Jewish Culture

Since 2010, The Betsy has hosted the national Jewish American & Holocaust Literature Symposium (JAHLIT).  In addition to serving as host hotel for 50+ contemporary scholars, we host public programs for the general public. 

The symposium brings leading Jewish studies scholars to South Florida, alongside novelists and poets. JAHLIT is an affiliate of The American Literature Association which is part of The Modern Language Association.   JAHLIT.org   

The Betsy Writers Room hosts the Miami Beach Jewish Community Center’s annual roster of Jewish writers in residence - in partnership with the Jewish Book Council in NYC, and major American publishers.

The Betsy Writers Room worked in collaboration with FIU Exile Studies and the Yiddishkayt Initiative to restore Yiddish conversation to South Beach, with a series of Sunday morning Yiddish Salons celebrating Miami Beach as the post-war home of Holocaust survivors. In addition we host ongoing curated residencies, performances, and presentations in the Jewish Studies space. 

Hear Yiddish translations of poetry by Hyam Plutzik, performed by Avi Hoffman, translated by Miriam Hoffman: https://shorturl.at/crMT4

Every January, The Betsy Writers Room becomes the residency site for VIP participants in the Miami Jewish Film Festival, the largest festival of its kind in the world, in a series curated by Festival Founder/Director Igor Shterenberg. 

In addition, we hosted the inaugural “Yiddish & Jewish Cinema Between Two Worlds” silent classic film program in The Betsy Hotel's Atrium.

The Art of Andy Sweet in a show called Shtetl in the Sun: Andy Sweet’s South Beach 1977-1980 traveled from the FIU Jewish Museum to The Betsy Hotel, where some of the works are  now part of the Hotel’s  permanent collection.  http://bitly.ws/show/HvEU

Other partnerships with the FIU Jewish Museum  include a program called ‘We Bear Witness: Poets and the Holocaust” featuring poets Joy Ladin, William Heyen and Geoffrey Philp.

Watch ‘We Bear Witness’  http://bitly.ws/show/HvEy

The Betsy with White Goat Press will present a reading and reception - in Fall 2023 - for David Stromberg (translator/scholar) to celebrate the release of three volumes of translated essays by Isaac Bashevis Singer to commemorate Singer’s 120th birthday.