Pandemic Religion: A Digital Archive

Collecting Projects

Item Set

Items

• Jewish Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Questionnaire

  Collecting responses to questions about how the pandemic has affected Jewish practices and activities, as well as specific questions about the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. Participants are asked to contribute demographic details about age, location, and Jewish self-identification. Submission agreement requires granting permission to publish materials without identifying information. Although the form is in English, YIVO is collecting responses in any language from contributors living throughout the world. The project has been publicized on the institutional website; Jewish news outlets in New York, the United States, and Israel; and on social media. There is an interest in having YIVO collectors ask questions directly to an individual within a specific community (especially those unlikely, unwilling, or unable to respond online) when it is safe to do so.

• American Jewish Archives Collecting Project

  Seeking material to speak directly to how the American Jewish community has been affected by the pandemic. The project is interested in electronic or hard copies of materials such as sermons, eulogies, memorial programs, editorials, webinars, and op-eds. Submission by email (ajarchivescovid@gmail.com) or postal mail. Shared to H-Judaic and institutional Facebook.

• Yeshiva University Special Collections: COVID-19 and Jewish Communal Life (American Jewish Life)

  The project’s primary objective is to document the pandemic’s impact on communal Jewish life in the United States and Canada through items such as bulletins, announcements, rabbinic rulings, protocols, events, activities, and more from synagogues, schools, community centers, family units, businesses, and other entities. The focus is on the communal life of those who identify themselves as within the broad spectrum of Orthodox Judaism, with a particular interest in materials from underrepresented groups. Users may submit digital items such as images, documents, audiovisual materials, social media posts, and webpages to the jewishcovidarchive@gmail.com. This project is in collaboration with the Pandemic Religion collection.