The Miriam Catalog and Repository

Welcome to NAJC

The purpose of the Miriam Catalog and Repository is to document the culture of North American Jews.

Who We Are

President NAJC
Alan Bailin, PhD, MLS

Professor of Library Services, Hofstra University

Treasurer
Ari Fridkis, MA, MSW

Rabbi, Temple of Universal Judaism

Secretary
Martha Kreisel, MA, MAH

Retired Associate Professor of Library Services, Hofstra University

Collection Director
Ann Grafstein, PhD, MLIS

Professor of Library Services, Hofstra University

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Miriam Catalog and Repository

The purpose of the Miriam Catalog and Repository is to document the culture of North American Jews. North American Jewish Culture (NAJC) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

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Recent Submissions

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The Goldbergs (Original 1949-1956)
(YouTube, 2000) Berg, Gertrude
Twenty-six episodes from the original series, "The Goldbergs." Click on the link to see the videos.
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Gertrude Berg: October 3, 1899–September 14, 1966
(Jewish Women's Archive, 2021-06-23) Shandler, Jeffrey; Smith, Pete
"For a generation of Americans, Gertrude Berg embodied Jewish motherhood in a series of radio, television, stage, and film performances." She was one of the first women to work as a writer and producer of comedy on radio and television. She is considered a pioneer or the sitcom genre. Gertrude Berg was an actor and entertainer who is best known for the series, "The Goldbergs," which appeared first on radio and then on television. "The Goldbergs" was about a fictitious Jewish immigrant family in New York City, in which Gertrude Berg played a Jewish mother and familial matriarch. The dialog was replete with the "Yiddishims" that characterized the dialect of many immigrant Jews. The series was extremely popular, but ran afoul of the Hollywood blacklist. Berg's co-star, Philip Loeb, was a particular target of the blacklist. He was branded as a Communist as a result of his vocal support for unions and the civil rights movement. He refused to sign a loyalty oath required by the network, CBS. Berg refused to fire Loeb, and as a result, General Foods withdrew its sponsorship for "The Goldbergs" and the series was soon dropped. Click on the link to read the article.
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The Jews of Florida: A History
(Aish, 2024-11-19) Levine, Rabbi Menachem
Florida was "discovered" for Spain in 1513 by Juan Ponce de León. As part of Spain, Florida was subject to the Spanish Inquisition, so that only Catholics could legally live there. Nevertheless, it is believed that Jewish Conversos (Jews who converted to Catholicism to escape the consequences of the Inquisition) were among the early settlers. Florida is currently home to the third largest Jewish community in the United States, and as a percentage of the population, has the highest percentage of Jews outside of Israel. This article recounts the history of Jews in Florida. Up until 1949, when they were disbanded, Florida had discriminatory antisemitic laws. Despite antisemitism, Jews began settling in Miami Beach in the early 1900s, seeking to benefit from the city's prosperity. Jews have had significant influence on Miami Beach, politically, culturally and architecturally. Its popularity as a Jewish vacation spot grew, earning it the nickname, “Shtetl by the Sea.” As the demographics changed, Jews moved to other locations, including Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Click on the link to read the article.
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Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library
(Yiddish Book Center, 2025) Yiddish Book Center
The Spielberg Digital Yiddish Library makes available more than 12,000 Yiddish titles that can be freely downloaded and/or purchased in print, The collection includes works of fiction, memoirs, cookbooks, short stories, poetry, plays, scientific works, primers, etc. Click on the link to view either the highlights the Library has selected, search the collection, or browse alphabetically by author's name.
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The People of the Joke: Exploring the Covenant of Jewish Comedy
(HuffPost, 2011-04-10) Mankoff, Bob
A brief column by then New Yorker cartoon editor, Bob Mankoff, in which he says that the Jewish people went from being known as the "people of the book" to being known as the "people of the joke." He suggests that behind the importance of humor for Jews is the fact that raising questions plays a significant role in Jewish culture: "If there is any influence Jewish culture has on my cartoons about religion, it's the disputatiousness of the that culture, the questioning everything just for the hell of it and then the questioning of the questioning..." Click on the link to read the article.