Earlier this semester, Michelle Chesner, the Norman E. Alexander Jewish Studies librarian led a workshop on utilizing the collection while we continue with remote learning. Chesner has been going into the library to digitize primary sources for students and faculty alike, and as usual, is a tremendous resource for all Columbia affiliates conducting research.
Jewish Studies and Religion Classes at Columbia
Interested in studying Jewish Studies at Columbia? Take a peek into what Prof. Beth Berkowitz and Prof. Clemence Boulouque have planned for Fall 2020.
Institute in the News
Yale University Press published The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, Volume 6: Confronting Modernity, 1750-1880, edited by Prof. Elisheva Carlebach. This volume covers a momentous period, described by Carlebach as a time “in which every aspect of Jewish life underwent the most profound changes to have occurred since antiquity.” The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization is comprised of The Posen Digital Library (PDL), available at posenlibrary.com, and a 10-volume print anthology of Jewish culture.
Read Prof. Clémence Boulouque’s New York Times book review of Norman Lebrecht’s Genius & Anxiety: How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947.
Francine Klagsburn, author of Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel, shared her thoughts on the Institute’s conference History and Memory: The Legacy of Yosef H. Yerushalmi in the New Jersey Jewish News.
Tablet Magazine shared our upcoming screening of The Pawnbroker followed by a Q&A with Prof. Maura Spiegel.
Faculty in the News: Jewish Life in Rhodes
Adjunct Lecturer Isabelle Levy collaborated on an exhibition titled Los Corassones Avlan: Conversations on Jewish Life on the Island of Rhodes. The project is a collaboration between Kehila Kedosha Janina, the American Sephardi Federation, and Centro Primo Levi. The exhibit at 148 West 4th Street runs through November 24 is free and open to the public. For more information visit http://primolevicenter.org/.
Prof. Jeremy Dauber on his newest book, what he's working on, and who he'd invite to a dinner party.
Prof. Rebecca Kobrin lectured on the legacy of Jewish immigrants at the New City Jewish Center. Read more here.
Summer Highlights at IIJS
20 Undergraduate Israel Fellows took Hebrew language courses; interned at various tech companies; and conducted groundbreaking medical research - all while learning about the diversity and complexity of Israeli society.
Jewish Studies Ph.D. students utilized Institute travel funds to explore archives; present papers; and gain pedagogical skills to become the next leaders in the field.
The Institute co-hosted the Nevzlin Conference. The conference brings together current Ph.D. students to workshop their dissertations and receive mentoring from leaders in the field. Prof. Rebecca Kobrin and Prof. Jeremy Dauber participated in the workshops along with scholars from Israel.
IIJS co-sponsored a conference at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews titled "The Activities of the Joint in Poland and Neighboring Countries 1945-1989: Reality and Perceptions.”
Faculty in the News: The Washington Post and Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism
"This week, as we mark the 25th anniversary of the greatest single loss of Jewish lives outside Israel since the Holocaust, it is imperative that we grapple with anti-Semitism as a global issue. An ideology that combines racism and right-wing politics, anti-Semitism has long pervaded Europe and the United States - and South America." Read more in the Washington Post op-ed by Prof. Rebecca Kobrin and Prof. Federico Finchelstein (The New School).
Prof. Beth Berkowitz’s essay “The Slipperiness of Animal Suffering: Revisiting the Talmud’s Classic Treatment” was published in Jewish Veganism and Vegetarianism.
From the Stacks: Passover Haggadahs
Norman E. Alexander Jewish Studies Librarian Michelle Chesner shares Passover Haggadahs from the collection.
Faculty in the News: 'The Lehman Trilogy' and More
Rebecca Kobrin's essay, "A Jewish American Success Story" was featured in the playbill of The Lehman Trilogy now playing at the Park Avenue Armory.
On March 28, Rebecca Kobrin briefed Mayor Bloomberg on the current rise in global anti-Semitism at Bloomberg News and on April 10, she was invited to participate in a small, high-level consultation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief about the trajectory of antisemitism in the United States at the American Jewish Committee.
Rebecca Kobrin spoke about Jewish migration to the United States at The Global Forum of the National Library of Israel (held March 17-19 in Jerusalem).
Jeremy Dauber gave a lecture on his latest book, now in paperback, Jewish Comedy, A Serious History at Ursinus College. Read about the lecture here.
Spring@IIJS: Experiencing Jewish Music in America: A Listener’s Companion
On Monday, February 25, Tina Fruhauf, shared highlights from Experiencing Jewish Music in America: A Listener’s Companion. Participants had the pleasure of hearing cantorial music from Yossele Rosenblatt and versions of Vay Mir Bist Du Schoen by Molly Picon and the Barry Sisters.
Dr. Fruhauf will be teaching an undergraduate class in the Fall entitled “Jewish Music in New York.”
Faculty in the News: Newsweek, Jerusalem Post & The Council on Foreign Relations
Prof. Rebecca Kobrin weighs in on anti-Semitism in Newsweek.
Prof. Yinon Cohen, along with Tel Aviv University's Prof. Noah Levin Epstein and Prof. Amit Lazarus, examine the gaps between third generation Mizrachi and Ashkenazi Jews in Israel. Read more.
Prof. Rebecca Kobrin participated in a panel discussion on the rise of global anti-Semitism. Keep reading for the full transcript and video.
From the Stacks: Purim Beyond the Book of Esther
Michelle Chesner, the Norman E. Alexander Jewish Studies Librarian, shared Purim related literature, including scrolls and parodies in Italian, Judeo-Greek, and Hebrew.
Faculty in the News: ‘Take my donkey, please…’
Read about Prof. Jeremy Dauber’s book, “Jewish Comedy: A Serious History,” which is now out in paperback, in the Jewish Standard.
The Semester of the Jewish book
Read about the teaching collaboration between Prof. Elisheva Carlebach and Norman E. Alexander Jewish Studies Librarian Michelle Chesner. Read more here.
Faculty in the News: The Real History Behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Trip to the Catskills ‘Borscht Belt’
TIME spoke to Jeremy Dauber, a professor of Yiddish Language, Literature and Culture at Columbia University and author of Jewish Comedy: A Serious History, about the true story behind Mrs. Maisel‘s summer vacation. Read more at TIME.com.