JHNY2010 expands the original Jewish Heritage Week.
This celebration was initiated in 1976 at the request of a NYC public school teacher, Evelyn Becker, and was launched by then Borough President of the Bronx, and later Attorney General of the State of New York, Robert Abrams, and coodinated by then-educator and current Co-Chairman Judith Shapiro. Jewish Heritage Week coincided with Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day.

The original focus of Jewish Heritage Week was to educate New York's non-Jewish community about the history, culture, traditions and contributions of the Jewish people and to promote widespread awareness. Various legislative bodies issued proclamations, elected officials sponsored ceremonies, and contests were held in NYC's public schools. In order to recognize the accomplishments of individual Jews and to involve a diverse cross-section of the community in Jewish Heritage Week, the Sam Levenson Memorial Awards were presented from 1977 until 1992 to a Jew and a non-Jew for extraordinary contributions to the Jewish community and the improvement of inter-group relations.

Clearly, New York, the greatest Jewish center in the world today outside Israel, deserved a larger and more visible celebration of its Jewish cultural events, sites and resources, and thus, at the initiative of then-JCRC-NY Vice President and current JHNY Chairman Emeritus Howard Teich, JHNY97 was launched. Through Howard's vision, and under his leadership and guidance as JHNY Co-Chairman for eight years, Jewish Heritage Week developed into a full-fledged Jewish Heritage New York (JHNY) celebration.  Howard recruited corporate, foundation and media support, dramatically increased the level of participation by elected officials, and created new and original cultural programming, culminating, at the conclusion of his tenure in 2004, in the celebration of 350 years of Jewish life in America.

NYS Governor George Pataki and former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani led the early expansion of JHNY. Governor Pataki sponsored a memorable event at the Javits Center early on and then hosted an important celebration of 100 Years of Yiddish Theater in New York before an over-capacity crowd of more than 2,500 people in 2002. Mayor Giuliani held annual festivals in Bryant Park on Yom Ha'atzmaut with crowds of thousands, and then in 2001, a major celebration at Gracie Mansion. Prominent Jewish entertainers performed at these events, including Julie Budd, Nashama Carlebach, Tovah Feldshuh, Fyvush Finkel, SoulFarm, Alan King, Jack Klugman, Robert Merrill, Joan Rivers, Dr. Ruth Westheimer, among many others. Mayor Michael Bloomberg accepted the passed torch and hosted beautiful receptions in the backyard of Gracie Mansion beginning in 2003 with more than a thousand Jewish leaders in attendance.

Other state-wide and city-wide governmental offices have held JHNY events, including the NYS Attorney General, the NYC Public Advocate, the NYC Comptroller, the Speaker of the NYC Council, the Borough Presidents of the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens and the Brooklyn District Attorney. The events ranged from concerts to honoree receptions.

Media companies began recognizing JHNY, with NBC 4 being the first. Channel 4 celebrated JHNY in 2002 with a series of vignettes recognizing New York Jewish notables, such as Gary Bettman, Linda Lavin, Michele Lee, David Stern, Wendy Wasserstein and many others, in which they discuss the Jewish roots to their journeys in life. CBS 2 joined the celebration in 2003 and dedicated the month of June to JHNY. Ten exceptional vignettes on New York’s Jewish Heritage Trail, including such sites as the Lower East Side and The Jewish Museum were produced, and the vignettes aired throughout June, with expanded features on the news programs.  In 2004, the vignettes focused on the 350th anniversary. At opening receptions launching the celebration, Fred Reynolds, President of Viacom Television Stations Group, received the JHNY2003 Award and Dave Price, WCBS-TV and CBS News The Early Show Weather Anchor, received the JHNY2004 Award. Within the Jewish media, The Jewish Sentinel has provided JHNY with extensive coverage.

During JHNY2002, the first self-produced event of the JHNY Cultural Committee was held, "A Showcase of Jewish-American Music, Dance and Drama." Youth concerts, Jewish High School Choirs in Concert, with performances by Hazamir Manhattan, The North Shore Hebrew Academy High School Choir, The Yeshivah of Flatbush Chamber Choir and The Ramaz Chamber Chorus, held in both 2003 and 2004, were also under the banner of the JHNY Cultural Committee.  In cooperation with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, the Emma Lazarus Terrace in Battery Park was officially dedicated in 2002 with a women’s poetry reading featuring literary performance artist Judith Goldsmith’s portrayal of Emma Lazarus.  Judith  returned for an encore performance in 2003 along with guest readers including Dr. Ester Fuchs, Special Advisor to the Mayor; Rona Jaffe, best selling author; Fern Mallis, Executive Director of 7th on Sixth and Vice President of IMG; Shelly Strickler, WOR broadcast journalist; the winner of the JHNY2003 writing contest and representatives of the Sephardic, Russian-Jewish and Indian-Jewish communities.  Original music was composed by Cecelia Margules.

In 2003, a Jewish Heritage Trails Committee, comprised of historians, tourism experts and organizational representatives, was formed.  The Committee determined that the Jewish Heritage Trail, containing numerous sites of historical and cultural significance throughout the five boroughs of New York City, and later the three outlying counties, could be packaged as self-guided tours through the production of a pictorial map/guide. In 2005, the Jewish Heritage Trails initiative became an affiliated project of the NY Board of Rabbis,and in 2007, the map was funded by then NYC Council Speaker Gifford Miller and the NYC Council under the auspices of the NY Board of Rabbis.

In 2004, as part of the efforts to produce the Jewish Heritage Trails maps, a major academic conference, New York’s Jewish History & Heritage: A View of 350 Years, was organized to focus on the achievements and contributions of New York’s Jewish community since the original 23 Jews arrived in North America in 1654.  The free five-hour conference, held at CUNY Graduate Center, featured experts from 20 prominent cultural institutions leading lectures and workshops on the past, present and future of New York’s Jewish community.  Topics included a focus on each borough’s Jewish population, New York’s Jewish museums, New York Jewish humor, Jews in sports, New York’s synagogues and more.  The conference was sponsored by The New York Board of Rabbis, in cooperation with the Office of NYC Council Speaker Gifford Miller, The CUNY Graduate Center and JHNY2004. Volunteer Ula Barrak was the driving force behind the great success of the conference. 

Also in 2004, the First Annual Jewish and Music Heritage Festival was produced by Michael Dorf. In celebration of the 350th anniversary of Jewish life in North America, the Festival featured a diverse range of Jewish entertainment at venues throughout New York City, including opening night at the 92nd Street Y and highlighted by a free day at the South Street Seaport. The day was a huge success, bringing everyone from Senator Charles Schumer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, NYC Council Speaker Gifford Miller, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields and Congressman Anthony Weiner to the stage.  The program began with a reenactment of the arrival of the original 23 Jews, followed by a 50th anniversary dramatic reproduction by Jewish Theological Seminary students of Rendezvous With Liberty, an episode from the JTS radio program The Eternal Light originally broadcast September 12, 1954.  Next, Odyssey 23, an original dance choreographed by Caroline Dorfman for the 350th, was performed, followed by the centerpiece of the Festival, performances by nine great Jewish Bands from Classic Klezmer to Hasidic Reggae:  Brazilian Connection, Frank London Brass All-Stars, Andy Statman Trio, Matisyahu, De Amsterdam Klezmer Band, New Orleans Klezmer Band, Steven Bernstein's Diaspora Soul, Pharaoh's Daughter, Blue Fringe and Moshav Band.

2004 also featured The Lower East Side JHNY/350th Festival, June 6-13.  The Lower East Side’s major organizations, agencies, museums and synagogues, including the Tenement Museum, the UJC of the East Side, LES BID, Educational Alliance, University Settlement, Henry Street Settlement, LES Conservancy, Eldridge Street Synagogue, Angel Orsensanz Cultural Center, First Roumanian-American Congregation, Congregation Kehilah Kedosha Janina and Russ & Daughters sponsored a festival that included tours of synagogues and museums, concerts, exhibits, lectures, eating contests, films, interactive elements such as actors role playing on the streets and individuals reporting their oral histories and a major launching event. Initiated by JHNY and the Tenement Museum, the festival was coordinated over-all by the UJC of the East Side, with JHNY serving as a consultant.

350th celebrations officials concluded in 2005 with a special exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York, Tolerance and Identity: Jews in Early New York:  1654-1825.  JHNY2005 focused on the immigrant experience as well as the 60th anniversary of the end of the Shoah. Special commemorative programs included an event at Queensborough Community College, Queens Jewry Remembers 60 Years After Liberation, sponsored by the Queens JCC; a commemoration at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, featuring Aharon Appelfeld, winner of the Israel Prize for literature, and a 15-minute performance of Polish born composer Eddie Halpern's composition,To Remember It All, and the Annual Gathering at Hunter College, sponsored by the Museum of Jewish Heritage, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Resistance Organization and the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.

Beginning in 2006, the traditional celebration of Jewish Heritage Week, proclaimed by each U.S. President since Ronald Reagan, was expanded with the establishment of Jewish American Heritage Month in May. Oyhoo, the Third Annual Jewish Music and Heritage Festival and Jewzapalooza, presented by Michael Dorf, were great successes.  Michael also produced The First Annual Sidney Crum Jewish Culture Conference in 2006.  Other traditions associated with JHNY continued in both 2006 and 2007, including the Israel Folk Dance Festival and Festival of the Arts produced by the Israeli Dance Institute, the Salute to Israel Parade, the NY Mets’ Jewish Heritage Day at Shea, and their minor league affiliate Brooklyn Cyclone’s Jewish Heritage Night at Keyspan Park.

From 2006-2010, elected officials continued their tradition of hosting JHNY activities, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s annual reception at Gracie Mansion, award ceremonies and concerts hosted by the NYC Comptroller and the Borough Presidents of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.  In addition, students from throughout New York City entered the annual writing contest, which in 2008 was named in memory of JCRC Vice President Toby Nussbaum. The winners once again represented the diversity of our NYC.  In 2007-2010, NYC Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott hosted the award ceremony in City Hall.  Also, in 2007, for the first time, the NY Liberty women’s basketball team celebrated JHNY and JAHM as they welcomed Shay Doron, the first Israeli in the WNBA, to their team.  The Brooklyn Cyclones presented their annual Jewish Heritage Night at KeySpan Park, and the NY Mets hosted the 10th Annual Jewish Heritage Day at Shea.  Michael Dorf presented The Fourth Annual Jewzapalooza in Riverside Park; Oyhoo, The Fourth Annual Jewish Music & Heritage Festival, at various venues, and The Second Annual Sidney Crum Jewish Culture Conference.

In 2008 the NY Mets honored the Jewish community twice, in May with Israel at 60 Night, and in August with the 11th Annual Jewish Heritage Day, the final such celebration at Shea Stadium. JHNY2008 helped promote the 60th anniversary of Israel, which included the Annual Salute to Israel Parade on June 1st. JHNY2009 featured the NY Knicks first Jewish Heritage Night in February and helped celebrate the Annual Salute to Israel Parade on May 31st, and the Mets hosted their first Jewish Heritage Day at the new Citi Field in August.

JHNY2010 featured Mitzvah: Act of Human Kindness as the theme for the Toby Nussbaum Writing Contest; annual events hosted by elected officials including Chanukah ceremonies, Yom Ha'atzmaut celebrations and Jewish Heritage receptions; the NY Knicks' second annual Jewish Heritage Night on February 9th, the NY Islanders' celebration on March 14th; the NY Mets' Israel Night on May 27th; the NY Liberty's Jewish Heritage event on August 1st; and the NY Mets' Jewish Heritage Day on August 29th.

Throughout the New York region many sport teams and other Jewish organizations have been affiliated or held events with JHNY:

• NY Mets began celebrating Jewish Heritage Day in 1998
• Both the Staten Island Yankees and Brooklyn Cyclones started celebrating Jewish Heritage Night in 2005
• The NY Liberty joined the celebration in 2007
• The NY Knicks began in 2009
• The NY Islanders began in 2010
• The Israeli Dance Institute and annual Israel Folk Dance Festival and Festival of the Arts
• The Salute to Israel Parade
• The Russian-Speaking community started the Mameloshen Forever Festival
• The Lower East Side Street Festival
• The 92nd Street Y
• The Museum of Jewish Heritage - A Living Memorial to the Holocaust
• The JCC in Manhattan
• The Center for Jewish History