Feinstein Lecture Series
The Association of Jewish Libraries received a grant from the Foundation for Jewish Culture (FJC) given by the Myer and Rosalind Feinstein Family to fund an annual lecture. Lectures on Judaic bibliography and librarianship were delivered at the annual conferences from 1996-2010. The FJC is no longer active, but it left AJL with monies to continue these lectures. The Feinstein Lecture resumed at the 2019 AJL Conference and will continue to encourage and inspire Judaica librarians at future conferences.
2021 Feinstein Lecture
Sunday, June 27, 12:00pm EDT
“The Hidden Treasures of Jewish Ephemera”
Should we preserve, research, and display only precious works of art, rare manuscripts, and “officially” printed books in the fields that concern us? During the annual Feinstein Lecture, Dr. Shalom Sabar will present the case for treating ephemera in general and Jewish ephemera in particular as invaluable resources for exploring and learning our past and present cultures, and a most enjoyable personal hobby.
Shalom Sabar is Professor Emeritus of Jewish Art and Folklore at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His research and publications concentrate on the history of Jewish art, ceremonies and rituals, objects in the life and year cycles, visual folklore, and material culture of Jewish communities in Christian Europe and the Islamic East. He has published more than 230 essays and several books on these topics. His latest book is The Sarajevo Haggadah: History and Art (2018), issued by the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the codex is kept. He is also a collector of Jewish folk objects and Israeli ephemera and guides traveling seminars to study Jewish communities and monuments in many countries in Europe, Central Asia, North Africa, and India.
Access the past lectures in the table below.
| Name | Lecture Title | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shalom Sabar | The Hidden Treasures of Jewish Ephemera | 2021 | |
| Abraham Karp | The Hebrew Book in the New World: From Bibliography To History | 2000 | Karp Lecture |
| Bella Hass Weinberg | Explorations in the History of Hebrew Indexes | 2005 | Hass Weinberg Lecture |
| Colonel S. J. Pomrenze | The Restitution of Jewish Cultural Treasures After the Holocaust: The Offenbach Archival Depot's Role in The Fulfillment Of U.S. International And Moral Obligations (A First Hand Account) | 2002 | Pomrenze Lecture |
| Dina Abramowicz | Guardians of a Tragic Heritage: Reminiscences and Observations of an Eyewitness | 1998 | Abramowicz Lecture |
| Elhanan Adler | The Digital Library and the Jews | 2003 | Adler Lecture |
| Michael W. Grunberger | Orphaned Treasures: Libraries and the Disposition of Ownerless Jewish Books in the Aftermath of the Holocaust | 2009 | Grunberger Lecture |
| Herbert C. Zafren | Was Gutenberg Jewish? And Other Conundrums: Exploring the Margins of Jewish Bibliography | 1996 | Zafren Lecture |
| Jacob Kabakoff | Some Notable Bibliographers I Have Known | 1999 | Kabakoff Lecture |
| Leonard Gold | Creativity and Its Imprint: Three Jewish Artists and Some Books About Them: Philip Guston, Charlotte Salomon, R. B. Kitaj | 2001 | Gold Lecture |
| Menahem Schmelzer | One Hundred Years of Genizah Discovery and Research: The American Share | 1997 | Schmelzer Lecture |
| Pearl Berger | From Otzar Sefarim to Otzar Hokhmah: Transitions and Transformations | 2008 | Berger Lecture |
| Philip Miller | The Art and Science of Reference Work | 2007 | Miller Lecture |
| Robert Singerman | Contemporary Racist and Judeophobic Ideology Discovers the Khazars, or, Who Really Are the Jews? | 2004 | Singerman Lecture |
| Zachary Baker | Getting in on the Ground Floor: Confessions of a Yiddish Impersonator | 2006 | Baker Lecture |