About

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This project encourages you to examine the confluence between cafés, the urban environment, and the creativity of multilingual Jewish communities. The mapping and digital storytelling tools you will find here are based on extensive research done for Prof. Shachar Pinsker’s book A Rich Brew: How Cafés Created Modern Jewish Culture (NYU Press, 2018). Consider this site a companion resource, or a standalone project for you to experience.

Cities

Postcard of Café Robina, Odessa, early twentieth century

People

Caricature by Joseph Foshko, YIVO archive

Time

Illustration by Rutu Modan, The New Yorker Magazine

Explore

You can examine Jewish café culture through cities, people, and time. In “Cities,” you will explore cafés geographically. In “People” you will learn about the writers, artists, journalists, activists, and actors. “Time” will open a timeline of the cafés established from the early 19th century to present.

Stories

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Learn more about key people and events which shaped Jewish culture in the café by exploring StoryMaps which offer detailed narratives incorporating historical maps, photographs, paintings, and literature.

Women in the Café

Leah Goldberg, 1935 (Courtesy of the Ganzim Institute, Tel Aviv, and Yair Landau)

Jewish Café Culture in Warsaw

Cafe Scene, 1934, Moshe Rynecki, 36.1 x 50 cm

The Travels of Sholem Aleichem and Menakhem Mendl

http://sholemaleichem.org/writing-desk/

Yiddish Theater and Cabaret

https://collections.mcny.org/Collection/Grand-Theater,-Jacob-B.-Adler,-King-Lear-close-up.-2F3XC5UNBCDZ.html