Zoom–Michelle Margolis on History and Highlights of the Collection of Jewish Books and Manuscripts at Columbia University

March Midday Program

Horace Walpole wrote a letter in which he coined the word serendipity.

The Royal and Ancient Gold Club of St Andrews got on course.

A 22-year-old George Washington leads an ambush that triggers the French and Indian War.

Louis XVI is born.

What will become Columbia University is chartered in New York.

The year is 1754 and the Columbia library begins – right from the beginning – to collect rare Hebraica and Judaica materials.

Today that collection has grown to include an amazing array of manuscripts, incunabula, sixteenth-century books, and much, much more.

Michelle Margolis, Lecturer in History and Norman E. Alexander Librarian for Jewish Studies, will give us a rare glimpse of the collection’s treasures, as she shares its story and illuminates its highlights. Her generously illustrated talk will reveal materials of great beauty, historical importance, and scholarship.

As the great ad campaign from the 1960s reminded us, you don’t have to be Jewish to love Levy’s real Jewish Rye … or to enjoy seeing a remarkable collection of Jewish books and documents. Step up to the counter and register for this Zoom only program today!

Please forward this notice to anyone who may find it of interest.

Even if you can’t attend at the scheduled time, if you’re interested, please register. After the program, we’ll send an email to all registrants, asking if you’d like a link to the complete recording. That way you can see the program even if you couldn’t attend live, ran into technical issues, or simply wanted to watch it again.