VIDEO: Learn about Einstein with "Reading Jewish Lives"
Rebecca Keys
Watch our first "Reading Jewish Lives" livestream on Einstein with author Steven Gimbel, and learn more about the "superstar" scientist with Jewish Lives.
Blog
Reading Jewish Lives: Steven Gimbel on Einstein
Rebecca Keys
Over 200 people joined us at Park Avenue Synagogue and online to participate in the first "Reading Jewish Lives" livestream with Steven Gimbel, author of Einstein: His Space and Times. Learn more about upcoming livestreaming events.
Video: Watch the Trailer for Spielberg
Rebecca Keys
Steven Spielberg pulls back the curtain on his remarkable career more than ever before in the exclusive HBO presentation Spielberg. Learn more about the blockbuster director with Jewish Lives.
Jewish Life of the Month
Rebecca Keys
Jewish Life of the Month
Léon Blum
Dates
1872-1950
Best Known For
The first Jewish prime minister of France. Socialist activist. Courageous opponent of the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Survivor of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Famous Quote
"The free man is he who does not fear to go to the end of his thought."
Free Excerpt: Barbra Streisand's Beauty + Power
Rebecca Keys
'Barbra Streisand’ by Topher McCulloch via Flickr
Barbra Streisand showed us how to convert the worst of criticisms into the best of results, how to take our insecurities and discover our securities within them. Barbra Streisand showed us, especially the outsiders among us, how to survive." Read Neal Gabler's full excerpt on the Yale University Press blog and learn more about the indefatigable performer with Jewish Lives.
Search for the Meaning of Life with Marcel Proust
Rebecca Keys
Watch a wonderful short video about Proust's epic work In Search of Lost Time, and learn more about the imaginative French writer with Jewish Lives.
Reading Jewish Lives: A New Synagogue Outreach Program
Rebecca Keys
In partnership with Park Avenue Synagogue and communities across the United States, Jewish Lives is pleased to announce the launch of our new synagogue outreach program, "Reading Jewish Lives."
In 2017-2018, synagogues across the country will read four Jewish Lives biographies together, engage in small group discussions, and enjoy livestreamed presentations from the authors, which are free and open to the public.
All authors events will be held at Park Avenue Synagogue and will be livestreamed and recorded. For more information, please email contact@jewishlives.org.
The Revolutionary Life of Emma Goldman
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Her critics widely considered her one of the most dangerous people in America. Watch a captivating video about Goldman's fearless life from the "Ordinary Women: Daring to Defy History" YouTube channel, and learn more about the unapologetic activist with Jewish Lives.
King Solomon's Game of Thrones
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Klapi
Having Game of Thrones withdrawal? Discover how rulers from the past, like King Solomon, add to our understanding of the fan favorite show, and learn more about King Solomon's enduring legacy with Jewish Lives.
Jewish Life of the Month
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Hayyim Nahman Bialik
Dates
1873-1934
Best Known For
Pioneer of modern Hebrew. Recognized as Israel's national poet. Bialik's songs for children continue to inspire to this day.
Famous Quote
"The golden key to Jewish education is the Hebrew language."
Hank Greenberg: Caught Between Baseball And His Religion
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of WBUR.org
Listen to WBUR on how the city of Detroit pleaded with baseball legend Hank Greenberg to play a crucial game against the Red Sox on Rosh Hashanah. Learn more about the "Hebrew Hammer" with Jewish Lives.
Rosenwald: The Untold Story of a Civil Rights Champion
Rebecca Keys
Watch a short video by the Ciesla Foundation about how together with Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald built over 5,000 schools for African American students in the south, and learn more about Julius Rosenwald with Jewish Lives.
Bring in the New Year with Barbra Streisand
Rebecca Keys
Celebrate Rosh Hashanah with a video of Barbra Streisand's haunting performance of Avinu Malkeinu in honor of Shimon Peres's 90th birthday in 2014. Learn more about the passionate singer with Jewish Lives, and have a sweet and happy new year!
Video: Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Louis D. Brandeis
Rebecca Keys
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Watch a C-SPAN video of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg celebrating the 100th anniversary of the nomination of Justice Louis D. Brandeis in 2016. Learn more about the enduring legacy of Brandeis with constitutional expert and Jewish Lives author Jeffrey Rosen.
Jewish Life of the Month
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Sarah Bernhardt
Dates
1844-1923
Best Known For
World renowned French stage actress with a "golden voice." She also played male roles, including Shakespeare's Hamlet. One of the first actresses to act in motion pictures.
Famous Quote
"Legends remain victorious in spite of history."
Video: The Case for Mark Rothko
Rebecca Keys
Many have described standing before a Rothko painting as a religious experience. Watch this short PBS Video about the philosophy behind Rothko's art and learn more about the abstract expressionist with Jewish Lives.
Free Excerpt: How the Warner Brothers Fought to End the Chain Gang System
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Learn how the film I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932) set the stage for a new discussion of this form of punishment in a passage from the latest addition to the Jewish Lives series, Warner Bros: The Making of An American Movie Studio.
10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Freud
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
1. Freud’s death may have been a physician-assisted suicide.
2. His chain-smoking led to more than 30 cancer surgeries.
3. Freud once thought cocaine was a miracle drug.
Check out the rest of the list via History.com, and learn more about the father of modern psychoanalysis with Jewish Lives.
Jewish Life of the Month
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Rav Kook
Dates
1865-1935
Best Known For
First Ashkenazi chief rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. Orthodox. Zionist. One of the most influential rabbis of the 20th century.
Famous Quote
"I don't speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don't have the power to remain silent."
Video: The Life and Times of the Hebrew Hammer
Rebecca Keys
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Take a walk down memory lane with a delightful short video about the legendary Hank Greenberg and learn more about the Hall of Fame slugger with Jewish Lives.