April 10, 1998

Contact:
John Sayers (202) 707-9216

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Shlomo Aronson to Speak at Library of Congress To Mark Israel's 50th Anniversary

The Library of Congress will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the state of Israel with a lecture on "The Holocaust and the Founding of the State of Israel," by Hebrew University Professor of Political Science Shlomo Aronson on April 22 at 6:00 p.m.

Professor Aronson, who has written and lectured extensively on the Holocaust, is a visiting scholar at the Library of Congress. The lecture, co-sponsored by the Library's Office of Scholarly Programs and the Embassy of Israel, will be held in the Librarian's Reception Room (LJ 119) in the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E. The lecture is open to the public, but reservations are required and can be made by calling (202) 707-1616.

In addition to the lecture, the Library will commemorate the founding of the Israel in 1948 through an exhibition of Judaica, slated to open on Sept. 16 in the North Gallery of the Great Hall of the Jefferson Building. The exhibition will include approximately 50 items selected from the Library's acclaimed Judaica exhibition "From the Ends of the Earth: Judaic Treasures of the Library of Congress," as well as a number of items chosen especially for this exhibit. Items that will be on display include the first Hebrew book printed in the Holy Land, Yom Tov Zahalon's Lekah Tov, a commentary on the Book of Esther published in Safed in 1577; a 19th-century wall plaque with depictions of the region's four "Holy Cities": Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed, and Hebron; one of the earliest maps of the Holy Land in Hebrew characters, which first appeared in a Haggadah published in Amsterdam in 1695; and a decorated 19th-century synagogue wall hanging with images of Jerusalem. Other items in the exhibition will include handmade Hebrew books and materials bearing on the founding of Israel.

The "Israel at 50" program at the Library of Congress is made possible by a grant from the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation of Washington, D.C. For information about "Israel at 50," call the Library's Hebraic Section at (202) 707-5422.

 

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PR 98-055
4/10/98
ISSN 0731-3527