Directories
General
This database includes information about associations and professional societies in the United States and throughout the world. It can be searched by subject or by keyword.
Connect
Provides a listing of links to Jewish organizations around the world.
“The mission of the American Jewish Historical Society is to foster awareness and appreciation of the American Jewish past and to serve as a national scholarly resource for research through the collection, preservation and dissemination of materials relating to American Jewish history”
“ The American Sephardi Federation (ASF) is a national Jewish organization dedicated to strengthening and unifying the American Sephardic community and promoting its spiritual, cultural and social traditions.
ASF supports the Sephardic community with cultural and academic programming, the only permanent Sephardic exhibit gallery and an online library dedicated to promoting Sephardic culture in America.”
“The Center for Jewish History emerged from a vision of a unique central repository for the cultural and historical legacy of the Jewish people. The Center embodies the unique partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history and art: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The Center will serve the worldwide academic and general communities with combined holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books, and thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings and textiles—the largest repository documenting the Jewish experience outside of Israel.”
“The Center aims to promote research in Jewish History throughout the ages, from the biblical to contemporary eras in both Israel and the Diaspora.” Part of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, this site includes the Jewish History Resource Center with its listing of over 6,000 web links to Jewish sites on the Internet.
“The archival and manuscript holdings of the American Jewish Archives include over 650 major manuscript collections and nearly 14,000 smaller collections. A brief description of the major manuscript collections as well as a selection of full-text inventories (finding aids) is available on this website.”
“In 2004, The Jewish Museum celebrates its Centennial year, marking the gift, in 1904, of 26 Jewish ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary by Judge Mayer Sulzberger. Over the past 100 years, the Museum has assumed its role as a major cultural institution for New York City and the world. The Jewish Museum is an art museum exploring Jewish culture. It is both a source of inspiration and knowledge for an audience of visitors of all cultural backgrounds, and a special touchstone of identity for a diverse population of Jewish people.”
“The Jewish National and University Library serves a threefold purpose: it is the National Library of the State of Israel, the National Library of the Jewish People, and the Central Library of the Hebrew University.”
“The mission of the Jewish Women's Archive is to uncover, chronicle, and transmit the rich legacy of Jewish women and their contributions to our families and communities, to our people and our world.”
“The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Library, Cincinnati, functions both as a campus library and as the main research library within the HUC-JIR Library system. Guided by the Mission Statement of the HUC-JIR Library system, the Cincinnati Library acquires, preserves and provides access to materials in printed, manuscript and other formats, supporting the teaching functions of the Rabbinic and Graduate programs and meeting the research needs of its various users: the faculty, students and staff of HUC-JIR Cincinnati; the residents of the Cincinnati metropolitan area; and the broader Judaic academic and general community both in the United States and abroad.”
“ Founded in 1955, the Leo Baeck Institute is the leading research institute for the study of the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry. Its aim is to put on record the history and culture of German-speaking Jewry throughout Central Europe.”
“The Leo Baeck Institute is a research, exhibition, and lecture center whose library and archives offer the most comprehensive documentation for the study of German Jewish history.”
“ Since 1986, the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience has worked to preserve, interpret, and document the long and rich tradition of Jewish life in the South through exhibits, public programs, publications, historic preservation, and community outreach across the country. Our mission is to collect artifacts, photographs, art, and manuscripts to tell this story through oral histories, research, exhibitions, and community programs. The collection, which includes synagogue architectural elements, furnishings, stained glass, sculpture, a historic pipe organ, ceremonial objects, and textiles, reflects both Jewish and southern culture.” Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience is part of theGoldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life http://www.msje.org/main.htm
“ Established in 1976, and situated on Philadelphia's Independence Mall, the National Museum of American Jewish History is the only Museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to collecting, preserving and interpreting artifacts pertaining to the American Jewish experience.”
This collection contains some 28,000 Yiddish and other Jewish songs and albums. The site includes links to related Yiddish web resources.
“The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to preserving the memory of the Holocaust by fostering tolerance and understanding through community involvement, educational outreach and social action. The Center confronts important contemporary issues including racism, antisemitism, terrorism and genocide and is accredited as an NGO both at the United Nations and UNESCO. With a membership of over 400,000 families, the Center is headquartered in Los Angeles and maintains offices in New York, Toronto, Miami, Jerusalem, Paris and Buenos Aires.”
Located on the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew University College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Skirball Cultural Center is “…dedicated to exploring the connections between four thousand years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of American democratic ideals.”
Located in Chicago, the Spertus Museum is the “…largest Jewish museum between the two coasts, Spertus Museum houses a collection of over 10,000 objects, artifacts, and works of art spanning 3500 years of Jewish history, and features exciting permanent and temporary exhibitions.” The Spertus Museum is part of the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies http://www.spertus.edu/
“United Jewish Communities (UJC) represents 155 Jewish Federations and 400 independent communities across North America.”
“The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust.”
“ "And to them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name (a "yad vashem")... that shall not be cut off."
(Isaiah, chapter 56, verse 5)
“Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by an act of the Israeli Knesset. Since its inception, Yad Vashem has been entrusted with documenting the history of the Jewish people during the Holocaust period, preserving the memory and story of each of the six million victims, and imparting the legacy of the Holocaust for generations to come through its archives, library, school, museums and recognition of the Righteous Among the Nations.” ”
“Since its founding in 1973, Yeshiva University Museum’s changing exhibits have celebrated the culturally diverse intellectual and artistic achievements of 3,000 years of Jewish experience. The Museum provides a window into Jewish culture around the world and throughout history through its acclaimed multi-disciplinary exhibitions and award-winning publications.”
“Founded in 1925 in Vilna, Poland as the Yiddish Scientific Institute and headquartered in New York since 1940, YIVO is devoted to the history, society, and culture of Ashkenazic Jewry, and the influence of that culture as it has developed in the Americas. As the only pre-Holocaust scholarly institution to transfer its mission to the United States, YIVO is the preeminent center for the study of East European Jewry and Yiddish language, literature, and folklore.”
“ The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.”
Founded in 1843, this charitable organization supports “Hospitals, orphanages, libraries, disaster relief campaigns, overnight camps, informal Jewish education, agencies to fight bigotry and hatred, havens for Jewish college students, non-denominational Jewish high school youth programs, non-sectarian homes for the elderly of limited income, soup kitchens, even a conference of presidents of major Jewish organizations, and much more.”
“ HADASSAH, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, was founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold. Since its inception, Hadassah has remained unwavering in its devotion to Judaism, Zionism, and American ideals.”
“The largest Jewish campus organization in the world, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life provides opportunities for Jewish students to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity through its global network of over 500 regional centers, campus Foundations and Hillel student organizations.”
| Web site content: Sally Moffitt |