Shows
New Books in Business, Management, and MarketingLior Arussy, "Dare to Author!: Take Charge of the Narrative of Your Life" (Greenleaf, 2024)In this episode Drora Arussy interviews her husband, Lior. As this book brings in personal accounts and builds on experiences, there was some banter and stories that normally do not come up in discussions like this. Lior Arussy’s latest book, Dare to Author! from Greenleaf book club press, 2024, is a call for people to write—and therefore own—their life’s story, even when events are unexpected and don’t always turn out the way we want. The book is a manifesto and a guide to converting life experiences into future strength, resilience, and development and, in the process...2024-11-1133 min
Reclaiming IdentityExploring the Jewish Story: Michel GordonDrora and Dalya talk to Michel Gordon about what it means to him to be part of the Jewish story and his travels to find out more about the greater Jewish world.Michel Gordon is a Brazilian photographer who has traveled several times to Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, searching for Jewish heritage in those places. He published his first book about Jews in Islam in 2009 (in Brazil) and the last one in 2023 (in the Netherlands).Between these works, he published a book about his perspective as...2024-05-0244 min
Reclaiming IdentityRemembering Libya: Professor Yitzchak SabbanDrora is joined by Professor Yitzchak Sabban to discuss growing up in Libya, living in Israel and coming to the US.For more about Jewish Unity Through Diversity: https://www.unitytdiversity.com/Donate to support this and other JUTD projects: http://tinyurl.com/JUniTDiDonateAbout the Podcast:Producer: Moshe SingerExecutive producers: Drora Arussy and Dalya Arussy Di VeroliIntro music by Vanessa Paloma2024-04-1435 min
Reclaiming IdentityStorytelling and Embracing Identity: Sarah SassoonDalya and Drora speak with Sarah Sassoon, an author and educator about her Iraqi heritage and discovering her family history through her writing.Sarah Sassoon is an Australian, Iraqi Jewish writer, poet and educator. She is the author of the award winning children’s picture book Shoham’s Bangle and online poetry chapbook This is Why We Don’t Look Back. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and her work has appeared in Michigan Quarterly Review, Lilith, MER, Ruminate and elsewhere. Her forthcoming picture book This is Not a Cholent is forthcoming in 2024 with Kar-Ben Publishing.Sara...2024-04-0834 min
Reclaiming IdentityFrom Un-Persian to Persian Discovery: Danielle and GaleetDrora and Dalya speak with Danielle and Galeet Dardashti about growing up un-Persian, discovering their family's story and the personal impact of their new podcast, The Nightingale of Iran.For more about Danielle and Galeet's podcast, The Nightingale of Iran: https://www.nightingaleofiran.com/For more on Galeet's album, Monajat: https://www.galeetdardashti.com/monajatDanielle Dardashti is an Emmy award-winning documentary writer/producer, a former on-air TV news reporter, and a storySLAM champion who has been featured on NPR’s Moth Radio Hour. She is the co-author of the Jewish Family Fun Bo...2024-03-1343 min
Reclaiming IdentityConnecting Across Oceans: Dóra and SebastianDrora and Dalya speak with Dóra and Sebastian, co-founders of Qesher. We talk to them about where they grew up, how they got to starting their enlightening initiative and what they've learned along the way, about other Jewish communities and about themselves!Dóra Koranyi is a psychologist and tour guide in the Jewish quarter of Budapest. After completing her studies in Israel, Dóra returned to Hungary where she worked actively in different Jewish organizations and also took an active role in a grassroots, egalitarian Jewish community.Originally from Venezuela, Sebastian Mizrahi has liv...2024-03-0731 min
New Books in Middle Eastern StudiesUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 min
New Books in Diplomatic HistoryUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 min
New Books in World AffairsUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 min
New Books in Jewish StudiesUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 min
New Books in Military HistoryUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 min
New Books in Israel StudiesUri Kaufman, "Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East" (St. Martin's Press, 2023)October 2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, a conflict that shaped the modern Middle East. The War was a trauma for Israel, a dangerous superpower showdown, and, following the oil embargo, a pivotal reordering of the global economic order. The Jewish State came shockingly close to defeat. A panicky cabinet meeting debated the use of nuclear weapons. After the war, Prime Minister Golda Meir resigned in disgrace, and a 9/11-style commission investigated the "debacle."But, argues Uri Kaufman in Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle E...2024-01-1557 minNew Books in Military HistoryBryan Mark Rigg, "The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue" (UP of Kansas, 2016)When Hitler invaded Warsaw in the fall of 1939, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the besieged city. The Rebbe Joseph Schneersohn, the leader of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews, was among them. When word of his plight went out, a group of American Jews initiated what would ultimately become one of the strangest—and most miraculous—rescues of World War II. And this is the incredible but true story that Bryan Mark Rigg tells in The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue (UP of Kansas, 2016).Amid the chaos and hell o...2024-01-0755 minNew Books in Jewish StudiesBryan Mark Rigg, "The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue" (UP of Kansas, 2016)When Hitler invaded Warsaw in the fall of 1939, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the besieged city. The Rebbe Joseph Schneersohn, the leader of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews, was among them. When word of his plight went out, a group of American Jews initiated what would ultimately become one of the strangest—and most miraculous—rescues of World War II. And this is the incredible but true story that Bryan Mark Rigg tells in The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue (UP of Kansas, 2016).Amid the chaos and hell o...2024-01-0755 min
New Books in German StudiesBryan Mark Rigg, "The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue" (UP of Kansas, 2016)When Hitler invaded Warsaw in the fall of 1939, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the besieged city. The Rebbe Joseph Schneersohn, the leader of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews, was among them. When word of his plight went out, a group of American Jews initiated what would ultimately become one of the strangest—and most miraculous—rescues of World War II. And this is the incredible but true story that Bryan Mark Rigg tells in The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue (UP of Kansas, 2016).Amid the chaos and hell o...2024-01-0753 min
New Books in Genocide StudiesBryan Mark Rigg, "The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue" (UP of Kansas, 2016)When Hitler invaded Warsaw in the fall of 1939, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the besieged city. The Rebbe Joseph Schneersohn, the leader of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews, was among them. When word of his plight went out, a group of American Jews initiated what would ultimately become one of the strangest—and most miraculous—rescues of World War II. And this is the incredible but true story that Bryan Mark Rigg tells in The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue (UP of Kansas, 2016).Amid the chaos and hell o...2024-01-0755 min
New Books in Eastern European StudiesBryan Mark Rigg, "The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue" (UP of Kansas, 2016)When Hitler invaded Warsaw in the fall of 1939, hundreds of thousands of civilians were trapped in the besieged city. The Rebbe Joseph Schneersohn, the leader of the ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews, was among them. When word of his plight went out, a group of American Jews initiated what would ultimately become one of the strangest—and most miraculous—rescues of World War II. And this is the incredible but true story that Bryan Mark Rigg tells in The Rabbi Saved by Hitler's Soldiers: Rebbe Joseph Isaac Schneersohn and His Astonishing Rescue (UP of Kansas, 2016).Amid the chaos and hell o...2024-01-0755 min
Reclaiming IdentityFrom Ethiopia to Tsion Cafe: Chef BeejhyDrora speaks with Beejhy about arriving and growing up in Israel, becoming a wandering Jew, and finding her home in an Ethiopian-Israeli cafe in Harlem.Beejhy is an Ethiopian-born and Israeli-raised chef and activist who has called Harlem home for the past 20 years. She's a proud Ethiopian, a proud Jew, and a proud black woman. She is also the founder of BINA, Beta Israel of North American Cultural Foundation. She now celebrates her vast heritage through the food and events at Tsion Cafe https://www.tsioncafe.com/For more about Jewish Unity...2023-12-1732 minNew Books in Middle Eastern StudiesAbdul Galil Shaif, "South Yemen: Gateway to the World?" (Authorhouse UK, 2022)Abdul Galil Shaif's book South Yemen: Gateway to the World? (Authorhouse UK, 2022) tells the story of South Yemen. The book traces the history of the country from the struggle for independence from the British which was gained in 1967. The first part provides an insight into the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen, the first and only socialist state in the Arab world its achievements - the emancipation of women, redistribution of land to the people, an impressive mass literacy programme - and its demise due to internecine struggles in the Yemeni Socialist Party. In 1990 South and North Yemen united but th...2023-12-1245 min
New Books in the Indian Ocean WorldAbdul Galil Shaif, "South Yemen: Gateway to the World?" (Authorhouse UK, 2022)Abdul Galil Shaif's book South Yemen: Gateway to the World? (Authorhouse UK, 2022) tells the story of South Yemen. The book traces the history of the country from the struggle for independence from the British which was gained in 1967. The first part provides an insight into the Peoples Democratic Republic of Yemen, the first and only socialist state in the Arab world its achievements - the emancipation of women, redistribution of land to the people, an impressive mass literacy programme - and its demise due to internecine struggles in the Yemeni Socialist Party. In 1990 South and North Yemen united but th...2023-12-1245 minNew Books in Middle Eastern StudiesSasha Goldstein-Sabbah et al., "Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World" (U Groningen Press, 2023)Through stunning images, maps and insightful commentary, Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World (U Groningen Press, 2023) offers a glimpse into the diversity, historical legacy, and rich culture of Jewish communities within the Muslim world. From the growing Jewish community of Dubai to ancient synagogues and shrines, these photographs capture the beauty and complexity of Jewish life around North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Above all, this photographic book serves as a reminder of the enduring spirit of the Jewish people and the diversity of lived experiences within Islamic societies.This vo...2023-12-0850 min
New Books in Central Asian StudiesSasha Goldstein-Sabbah et al., "Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World" (U Groningen Press, 2023)Through stunning images, maps and insightful commentary, Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World (U Groningen Press, 2023) offers a glimpse into the diversity, historical legacy, and rich culture of Jewish communities within the Muslim world. From the growing Jewish community of Dubai to ancient synagogues and shrines, these photographs capture the beauty and complexity of Jewish life around North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Above all, this photographic book serves as a reminder of the enduring spirit of the Jewish people and the diversity of lived experiences within Islamic societies.This vo...2023-12-0850 minNew Books in Jewish StudiesSasha Goldstein-Sabbah et al., "Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World" (U Groningen Press, 2023)Through stunning images, maps and insightful commentary, Life & Legacy: A Window into Jewish Life Across the Islamic World (U Groningen Press, 2023) offers a glimpse into the diversity, historical legacy, and rich culture of Jewish communities within the Muslim world. From the growing Jewish community of Dubai to ancient synagogues and shrines, these photographs capture the beauty and complexity of Jewish life around North Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Above all, this photographic book serves as a reminder of the enduring spirit of the Jewish people and the diversity of lived experiences within Islamic societies.This vo...2023-12-0850 min
Reclaiming IdentityBringing My Ladino Home to Readers: Roz KohenRoz Kohen was born and raised in İstanbul, Türkiye. She attended the Jewish Lycée, B'nai B'rith in the Galata region and graduated from the American College for Girls in İstanbul. She has a graduate degree in Library Science. She retired recently after working as manager of one of St. Louis County Library branches in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A.Roz shares with us her life growing up in Istanbul, making her way to Israel and then the US, finding out along the way what it means to be "Sephardic."2023-09-2040 min
Reclaiming IdentityFrom Uzbekistan to the US and Back: Manashe KhaimovManashe Khaimov is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SAMi which focuses on the Leadership Development of under-served Jewish communities on college campuses and in their communities in North America. Manashe is a fourth-generation community organizer, serial entrepreneur, and social innovator who builds and consults organizations on Jewish diversity. Manashe is an Adjunct Professor in Jewish Studies, with a specialty in the History and Culture of the Central Asian Jews at Queens College. In his previous role as a Director of Community Engagement and Development at Queens College Hillel, he focused on creating Sepharadi and Mizrahi Leadership at...2023-09-1249 min
Reclaiming IdentityCarrying Ladino from Izmir to the US: Rachel Amado BortnickRachel Amado Bortnick is a Sephardic Jew, a Ladino speaker, born and raised in Izmir, Turkey. She came to the United States in 1958 on a scholarship from Lindenwood University in Missouri, from which she received a BA in Chemistry. Now, Rachel resides in Dallas, and is retired after teaching ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) for 35 years. For many years Rachel has been active in the preservation and promotion of Judeo-Spanish language and culture. In the San Francisco Bay Area she founded and was president of Los Amigos Sefaradis. She is featured in the documentary film, "Trees Cry for...2023-09-0556 min
Exchanges: A Cambridge UP PodcastNicholas W. S. Smith, "Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea" (Cambridge UP, 2021)Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea (Cambridge UP, 2021) sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader, and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks, and traded arms, slaves, and drugs. Their actions co...2023-06-1255 minNew Books in Middle Eastern StudiesNicholas W. S. Smith, "Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea" (Cambridge UP, 2021)Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea (Cambridge UP, 2021) sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader, and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks, and traded arms, slaves, and drugs. Their actions co...2023-06-1255 minNew Books in Military HistoryNicholas W. S. Smith, "Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea" (Cambridge UP, 2021)Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea (Cambridge UP, 2021) sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader, and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks, and traded arms, slaves, and drugs. Their actions co...2023-06-1255 minNew Books in Diplomatic HistoryNicholas W. S. Smith, "Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea" (Cambridge UP, 2021)Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea (Cambridge UP, 2021) sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader, and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks, and traded arms, slaves, and drugs. Their actions co...2023-06-1255 minNew Books in the Indian Ocean WorldNicholas W. S. Smith, "Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea" (Cambridge UP, 2021)Today, the countries bordering the Red Sea are riven with instability. Why are the region's contemporary problems so persistent and interlinked? Through the stories of three compelling characters, Colonial Chaos in the Southern Red Sea (Cambridge UP, 2021) sheds light on the unfurling of anarchy and violence during the colonial era. A noble Somali sultan, a cunning Yemeni militia leader, and a Machiavellian French merchant ran amok in the southern Red Sea in the nineteenth and twentieth century. In response to colonial hostility and gunboat diplomacy, they attacked shipwrecks, launched piratical attacks, and traded arms, slaves, and drugs. Their actions co...2023-06-1255 min
Reclaiming IdentityEducating for Jewish Pride: Ruben ShimonovRuben Shimonov is a Jewish educator and community builder of Bukhara heritage. today he is the Director of the American Sephardi Federation's Sephardi House Fellows helping to bring Sephardi culture and education to college campuses across the United States. He is a lecturer and calligrapher who is in demand at venues across the globe. Ruben serves as the Director of the Sephardi-Mizrachi Q Network and the VP of Education and Community Engagement of the ASF Young Leadership Board.He shares with us here his life growing up in different communities and the importance he sees in educating...2023-05-181h 03New Books in Jewish StudiesOded Zinger, "Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip, marital woes, and the voices of men and women of a world long gone. Probing the rich documents of the Cairo Geniza, a unique repository of discarded paper discovered in a Cairo synagogue, the book recovers the life stories of Jewish women and men working through their marital problems at home, with their families, in the streets of old Cairo, and in Jewish and Muslim courts. Despite a voluminous li...2023-05-1154 min
New Books in GenderOded Zinger, "Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip, marital woes, and the voices of men and women of a world long gone. Probing the rich documents of the Cairo Geniza, a unique repository of discarded paper discovered in a Cairo synagogue, the book recovers the life stories of Jewish women and men working through their marital problems at home, with their families, in the streets of old Cairo, and in Jewish and Muslim courts. Despite a voluminous li...2023-05-1154 min
New Books in Medieval HistoryOded Zinger, "Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip, marital woes, and the voices of men and women of a world long gone. Probing the rich documents of the Cairo Geniza, a unique repository of discarded paper discovered in a Cairo synagogue, the book recovers the life stories of Jewish women and men working through their marital problems at home, with their families, in the streets of old Cairo, and in Jewish and Muslim courts. Despite a voluminous li...2023-05-1154 min
New Books in ReligionOded Zinger, "Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip, marital woes, and the voices of men and women of a world long gone. Probing the rich documents of the Cairo Geniza, a unique repository of discarded paper discovered in a Cairo synagogue, the book recovers the life stories of Jewish women and men working through their marital problems at home, with their families, in the streets of old Cairo, and in Jewish and Muslim courts. Despite a voluminous li...2023-05-1154 minNew Books in Middle Eastern StudiesOded Zinger, "Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt" (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023)Living with the Law: Gender and Community Among the Jews of Medieval Egypt (U Pennsylvania Press, 2023) explores the marital disputes of Jews in medieval Islamic Egypt (1000-1250), relating medieval gossip, marital woes, and the voices of men and women of a world long gone. Probing the rich documents of the Cairo Geniza, a unique repository of discarded paper discovered in a Cairo synagogue, the book recovers the life stories of Jewish women and men working through their marital problems at home, with their families, in the streets of old Cairo, and in Jewish and Muslim courts. Despite a voluminous li...2023-05-1154 min
Reclaiming IdentityASF Institute of Jewish Experience: Meet the Team - Dalya, Avrom, Yona, Drora (Moshe)Meet the team behind the content, concepts, themes, and programs of the ASF IJE. Four of us sat down together to discuss why we are involved in this process, what it means to us as individuals, and what it means the the greater Jewish mosaic. Please share with us your thoughts and stories.Avrom ArievDalya Arussy Di VeroliDrora ArussyYona ShemeshProducer: Avrom ArievExecutive Producers: Dalya Arussy Di Veroli, Drora Arussy2023-05-0440 min
Reclaiming IdentityFrom Samarkand to Israel - from one minority to another: Aaron PazDalya speaks with Aaron PazAaron Paz is a visual artist and cultural entrepreneur. He made Aliyah from Samarkand, Uzbekistan in 2008 and lives in Jerusalem. He manages Shashmaqom, a platform for the dissemination of the culture of Central Asia. Throughout his work, he intertwines parts of his biography with collective memory and narrative and in so doing reveals cultural and historical unknowns and disproves conventions.Producer and editor: Moshe SingerExecutive Producers: Drora Arussy and Dalya Arussy Di VeroliASF Institute of Jewish Experience2023-04-2735 minNew Books in Jewish StudiesLaura Arnold Leibman, "Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family" (Oxford UP, 2021)An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family (Oxford UP, 2021) overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tra...2023-04-0550 min
New Books in BiographyLaura Arnold Leibman, "Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family" (Oxford UP, 2021)An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family (Oxford UP, 2021) overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tra...2023-04-0550 min
In Conversation: An OUP PodcastLaura Arnold Leibman, "Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family" (Oxford UP, 2021)An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family (Oxford UP, 2021) overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tra...2023-04-0550 min
New Books in Caribbean StudiesLaura Arnold Leibman, "Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family" (Oxford UP, 2021)An obsessive genealogist and descendent of one of the most prominent Jewish families since the American Revolution, Blanche Moses firmly believed her maternal ancestors were Sephardic grandees. Yet she found herself at a dead end when it came to her grandmother's maternal line. Using family heirlooms to unlock the mystery of Moses's ancestors, Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family (Oxford UP, 2021) overturns the reclusive heiress's assumptions about her family history to reveal that her grandmother and great-uncle, Sarah and Isaac Brandon, actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Tra...2023-04-0550 min
Reclaiming IdentityFrom Uruguay to New York part of the Jewish ExperienceDr. Mijal Bitton is a Torah teacher, thought leader, and spiritual entrepreneur.As the Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) of the Downtown Minyan in New York City and Scholar-in-Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute, she is committed to building vibrant and welcoming traditional Jewish life.Mijal earned her doctorate from New York University where she is now directing the first national study of Sephardic Jews in the United States. She is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and was selected in 2018 for inclusion in “36 under 36” in the New York Jewish Week as a “Public Intellectual (with...2023-03-2636 minNew Books in ReligionSharon Shalom, "From Sinai to Ethiopia: The Halakhic and Conceptual World of the Ethiopian Jews" (Gefen Books, 2016)Some two thousand years ago, a group of Jews settled in Ethiopia and was for millennia cut off from the rest of world Jewry, preserving its heritage with great self-sacrifice. When this community, the Beta Israel, ultimately made its way to Israel to rejoin its brethren in the late twentieth century, a host of complex dilemmas emerged. Should the Beta Israel shed its venerated customs, based on ancient, pre-rabbinic Jewish law, and adopt the rabbinic halakhah of modern-day Jewry? Or is there a place for the unique legacy of the Ethiopian Jews within the umbrella of the wider Jewish...2023-03-0857 minNew Books in Israel StudiesSharon Shalom, "From Sinai to Ethiopia: The Halakhic and Conceptual World of the Ethiopian Jews" (Gefen Books, 2016)Some two thousand years ago, a group of Jews settled in Ethiopia and was for millennia cut off from the rest of world Jewry, preserving its heritage with great self-sacrifice. When this community, the Beta Israel, ultimately made its way to Israel to rejoin its brethren in the late twentieth century, a host of complex dilemmas emerged. Should the Beta Israel shed its venerated customs, based on ancient, pre-rabbinic Jewish law, and adopt the rabbinic halakhah of modern-day Jewry? Or is there a place for the unique legacy of the Ethiopian Jews within the umbrella of the wider Jewish...2023-03-0857 min
New Books in African StudiesSharon Shalom, "From Sinai to Ethiopia: The Halakhic and Conceptual World of the Ethiopian Jews" (Gefen Books, 2016)Some two thousand years ago, a group of Jews settled in Ethiopia and was for millennia cut off from the rest of world Jewry, preserving its heritage with great self-sacrifice. When this community, the Beta Israel, ultimately made its way to Israel to rejoin its brethren in the late twentieth century, a host of complex dilemmas emerged. Should the Beta Israel shed its venerated customs, based on ancient, pre-rabbinic Jewish law, and adopt the rabbinic halakhah of modern-day Jewry? Or is there a place for the unique legacy of the Ethiopian Jews within the umbrella of the wider Jewish...2023-03-0857 minNew Books in Jewish StudiesSharon Shalom, "From Sinai to Ethiopia: The Halakhic and Conceptual World of the Ethiopian Jews" (Gefen Books, 2016)Some two thousand years ago, a group of Jews settled in Ethiopia and was for millennia cut off from the rest of world Jewry, preserving its heritage with great self-sacrifice. When this community, the Beta Israel, ultimately made its way to Israel to rejoin its brethren in the late twentieth century, a host of complex dilemmas emerged. Should the Beta Israel shed its venerated customs, based on ancient, pre-rabbinic Jewish law, and adopt the rabbinic halakhah of modern-day Jewry? Or is there a place for the unique legacy of the Ethiopian Jews within the umbrella of the wider Jewish...2023-03-0857 min
New Books in Ancient HistorySharon Shalom, "From Sinai to Ethiopia: The Halakhic and Conceptual World of the Ethiopian Jews" (Gefen Books, 2016)Some two thousand years ago, a group of Jews settled in Ethiopia and was for millennia cut off from the rest of world Jewry, preserving its heritage with great self-sacrifice. When this community, the Beta Israel, ultimately made its way to Israel to rejoin its brethren in the late twentieth century, a host of complex dilemmas emerged. Should the Beta Israel shed its venerated customs, based on ancient, pre-rabbinic Jewish law, and adopt the rabbinic halakhah of modern-day Jewry? Or is there a place for the unique legacy of the Ethiopian Jews within the umbrella of the wider Jewish...2023-03-0855 min
Reclaiming IdentityYoni Avi Battat: From Klezmer to Maqam and bridging those worldsYoni's new album, "Fragments," is a collection of original and traditional music surrounding my Iraqi-Jewish identity. With lyrics in Arabic, Hebrew, English, and Yiddish, the music utilizes Arabic modes and rhythms with an ensemble of traditional Arabic instruments to grapple with the fragmentation of ancestry and memory. This project offers visibility and recognition for the many unseen Middle Eastern Jews in America, while making room for listeners of all backgrounds to take something from my message of resilience and healing.Yoni Avi Battat is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and composer specializing in contemporary and traditional...2023-02-1336 min
New Books in Islamic StudiesMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10
Princeton UP Ideas PodcastMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10New Books in ReligionMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10New Books in Jewish StudiesMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10New Books in Middle Eastern StudiesMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10New Books in Medieval HistoryMeir M. Bar-Asher, "Jews and the Qur'an" (Princeton UP, 2022)In this panoramic and multifaceted book, Meir Bar-Asher examines how Jews and Judaism are depicted in the Qur'an and later Islamic literature, providing needed context to those passages critical of Jews that are most often invoked to divide Muslims and Jews or to promote Islamophobia. He traces the Qur'anic origins of the protection of Jews and other minorities living under the rule of Islam, and shows how attitudes toward Jews in Shi'i Islam are substantially different from those in Sunni Islam. Bar-Asher sheds light on the extraordinary contribution of Jewish tradition to the Muslim exegesis of the Qur'an, and...2023-02-011h 10
New Books in Women's HistoryMichael Frank, "One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood in Rhodes where she'd grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other's company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time...2022-11-171h 00New Books in Jewish StudiesMichael Frank, "One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood in Rhodes where she'd grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other's company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time...2022-11-171h 00New Books in BiographyMichael Frank, "One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood in Rhodes where she'd grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other's company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time...2022-11-171h 00New Books in Genocide StudiesMichael Frank, "One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for a Lost World" (Simon and Schuster, 2022)With nearly a century of life behind her, Stella Levi had never before spoken in detail about her past. Then she met Michael Frank. He came to her Greenwich Village apartment one Saturday afternoon to ask her a question about the Juderia, the neighborhood in Rhodes where she'd grown up in a Jewish community that had thrived there for half a millennium.Neither of them could know this was the first of one hundred Saturdays over the course of six years that they would spend in each other's company. During these meetings Stella traveled back in time...2022-11-171h 00New Books in Jewish StudiesAlan Verskin, "A Vision of Yemen: The Travels of a European Orientalist and His Native Guide--a Translation of Hayyim Habshush's Travelogue" (Stanford UP, 2019)In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish-Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the "enlightened" European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Ori...2022-10-311h 03New Books in Middle Eastern StudiesAlan Verskin, "A Vision of Yemen: The Travels of a European Orientalist and His Native Guide--a Translation of Hayyim Habshush's Travelogue" (Stanford UP, 2019)In 1869, Hayyim Habshush, a Yemeni Jew, accompanied the European orientalist Joseph Halévy on his archaeological tour of Yemen. Twenty years later, Habshush wrote A Vision of Yemen a memoir of their travels, that provides a vivid account of daily life, religion, and politics. More than a simple travelogue, it is a work of trickster-tales, thick anthropological descriptions, and reflections on Jewish-Muslim relations. At its heart lies the fractious and intimate relationship between the Yemeni coppersmith and the "enlightened" European scholar and the collision between the cultures each represents. The book thus offers a powerful indigenous response to European Ori...2022-10-311h 03New Books in African StudiesReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 minNew Books in Middle Eastern StudiesReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 minNew Books in Israel StudiesReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 minNew Books in Jewish StudiesReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 min
New Books in Iranian StudiesReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 minNew Books in Military HistoryReeva Spector Simon, "The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II" (Routledge, 2019)Incorporating published and archival material, Reeva Spector Simon's book The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II (Routledge, 2019) fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran.Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews su...2022-09-2822 min