T H E G O L D S T E I N - G O R E N D I A S P O R A R E S E A R C H C E N T E R A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 7 - 2 0 1 8 Contents INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 2 COMMITTEES ............................................................................................................. 4 STAFF ......................................................................................................................... 5 PUBLICATIONS .......................................................................................................... 6 RESEARCH PROJECTS PUBLISHED IN 2017-2018 ......................................................... 6 FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS .................................................................................... 6 DIASPORA SERIES ...................................................................................................... 7 RETHINKING DIASPORA SERIES ................................................................................... 7 MANUSCRIPT SERIES ................................................................................................. 8 CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS ........................................................................ 9 CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS 2017-2018 ............................................................. 9 FORTHCOMING CONFERENCES AND SYMPOSIUMS .......................................................12 UNITS AND PROJECTS – ONGOING RESEARCH ...................................................14 THE INSTITUTE FOR THE HISTORY OF POLISH JEWRY AND ISRAEL-POLAND RELATIONS .14 ITALIA JUDAICA PROJECT ...........................................................................................18 JEWISH ART AND VISUAL CULTURE RESEARCH ...........................................................19 THE JEWS IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES IN THE MODERN ERA...............................................21 THE JEWS OF BELARUS IN THE MODERN ERA .............................................................22 THE CULTURAL HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF THE ISLAMIC WORLD IN THE MIDDLE AGES ...32 JEWISH IDENTITY AND CONSCIOUSNESS .....................................................................34 THE JEWISH NEIGHBORHOOD ....................................................................................38 THE JEWS OF CRETE DURING THE VENETIAN PERIOD ..................................................41 THE JEWS OF TURKEY AND THE BALKANS AND LADINO CULTURE .................................42 THE JEWS OF ROMANIA .............................................................................................44 PRAYER, PRAYER BOOKS AND JEWISH CULTURE ........................................................45 JEWISH SOLDIERS IN WORLD WAR II ..........................................................................47 THE CENTER’S WEBSITE .........................................................................................50 THE MEHLMANN LIBRARY ......................................................................................52 THE ARCHIVE ............................................................................................................53 SCHOLARSHIPS FOR PH.D. STUDENTS .................................................................55 Introduction The Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center is dedicated to research on the history and heritage of the Jewish people and its culture throughout the Diaspora in all eras. The Center is part of the Lester and Sally Entin Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University. The Center's objectives are: To prepare and coordinate research tools for studying the history and culture of the Jewish people in the Diaspora. To initiate and encourage research projects in Diaspora studies, and to assist in their implementation. To publish and disseminate the Center's research projects. The Center’s roots are in the Diaspora Research Institute that was founded in 1964 through the initiative of Professor Shlomo Simonsohn, who directed the Institute from its establishment until 1992. Thanks to a generous donation from Mr. Avram Goldstein-Goren z”l in March 2002, the Institute was able to expand its activities and became a Center bearing his name. Since then, the Center has been operating through the assistance of an annual donation from the Cukier, Goldstein-Goren Foundation. Former directors of the Center: Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn, 1964-1992; Prof. Minna Rozen, 1992-1997; Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer, 1997-2002; Prof. Jeremy Cohen, 2002-2005; Prof. David S. Katz, 2005-2006. Since December 2006, Prof. Simha Goldin has served as director of the Center. Several units and projects, as well as the Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel- Poland Relations, operate within the Center, carrying out long-term research and documentation projects, which focus on specific communities, countries and topics. These include: Italia Judaica Project Jewish Art and Visual Culture Research The Jews in Islamic Countries in the Modern Era The Jews of Belarus and Ukraine The Cultural History of the Jews of the Islamic World in the Middle Ages (9th–13th Centuries) Jewish Identity and Consciousness The Jewish Neighborhood: Exploring the Other Side of Medieval Urban Space The Jews of Crete during the Venetian Period (13th–17th Centuries) The Jews of Turkey and the Balkans and Ladino Culture The Jews of Romania Prayer, Prayer Books and Jewish Culture Jewish Soldiers in World War II 2 Likewise, the Center holds conferences and workshops and regularly publishes books – the fruit of research by its own researchers and others – conference proceedings, and two academic journals: Gal-Ed and Michael. The Mehlmann Library and an archive for the history of the Jewish people in the Diaspora operate under the Center’s auspices as well. The Center’s website: http://www6.tau.ac.il/ggcenter/ The Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center Carter Building, Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv 6997801 Telephone: 03-6409799 Fax: 03-6407287 Email: [email protected] 3 Committees Public Council Prof. (Emeritus) Shlomo Simonsohn, Chairman Prof. Simha Goldin, Director of the Center Mr. Alexander Goren Mr. James Goren Ms. Viviana Goren Kasam Ms. Selina Goren-Komeran Ms. Micaela Goren Monti Adv. Pnina Paritzky Prof. Ra’anan Rein Prof. Minna Rozen Dr. Rafi Vago Academic Board Prof. Simha Goldin, Director of the Center Prof. Tova Beeri Prof. Hanna Naveh Prof. Aharon Oppenheimer Prof. Meira Polliack Prof. Dina Porat Dr. Yuval Shahar 4 Staff Director of the Center: Prof. Simha Goldin Senior Administrative Assistant: Sara Appel Researchers: Prof. Benjamin Arbel – The Jews of Crete during the Venetian Period Prof. Tova Beeri – The Jews of Turkey and the Balkans and Ladino Culture Dr. Konstantin Bondar – The Jews Belarus and Ukraine Prof. Havi Dreifuss – Director of the Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel-Poland Relations Prof. Yoram Erder – The Cultural History of the Jews of the Islamic World in the Middle Ages Dr. Naomi Feuchtwanger-Sarig – Jewish Art and Visual Culture Research Prof. Simha Goldin – The Jewish Neighborhood: Exploring the Other Side of Medieval Urban Space Dr. Maya Guez – Jewish Identity and Consciousness Dr. Galit Haddad – Jewish Soldiers in World War II Dr. Ruth Lamdan – The Jews of Turkey and the Balkans and Ladino Culture Dr. Yitzhak Lifshitz – The Jewish Neighborhood: Exploring the Other Side of Medieval Urban Space Dr. Françoise Simcha Ouzan – Jewish Identity and Consciousness Prof. Meira Polliack – The Cultural History of the Jews of the Islamic World in the Middle Ages Prof. Stefan Reif – Prayer, Prayer Books and Jewish Culture Prof. Liviu Rotman – The Jews of Romania Prof. Minna Rozen – The Jews of Turkey and the Balkans and Ladino Culture Dr. Merav Schnitzer – The Jewish Neighborhood: Exploring the Other Side of Medieval Urban Space Dr. Tsur Shafir – Prayer, Prayer Books and Jewish Culture Prof. Zakhar Shibeko – The Jews of Belarus and Ukraine Prof. Shlomo Simonsohn – Project Italia Judaica Dr. Leonid Smilovitsky – The Jews of Belarus and Ukraine Dr. Yaakov Teppler – Prayer, Prayer Books and Jewish Culture Prof. Yaron Tsur – The Jews in Islamic Countries in the Modern Era Personnel: Leon Gershovich – Research Assistant Shimrit Hadad – Budget Coordinator Adi Moskovitz – Publications & Conference Coordinator Ido Rotman – Assistant, Mehlmann Library Dor Saar – Research Assistant Dr. Dror Segev – Secretary of the Institute for the History of Polish Jewry and Israel-Poland Relations Anat Shimoni – Archivist Sofia Tels-Abromov – Director of the Mehlmann Library 5 Publications Research Projects Published in 2017–2018 Gal-Ed: On the History and Culture of Polish Jewry, volume 25 Editor: David Engel; Associate Editors: Avner Holtzman and Adam Teller Editorial Secretary and Book Review Section Editor: Dror Segev Paperback, 238 pp. Hebrew, 157 pp. English, 2017. By the Rivers of Babylon: Perspectives on the History of Talmudic Babylonia Author: Aharon Oppenheimer Published in cooperation with the Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History. Hardcover, 232 pp., Hebrew, 2017. The Karaite Mourners of Zion and the Qumran Scrolls: On the History of an Alternative to Rabbinic Judaism Author: Yoram Erder Published by Brepols Publishers as part of the Diaspora Series Hardcover, 483 pp. English, 2017. Forthcoming Publications Eli Ben Amram, Circles of Poetry and Life: Communication and Society in the Mediterranean Basin of the Eleventh Century (Hebrew) Editors: Tova Beeri and Elinoar Bareket