It was just a thing of respect. I wasn't trying to make a statement, and I had no idea that it would impact that many people. Sandy Koufax
This glove was used by left handed baseball pitcher Sanford Sandy Koufax (b.1935,) while a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Koufax, a Jewish-American, famously declined to pitch the first game of the 1965 World Series as it conflicted with the religious holiday of Yom Kippur. The decision created controversy, pitting the demands of fans against those who embraced Koufax's commitment to his faith. Although the Dodgers lost the game, Koufax did return to pitch in the series, helping to lead the Dodgers to the championship.
Koufax's stance, done in the face of public pressure, continues to symbolize to many the national values of personal independence, including the right to observe one's religious beliefs and cultural traditions.
Despite a career prematurely ended by injury, Koufax attained many of the game's highest honors (1955-1966,) being named to six all-star teams, receiving 3 Cy Young trophies for best pitcher, and awarded the National League's Most Valuable Play honors in 1963.
Academy Award statuette for Best Original Song, presented to Irving Berlin for his composition “White Christmas,” written for the 1942 musical comedy film Holiday Inn. The trophy is composed of a gold-colored metal human figure, with hands in front of torso, standing on a black cylindrical plastic base with a gold-colored metal plaque on the front. Plaque is engraved: "PRESENTED TO IRVING BERLIN / IN RECOGNITION OF THE MUSIC AND LYRICS / OF THE BEST SONG / "WHITE CHRISTMAS" / 1942". Bottom of statue covered in brown felt.
Often called the dean of American popular song, composer-lyricist Irving Berlin wrote more than 3,000 songs, including the standards “God Bless America” and “White Christmas.” Born Israel Beilin in Tyumen in what was then the Russian Empire in 1888, he was one of eight children brought by his parents to New York to escape discrimination, poverty, and violent programs against Jewish people in Russia. After his father died in 1901, Irving worked to survive, selling newspapers, waiting tables, and plugging songs. Berlin’s first hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” became a sensation in 1911; three years later, his first work of musical theater, Watch Your Step, cemented his reputation. He wrote twenty-one Broadway scores, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), which featured Ethel Merman singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Berlin also wrote seventeen film scores, including Top Hat (1935), Holiday Inn (1947), and Easter Parade (1948).
Berlin won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “White Christmas,” which he composed and wrote for the 1942 musical comedy film Holiday Inn. By a strange coincidence, Berlin presented the award to himself, as he was slated to present the award at the ceremony, held March 4, 1943, at the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. When he opened the envelope and saw his name, Berlin told the audience “I’m particularly proud to present this award. It’s someone I’ve known for a good many years. He’s a nice kid and I think deserves it.” To date, Berlin is the only person to ever present themselves with an Academy Award.
“White Christmas” is a holiday standard, one of the most popular and successful Christmas songs of all time. Bing Crosby’s original recording of the song topped the Billboard chart for 11 weeks in 1942, returned to the number one position again in December 1943 and 1944, and has returned to the top 40 over a dozen times in subsequent years, becoming the world’s best-selling single. It’s estimated to have sold more than 50 million physical copies worldwide since its first release. The song has also been covered by hundreds of other recording artists and continues to be popular every holiday season on radio and streaming services. Though accounts vary as to when and where Berlin wrote the song, he recalled finishing it and telling his secretary “I want you to take down a song I wrote over the weekend. Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote.” Bing Crosby first performed the song on his NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall on Christmas Day, 1941, a few weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the years that followed, through the trials of World War II, the song’s nostalgic longing for the pleasures of hearth, home, and holiday tradition struck a chord with Americans who desired normalcy and family reunion. Berlin’s song, especially with its use in the popular holiday films Holiday Inn and White Christmas (1954), helped cement Americans’ post-war conception of a normative, archetypal Christmas celebration, including snowy landscapes, children’s eager anticipation of gifts on Christmas morning, and family gathered together in warm kinship. Berlin was one of several Jewish songwriters who composed and wrote lyrics for popular Christmas songs from the 1930s-1960s, a remarkable testament to the holiday’s transformation to a more secular celebration, tied to commerce and civic life, and observed widely in a multicultural, multiethnic, and religiously diverse United States.
The film Holiday Inn was produced and directed by Mark Sandrich for Paramount Pictures, with a story and music by Irving Berlin, and starred Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. Crosby, Astaire, and co-star Marjorie Reynolds played Jim Hardy, Ted Hanover, and Lila Dixon, three friends who have a popular song and dance act in New York City. Though Jim and Lila planned to marry and retire to a Connecticut farm on Christmas Eve, Lila has fallen in love with Ted and calls off the engagement, leading Jim to end up in a sanatorium. He decides to convert the farm into a “Holiday Inn,” an entertainment venue only open on holidays. In a series of set pieces themed to different American holidays, Crosby and others perform the twelve songs Berlin wrote for the film as well as his hit “Easter Parade,” culminating in a romantic happy ending and performance of “White Christmas.” The film premiered in 1942 and was a hit with audiences, ranking 6 on a list of top grossing movies that year, and earned warm acclaim from critics, who especially praised the music. Holiday Inn was the inspiration for the 1954 film White Christmas, a loose remake that again starred Bing Crosby alongside Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen, and also inspired the name of the hotel chain Holiday Inn.
Religious Action Center of Reform Judiasm is the political and legislative arm of Reform Judiasm. Founded in 1961 the group was involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Soviet Jewry, and the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
Presidential Medal of Freedom ensemble awarded to Irving Berlin. Ensemble is made up of a wooden box, containing the broad ribbon with rosette and badge, the star, the miniature medal with gold appurtenance for its suspension ribbon, the ribbon service bar with gold appurtenance, and the gold lapel emblem with narrow ribbon loop or bow.
Composer-lyricist Irving Berlin has been called the dean of American popular song. Berlin wrote more than 3,000 songs, including the standards “God Bless America” and “White Christmas,” helping to create the Great American Songbook. Born Israel Beilin in Tyumen in what was then the Russian Empire in 1888, he was one of eight children brought by his parents to New York to escape discrimination, poverty, and violent programs against Jewish people in Russia. After his father died in 1901, Irving worked to survive, selling newspapers, waiting tables, and plugging songs. Berlin’s first hit song, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” became a sensation in 1911; three years later, his first work of musical theater, Watch Your Step, cemented his reputation. He wrote twenty-one Broadway scores, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), which featured Ethel Merman singing “There’s No Business Like Show Business.” Berlin also wrote seventeen film scores, including Top Hat (1935), Holiday Inn (1947), and Easter Parade (1948).
The Presidential Medal of Freedom is considered the foremost and highest honor awarded to U.S. civilians, alongside the Congressional Gold Medal. It is awarded to individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.” The Presidential Medal of Freedom was established by President John F. Kennedy in 1963, redesignating the World War II-era Medal of Freedom by executive order to be awarded by the president to recognize notable service to the nation by civilians, including achievements in culture and the arts. The medal is comprised of a gold medallion attached to a blue and white ribbon, designed to be worn around the neck. The medallion design features a prominent white enamel star on a red enamel pentagon surrounded by gold eagles, with a circular inset in the center of the star featuring 13 smaller gold stars on a blue enamel field. The awardee’s name is engraved on the medallion’s verso. Accoutrements presented alongside the medal include a service ribbon, miniature ribbon, and lapel badge, all featuring the same design elements. The Insignia was designed by the Army's Institute of Heraldry. As of March 2024, 647 citizens have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. President Gerald Ford awarded Berlin the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 1977. The medal citation reads, in part: "Musician, Composer, Humanitarian, And Patriot, Irving Berlin Has Captured The Fondest Dreams And Deepest Emotions Of The American People In The Form Of Popular Music."
black and white stereograph mounted on orange cardstock; printed on verso "Joseph Ward, / Looking Glasses, Picture Frames / Photographs, / Stereoscopes and Views, / 125 Washington St / Boston"; printed on recto "American Views / John P. Soule, - Boston. / 199 Washington Street. / No. 683 Jewish Synagogue, Newport, R.I."; Touro Synagogue designed by Peter Harrison, dedicated in 1763; two level Palladian style building with wrought iron and stone fence around exterior
Plastic invalid feeder with a “MADDAK” inscription. Located in Wayne, N.J. Kurt Landsburger (1921-2014) was a Jew from Europe who immigrated to the U.S. in 1938 and served with the U.S. Army during World War II. In 1946, he and his wife Amy started Bel-Art Products in their home New Jersey. Maddak, another Landsburger firm, offered home healthcare and rehabilitation products for the senior, disability and rehab markets.
This sheet music is for the songs "Colombus, ich hob zu dir gor ni" and "Ohn a haim," with music by Louis Friedsell and lyrics by D. Meyerowitz. These songs were published by Hebrew Publishing Company in New York, New York, in 1920. These songs were featured in the play Die Kraft Fon Natur.
Child-sized pine casket with a wood Star of David on the top, manufactured by C. Stoler and Co., Inc., in Bristol, Tn. To meet the requirements of Jewish burial practice, the casket has no metal parts; and the manufacturing facility observed the Sabbath and all Jewish holy days. The firm was established in New York City, in 1891.
Ref: David H. Shayt, “The Jewish Way of Death,” Folklore Forum 29 (1998): 109-112.
This sheet music is for the piano composition "Polonaise (Polish Dance)," by Joseph M. Rumshinsky. It was published by Hebrew Publishing Company in New York, New York, in 1912.
This sheet music is for the song "A Yidishe Meliche [A Yiddishe M'Luche]," with music by J. Brady and lyrics by Louis Gilrod. It was published by Hebrew Publishing Company in New York, New York, in 1916.