They cover the walls of train stations, the sides of bus stops, and the poles of street lamps. Smiling faces, a familiar phrase, and sometimes a QR code leading to a memorial website. The National Library is creating an archive that will collect and preserve the stickers commemorating the victims of the Nova festival and those who have fallen in the war. Why is it important to preserve these memorial stickers, how should it be done, and what meaning does this kind of documentation hold for bereaved families?
George Gershwin: A Jewish Voice in the American Soundscape
“I think that many of my themes are Jewish in feeling, although they are purely American in style,” Gershwin, one of the greatest composers in U.S. history, said. His wondrous music still defies categorization.
From Portugal, to Aleppo, to Jerusalem: The Remarkable Journey of the Lisbon Mahzor
Created on the eve of a community’s destruction, the Lisbon Mahzor survived the horrors of persecution and expulsion, and then wandered the world as one of the few surviving treasures of a rare religious and artistic tradition. At some point along the war, its three volumes were separated. Only recently, thanks to the efforts of the National Library of Israel, have all three been reunited in Jerusalem, and now they have even been joyfully rejoined in digital form.
The Questionable (and Immortal) Values in the Books of Roald Dahl
He saw the world as a dark and terrible place. He thought Hitler wasn’t entirely wrong. His books brim with gruesome imagery, and with scorn for women, overweight people and different races. And yet, decades after they were written, they remain bestsellers, fueling blockbuster Broadway productions and prompting Netflix to pay hundreds of millions for the rights. Who was Roald Dahl, and what is the secret of his stories’ enduring appeal?
Louis Armstrong’s Star of David
He was one of the world’s greatest jazz musicians, and to this day is considered the most iconic trumpeter in history. Although he wasn’t Jewish, he wore a Star of David necklace around his neck for most of his life. The necklace was a tribute to the Jewish family who helped raise him, and even helped him purchase his very first instrument. This is the story of the legendary musician whose soul became entwined with that of the Karnofsky family, and the scandal that broke out when he visited Israel.
The Inner Workings of a Library … and a Person
“To the Internal Libraries,” artist Hadassa Goldvicht’s new video exhibition at the NLI, is a behind-the-scenes journey through the stacks of the institution’s previous building, one that also serves as a meditation on pain, healing and the body’s own inner systems.
Jewish Girls Studying in Secret: The “Women’s Cheder” of Eastern Europe
In Europe in the early 20th century, when the new school year would come around, there was barely anywhere for women, especially Jewish women, to go and study. What happened when Eastern European authorities tried to prevent Jewish girls from receiving an education?
