Jewish American Heritage Month

Today’s session of the Gabfest Club (Dnipropetrovsk Window on America center, Ukraine) was dedicated to the topic «Jewish American Heritage Month». In the USA it is a national month of recognition of the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture. The society acknowledges the achievements of American Jews in fields ranging from sports and arts and entertainment to medicine, business, science, government, and military service.
The group was offered a video about Emma Lazarus. She is best known for "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty placed in 1903. The video about the Jewish History museum in Philadelphia impressed the group as it showcased the achievements of the Jewish community in the USA.
 

The topic of Jewish heritage allowed the club members to demonstrate their knowledge of Jewish heritage sites in Ukraine. We have discussed the places that for Jewish Americans would be a ‘must see’. The group demonstrated a good knowledge of Jewish Heritage and are ready to give recommendations to potential tourists. The difficult topic didn’t discourage the group from the conversation.
The group was informed about the recent visit of the vice consul and the Diversity visa presentation.
Participants number – 21 persons.

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Jewish American Heritage Month

On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed that May would be Jewish American Heritage Month. The announcement was the crowning achievement in an effort by the Jewish community to proclaim a month that would recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture. The resolutions passed unanimously, first in the House of Representatives in December 2005 and later in the Senate in February 2006.
Today’s English Speaking Club session at Window on America center Dnipropetrovsk was dedicated to this topic.

 A slide show “The prominent Jewish Americans” was offered to the group. Our PCV friend Sam Sachs was a co-host of the session and commented on the information about Jewish celebrities. We specifically focused the attention of our PCV friends Sam and Kathryn on the Ukrainian roots of numerous Jewish American celebrities – Gershwin, Philip Kotler, V. Horowitz, L.Bernstein , Serge Brin, etc. A World and Olympic Champion in the lady’s single figure skating Oksana Baiul (now a US citizen) was born in Dnipropetrovsk. 
The second part of the session was dedicated to less serious topics. To refresh in the minds of the Club members the material from the lectures about Australia they were divided into 4 teams and offered word and crossword puzzles about Australia. The winner was the team of Jana Litvinova, the English Speaking Club President. They needed less time to give correct answers in all 3 tasks.
To conclude the session we discussed the plan of events for summer season and several world news sensations that involved a Ukrainian presenter and American celebrities Madonna and Will Smith.
The session attracted quite many new members and was rather educational to all participants.
The number of participants – 21 persons.
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Jewish American Heritage Month

In celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month, the Window on America center in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine has presented a book display Jewish American Heritage Month. The books are complemented with the pictures of the famous Jewish.
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May is Jewish American Heritage Month

About Jewish American Heritage Month

On April 20, 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed that May would be Jewish American Heritage Month. The announcement was the crowning achievement in an effort by the Jewish Museum of Florida and South Florida Jewish community leaders that resulted in resolutions introduced by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania urging the president to proclaim a month that would recognize the more than 350-year history of Jewish contributions to American culture. The resolutions passed unanimously, first in the House of Representatives in December 2005 and later in the Senate in February 2006.

The month of May was chosen due to the highly successful celebration of the 350th Anniversary of American Jewish History in May 2004, which was organized by the Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish History. This coalition was composed of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration.

Leading the way in implementation of the annual celebration is the Jewish American Heritage Month Coalition, formed in March 2007 and convened by United Jewish Communities, the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives and the American Jewish Historical Society.

Young Jewish Boy with Elders at a Passover Ceremony, 04/16/1951