Month: October 2018

Colonialism and the Jews with Lisa Moses Leff, Ethan Katz, and Maud Mandel

Colonialism, Israel, Jewish History, Modern Jewish History, Zionism

Lisa Moses Leff, Ethan Katz, and Maud Mandel discuss “Colonialism and the Jews,” an volume of essays from a 2014 conference on the subject. We talk about the place of Jews in the history of colonialism, the role of empire in the varied Jewish experiences of modernity, how examining these topics helps us to rethink modern Jewish history, and the question of Zionism and colonialism.

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Cafes and Modern Jewish Culture with Shachar Pinsker

Eastern Europe, Food, Israel, Jewish History, Migration and Mobility, Modern Jewish History

Shachar Pinsker discusses his book A Rich Brew: How Cafes Created Modern Jewish Culture and the ways in which cafes provide a window into understanding modern Jewish culture and modernity: What it means for cafes to be sites of the production of Jewish culture, how cafes sold not just coffee but also a concept of modernity, and the transformation of cafes and Jewish culture.

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