.

Applications for our NEH Summer Institute are due a week from tomorrow, on March 1! We'll be spending two weeks in beautiful Charleston exploring the Jewish history of the South and creative ways to teach about it.

Southern Jewish Historical Society

Considering submitting a proposal for this exciting upcoming conference!

The Call for Papers is out for our next conference, on "Jews, Race, and Public Memory," to be held in Charlottesville, Virginia, October 24-27.

https://www.jewishsouth.org/upcoming-conference

Association for Jewish Studies

Hey that's us! Please do send along your applications!

The College of Charleston Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture is seeking applications for its research fellowship program. Stipends & housing are provided. Deadline: March 1

Apply now: http://jewish-south.cofc.edu/research-fellowships/