BAJS Bulletin 2016: Contents Jewish Studies at the University of Jewish Studies at Birmingham University 1 Retirement of Prof. George Brooke 4 50 years after the opening of the Parkes Library 6 Charlotte Hempel, Professor of Hebrew Bible British Jewish History Resources Online 7 and Second Temple Judaism at the University Josephus Reception Archive 14 of Birmingham, is the President of BAJS 2015- BAJS Support of Jewish Studies students 16. She has organised this year’s BAJS First BAJS studentship 14 BAJS essay prize 16 conference that is being hosted at the Northern UK Jewish Studies Partnership 18 University of Birmingham from 10-12 July Astaire Seminar Series in Jewish Studies 2016-17 18 2016. The title of the conference is The Call for Contributions: Texture of the Jewish Tradition: Journal of Jewish Studies Supplement 19 Medaon 19 Investigations in Textuality. New MA in Jewish History and Culture 19 BAJS Conference 2017: Call for Papers 20 The University of Birmingham and BAJS Conference 2016: Programme 21 Jewish Studies How to support BAJS 25 BAJS Committee 2016-17 26 The University was founded in 1900 as the Current research projects 27 Ongoing doctoral research 31 UK’s first civic university welcoming Members’ recent publications 32 students from all religions and back- Book reviews 36 grounds. The foundation arose out of the vision of its first Vice Chancellor Joseph The British Association for Jewish Studies (BAJS) Chamberlain, a British politician and was founded in 1975 as a learned society and statesman who was also a socially professional organization on a non-profit-making basis. Its aims are to nurture, cultivate and progressive mayor of the city of advance the teaching and research in Jewish Birmingham from 1873-1876. The iconic culture and history in all its aspects within clock tower at the centre of the campus is Higher Education in the British Isles. nicknamed ‘old Joe’ in his honour. In 1905 Sir Edward Elgar was appointed the first Contact: Professor of Music at the University of BAJS Secretary Birmingham succeeded by Granville Helen Spurling ([email protected]) Bantock who played an influential role in History, Faculty of Humanities the founding of the City of Birmingham University of Southampton Southampton Symphony Orchestra. In 1949 Birmingham S017 1BF appointed the first female professor at a UK university, Dame Hilda Lloyd, who went on Bulletin editor: to become the first female President of a Maria Diemling Royal Medical College. ([email protected])

If you have not already done so, please For a long time affiliated with the University sign up to the BAJS website! and now in part integrated with the http://britishjewishstudies.org University of Birmingham, the Federation

1 of Selly Oak Colleges has a proud history in It was through a connection by Alphonse inter-religious relations and mission Mingana to J. Rendel Harris of studies. To complement an established Woodbrooke College (now Woodbrooke Centre for Muslim-Christian Relations, Quaker Study Centre in Selly Oak) and the Rabbi Professor Norman Solomon, now sponsorship of Dr. Edward Cadbury University of Oxford where he served as (owner of the Cadbury chocolate factory in Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought, set up a the nearby Birmingham suburb of Centre for Judaism and Jewish-Christian Bournville) that the famous Mingana Relations in Birmingham in 1983. Collection made up of over 3000 Middle Subsequently Rabbi Norman Solomon Eastern manuscripts in over 20 languages founded Mosaic: The Birmingham Society including Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopic, Georgian, for Jewish Studies in 1995 jointly with Hebrew, Samaritan and Armenian came to Professor Martin Goodman, who taught be housed in the University’s Special Roman history at the University of Collections as part of the Cadbury Birmingham before taking up a Chair in Research Library. The collection also Jewish Studies in Oxford. This thriving adult includes one of the oldest manuscripts of education programme provides a forum for the Qur’an that gave rise to intense media Jewish studies, understood in the broadest interest after it was identified by Dr. Alba possible terms. From its beginnings, Mosaic Fedeli n 2015 during her doctoral work in has been open to anyone, Jewish and non- the Department of Theology and Religion. Jewish, and is committed to exploring issues Research and teaching in Jewish Studies related to Jewish studies and disseminating is undertaken across several departments in cutting-edge thinking to the wider the College of Arts and Law. The community. More recently Mosaic operates Department of Theology and Religion is as a close co-operation between the headed by Dr. Andrew Davies (Reader in University’s Department of Theology and the Public Understanding of Religion) who Religious Studies and members of the local is a biblical scholar with particular interests Jewish community. It was headed until 2010 in the reception of the Hebrew Bible. More by Professor Jonathan Webber, UNESCO recently he has established and directs The Chair in Jewish and Interfaith Studies at the Edward Cadbury Centre for the Public University of Birmingham. Since 2010 Understanding of Religion. Dr. Isabel Mosaic is jointly chaired by Professor Wollaston, Senior Lecturer in Jewish and Charlotte Hempel and Dr. Isabel Holocaust Studies, is an expert in Holocaust Wollaston. In 2012 the activities were Studies and contemporary Jewish-Christian brought under the umbrella of the relations. Her former research students externally funded project Jewish Heritage include Dr. Stephen Smith (Founder of the and Culture: Birmingham Perspectives UK Holocaust Centre in Nottinghamshire designed to maintain and extend current and now Executive Director of the USC activities to incorporate two annual public Shoah Foundation in the US) and Dr. lectures (The Annual Rabbi Tann Hannah Holtschneider (Senior Lecturer in Memorial Lecture and The Annual Jewish Studies at the University of Birmingham Lecture in Jewish Heritage Edinburgh and President Elect of BAJS for and Culture) as well as master classes in 2016-2017). Isabel is programme lead for Jewish Studies at local schools. Previous an inter-departmental MA in Holocaust speakers include: and Genocide. The research and teaching of  The former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks Dr Karen Wenell (Lecturer in New  Prof. Amy-Jill Levine (Vanderbilt) Testament and Theology) covers first  Prof. Martin Goodman FBA (Oxford) century Judaism, and the internationally  Rabbi Dr. Norman Solomon (Oxford) renowned Institute for Textual  Prof. Gary Rendsburg (Rutgers Univer- Scholarship and Electronic Editing under sity) the leadership of its director Professor  Prof. Michael Stone (Hebrew University) David Parker FBA (Edward Cadbury  Prof. Reinhard Kratz (University of Professor of Theology) and co-director Dr. Göttingen) Hugh Houghton (Reader in New Testament  Rabbi Dr. David Sandmel (Anti-Defa- Textual Scholarship) is well known for a mation League, New York) with a series of international digital editing response by Archbishop Bernard projects including the innovative Codex Longley (Birmingham). Sinaiticus project. The research of Charlotte Hempel, Professor of Hebrew

2 Bible and Second Temple Judaism, focuses and rabbinic literature. The Qumran on the Dead Sea Scrolls and the increasingly manuscripts are read against the narrowing gap between social and literary background of Second Temple Jewish phenomena reflected in the Scrolls and the literary creativity and legal debate. The Hebrew Bible. She is Executive Editor of production, transmission and interpretation Dead Sea Discoveries, and expert currently of texts and legal debate characterised a supervising 6 doctoral students working on formative period in Jewish history and the following topics: eventually gave rise to Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. Close analysis of texts  A Jungian Approach to the Dead Sea alongside a reassessment of the material as Scrolls products of complex scribal activity rather  Beyond the Yahad – The Foundational than snapshots of communal life illustrate Triangle of 1QSa, CD and 1QM the significance of this project for our understanding of a time and place seminal  The Remnant of Israel. Qumran Social for the formation of western culture. Identity in the Light of Exegesis and Anthropology During the academic year 2015-16 Charlotte also hosted a European Research  The Qumran Wisdom Texts and the Council funded Marie Curie Incoming Gospel of John (co-supervised with Dr. Fellowship, Dr. Angela Harkins (now Karen Wenell) Associate Professor of New Testament at  The Significance of Selah in the Psalter Boston College) to work on a project entitled The Teacher of Righteousness and  Demonology in the Dead Sea Scrolls Religious Experience in the Dead Sea Scrolls. In addition, Dr. Drew Longacre completed Angela’s work employed integrative his PhD on A Contextualised Approach to the approaches to understanding the body and Dead Sea Scrolls Containing Exodus in 2015. its experiences, with special attention to Immediately after his PhD Drew took up a how the instrumentalisation of emotions Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the University of can shed light on the experience of religion Helsinki’s Centre of Excellence: Changes in during this time. While emotion’s role in the Texts hosted by Professor Annelie construction and reconstruction of memory Aejmelaus as well as a Fellowship at the has long been acknowledged, this study W.F. Albright Institute for Archaeological examines how the strategic arousal of affect Research, Jerusalem and is about to take up a generated by texts that mention the Teacher second Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the of Righteousness serves to reinvigorate and University of Groningen’s ERC funded intensify his memory among his followers. project The Hands that Wrote the This innovative study is part of the Bible. Digital Paleography and Scribal emerging field of research on ‘Religious Culture of the Dead Sea Scrolls led by Experience’ that seeks to recover the Professor Mladen Popovič. phenomenal experience of religion. Over recent year Charlotte was able to Beyond the Department of Theology and secure a number of substantial research Religious Studies Birmingham has grants in Jewish Studies amounting to £320 particular areas of excellence in 000. In 2014-2015 she was awarded a BA Assyriology, especially the internationally Mid Career Fellowship for work on a ground breaking work of the late Professor project entitled The Development of Wilfred Lambert now continuing with Complex Literary Traditions in the Second Professor Alasdair Livingstone. Also in Temple Period. This project offers a fresh the School of History and Cultures Gavin evaluation of the Community Rule from Schaffer, Professor of British History, is a Qumran alongside a series of compositions cultural historian specialising in race and most of which have only been rudimentarily immigration as well as Jewish history. A researched to date. The latter comprise six more recent appointment in the same works of communal rules and five legal department is Dr. Klaus Richter, texts that lack references to a particular Birmingham Fellow and Lecturer in Eastern community. Issues raised in the legal European History. His current project material such as suitable marriages were focuses on the history of Poland and the prominently debated in the Second Temple Baltics during the First World War, and he period and beyond from the reforms wrote his doctoral thesis at the Technical attributed to Ezra to the New Testament University of Berlin on anti-Semitism in

3 Lithuania before World War I. Beyond Oxford Centre for Postgraduate Hebrew History Dr. Michele Aaron is a Senior Studies George became Lecturer in New Lecturer in the Department of Film and Testament Studies at Salisbury & Wells Creative Writing with a longstanding Theological College, Salisbury. In 1984 he interest in theories of gender and sexuality, took up a Lectureship in what we then especially as they interact with the called ‘Intertestamental’ Literature at the construction of Jewishness and race more University of . George was broadly. Grounded in the discourses of race awarded the prestigious Rylands Professor and gender of late nineteenth century of Biblical Criticism and Exegesis in 1998. Europe, these explore Hollywood, European While he taught at Manchester George held and Yiddish film and history, and more a series of visiting appointments including recently television. In the Department of at Yale, Århus, The Annenberg Institute in Modern Languages Dr. Joanne Sayner, Philadelphia. He will take up a visiting Senior Lecturer in Cultural Theory and Professorial Fellowship in Groningen in German Studies, conducts research on 2018. George belongs to the select number memory studies, literary history and the of scholars to have been elected President of politics of remembering. Her particular both the British Association of Jewish areas of interest are gendered memories of Studies (1999) and the Society for the Study Nazism and the GDR and how debates about of Old Testament (2012). He was one of the the past inform contemporary German founding Editors of Dead Sea Discoveries society. Finally, Dr. Angela Kershaw, and is a longstanding editor of the Senior Lecturer in French Studies, is an Manchester-owned Journal of Semitic expert on French fiction in the inter-war Studies, the leading journal in its field in the period and the author of Before Auschwitz: world. More recently he took over a lead Irene Némirovsky and the Literary Landscape editor of the prestigious Brill Series Studies of Inter-war France (New York and on the Texts of the Desert of Judah. Abingdon: Routledge, 2010).

It has been an honour to serve as President of such a prestigious, collegial, and inter- disciplinary association of scholars. At Birmingham, we very much look forward to welcoming BAJS 2016 to our beautiful campus for what looks like an outstanding and stimulating offering of papers. Charlotte Hempel BAJS President 2015-16

Marking the Retirement of Professor George Brooke

This year marks the retirement of former BAJS President Professor George Brooke, Rylands Professor of Biblical Criticism and George speaking at St. Andrews University, June Exegesis at the . It 2016. is fitting to use this opportunity to reflect on Photo: Prof. Mark Goodacre. the enormous contribution George has made, and continues to make, to Jewish George is the author of Exegesis at Qumran: Studies and Biblical Studies in the UK and 4QFlorilegium in its Jewish Context, Sheffield beyond. George holds a BA and MA from Press, 1985; SBL 2016). This monograph, Oxford as well as a PGCE from Cambridge based on his doctoral thesis, put his voice on (1974). He did his doctoral work at the map as a future leader in the field of Claremont Graduate School with William Qumran studies, as a philologist with a keen Brownlee, one of the first scholars to have sense of methodology. The work also seen the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 2010 he was demonstrates his recognition of the awarded a DD from the University of important contribution of the Scrolls to Oxford. After a year as Junior Fellow at the wider debates of ‘biblical’ interpretation and genre studies. These aspects of his first

4 monograph characterise his publications George’s contribution to nurturing several throughout his career. The Allegro Qumran generations of doctoral students and Early Collection: Introduction and Catalogue; Career Researchers from across the world – Microfiches (Leiden, 1996) testifies to his and not only his own – is extraordinary. He commitment to a fair assessment of the at has supervised 18 PhD students to times controversial contribution of John successful completion, many of which have Allegro. George has always been keen to had, or are in the process of having, their point to the importance of Manchester for theses published. In addition, he regularly the study of the Scrolls, and he himself hosts visiting PhD students from Belgium, deserves credit for enhancing this Finland, Norway, and Sweden. In addition importance significantly. The lavishly he has mentored eight post-doctoral fellows illustrated The Complete World of the Dead in Manchester from the UK, Finland, Italy Sea Scrolls (, 2005; rev. pb. 2011), and Israel. George was equally committed to co-authored with Philip Davies and Philip teaching many generations of under- Callaway, set the bar for accessible and graduates at Manchester and was held in thorough introductions to the field. The affection by his students. Students report an book sold well (well enough to treat a bunch assignment completed for George on the of then current and former doctoral quality of internet resources on the Scrolls. students to dinner in Ljubljana), and was Each site was carefully evaluated and then translated into German, Spanish, Dutch, given a score, not in stars but in small Hungarian, and Japanese. More recently bearded faces – George Brookes! Five little several of his many ground-breaking bearded faces, five George Brookes, meant a articles were collected: The Dead Sea Scrolls top-rated site. What, of course, we have to and the New Testament: Essays in Mutual remember is that George, unlike most of us, Illumination (Minneapolis, 2005) and had actually been trained as a teacher: he Reading the Dead Sea Scrolls: Essays in holds a PGCE from Cambridge. Method (Atlanta, 2013). These volumes However, George’s mentoring reaches far present the cumulative force of his outside formal relationships extending to meticulously researched and innovative thought provoking questions on papers, scholarship on the Scrolls and the New quiet conversations with speakers after Testament and Methodology. Furthermore, presentations, or with colleagues over a he edited and co-edited 22 volumes drink. While most of us do suffer from including three proceedings from superb occasional fatigue at 10 hour conference international conferences convened in days at large meetings, George will always Manchester: Temple Scroll Studies be found—usually sitting in the front row— (Sheffield, 1989), the BAJS Proceedings listening attentively and asking a perceptive Jewish Ways of Reading the Bible (Oxford, question at the end. 2000), and Copper Scroll Studies (Sheffield, 2002). The latter conference coincided with So very many of us owe a very great deal to an exhibition of the newly restored Copper George, and it is a great honour to be able to Scroll back in Manchester where it was first put this in words on the occasion of his ingeniously opened by Prof. Wright Baker of retirement. We look forward to what the the Manchester Institute of Technology in future brings us from his pen, editorship, 1955. George is also the author of 210 collegiality and friendship over many years journal articles and chapters in edited to come. books and reference works. These include Charlotte Hempel official editions of several manuscripts form University of Birmingham the corpus of the Scrolls which he published Maria Ciotâ as a member of the official international University of Manchester team of editors (especially 4Q252, 253, 254, Philip Alexander and 254a [Commentary on Genesis A-D]; University of Manchester 4Q253a [Commentary on Malachi]). What is remarkable about George’s output is the impressive range, originality, and depth of his research. His work is always fresh, entirely free of what we may call template thinking or approach and deeply researched and thoughtful.

5 50 years after the opening of the both chronological and disciplinary breadth: Parkes Library Todd Endelman (Michigan), Sander Gilman (Emory), Martin Goodman (Oxford), Tony This academic year marked the last events Kushner (Southampton), Miri Rubin (Queen of the Parkes Institute’s Jubilee celebrations. Mary’s College, London) and Greg Walker The Reverend Dr James Parkes (1896- (Edinburgh). We would like to thank all of 1981) was one of the most remarkable the contributors for ensuring the discussion figures within twentieth century was analytical and vibrant, and we look Christianity. A tireless fighter against forward to publishing the proceeds of the antisemitism in all forms, including from conference. within Christianity, he helped rescue Jewish The Parkes Library has more than refugees during the 1930s and campaigned quadrupled in size since 1965, running to for the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust. well over 30,000 items and it is now During the Second World War he helped supplemented by one of the largest Jewish found the Council of Christians and Jews archive collections in Europe. The wealth of and worked throughout his career in these collections was displayed in a major promoting religious tolerance and mutual exhibition from the University’s Hartley respect. As part of his international Library Special Collections team, including campaigning, he built up the Parkes Library Karen Robson and Jenny Ruthven, in and associated archive which transferred to September 2015 entitled ‘Creating a legacy: the University of Southampton in 1964 and the Parkes Library’. It reflected the life, opened in 1965. Alongside the Library, the library and legacy of James Parkes and Parkes Centre also started a new life in the featured photographs, documents and University, maintaining its focus on the books from the Parkes Library and Jewish study of Jewish/non-Jewish relations across archives. The exhibition was open during the ages. The hope of James Parkes was that the Jubilee conference, and many of our within a University setting, his Centre would speakers took the opportunity to see the become an international hub, helping to material on display. stimulate scholarly and practical work to focus on key issues of religious and racial The culmination of the Parkes Institute prejudice, working to explore intolerance Jubilee celebrations was a public interfaith and to promote understanding between debate held in London in May 2016. The people of different faiths and backgrounds. venue and subject matter were deeply appropriate. It took place in the West The celebration has consisted of fifty London Synagogue which James Parkes had individual events, some of which were close relations to in his activist career. It has reported in the last BAJS Bulletin, but the also been the home to figures who have, like latest include a major international James Parkes, played a key role in interfaith conference on the subject of Jewish non- dialogue including Rabbi , whose Jewish Relations, an exhibition on the life daughter, Naomi, chaired the event, and and work of James Parkes, and a high profile Dame , the senior Rabbi in interfaith debate in London. the synagogue today and who was both the The Parkes Jubilee Conference was held from host and one of the contributors to the 7-9 September 2015 on the subject of debate. ‘Jewish/Non-Jewish Relations from The event began by introducing James Antiquity to the Present’. The conference Parkes to our large and very receptive aimed to bring together scholars from audience. Part of an American television different disciplinary fields to examine the documentary featuring an interview with history of research in Jewish/non-Jewish James Parkes from July 1974 was shown. It relations over the last 50 years, discussing highlighted the forward looking nature of the latest work and determining future Parkes who wanted a toleration of directions in the field. The conference had difference and the avoidance of what he over 80 speakers in three parallel sessions called ‘sloppy sentimentalism’ when it came running over three days and stimulating to coming to terms of what was held in papers were delivered on topics from the common and what separated the great ancient to the modern world and from religions of the world. This formed the Europe to the Middle East. We were platform from which the three speakers delighted to have six keynote speakers, from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths whose interests and expertise also reflected

6 outlined what they saw as the issues facing is reprinted with the permission of Medaon. While dialogue in the future. written with a continental European audience unfamiliar with Jewish Studies in Britain in mind, The three speakers are all deeply it might also be of interest to BAJS members.. The experienced in interfaith dialogue – authors welcome comments and suggestions for alongside Julia Neuberger were Lord updating the resources discussed. Richard Harries, former Bishop of Oxford and Monawar Hussain, Imam of Eton The internet has become an indispensable aid for College. Because all three had worked academic research, providing quick and convenient access to a hitherto unprecedented together closely on different projects there wealth of information and to primary and was a freedom to explore difficult issues – a secondary sources. Numerous organisations and space which James Parkes would have felt providers have utilised the internet to expand very much at home. the reach of their users and the scope of their activities to a truly global audience. Resources Difficult issues were confronted, such as presenting various aspects of Jewish history, religious intolerance in each of the faiths culture and religion are no exception – they have covered, whether faith schools were a good profoundly changed the way we search for thing or divisive, and how it is possible to literature, access information and share our create genuine dialogue beyond the research findings. However, despite the many superficial. The value of close contact and advances made in the past two decades, more mutual support for moments of crisis were needs to be done to truly fulfil the potential of emphasised, and the need to deal with a the internet for Jewish history resources. At the media that was largely interested only in moment, like many comparable online offerings, the market of ‘Jewish history online’ is messy and conflict and extremism rather than often difficult to navigate. everyday interaction. It was indeed a fitting climax to the Parkes Institute Jubilee, and In what follows, we aim to provide an overview we would like to thank West London of various online resources which originate in Synagogue, our partners the Council of Britain. These reflect both the archival collections available in the United Kingdom and Christians and Jews and the Three Faiths the scholarly interests represented at British Foundation, as well as the Parkes Institute universities in the past and present. While outreach team, and our sponsors for this internet resources by definition are a global event, the Rayne Foundation. enterprise, it is worth reflecting on the provenance of archival holdings and how their To conclude: we would like to thank our availability online is conditioned by national friends, old and new, for making the Parkes contexts of scholarship. Britain is the home to Golden Jubilee such a success. I would some of the oldest and most prestigious especially like to express my gratitude to universities in the world; the country attracts Helen Spurling and James Jordan who with researchers and students from across the globe; me formed the anniversary team. We hope venerable institutions such as the British it was a fitting tribute to James Parkes but Museum and the British Library hold vast also an indication of the exciting work that collections relevant to scholarship. Its imperial the Parkes Institute is doing and intends past and multicultural present have resulted in rich and manifold holdings that represent the doing for the next fifty years. history of a former empire and the diverse Tony Kushner interests of collectors and explorers, the University of Southampton experiences of refugees that found a safe haven in the United Kingdom and the research executed by scholars from diverse backgrounds. Jewish Studies in Britain reflects this tapestry of Surfing the Great British Jewish influences and its online manifestations are no Web: Jewish History Resources exception. Online1 In this article we offer an annotated ‘webography’, a representative sample of The following article by Maria Diemling and currently available sites, organised in the Hannah Holtschneider appeared in the online following categories: 2 journal Medaon (2015, 9:17) in January 2016. It  Major collections in British archives, libraries and museums which have been 1 The authors would like to thank Professor Daniel (part-)digitised and made available online; Langton, University of Manchester, for his input and  Cairo Genizah collections: Cambridge, suggestions. Oxford and Manchester; 2  Other significant collections; http://www.medaon.de/pdf/medaon_17_Diemling+Ho ltscheider.pdf  Sources concerning British Jewish history;

7  Resources relating to refugee history of online resources which are provided by and the Holocaust; individuals or institutions with an interest in a  Online exhibitions, stories and lessons. specific subject matter.

The sites associated with universities, scholars This is followed by concluding reflections on the and public or not-for-profit organisations can be current state of Jewish history online in the UK further categorised into those sites which make and concrete suggestions about development available collections of primary sources for possibilities. scholars to work with, and those which offer 1. Major collections in British archives, contingent interpretations of primary sources for libraries and museums teaching purposes, or as part of online exhibitions or online historical narratives. The The first distinction which needs to be made is latter two formats are often attached to public that between commercial providers of online and private museums which make part of their resources and those which are free at the point collections available through online exhibitions of access and created as part of publicly (or or narratives around primary sources and privately) funded research. In the first category objects. we find digital source collections published by major presses and offered through university Online primary source collections work with libraries. Naturally, these are often originated by existing collections in public and private archives an international group of contributors rather or collections which have been acquired or made than being confined to Britain, but it is worth available to scholars as part of a specific research bearing in mind that they are offered through UK project. The Arts and Humanities Research university libraries and are accessible to anyone Council (AHRC), and the British Academy are the with a reader’s pass at subscribing institutions. A major public funding bodies for the Arts and prominent example, which may suffice to Humanities in the United Kingdom, joined by the illustrate this point, is the Dead Sea Scrolls Leverhulme Trust, the Carnegie Trust and the Electronic Library3 provided by Brill. Such Wellcome Trust which are charitable organi- primary source collections arise from sations. international research projects and are made 1.1. Cairo Genizah collections: Cambridge, available through commercial providers, thus Oxford and Manchester constituting an important part of the online provision in Jewish history. These resources are A major British contribution to the online outwith the remit of this article. availability of primary sources are the publically and privately funded Genizah research and Another group of relevant online archives in this digitisation projects at the Universities of area are those of newspapers. All national Cambridge, Oxford and Manchester. newspapers have online archives which may be consulted free of charge or for a modest fee. For British scholars have played an important role in our purposes, perhaps the most relevant archive discovering the priceless collection of medieval is that of the Jewish Chronicle.4 This Jewish documents preserved over many centuries in the weekly has been documenting the life of Jews in Genizah of a synagogue in Fustat, Egypt. Several Britain for over 150 years. Founded in 1841, it is British institutions hold impressive collections of the oldest continuously published Jewish Genizah fragments which have, in part, been newspaper in the world, providing insight into made publically accessible online. many aspects of Jewish life and concern in the UK from the middle of the nineteenth century The University of Cambridge Taylor-Schechter 5 onwards. The archive is free to search, but Genizah Research Unit has its own dedicated downloading historical issues incurs a fee. While website which offers an in-depth description of a valuable historical resource, this archive is not the scope of their collection and the work of the very well accessible online. The website is too unit. Parts of “the world’s largest and most difficult to navigate to yield precise results and important single collection of medieval Jewish the downloading function is clunky and manuscripts” can then be accessed as digital outdated, making it challenging for any libraries via links on the homepage: the 6 researcher. Cambridge Digital Library: Genizah and the Jacques Mosseri Genizah Collection7. In the second category we find sources offered free at the point of access on dedicated websites. Many of these projects are associated with particular universities or groups of scholars or are provided by other institutions dedicated to 5 public education or by not-for-profit http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/ta organisations. In addition, there is a large array ylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit. 6 http://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/genizah. 7 3 http://www.brill.com/products/online- http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/ta resources/dead-sea-scrolls-electronic-library-0. ylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit/jacques- 4 http://tinyurl.com/zyzssk2. mosseri-genizah-collection.

8 The University of Oxford offers an online Evolutionary Theory16 funded by a Leverhulme catalogue of the Cairo Genizah8 fragments in its Major Research Grant. holdings. It has digitised some fragments and is The Warburg Institute originates from the currently pursuing digitisation and online personal library of Aby Warburg that was moved availability of images of more of the fragments. from Germany to London in 1933. Its library, The University of Manchester has a collection of archive and photographic collection reflect fragments from the Cairo Genizah held in the Warburg’s scholarly interest, particularly the John Rylands Library. Parts of the collection are study of the classical tradition. It is an important made accessible online9. Background research centre in the heart of London that has information10 about the provenance of the also invested in the digitisation of their collection is available at a different site, collections under a creative commons licence. information11 about its organisation, digitisation The aim is “to make out-of-print source material and finding aids and accessibility is located on Medieval and Renaissance studies freely elsewhere - this information is provided at available online through the Warburg Library different websites, which is not particularly user- catalogue and classification system”.17 Books are friendly. either scanned by members of the Institute or downloaded as pdf files from public domain While not a resource originating in the United repositories and made available through the Kingdom, the Friedberg Genizah Project12 is library catalogue. This resource includes a involved with several of the British archives substantial number of items on Jewish topics. holding Genizah collections. This international platform operates from Canada and aims to join 2. Sources concerning British Jewish history Genizah collections, digitisation, and scholarship The Jewish Historical Society of England, founded across the globe. It represents a significant step in 1893, is considered the oldest learned society in joining local and national efforts in preserving of its kind. Based in London, it has active local and making accessible the rich data found in the branches across the UK that regularly organise Fustat Genizah. lectures on British-Jewish history. Its scholarly 1.2. Other significant collections journal, currently named Jewish Historical Studies,18 dating back to 1893/94, can be The University of Manchester has initiated the searched online. Results can be seen by members digitisation of a number of other important only (an annual membership fee applies). primary sources, such as the Typology of Anonymous and Pseudepigraphic Jewish The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain19 Literature in Antiquity (c.200 BCE to c.700 CE).13 was founded in 1992 to support amateur and The work of this project is made available online professional researchers in genealogical research in the form of a Database for the Analysis of and to promote the preservation of Jewish Anonymous and Pseudepigraphic Jewish Texts of genealogical records and resources. It provides Antiquity.14 access to burial records, marriage records and other useful databases. Research requires Manchester has a long-established interest in membership but there are some lists for non- teaching Biblical and Jewish Studies dating back members available online. Another, more recent, to 1866 but more recently, its Centre for Jewish effort to provide a portal to many resources and Studies has taken the lead in sharing online the information providers on British Jewish history results of research done by academics at the is the project British Jewry,20 which is primarily university. Examples include the work of the interested in offering ways to enhance Agunah Research Unit15 which has made its key genealogical and family research. This is a publications available on the web. A resource private enterprise of volunteers which is that became available in September 2015 is an maintained entirely by donations. It is a gateway, Online Reader in Jewish Engagement with rather than a digitisation project, however. The National Archives, the British government’s 8 http://genizah.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/about. official archive, claims to contain “1,000 years of 9 history”, and holds major records from http://enriqueta.man.ac.uk/luna/servlet/ManchesterD government offices which are particularly ev~95~2. important for the research of family and 10 http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/search- migration history. For the history of Jewish resources/guide-to-special-collections/genizah- collection/. 11 http://www.rylandsgenizah.org/about/ 12 http://www.genizah.org 16 13 http://www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/darwinsjew http://www.alc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/middleeast s/ ernstudies/research/projects/ancientjewishliterature/ 17 http://warburg.sas.ac.uk/library/digital- 14 collections/#c2291 http://literarydatabase.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/ 18 http://www.jhse.org/products/jewish-historical- 15 studies http://www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/publication 19 http://www.jgsgb.org.uk/ s/ 20 http://british-jewry.org.uk/index.html

9 immigration to Britain, it offers online access to student volunteers, is not only aesthetically Aliens registration cards, 1918-1957 and pleasing but offers interesting insights into the Naturalisation case papers, 1801-1871.21 political and communal structures of 19th Addressing schools, and the general public the century Jewry. National Archives Jewish migration history A major publically funded project (AHRC) under online22 exhibition integrates historical narrative way is the Performing the Jewish Archive with a close look at sources and artefacts in a 27 comprehensive online exhibition. project at the University of Leeds which engages with significant collections relating One of the most important British collections for primarily to Jews and music, theatre and Jewish history is based at the University of literature. Digitisation and online availability of Southampton. The Hartley Library23 has part- materials is envisaged. Looking towards the digitised its extensive collections on British ‘Celtic fringe’, the project Jewish Lives, Scottish Jewish history that include about 500 boxes of Spaces,28 will work with the collections of the the ‘Papers of the International Military Tribunal Scottish Jewish Archives Centre (SJAC)29 in and the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, 1945-9’, Glasgow, part-digitise these and make some ‘Papers of the Institute of Jewish Affairs from sources available online. 1913-91’, the ‘Archives of Jewish Care, 1757- Not necessarily an academic project in the 1989’, archives of the Council of Christians and narrow sense but a very useful and well Jews, founded in 1942 and the papers of notable researched resource are the National Anglo- individuals, such as Revd James Parkes and of Jewish Heritage trails (JTrails)30 that acknow- Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld. So far only part of these collections are available online. It is ledge that “Anglo-Jewish history and heritage is an important national, cultural resource that difficult to ascertain whether the Hartley Library deserves general recognition”. JTrails is setting has a clear digitalisation strategy. While scholars up some 30 Jewish heritage trails in England, are able to obtain scans of documents for their promoted on an interactive website that personal use, it is not known whether these low provides maps, chronology and a history of resolution images are matched by high Jewish presence. It has a clear outreach agenda resolution images held at the archive gradually and seeks to involve local volunteers to make the to increase the digitised holdings and thereby trails sustainable. also aid their preservation. What can be made available online is not only dependent on what Similarly, Jewish Heritage31 provides an has been digitised, of course, but also on the inventory and images of sites and buildings terms and conditions of any bequest to the relating to Jewish history in Britain. While archive. However, it should be relatively neither a digitisation project nor an archive, the straightforward to make available detailed information gleaned from the site is an descriptions of the collections. This has been invaluable tool for researchers in Jewish history, done for some, but not for others and it is architecture and religion. unclear what the rationale is. 2.1. Resources relating to refugee history and Jewish history in the British Isles and the Holocaust particularly collections of outstanding individuals is the subject of a number of part- Holocaust-era sources are a distinct focus of digitised collections, such as the papers of Moses online provision of primary source materials. In Gaster at University College London24 and in the addition to the Southampton-based Hartley Rylands Library at the University of Manchester.25 Library discussed above, the Centre for German- Jewish Studies at the University of Sussex holds About 150 testimonials about the life of the important source collections linked to Jewish famous philanthropist Moses Montefiore26 are history in Europe,32 and extensive collections of digitised and available online at University materials relating to Jewish refugees from College London. The collection, transcribed by Germany.33 Founded in 1994, it has the aim to study the history of Jews in German-speaking lands, and places an emphasis on research about 21 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with- antisemitism and the Holocaust. your-research/research-guides/aliens-registration- cards-1918-1957/ and http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your- research/research-guides/naturalised-britons/ 22 27 http://ptja.leeds.ac.uk/about/mission-statement/ http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://w 28 https://jewishmigrationtoscotland.wordpress.com/ ww.movinghere.org.uk/galleries/histories/jewish/jje AHRC-funded, Dr Holtschneider is the lead researcher wis.htm 29 http://www.sjac.org.uk/ 23 http://viewer.soton.ac.uk/viewer/search/- 30 http://www.jtrails.org.uk/ /jewish/1/-/ 31 http://www.jewish-heritage-uk.org/ 24 http://tinyurl.com/h48bvyb 32 25 http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cgjs/research/projects/barg http://luna.manchester.ac.uk/luna/servlet/view/searc esearch h?showAll=who&q=gaster 33 http://www.thekeep.info/german-jewish- 26 http://tinyurl.com/z794wqj collections/

10 The Wiener Library34 “is one of the world’s plans, exhibitions, and school assemblies aimed leading and most extensive archives on the at different age groups. Holocaust and Nazi era”. It was founded by Other providers are important public institutions Alfred Wiener in the 1920s to document the such as the British Library, the British Museum, growing discrimination and persecution of Jews the National Archives, and the British Film in Germany in the wake of World War I. Institute. Following his flight from Germany in 1933, the collections reached the UK in 1938 and have The British Library been expanded ever since. The Wiener Library’s holdings have largely not been digitised but are The British Library, the largest library in the searchable via online databases. The Refugee world by number of items catalogued and one of Family Papers: An Interactive Map35 provides the most important research libraries in the brief descriptions of family narratives and offers world, is a resource of its own kind. Its vast a view of a few documents online, and the holdings of approximately 170 million items can collection of photographs36 is partly accessible be integrated into all the different categories of online. These important holdings would benefit resources we outlined above. It offers online hugely from a drive towards digitisation. access to important manuscripts and books in its possession. Among the British Library’s42 recent An oral history database of Holocaust survivors37 major achievements in the digitisation of Jewish who settled in Manchester and have recorded texts is the complete digitisation of the Codex testimonies highlights the refugee experience Sinaiticus43. A feast for the eyes are the Lisbon outside London. Gathering the Voices38 is a Bible44 and the Golden Haggadah45 which are publically and privately funded ongoing project completely accessible online. The British Library to record oral history testimonies of refugees Sound Archive46 makes a significant contribution from Nazi-occupied Europe. to Holocaust research with its collection of oral testimonies. At the same time, the Library is also The Association of Jewish Refugees39 offers access active in funding the preservation of important to their journal and a survey of archival collections in parts of the world lacking Kindertransportees, but does not look after the resources to protect their heritage. The archival collections themselves. Again, these are Endangered Archives Project47 provides a survey valuable resources, not only for academic of Hungarian Jewish congregational archives, research but also for educational purposes, that giving a detailed description of their holdings on would benefit from being made available online. Hungarian Jewish history. However, digitisation 2.2. Online exhibitions, stories and lessons does not seem to be envisaged. An onsite exhibition that presented precious examples of Jewish history has a wide remit and appeals to a sacred texts from the major world religions led broad audience. While primary source to an impressive online exhibition on ‘The collections are mainly aimed at the scholarly Sacred’48 that provides access to 78 ‘virtual community or genealogists, online exhibitions or books’, mostly dating back to the Middle Ages but teaching units have a wider audience in mind, some as old as the first century CE. While not a not least that of teachers or other educators scholarly provision as such (the books are not working in a variety of institutions, such as available in their entirety), this multimedia museums, community colleges, schools and online resource is a creative and beautifully universities, as well as the general public. executed tool for teaching and studying sacred Websites which use primary sources for online texts. historical exhibitions and narratives or teaching units can be found primarily in public and not- A large number of the British Museum’s vast for-profit organisations. The Holocaust-era holdings pertain to aspects of Jewish history. resources can be seen as part of this category of provisions. 42 The Holocaust Education Trust40 offers access to http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/expfaith/ju educational resources, but one does have to dmanu/index.html create a user login (free of charge). The 43 http://www.bl.uk/turning-the-pages/?id=b00f9a37- Holocaust Memorial Day Trust41 provides a range 422c-4542-bfbd-b97bf3ce7d50&type=book of resources for activities related to Holocaust 44 http://www.bl.uk/turning-the- Memorial Day on 27 January, such as lesson pages/?id=4145201d-ee22-4382-9ae8- 2c78d9138444&type=book 45 http://www.bl.uk/turning-the- 34 http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/Collections pages/?id=47111807-4e9a-43de-be65- 35 http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/interactivemap 96f49c3d623c&type=book 36 http://www.wienerlibrary.co.uk/Photographs 46 http://sounds.bl.uk/Oral-history/Jewish-Holocaust- 37 survivors http://www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/manchester 47 -survivors-database http://eap.bl.uk/database/overview_project.a4d?projI 38 http://www.gatheringthevoices.com/ D=EAP469;r=25996 39 http://www.ajr.org.uk/ 48 40 https://www.het.org.uk/ http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/sacredtexts/index.ht 41 http://hmd.org.uk/page/resources-your-activity ml

11 Some can be explored online in previews of include Refugee Voices / Holocaust Testimonies, a exhibition galleries or object stories for major audio-visual archive for the study of the educational purposes. At the time of writing, of Holocaust and the history of German refugees to particular interest may be the new gallery which Britain during and after the Second World War. showcases a range of items of the Waddesdon Through filmed interviews Refugee Voices Bequest,49 Baron Ferdinand Rothschild’s (1839- provides insights into the life stories of 150 1898) collection of medieval and renaissance art survivors of the Nazi persecutions in Germany and furnishings (as well as nineteenth-century who found refuge in Britain. Valuable for both fakes) from his Waddesdon Manor Estate. academic researchers and educators, it would be desirable to provide online access to these The British Film Institute50 has made available sources. online some of its vast collections, though searching for content relevant to Jewish history, City archives often boast significant collections culture and religion is challenging. on aspects of Jewish history in a given place. For example, the London Metropolitan Archives and These offerings by public institutions and the city archives in Leeds, Sunderland, Hull and charities are joined by more modest websites other cities with significant Jewish populations, aiming to support the teaching in Jewish Studies have absorbed the synagogue archives as such as Jewish/non-Jewish Relations,51 developed communities declined across the twentieth by the authors of this article who recognised the century and their buildings and institutions lack of academic provisions for teaching the became defunct. Hardly any of their Jewish complex historical and contemporary relation- collections have been made available online. ship between Jews and non-Jews. This site However, some local archives, such as Tyne and provides a selection of translated primary Wear,55 offer more detailed descriptions of their sources, chosen and contextualised by experts in holdings, whereas London Metropolitan their field. The target audience is undergraduates Archives’56 search engine is difficult to navigate studying Jewish history. and does not yield much detail about significant 3. What is not digitised - a snapshot of Jewish history collections such as the archives of possible future projects the Chief Rabbi’s Office and the London Beth Din. Similarly, the Jewish Museums in London57 and While there is a wealth of material for Manchester58 hold a number of collections, but researching Jewish history available in British do not offer online access to these or appear to institutions, much needs to be done to make it have digitised appropriate parts. truly accessible to scholars world-wide. As the examples discussed above demonstrate, 4. Observations and suggestions numerous institutions have started various The accessibility of online provisions is crucial. digitisation projects but a more systematic and How easily can these resources be located? Using comprehensive approach is needed. search engines to turn out a list of resources is There are also a number of important not a helpful strategy in and of itself. This would institutions that have not yet engaged with need to be mediated by already having a good digitalisation at all. A prime example are the grasp of search terms which turn up reliable holdings of College52 whose important resources and some idea of where to look in the collections are not digitised. These include first place. Such a sweeping strategy is likely to valuable material relevant to the history of throw out a host of resources but without any German-Jewish rabbis, Zionist pamphlets, and adequate quality control. A possible solution that Judaica library collections reflecting the interests would provide a valuable service to the academic of early 20th century rabbis and book collectors. community may be found in the construction of Equally, the collections of the Leo Baeck an online portal for resources in Jewish history, Institute53 in London are not available online. culture and religion provided by institutions in The library of the German Historical Institute the British Isles and which are free at the point of London54 specialises in German history and access. The Jewish History Resource Center,59 Anglo-German relations from medieval to based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has contemporary times, with a particular focus on been successfully maintaining a dedicated portal the twentieth century. Its numerous resources with over 6,000 links regarding all periods of Jewish history for years. While its appearance is somewhat dated, this is a diligently compiled and 49 http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/the mes/room_2a_waddesdon_bequest.aspx 55 http://www.jewishgen.org/jcr- 50 http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive- uk/Community/tyneweararchives8.pdf collections/searching-access-collections/archive- 56 http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to- resources-online do/london-metropolitan-archives/the- 51 http://jnjr.div.ed.ac.uk/ collections/Pages/default.aspx 52 57 http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/Collections http://www.lbc.ac.uk/20080331655/Library/library- 58 collections-and-periodicals.html http://www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com/collectio 53 http://www.leobaeck.co.uk/ n 54 http://www.ghil.ac.uk/library.html 59 http://jewishhistory.huji.ac.il/

12 regularly maintained access point that not only modest annual fee. This allows maximum provides information in Hebrew and English but flexibility and can ensure the website’s ‘survival’ also, in the form of a Google calendar, lists topical even when the scholar(s) responsible for its events in Jewish history worldwide. upkeep move institutions. However, there is a caveat. First of all, the free blogging software While the internet transcends narrow national only bends so far to accommodate all that a borders and is accessible from all over the world, project may require. Secondly, they still need to it might be worthwhile considering a portal that be maintained and regularly checked to ensure brings resources and collections together to that all links are working, scholarly affiliations highlight the sources available at British are correct and content remains relevant and up- institutions. Such a portal could become the to-date. umbrella under which past and current research projects ‘log’ their online outputs, categorise and The importance of digitisation strategies has describe them, thereby offering their findings to been recognised by recent efforts in developing a a large audience in a ‘one-stop-shop’. The British strategy for wide-digitisation of Hebrew Association for Jewish Studies,60 the learned manuscripts, as is evidenced by the conference at society representing academics in the field in the King’s College London in May 2015 entitled ‘On United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, the Same Page: Digital Approaches to Hebrew would be a natural partner for such an Manuscripts’,61 a collaboration between Jewish endeavour, as the organisation’s website could Studies and Digital Humanities. The aim of the easily host a gateway to online resources. The conference was the integration of scholarly work main obstacle, as usual with these ideas, is with digitisation technologies, and an explicit funding. Maintaining such a resource means link with research in Digital Humanities was giving it consistent attention and this is difficult made. This is essential for the success of future to do without paying someone for their time. projects which seek to make available archival However, showcasing online resources resources online. Digitisation strategies, the use originating at British institutions might have a of appropriate hardware and software, storage positive impact on securing funding because the solutions and concerns of accessibility and world-wide reach of national digitisation usability in the long term are at the forefront of projects can easily be demonstrated by user discussions in this area. statistics. Digitisation may aid the preservation of fragile Next to ease of access, maintenance is another papers, however it remains to be negotiated other big challenge. All websites need a degree of what can be stored in a publically accessible maintenance to make sure that they are up-to- website. This depends partly on the nature of the date and that all links are current. Many project- holdings and the terms of each bequest, but it specific sites are set up during the project itself also touches on the identity of this (and similar) with a specific amount of funding and a archives. There is a fear that digitised collections commitment by the university hosting the will remove the need to visit the archive. This is a project to maintain the site for a certain time real concern for smaller archives which are after the project’s conclusion. Thereafter, sites dependent on an income stream generated from may simply drop off the radar of the team who footfall in the archive. While this concern may set them up and rapidly become less useful or easily be diffused by researchers whose interest actually unusable. Some sites are built with ranges wider than one particular collection or software which needs technical expertise not at document, there is corresponding concern from the disposal of the scholars who contributed the researchers who rely on volunteers to provide content. This makes it difficult to maintain a site access, as this is often severely restricted due to when the funding for the project has ended and constraints of time and money. Digitisation and technical support is no longer available. Scholars online availability thus helps researchers to gain move on to different projects and/or switch easier, quicker and more sustained access to institutions which leave websites vulnerable to a such collections. Clearly, there is a need for lack of maintenance. It is not always possible for further discussion on the benefits and drawbacks the researcher to take their ‘product’ with them of digitising for both, the archives and their to a new institution, but nor is it possible for researchers. their previous institution to guarantee the In conclusion, this article has sought to provide a upkeep of their former employee’s website snapshot of currently available resources and project. those under construction. We have offered URLs Other projects opt for freely available blogging and short descriptions of these and have also software which, for a modest fee, can be attempted to assess the user-friendliness and manipulated for the needs of a (re-)source reliability of the online provisions. A major project. This is helpful, because hardly any finding is the patchiness of the provision. While technical expertise is necessary for setting up everybody’s gone surfin’, Surfin’ UK would and maintaining such a site and the URL can be mapped to any domain one wishes, again for a 61 http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/research/s 60 http://britishjewishstudies.org/ eminars/jewish/hebrew2015.aspx

13 benefit from a clearer strategy. On the one hand, University of Oxford there are resources available covering all periods Andrea Schatz of Jewish history. On the other hand, efforts have King’s College London concentrated on manuscripts held at UK archives. Thus what is available online reflects to a degree what is available within the British Isles BAJS Support of student members and, more significantly, what has attracted funding as part of wider research projects where BAJS is strongly committed to supporting digitalisation and accessibility were key funding emerging scholars in the field of Jewish concerns. Studies. In a new initiative proposed and Maria Diemling agreed at the AGM in 2015, the British Canterbury Christ Church University Association for Jewish Studies seeks to Hannah Holtschneider appoint a postgraduate representative to University of Edinburgh sit on the BAJS Committee. The postgraduate representative will act on behalf of the Josephus Reception Archive student community of BAJS and help to build up a network of student members. In addition We are pleased to announce a new digital to contributing to Committee meetings, there resource, the Josephus Reception is the possibility of the organisation of a Archive: http://josephus.orinst.ox.ac.uk/ar postgraduate event or workshop during the chive/jra. period of appointment. The role will involve We hope you will visit it and find it useful. building effective working relationships with We warmly welcome feedback and offers of members of the Committee, academics participation in the future development of working in the field of Jewish Studies, and the the JRA. student population of BAJS. The online platform presents concise In July 2015, the BAJS Committee was information about the reception of Josephus delighted to award the first BAJS to scholars, students, and indeed anyone studentship to Katie Power (University of with an interest in the subject. It is meant to Southampton) who works on Yiddish theatre engage, enlighten and assist a wide public of in London, 1905-1950. The aim of the readers and investigators in many fields. studentship is for the holder to contribute to Students of history and of literature, of the administrative organisation and Judaism and of Christianity, of the reception activities of BAJS, with specific projects of the Classical world, of culture and of determined by the Committee, and in this political thought, of art and of music, and way provide valuable academic should all find here answers to questions administrative experience, career that arise in their researches and in their development and networking opportunities. reading. It is intended that the studentship is a The online archive in this initial stage professional development opportunity for a reflects the parameters of the AHRC Project postgraduate considering an academic on the Reception of Josephus in Jewish career in Jewish Studies. Katie’s first project Culture since 1750 (2012-5). Many of its was helping to update the database of the contributors participated in the four Association and hopefully you will have heard Workshops that we held during 2012-4 at from Katie in recent months. She will be the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish working on developing the BAJS website as Studies. You can learn more about the her next major project. Project via the Home Page of the website. The JRA has been set up by Prof Tessa Rajak I am the British Association for Jewish and Dr Annelies Cazemier. It is currently Studies studentship holder for 2015/2016. maintained with the assistance of Dr Michal At present, I am a first year doctoral student Molcho. within the Parkes Institute for the Study of For further information, or if you have any Jewish/non-Jewish Relations at the specific suggestions for material to be University of Southampton, conducting included in the JRA, or wish to contribute in research titled ‘From shund to kunst? any way, please contact us Yiddish theatre in London, 1939-1960’. This at:[email protected]. study, the first of its kind, aims to unveil the rich history of Yiddish culture in London, Martin Goodman assessing the impact of World War Two on University of Oxford this unique form of culture and trace its Tessa Rajak final years in London’s East End.

14 area of Yiddish culture to light. Although Yiddish theatre’s global counterparts have been subject to many studies, London has been largely ignored. It has been subsumed into these larger global narratives, and I want to demonstrate its individual significance in the history of both Yiddish culture and modern Jewry in London. I am really enjoying working with sources which have not previously been translated to English, such as plays and newspapers, and I have been incredibly fortunate to receive a YIVO Institute Fellowship for 2016/17, which will allow me to spend a number of months at the YIVO Institute in New York. The Institute’s archives contain many Yiddish documents which have yet to be Katie Power subjected to any academic attention, and I I have always had a strong interest in am eager to use these to in my work. culture, especially theatre, and I was thrilled As someone hoping to pursue an academic to find an opportunity to combine this career, I am eager to gain as much work interest with my love for history. I had experience as possible. I was drawn to apply already developed an interest in Jewish for the BAJS studentship as I saw it as a history prior to starting at university as a great chance to improve my employability result of studying Imperial Russia as part of skills and support an organisation which my History A-Level. The University of was relevant to my field of study. I was Southampton, where I completed both my particularly interested in working across a BA History and MA Jewish History and range of projects as I felt this was highly Culture, offered a wide range of modules beneficial to my own development and has which allowed me to pursue my interest in allowed me to nurture a number of essential both Jewish and cultural history, and I skills, including time management, began to combine the two interests. I was communication and copywriting. lucky to have a wide choice of Jewish studies modules available to me throughout My time with BAJS has included two major my time at Southampton, and after projects for BAJS; the first was a full completing a module in Eastern European database update, and the second is an on- Jewish culture, I became aware of Yiddish going overhaul of our website. I worked theatre and discovered that London has yet alongside the BAJS secretary Helen Spurling to be subjected to any academic research. for the first project, which required me to This acted as a catalyst for my decision to contact each of our members individually to pursue this field of study. ascertain whether the details we held for them were correct. Although this may not This interest remained prominent sound particularly exciting, it was a great throughout my Masters, where I took an chance for me to make contact with many individually negotiated module in Yiddish scholars who are relevant to my field. literature and later completed a dissertation Furthermore, it has had a great impact on titled ‘The Rise and Fall of The King of our reach and ensured that many more of Lampedusa, 1944-1946’. This dissertation our members continue to benefit from their looked at two productions of a Yiddish play membership. written in London, and analysed the social, political and cultural factors which At present, I am working with our website influenced its popularity across two officer Hannah Holtschneider on a major productions. It was clear from this research overhaul of the BAJS website. This is a very that there was scope for a significant study exciting project and I have already felt huge in this field, and I began to pursue further benefits from my involvement. My task research. involves writing summaries of Jewish studies courses on offer at all institutions in I am thrilled to be undertaking research on the United Kingdom as well as sourcing London’s Yiddish theatres and to have the images and information which is relevant to opportunity to bring this little-researched them. In addition to this, I am also compiling

15 a list of Jewish studies online resources, something which has proved invaluable for my own studies and once available, will offer a comprehensive insight into the online provisions available in the field. My year as the BAJS studentship holder has been a hugely beneficial experience for me, and I am very pleased to have been invited to continue in this post for the 2016/17 academic year. I feel my role is one which allows me to contribute to BAJS whilst also acquiring a wide set of skills which will be invaluable in both my research and future career. One particular aspect I am excited for is the imminent appointment of a BAJS student representative, whom I am sure I will work closely with. It is fantastic to involved in such an important association in my field and I look forward to my future endeavours with BAJS. Katie Power University of Southampton Molly Whyte

Through analysis of primary and secondary BAJS Essay Prize 2015 sources, I found that women in Britain actively responded - nationally and locally - Following the revision of the BAJS essay prize to the crisis affecting Jewish refugees from procedures, the BAJS Committee received a Nazism in Europe. Between 1933 and 1945, particularly strong range of submissions in women were vital to the various bodies 2015. Last year’s first prize winner was Molly working in aid of Jewish refugees. This was Whyte (University of Southampton) for an true across voluntary organisations of undergraduate dissertation on ‘Women in Jewish, Christian and secular orientation. Britain and the Jewish Refugee Crisis, 1933- Significantly, some women acted from 1945’. Joint second prize went to David positions of leadership, but the majority Clarke (Edge Hill University) for ‘The British carried out important work from lower- Government, The Palestine Question and ranking positions as secretaries or Orientalism, 1945-1948’, and to Nathan volunteers meeting refugees. It is important Taylor (University of Nottingham) for ‘A that we recognise this contribution as well Crisis of Identity: Reflections on the York as paying attention to better known Massacre of 1190 and the Account of William national activity by prominent female of Newburgh’. Congratulations to all! figures, such as the campaigning work of Eleanor Rathbone. Molly Whyte, Women in Britain and the As was the case nationally, women acting in Jewish Refugee Crisis, 1933-1945 local areas around Britain responded on an individual and communal basis. In many During my time at the University of cases, support was highly personal, with Southampton, I benefitted from the Parkes women and their families inviting refugees Institute for Jewish/non-Jewish relations, into their homes, particularly as the crisis taking a particular interest in the cultural worsened from 1938 onwards. memory of the Holocaust. As a combined Collaborative action was also important, as honours English and History student, I also women worked with others to fundraise, pursued my interests in the historical and run hostels and provide refugees with an literary representations of gender, culture education. and social action. I brought these areas together in my dissertation research, which Class was often a significant factor in focused on the ways in which women in determining such involvement: those Britain supported Jewish refugees from without the privilege of women such as Nazi Germany. Elaine Blond, or the national standing of

16 Eleanor Rathbone, responded within their outreach for a cultural organisation in the means. This was arguably easier for middle- future. class women (due to their additional income, space in the home, and, perhaps, Molly Whyte time on their hands), although women from working-class backgrounds also provided support. Still, despite varied involvement Northern UK Jewish Studies across social groups, it was largely educated women who responded to the refugee cause Partnership: Training Day for - through roles in local teaching and Research Students national politics, for instance. To this extent, The recently established Northern UK women’s responses were partially Jewish Studies Partnership held a determined by their positions in and postgraduate research training event at the outside of the home. University of Manchester on 30 June and 1 However, common to the majority of July. PhD students and post-doctoral women’s responses at both a national and researchers from the UK and continental local level was a humanitarian motivation to Europe met for a range of training and help those in need. While this was not development sessions. The programme was exclusively gendered, women’s support of designed as an alternative to the more refugees was closely aligned with their generic training days offered by many personal, emotive reactions to the crisis - institutions and sought to address the unlike the British response at a policy level, participants’ specific interests and concerns which has received negative as solicited from them in the planning historiographical attention. process. Sessions included career advice on funding and postdoctoral applications, CV The diverse range of activities I came across building, public engagement, REF2020, and highlighted that women were positively and the postdoctorate experience, as well as a actively involved with this issue during the series of sessions on 'current trends' in period in question. A gendered analysis of various fields of Jewish Studies, from this kind had not been widely attempted studies in film and visual culture to Israel before, so I hope that my research has Studies, digital humanities, community added to the recent scholarship aiming to outreach/museum studies, Antisemitism redress the gender imbalance in work on studies and Biblical Studies. There was also this topic to date. There is room for further a session reporting on the Manchester pilot consideration of the subject, particularly in project to teach modern Hebrew in a mixed local areas beyond the time period I teaching environment for classroom-based examined. I am grateful to Dr Christer students alongside distance-learning Petley, Dr James Jordan and Professor Tony students, and a showing of the film Gett Kushner for their ongoing interest and with expert panel discussion. The support throughout the research process, programme for 2016 can be found at and to the BAJS for awarding me last year’s www.manchesterjewishstudies.org/n-uk-js- essay prize. partnership/ and the expectation is to run a similar event next year; please email Since graduation, I have been working in [email protected] if you wish to be kept Oxford as the Communications Officer for informed. Student Hubs, a national charity supporting volunteering at UK universities. I was an active volunteer and President of our Southampton branch as a student, and this Doctoral Network in Jewish year I have supported the Ashmolean History: Basel, Manchester and Museum’s outreach activities in my spare QMUL time. In August, I will become the Communications Manager, working part- Hosted by Professor Miri Rubin (QMUL), time as I study for an MA in Arts and with Distinguished Guest Professor Erik Petry Cultural Management at King’s College School of History, QMUL, 23 April 2015. London. I hope to further explore cultural memory and public engagement, with a Programme: view to working in communications and 10.00 Coffee and Welcome

17 10.15-11.15: Session I: Entangled Lives in the Scottish and Northern English Middle Ages Marton Ribary (Manchester), Legal abstraction Universities present the Astaire in Roman and Rabbinic law Seminar Series in Jewish Studies Marci Freedman (QMUL), Transmission and 2016/17: Reception of Benjamin of Tudela's Book of Travels Jews: movement, migration, Cecil Reid (QMUL), A Fourteenth-Century Purim location Story: Treachery and Salvation at the Court of Alfonso XI of Castile (1340) The seminars will involve two papers in each location, one presented by an invited 11.30-12.30: Session 2: German-Jewish speaker from a different university, Experiences culminating in a panel at the BAJS 2017 Sabina Bossert (Basel): “A humble tool in the hands of God” – Religious elements in David conference at the University of Edinburgh. Frankfurter’s life Attendance at the seminars is open to all Michelle Magin (Manchester), The Three Faces and we particularly encourage postgraduate of Germany: Secondary School Holocaust research students to contribute to the Education Programs in Pre- and Post-unification discussion. All papers presented in this Germany series will be published in an anthology Tabea Richardson (QMUL) edited by Hannah Holtschneider and Nina Trespassing racial, national and religious identity Fischer (University of Edinburgh). in Germany before and after the Holocaust: Jewish and Christian women in the so-called The dates and locations of the seminars will Christian-Jewish dialogue be announced in due course on the BAJS website: http://britishjewishstudies.org. 1.15-2.15: Walk around the Mile End campus

2.15-3: Session III: Facing Racial States University of Glasgow, December 2016 Rodney Reznek (QMUL) Cosmopolitanism in the 1930s Discourse on  Ada Rapoport-Albert (UCL): tbc German Jewish Immigration into South Africa  Mia Spiro (Glasgow): Migrating Florence Largilliere (QMUL) souls: performing Jewish mysticism in Conflicting Identities: Discourses of Fascist Italian Jews Faced with the Racial Laws post-war Jewish theatre

3.15-4: Session IV: Israeli Identities University of Edinburgh, February 2017 Bryan Roby (Manchester), The Beginnings of  Hana Wirth-Nesher (Tel Aviv): Jewish Oriental Jewish Protests in Israel and the Use of the Israel Police in the Suppression of a ‘Mizrahi’ migration to America in literature Struggle (1948-1966)  Tbc Selin Yilmaz (Basel/Istanbul), Rethinking of the National Security Doctrine of Israel in the context University of Manchester, March 2017 of the Constant Perception of Existential Threat  Sander Gilman (Emory): Aliens versus

4-5: Session V: Contemporary Jewish Identities Predators: Cosmopolitans, Nomads and Tereza Ward (Manchester), Social and Religious the Jews Jewish Non-conformity: Representations of the  Cathy Gelbin (Manchester): German Anglo-Jewish Experience in the Oral Testimony Jews and the Cosmopolitan Ideal in Exile Archive of the Manchester Jewish Museum from National Socialism Joe Cronin (QMUL), How did the immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union change University of St Andrews, March 2017 attitudes towards the Holocaust in Germany’s  Adam Shear (Pittsburgh): Jews and Jewish communities? Jan Gryta (Manchester), The Politics of Memory their books on the move in early modern and Jewish Heritage: Warsaw - Krakow - Lodz Europe after 1989  Tbc

5.15: Guest lecture by Professor Erik Petry University of Durham, May 2017 (Basel) What is Jewish History, and why work towards a  Elad Lapidot (Freie Universität Berlin): PhD in Jewish History? The “ger” as a cross-border figure

 Ilan Baron (Durham): A Diaspora

account of political responsibility

18 Journal of Jewish Studies Supplement Series: Call for Contributions

The Journal of Jewish Studies publishes a MA in Jewish History and Culture supplement series. Supplements may take the form of monographs, conference (London) proceedings, or collected works on a particular theme. University of Southampton We welcome proposals for our Supplement 7th October 2016 – September 2018 series. Any book length, from 50,000 words Friday sessions 10.30am-12.30pm upwards, will be considered. All our publications are peer-reviewed. This part-time, two-year programme will Submissions should be sent to the Executive explore key moments in Jewish history, Editor. focusing on Jews’ encounters with diverse For guidance on style, please check our societies across time and place, and the rich Style guide, which also includes information cultures they created. on reproduction of images, abbreviations, The MA is awarded by the University of transliterations and copyrights. Southampton (Faculty of Humanities) and Please follow this link for more information taught at JW3 in London by academics from on the Supplements http://www.jjs- the University’s Parkes Institute. The online.net/supplements programme offers a rich encounter with the The executive editor can be contacted by main currents in Jewish history and culture email at: [email protected] drawing on and fostering the use of

different scholarly disciplines. The course Medaon: online journal of Jewish of studies builds on the world-class Culture in Research and Education: resources of the University’s Parkes Library Call for Contributions and Jewish archives as well as the wide- ranging expertise of the Institute’s staff. The The Dresden-based online and open access newly launched London-based part-time Jewish Studies journal Medaon welcomes programme is offered in addition to the full- contributions from BAJS members. time MA programme taught onsite at the Medaon, a term derived from the Hebrew University of Southampton. words Meda for information, Mada for Students have the option of graduating with scholarship, Dea for view, and Iton for a Postgraduate Certificate in Jewish History newspaper, serves as a widely accessible and Culture if they complete all the written online platform for interdisciplinary assignments apart from the dissertation. perspectives on Jewish life-worlds, in the past and present. The cost of the programme is £3,750 per The focus on ‘Jewish life-worlds’ (jüdische year payable to the University of Lebenswelten) stands for the presentation of Southampton, and £200 per year payable to current perspectives on significant aspects JW3, which includes a JW3 membership. of Jewish life in all of its facets and within Applications are made online via the various social contexts. Our aim is to foster University of Southampton website. an inclusive approach to research and education, and to ensure the accessibility of http://www.southampton.ac.uk/humanitie our work for members of the general public. s/postgraduate/taught_courses/taught_cou Medaon aims to offer interdisciplinary rses/history/v300_ma_jewish_history_and_ perspectives on academic and non- culture.page academic research in various contexts. All You can find out more about financial manuscripts are selected carefully and assistance at edited thoroughly prior to publication. Peer http://www.southampton.ac.uk/parkes/po reviews are undertaken both externally and stgrad/grants.html. via the editorial staff for all contributions. Please see http://www.medaon.de/en/ for more information. Contact the journal by email: [email protected].

19 BAJS CONFERENCE 2017 Expanded Geography: An Epilogue to the History of Polish Jews at POLIN Museum 10-12 July 2017 at the University  Professor Hana Wirth-Nesher (Tel of Edinburgh Aviv): To Move, to Translate, To Write: Jewish American Immigrant Voices Early notice of Call for Papers For initial inquiries please contact the BAJS

President Elect for 2017 Dr Hannah ‘Jews on the Move’: Holtschneider at [email protected]. Exploring the movement of Jews, objects, texts, and ideas in space and time

From the earliest accounts travel and migration, movement across space and time characterise Jewish history. No less crucial than the movement of people is the movement of texts, objects, and ideas, which travel both physically and intellectually as generations in distant locations engage with these at different times and places. Jews themselves are associated with travel and migration, historically and in cultural production. This conference invites contributions of papers within the broad theme of the conference. What follows is a list of thematic headings which is indicative, but not exhaustive:

 Jews and migration  Jews in / and the archive  Texts which move  Jewish journeys, journeys of Jews  Literary explorations of travel, movements, and migration and their consequences  Displaying Jews: museums, heritage, art  Jewish objects: from vernacular and ritual to display and memory

As usual with BAJS conferences, papers on topics unrelated to the conference theme are also welcome, particularly if proposed by graduate students wishing to present on their doctoral research.

Confirmed keynote speakers (subject to obtaining funding):

 Professor Charlotte Hempel (Birmingham): People and ideas on the move: the evidence from Qumran  Professor Tony Kushner (Southampton): Jews as refugees: special or not?  Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt- Gimblett (New York / Warsaw):

20

BAJS Conference 2016

The Texture of Jewish Tradition: Investigations in Textuality

10-12 July 2016, University of Birmingham

Organised by Professor Charlotte Hempel (BAJS President 2015-16)

The conference is hosted by the British Association for Jewish Studies, in cooperation with the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion and the College of Arts and Law of the University of Birmingham.

The Conference Theme The written word as manifested in a spectrum from classical Jewish texts to contemporary literature, alongside texts unearthed in locations including desert caves, an island in the Nile, a Cairo synagogue or the Warsaw ghetto, is the lifeblood of a great deal of research in Jewish Studies. This conference invites reflection on textuality from a variety of perspectives, ranging from the material aspects of texts, including the growing role of digital humanities in the field, to scribal culture and consciousness, textual plurality, composition, reworking, form and genre, reception, classification and inter-relationships between textual worlds and corpora. In addition, speakers may wish to investigate the oral and social aspects of texts and textuality, such as performance, memory, and power. The keynote speaker is Prof. Judy Newman, University of Toronto, who will speak on 'Scribal Bodies and the Growth of Scriptures in Early Judaism' Judith H. Newman holds degrees from Princeton, Yale, and Harvard, and is Associate Professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Emmanuel College and holds a joint appointment with the Department for the Study of Religion in the area of early Judaism and a cross-appointment to the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto. She is also a faculty member of the Centre for Jewish Studies. She specializes in the Hebrew Bible as well as Jewish literature of the Second Temple period. Her current research interests are in the ritual performance of texts particularly as this intersects with the formation of communities in early Judaism and Christianity. She is also interested in the development of scripture, early biblical interpretation, as well as method in the study of the Bible and early Judaism and Christianity. Emerging projects include work on literature of the Hasmonean period, particularly the book of Judith; and a study of time, temporality, and liturgy.

21 BAJS Conference 2016: Dr Alex Tal

Programme Medieval Texts 2 Chair: Maria Cioată, CPD 5

Words on the Body of God: The Texture and Sunday 10 July Physicality of the Divine Stature 15:00-17:00 BAJS Committee Meeting, G51 Dr Michael T Miller European Research Institute Torah as “Texture” in the 13th century 15:30-16:30 OPTIONAL TOUR Kabbalah: The notion of arigah and its use in The Barber Institute of Fine Rabbi ben Abraham Gikatilla Arts Dr. Dr. Federico Dal Bo 16:00-18:30 Conference Registration, Visualities, Textualities, and the Gender of European Research Institute the Medieval Jewish Book (13th/ 14th 18:30-21:00 Century Ashkenaz) Informal dinner, Deepalis Restaurant Dr Eva Frojmovic

Monday 11 July 20th Century Jewish History 8:30-9:00 Conference Registration, Chair: Gavin Schaffer, CPD 6 Wolfson Common Room Raphael Lemkin, the Totally Unofficial Man: 9:00-10:30 Reflections on Intertextuality Jewish/non-Jewish Relations Ruth Amir Yezreel Chair: Hannah Holtschneider, Forum Lecture Rediscovering, Reinterpreting and Revising Theatre Jewish Traditional Texts in a Modern Israeli Jewish Prodigal Daughter in the Nineteenth- Context: The Case of Yom Ha’Atsmaut (1948 – Century Anglo-Jewish, German-Jewish and 1958) French-Jewish Novel Adi Sherzer Catherine Bartlett Merely Murdered in Odium Fidei: Jewish and Indian Jewish Textualities and the Tropes of Catholic Responses to Herbert Thurston’s Jewish-Muslim Difference “Defence” of the Jews (1898 - 1913) Dr Yulia Egorova Dr Simon Mayers

Medieval Texts 1 12:30-13:30 Chair: Eva Frojmovic, CPD 5 Lunch, Wolfson Common Room Medieval Hebrew Tellings of Tobit: Versions of the Book of Tobit, or New Texts? 13:30-15:00 Dr Maria Cioată Second temple period: Qumran, Ben Sira Written v. Oral Texts in Jewish Tradition and the 'Bible' Illustrated from the Toledot Yeshu Chair: George Brooke CPD 4 Professor Philip S. Alexander Cutting the Chord with the Familiar: What Makes 4Q265 Miscellaneous Rules Tick? 19th Century History and Thought Professor Charlotte Hempel Chair: François Guesnet, CPD 6 Beyond Encomium or Eulogy: Simon the High French Jews and the Abolitionist Discourse in Priest as Patron of Ben Sira the 19th Century Lindsey Askin Noëmie Duhaut (De-)Texturing the Text: The Reception of Rethinking Reform Judaism as ‘a Response to Second Temple Scripture in the Modernity’: Nineteenth-Century North Contemporary English Bible American Jews and the Discourse of Doubt Dr J.G. Campbell Professor Daniel Langton Jewish Poetry 10:30-11:00 Chair: Holger Zellentin, CPD 5 Refreshment Break, Wolfson Common Room Revision Abishag: American Jewish Women’s Midrashic Poems on Abishag the Shunamite 11:00-12:30 Anat Koplowitz-Breier Rabbinic Judaism Twenty-First-Century Gematria: Rabbinic Chair: Philip Alexander, CPD 4 Hermeneutics in Contemporary Jewish Gentile Purity from the Holiness Code to Poetry Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Dominic Williams Dr Holger Zellentin Hebrew Scripture as Concrete Poetry Sodom Re-imagined. A case study in Professor Simon Glass interpretation and invention in the Babylonian Talmud Contemporary Literature Rabbi Dr Margaret Jacobi Chair: Karen Skinazi, CPD 2 The Sabbath and Yom Tov: A Holy Day or a Uncanny Survivors and the Nazi Beast: Holiday Textual Monsters in Holocaust Fiction

22 Dr Mia Spiro Literature, Film and Preaching Seriousness, Strength and the Body: Unheroic Chair: Karen Wenell, CPD 6 Conduct in Philip Roth’s Nemesis and Singer’s Recreation of Jews’ Vanished Past American Pastoral through Memory Joshua Lander Zhang Wen The City and the Text: Jewish Life and Urban Textuality and the Jewish Sermon Space in David Daiches’ Two Worlds Professor Marc Saperstein Dr Hannah Holtschneider For Women Only: Reading Orthodox Jewish Women’s Films 15:00-15:45 Dr Karen E. H. Skinazi Annual General Meeting, Leonard Deacon Lecture Theatre 10:30-11:00 Refreshment Break, Wolfson Common Room 16:00-17:00 OPTIONAL Visit to Cadbury Research Library Special Collections 11:00-12:30 Second Temple Period: Qumran 17:30-18:00 Wine Reception Chair: George Brooke, CPD 4 Welcome from Professor Michael Whitby (Pro- A Psychological Approach to the Dead Sea Vice Chancellor and Head of the College of Arts Scrolls and Law) and Professor Ken Dowden (Head of Rabbi Helen Freeman the School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion), The Textuality of Magic in the Dead Sea Muirhead Tower Atrium Scrolls Tupa Guerra 18:00-19:00 Scribal Bodies as Liturgical “To save them from all the Nets of the Pit” The Bodies: the Formation of Scriptures in Early Ending That Does Not Fit? CD XIII 7b-23 and Judaism CD XIV 1-2 Keynote Lecture, Professor Judith Newman Hanne Kirchheiner Chair: Charlotte Hempel, Watson Building, Lecture Theatre A Early Modern Interpretation 19:00-21:00 Chair: Andrea Schatz, CPD 5 Conference Dinner, Staff House Bringing Maimonides to Oxford: Edward Pococke and Maimonides’ Commentary on Tuesday 12 July the Mishnah 8:30-9:00 Dr Benjamin Williams Conference Registration, Wolfson Common Room Text and Context: The Book of Esther and Jewish Intercession in the Early Modern 9:00-10:30 Period The Texture of Early Judaean Legal Dr François Guesnet Interactions Textual Tradition in Communal Legislation of Chair: Sarah Pearce, Forum Lecture Theatre Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Ancient Near Eastern Monumental Law and Communities Its Impact on the Hebrew Bible Dr Martin Borýsek Professor Sophie Démare-Lafont Cuneiform Legal Tradition in the Earliest Holocaust Judaean Written Sources from Babylon Chair: Isabel Wollaston, CPD 6 Dr Cornelia Wunsch Visualization and Textuality of Holocaust The Legal Collections of the Hebrew Bible and Commemoration in Britain their Lack of Statutory Force Rosa Reicher Dr Sandra Jacobs The Narrative of the Salvation of the Bulgarian Jews during the Holocaust: The Bible in the Cairo Genizah between Mythology and Reality Chair: Hindy Najman, CPD 5 Dr Rumyana Marinova-Christidi Writing the Bible in the Cairo Genizah Dr Ben Outhwaite 12:30-13:30 Recent Research on the Tiberian Tradition Lunch, Wolfson Common Room Professor Geoffrey Khan Samuel ben Jacob, Scribe of the Leningrad 13:30-15:00 Codex The Hellenistic Shaping of Textuality Dr Kim Phillips Chair: Sarah Pearce, Forum Lecture Theatre The Non-Standard Tiberian Language What did the Septuagint look like? The Tradition as Reflected in Genizah Bible Hellenistic shaping of the Biblical Text in light Manuscripts of Papyri Samuel Blapp Dr James Aitken Shaping Jewish-Greek Literature Marieke Dhont

23 Births of the Author? Homer and Moses as Dr Peter Lawson Authors in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods Dislocations: Exploring Diasporic Dr Pieter B. Hartog Identifications in Contemporary British Jewish Writing Time and Calendars Ruth Gilbert Chair: Charlotte Hempel, CPD 5 Who Authored the Calendar in Arba’a Ṭurim? 17:00 The Transmission of Tables in Manuscript Close and Departure and Print Dr Nadia Vidro Scribal Culture and Textual Plurality in the Transmission of Isaac Israeli’s Yesod Olam Dr I. M. Sandman Text and Visuality: The Representation of Time in Jewish Tradition Professor Sacha Stern

19th and 20th Century: Eastern Europe Chair: Norman Solomon, CPD 6 The Manuscript in Habad - An Esoteric Dimension of a ‘Modernizing’ Movement Dr Naftali Loewenthal The Benefits of Reading Diaries Joanna Cukras-Stelągowska

15:00-15:30 Refreshment Break, Wolfson Common Room

15:30-17:00 Philo and Josephus Chair: Hindy Najman, CPD 4 Agrippa II in Jerusalem and the Silence of Josephus Professor Martin Goodman Abraham’s Mystical Ascent: Philo of Alexandria’s Retelling of the Biblical Patriarch’s Spiritual Journey Dr Joshua Carroll Between Textual Worlds: Eastern and Western Prophecies Concerning the Rise of Emperors Dr Idan Breier

Halakhah Chair: Helen Spurling, CPD 5 Complementarity, Contradiction or Symbiosis? The Relationship between Kabbalistic and Halakhic Writing in R. Isaiah Horowitz's Sheneh Luhot Haberit Yoseph Citron Texts and Language in Contemporary Jewish Society: The Current Impact of Sefer Chafetz Chaim Professor Kate Miriam Loewenthal The Samaritan Collections of Moses Gaster: Material and Text Dr Katharina Keim

Psychotextual Dislocations in Modern British-Jewish Writing Chair: Karen Skinazi, Forum Lecture Theatre Notions of Exile in Kindertransport Narrative Professor Sue Vice John Rodker: “Foreign-ness” and Modern Jewish Culture

24 Support your BAJS! Renton ([email protected]) with All BAJS officers are honorary officers who your news as it comes up, preferably with a work on behalf of the Association in web link. This could include: book reviews, addition to busy and demanding academic articles, funding awards, promotions, jobs. Please support our work by paying conferences, seminars or visiting speakers your membership fees and sharing your at your institution. Our Twitter account is a news. great way for us to interact between Membership Fees conferences, emails and the newsletter. We have also just launched our own Facebook The new subscription fees have now been in page: place since July 2014 and are our sole https://www.facebook.com/JewishStudies means of financing new and existing UK. projects on behalf of our members. As a reminder, the new subscription rates are as Please like our page, and keep up to speed follows, which cover the costs of the BAJS with what’s happening. studentship, production of the Bulletin, the Lecture Series and Events in Jewish annual newsletter, the BAJS essay prize, Studies support for the annual conference and other expenses arising from the work of the Members are invited to advertise their Committee on behalf of all our members: public lecture series and events in Jewish Studies via the BAJS website. If you would  Ordinary Members – £40.00 like to take advantage of this opportunity,  Associate Members – £25.00 please get in touch with our Web Officer,  Student/Retired Members – £15.00 Hannah Holtschneider (you can email Hannah at [email protected]), with We are very grateful that some of our a brief description of your lecture or event. members have already switched to the new It is hoped that this will also highlight the payment rates and would be hugely range of activities in Jewish Studies across appreciative if the remainder of our the UK and Ireland. membership could make this change as soon as possible. Many of you now pay Notification of Lectures, Conferences membership fees by standing order as the and Vacancies easiest way to keep up to date with If you are not currently signed up to receive payments. Setting up a standing order is notifications by email, please let Hannah easy, and, if we know when subscription know if you would like to join up in order to funds will come in, it also helps us to plan receive the latest information about BAJS. the Association’s activities more You can also sign up to our website at strategically. It is also possible to pay online http://britishjewishstudies.org/, which via Paypal. Please find enclosed details of ensures automatic notification of upcoming the different methods of paying your conferences, lectures and academic subscription. vacancies. As you know, BAJS relies exclusively on membership fees in order to carry out our BAJS Bulletin work on your behalf, so thank you for your We hope you enjoy browsing the latest copy continued support. If you have any queries of the BAJS Bulletin. We are keen to report regarding payment of the subscription, what is happening in Jewish Studies in please get in touch with our Treasurer, Britain and Ireland, highlight interesting Holger Zellentin. You can email him at: research projects and initiatives and [email protected]. celebrate our success in educating a new BAJS Twitter Account generation of students, publishing research and obtaining funding. We rely on BAJS Our BAJS Twitter account has been running members to share this information with us. for over a year now and has been used as a Please get in touch with the BAJS Bulletin way of reporting news in Jewish Studies and editor Maria Diemling at members’ achievements. To ensure its [email protected] and share continued success, we would be very your news. grateful if you could please provide James

25

BAJS Committee:

PRESIDENT and CONFERENCE 2016 ORGANISER: Prof. Charlotte Hempel (until 2017), School of Philosophy, Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT. Email: [email protected]

TREASURER: Dr Holger Zellentin: Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham, Humanities Building, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD. Email: [email protected]

SECRETARY: Dr Helen Spurling: History, Faculty of Humanities, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BF Email: [email protected]

BULLETIN EDITOR: Dr Maria Diemling: School of Humanities, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury CT1 1QU. Email: [email protected]

WEB OFFICER: Dr Hannah Holtschneider: School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, New College, Mound Place, Edinburgh EH1 2LX. Email: [email protected]

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Katie Power: History, Faculty of Humanities, Avenue Campus, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BF. E-mail: [email protected]

Dr François Guesnet (until 2020), Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. Email: [email protected]

Prof. Larry Ray (until 2020), School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, The University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NZ. Email: [email protected]

Prof. Nathan Abrams (until 2016), School of Creative Studies and Media, Bangor University, Gwynedd LL57 2DG. Email: [email protected]

Prof. Daniel Langton (until 2016): Centre for Jewish Studies, Department of Religions & Theology, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL. Email: [email protected]

Prof. Zuleika Rodgers (until 2016), Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Arts Building, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland. Email: [email protected]

Dr James Renton (until 2016), Department of English and History, Edge Hill University, St Helens Road, Ormskirk, Lancashire L39 4QP. Email: [email protected]

Dr Andrea Schatz (until 2019), Department of Theology & Religious Studies, King’s College London, 22 Kingsway, London WC2B 2LE. E-mail: [email protected]

Dr Eva Frojmovic (until 2020), Centre for Jewish Studies, School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9 JT. Email: [email protected]

26 Jewish Studies in the British Isles

Awards:

Dr Adriana X. Jacobs, Cowley Lecturer in Modern Hebrew Literature at Oxford, was awarded a 2015 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant for her translation of Vaan Nguyen’s The Truffle Eye, a 2013 collection of poetry in Hebrew. Born in Israel to Vietnamese refugees, Nguyen, writing in Hebrew, explores points of contact and friction between her Vietnamese heritage and her native-born Israeli identity.

Current and ongoing Research Germany, Hungary, Italy, Israel, the projects: Netherlands, Poland and the UK debated with further attendees from as far afield as Australia, Croatia, France, and Moldova Tim Corbett: concerning the role of Jewish museums and Prins Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, heritage sites today, be it their role in a Center for Jewish History (CJH), New York Jewish cultural context in the present, their educational role in once Nazi-occupied Once the ‘Only True Austrians’: Jewish- countries, their place in contested national Austrian Memory and Identity after the identities, challenges in ex-communist World Wars countries. Many new contacts were forged, ideas were exchanged, comfort zones were : exceeded. University of Cambridge

Corpus of Medieval Hebrew Inscriptions of Joan Taylor: the Territories of the Byzantine Empire King’s College London

Eva Frojmovic: Study of Dispersed Qumran Caves University of Leeds Artefacts and Archival Sources

The Department of Theology and Religious Jewish Museologies and the Politics of Studies of King's College London, together Display with the Institute di Culture e Archeologic dell Terre Biblische of Faculty of Theology of This international conference, supported by Lugano and the University of Malta, are an EAJS Conference Grant, took place at the delighted to announce the recent success of University of Leeds 13-14 March 2016. a Leverhulme Trust International Network Grant application, for the Study of Dispersed The full grant report, including summaries Qumran Caves Artefacts and Archival of papers and roundtables, can be found Sources, obtained by Professor Joan Taylor on http://eurojewishstudies.org/cgp/confe (KCL’s Principal Investigator), together with rence-grant-programme-reports/jewish- Professor Marcello Fidanzio (ISCAB, museologies-and-the-politics-of-display- Lugano) and Dr Dennis Mizzi (University of march-2016-report/. Malta). Over two very intensive days, 34 speakers In the Qumran caves that yielded the Dead and roundtable participants, both Sea Scrolls many jars, lids and other academics and museum professionals, from artefacts were discovered by local Bedouin Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, and also in joint Jordanian, French and

27 American excavations (1949-56). Some of Dr Keim was also the lead organiser of an these material artefacts were sent to international conference, ‘The Other Within’ collections worldwide very early on, either - The Hebrew and Jewish Collections of the gifted or sold. Recently the École Biblique et John Rylands Library (27-29 June 2016; Archéologique Française of Jerusalem and http://www.jrri.manchester.ac.uk/connect/ the ISCAB Lugano started a program for the events/conferences/institute-conference- final report on the Caves of the Qumran 2016/). This event convened scholars, Area, dealing mainly with the materials kept curators and students researching areas in Jerusalem and Amman. The program is represented in the John Rylands Library’s directed by Pere Jean-Baptiste Humbert valuable and wide-ranging Hebrew and (EBAF) and Marcello Fidanzio (ISCAB). The Jewish collections, and has received support network for the Dispersed Qumran Caves from the European Association of Jewish Artefacts and Archival Sources would Studies’ Conference Grant Programme. engage with this publication project, by facilitating the study of all the dispersed Daniel Langton: artefacts enabling more comprehensive new University of Manchester reports. This will provide more information about the Qumran cave artefacts, and The Doubting Jew: Atheism, Jewish contribute to reconstructing a material Thought and Interfaith Relations profile of each cave’s contents. Alongside the analysis of ceramic jars, lids, textiles, AHRC Leadership Fellowship 2016-17 leathers and wooden remains, the network will additionally explore the written and This is an 18 month research project on photographic dossiers of archaeologists and Western Jewish religious engagement with visitors. atheism and scepticism. Anyone with photographs from the 1950s or relevant information is invited to get in As a study of Jewish doubt, this project touch by contacting the Network Facilitator, focuses on the encounter between atheism Dr Sandra Jacobs, at and the religion of Judaism. Along with the [email protected]. related philosophies including scepticism, philosophical materialism and scientific Professor Joan Taylor’s departmental profile naturalism, atheism is amongst the most can be found here: influential intellectual trends in Western http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/trs/ thought and society. As such, it is too people/staff/academic/taylor/index.aspx important a phenomenon to ignore in any study of religion that seeks to locate the Further details of the award are available latter within the modern world. For scholars at: https://www.leverhulme.ac.uk/news/ne of Judaism and the Jewish people, the issue wsletter is even more pressing in that for Jews, famously, the categories of religion and ethnicity blur so that it makes sense to Katharina Keim: speak of non-Jewish Jews many of whom University of Manchester have historically been indifferent or even hostile to religion. The intercultural The Samaritan Correspondence of Dr intercourse between non-religious Moses Gaster: Texts, Analysis, and philosophies and religion is of particular Contexts interest in the study of the dominant form of This British Academy Postdoctoral Judaism in the US, that of Reform Judaism, Fellowship project analyses and which since the early nineteenth-century contextualizes letters in Samaritan Hebrew. has presented itself as a response to The letters, which passed between Jewish modernity. Likewise, interfaith encounters scholar Moses Gaster in London and the between Jew and Christian have in modern Samaritan community in Nablus between times taken place against the backdrop of a 1904 and 1933, offer insights into Gaster’s largely atheistic, materialist culture; one contribution to the field of Samaritan might even say that they have been Studies. accompanied by an ever-present third partner in dialogue, namely, the religious doubter. The project addresses three lacunas:

28 1. No substantial survey of the Jewish Philo onwards, including tantalizing figures engagement with atheism has yet been such as Elisha Ben Abuyah in the Talmud, undertaken. Such a survey would fill an and especially in the form of medieval important gap in the historical study of fideism (i.e. the idea that faith is atheism and the attendant religion- independent of reason). These shallow atheism controversy. It would also intellectual eddies of pre-modern doubt enhance an understanding of modern about God’s existence and nature, and about Jewish identity among those who both the veracity of human knowledge derived embraced and those who opposed through tradition, became stronger currents atheistic arguments. with the seventeenth-century philosopher 2. No major studies of Reform or Liberal Spinoza, who was regarded by many as Judaism have used doubt as a category atheistic, and with the eighteenth-century of analysis. Such a study would likely Jewish Enlightenment or Haskalah. From revise the historical understanding of that time suspicion of revealed religion the development of progressive forms began its ascendency and the ties of religion of Judaism. While the emergence of loosened so that less ambiguously sceptical Reform is usually presented as a expressions within Jewry began to be heard. response to modernity vis-à-vis However it was the nineteenth-century Orthodox Jewish tradition and culture of scientific progress, and the Christianity, one might just as readily attendant popular interest in ostensibly focus upon discourses of doubt, naturalistic and materialistic writings in the specifically around atheism, scepticism 1870s (especially those of Marx, Nietzsche and materialistic philosophies. and Freud in Germany; Spencer, Huxley, and 3. No historical accounts of Jewish- Russell in England; and Ingersoll in the US), Christian relations address the that provoked a sea-change in popular phenomenon of atheism. Such a study Jewish thought. Increasingly, the God of would open up a new avenue of revelational religion simply appeared too research for scholarship of interfaith naïve to countenance. It was from that time relations, ignored until now despite the that a good number of Jewish religious high profile atheism has been given in thinkers felt obliged to establish public Christian theological discourse oppositional, alternative, synthetic, or and the fact that, since the complementary models explicitly relating Enlightenment, there has been a strong Judaism to the challenges of such atheistic tendency for Jews to work out their and materialistic philosophies. responses to modernity in relation to Christian thought. Alexander Samely and Daniel Langton: Strictly speaking, Jewish engagement with University of Manchester atheism (i.e. disbelief in God’s existence) can scarcely be found before the modern period, European Regional Hub in Jewish Studies unless one expands the definition to include core funding, 2015-18 biblical condemnations of practical atheism (i.e. non-observance) and debates about the existence of others’ gods (e.g. disbelief in the In 2015 the Centre for Jewish Studies at official gods of the Classical world, or Manchester was the recipient of a major disbelief in the triune God of Christianity), grant from an anonymous European Jewish which generated condemnations of Jewish foundation which was designed, in part, to atheism. Likewise, serious Jewish develop a regional network of Jewish encounters with the Greek sources of Studies in the Northern British Isles for the philosophical scepticism (i.e. disbelief that a period 2016-2018. The Centre acts as the true knowledge of things is attainable by co-ordinating hub of the Partnership, which humans) are rare until thinkers like Simone is co-chaired by Profs. Alex Samely and Luzzatto in the early-modern period, Daniel Langton. although a weaker definition of scepticism The Partnership facilitates, among other (i.e. doubts about authority and suspension things: of judgment in approaching sources of knowledge, whether secular or sacred) 1. Regional, national and international might be said to have a Jewish legacy from training of postgraduates and post- the time of the first-century philosopher doctoral researchers

29 An annual themed research workshop in Renate Smithuis. When completed, the Jewish Studies which takes place over two catalogue, which builds upon the days in Manchester. At this workshop unpublished catalogue of Hebrew doctoral and post-doctoral researchers manuscripts produced by Alexander Samely receive subject-specific as well as generic in the early 1990s, will be made available research training from staff from the online. partnership institutions, including career and publishing advice. The workshops form Ed Kessler: part of the approved doctoral training Woolf Institute, Cambridge programme of the AHRC-recognised North West Consortium Doctoral Training Assessing the Effectiveness of Interfaith Partnership led by the University of Initiatives (AEIFI) Manchester, meant for doctoral students at participating institutions, regardless of Working with Georgetown University whether they hold AHRC scholarships. The (Qatar) and the Doha International event is free and registered participants are Centre for Interfaith Dialogue (DICID), eligible for financial assistance with costs of this Woolf Institute research project will any necessary travel and accommodation. deliver the first cross-country comparison 2. Networking and research cooperation of interfaith initiatives in Qatar, UK and India to determine how best to assess their An annual consultation meeting of senior effectiveness in improving interfaith staff at Hub partner institutions to explore relations. A multi-national, multi-lingual and research cooperation, joint funding multi-faith team of investigators has been applications and other matters of shared assembled, including a local partner in interest, as a separate component of the Qatar, DICID, to conduct the pioneering annual workshop event. research. The project will integrate social 3. Teaching cooperation research, historical and policy analysis, and

Participation in the new pilot programme religious studies to develop a framework for for Modern Hebrew at the University of analyzing how interfaith encounters affect Manchester for undergraduate studies in a change. When disseminated to audiences of mixed classroom and video-conferencing experts, policymakers, and activists, the environment. study's unique results will enhance Current institutional partners include: understanding of the factors that influence Leeds (Drs Frojmovic, Stiebert), the successes, and failures, of interfaith Nottingham (Prof. Bielik-Robson Dr initiatives and how best to analyze Zellentin), Liverpool Hope (Prof. Jackson), effectiveness across and within different Edge Hill (Dr. Renton), Chester (Dr contexts. The project runs from 2015-18. Vincent), Bangor (Prof. Abrams, Dr Stoetzler), Durham (Prof. Hayward, Drs Sacha D. Stern: Egorova, Baron), Edinburgh (Dr University College London Holtschneider), St Andrews (Dr Tooman) and Trinity College Dublin (Dr Rodgers). Calendars in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages: Standardization and Fixation Renate Smithius: University of Manchester ERC project, 2013-2018, £1,874,254.50.

Catalogue project at John Rylands Library Read more about this ongoing project here: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/hebrew- The John Rylands Research Institute has jewish/research/research-pro/calendars- received an award of £120,000 from an antiquity-middle-ages anonymous private Foundation for the production of a catalogue of the Hebrew manuscripts collection at the Rylands Library. The project will be supervised by

30 Ongoing Doctoral Research in Jewish Studies:

The following survey was compiled from members’ communications. Please update us on PhDs in Jewish studies you supervise and on any changes and completions.

University of Cambridge: University of Manchester:

Supervisor: Ed Kessler Supervisor: Daniel Langton 1. PhD examining Jewish and Christian seminary 1. Tereza Ward, Social and Religious Jewish Non- curricula conformity: Representations of the Anglo-Jewish Experience in the Oral Testimony Archive of the Canterbury Christ Church University: Manchester Jewish Museum. 2. Caroline Kaye, Painting within Jewish Studies: Supervisor: Maria Diemling Jews as the subjects of Nineteenth Century Realist 1. Gifford Rhamie (co-supervised with Robert Painting. Beckford), Image, Text & Agency: The Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8.26-40) and Conceptuality in the Supervisor: Alex Samely Imperial Imagination of Biblical Studies. 1. Marton Ribary, Forms of legal discourse in Rabbinic and Justinianic sources University of Edinburgh: Supervisor: Renate Smithius Supervisor: Hannah Holtschneider: 1. Katharina Keim, Pirqei deRabbi Eliezer: 1. Louise Gramstrup, Searching for Interfaith Structure, Coherence, Intertextuality, and Understanding: The Influences of Straddling Historical Context (completed Dec. 2014) Similarities and Differences on Religious Self- 2. Marci Freedman, The Itinerary of Benjamin of Understanding and Perception of Religious Others Tudela in an American Women’s Interfaith Book Group 2. Ryan Tafilowski, ‘Dark, depressing riddle’: Paul Lancaster University: Althaus and the ‘Jewish Question’ 3. Lizzie Robinson-Self, Why Poetry? The Supervisor: Dr Corinna Peniston-Bird Aesthetic Significance of the Concentration Camp 1. Adrienne Wallman, Beyond the Family Tree: Poem Jewish Genealogy and its Impact on our Understanding of Identity University of Kent: University of Leeds: Supervisor: Larry Ray 1. Rachel Kay Burns, Sequestration of Supervisor: Eva Frojmovic concentration camps in Nazi Germany: Knowing 1. Heather Findling (jointly supervised with about, and attitudes towards the camps in three Mark Westgarth), Collecting modern Viennese art case studies. in post-war Vienna and the difficult memory of pre-Holocaust/pre-war Jewish collectors, dealers, King’s College London: and critics. 2. Shir Kochavi (jointly supervised with Mark Supervisor: Andrea Schatz Westgarth), Heirless Jewish (artistic) property 1. Wendy Filer, In Pursuit of a Remedy: The and the museum: the Bezalel Museum and the Interrelationship Between Sephardi Courts and Jewish Museum New York, ca. 1945-50. the English Secular Legal System, 1655-1869. 2. Débora Marques de Matos, Mobility and Trinity College Dublin: Adaptability of Sephardic Scribes in the Late

Fifteenth Century. Supervisor: Zuleika Rodgers:

1. Stephen Oliver Murray, Irish-Israeli Relations Supervisor: Jonathan Stökl 1948-1956. 1. Eliza Allen, Studies on Abraham in Genesis 14- 2. Peter Garry, The Jews of Cork: An Oral History. 18. 2. Cristina de Venegas, Beyond Gender Paradigms: The Behavior of Women in Love. A Comparison University College London: Between The Song of Songs And Romeo and Juliet. 3. Elisabeth Sawerthal, Divination, Kings And Supervisor: Sacha D. Stern Domination: What Is The Relationship Between 1. Joseph Citron: The contours of spirituality in Royal And Divinatory Forms Of Power And the Seventeenth Century: R. Isaiah Horowitz's Authority In Ancient Israelite And Egyptian Shelah as a vision of Jewish Pietism. Society 2. Yonatan Birnbaum: Inclusivism in the Works of Twentieth Century Jewish American Orthodox Posqim.

31 Queen Mary, University of London: 2. Cecil Reid, A Society in Transition: Jews in the Kingdom of Castile from Re-conquest to the Toledo Supervisor: Miri Rubin: Riots (1248-1449). 1. Magdaléna Jánošíková, Composing Hebrew Materia Medica in the sixteenth century: Eliezer Eilburg and his Medical Treatise.

Member’s recent publications:

The following entries are based on communications received from BAJS members.

Sebastian P. Brock, ‘Eleazar, română - The Jewish World in Negotiating the boundaries of Shmuni and her Seven Sons Romanian Literature, Editura Jewish-Christian relations in in Syriac Tradition, in M-F. Universităţii "Al. I. Cuza", Iaşi, Schudt’s Merckwürdigkeiten’, Baslez and O. Munnich, ed., 2014, 177-203. Frankfurter judaistische Bei- La mémoire des persécutions: träge, 2015:40, 115-138. autour des livres de Nina Collins, ‘Healing and Eadem, ‘Patronage, Re- Maccabées. Louvain/Paris: Saving Life from Starvation, presentation and Con- 2014, 329-336. Mark 2:23-26, Luke 6:1-5, version: Victor von Carben and Matthew 12:1-8’, Biblical (1423–1515) and his Social Lucille Cairns and Andrea Theology Bulletin, 45:4, Networks’, in Revealing the Reiter (eds), Jewish Identities 195-201. Secrets of the Jews: Johannes in Contemporary Europe, Eadem, ‘Did the Israelites Pfefferkorn and Christian Routledge, London and New Leave Egypt with Unleavened Writings about Jewish Life and York, 2016. Bread? The Historical Literature in Early Modern Lucille Cairns, Francophone Significance of the Israelite’s Europe, ed. Jonathan Adams Jewish Writers Imagining Food’, Biblical Theology and Cordelia Heß. Berlin: De Israel. Liverpool University Bulletin, 46:1, 3–11. Gruyter, 2016 (forthcoming). Press, Liverpool, 2015, 310. Eadem, review of Bruce Eadem with Hannah Eadem, ‘Jewish Children’s Chilton, Darrell Bock, Daniel Holtschneider, ‘Surfing the Homes in Post-Holocaust M. Gurtner, Jacob Neusner, Great British Jewish Web: France. Personal Lawrence H.Schiffman, and Jewish History Resources Témoignages’, in Sean Hand Daniel Oden (eds.), A Online’, Medaon 2015:17. and Steven T. Katz (eds), Comparative Handbook to the Eadem with Larry Ray, Post-Holocaust France and the Gospel of Mark: Comparisons 'Arendt's 'conscious pariah' Jews, 1945-1955 (New York with Pseudepigraphia,the and the ambiguous figure of and London: New York Qumran Scrolls, and Rabbinic the subaltern', European University Press, 2015), 139- Literature. Leiden: Brill, Journal of Social Theory, 55. 2010, Novum Testamentum, 2016, 1-18. [online first] Eadem, ‘Israël, entre rêve et 57 (215), 431-51. Eadem with Larry Ray, ed., réalité’, Continuum: Revue des Memory, Identity and Écrivains Israéliens de Langue Tim Corbett, ‘Culture, Boundaries of Jewishness. Française, no. 11/12 (2014- Community and Belonging in London: Routledge, 2016. 2015), 167-207. the Jewish Sections of Vienna’s Central Cemetery’, Nina Fischer, Memory Work: Maria Cioată, ‘Moses Gaster, Austrian Studies, 24 (2016): The Second Generation. Friedrich Horn and the Jews and Austrian Culture. Houndsmills: Palgrave Background to the Settlement Idem, ‘Was ich den Juden war, Macmillan, 2015. of Samarin’, Bulletin of the wird eine kommende Zeit Eadem, ‘Facing the Arab John Rylands Library 92.1 besser beurteilen… Myth and “Other”?: Jerusalem in Jewish (2016): 27-51. Memory at Theodor Herzl’s Women’s Comics’, Studies Eadem, ‘Representations of Original Gravesite in Vienna’, in Comics 6:2 (2015): 291- Moses Gaster (1856–1939) in S.I.M.O.N. – Shoah: 311. (Special Issue: Comics Anglophone and Romanian Intervention. Methods. by Jewish Women). Scholarship’, New Europe Documentation (2016). Eadem, ‘Seeing and Unseeing College Yearbook 2012- the Dome of the Rock: 13 (2015): 89–128. Maria Diemling, 'The Conflict, Memory, and Eadem, ‘Romanian Jewish politics of food: kashrut, food Belonging in Jerusalem’, in Autograph Manuscripts in the choices and social justice Spatialising Peace and John Rylands Library (tikkun olam)', Jewish Culture Conflict: Mapping the Pro- Collected by Moses Gaster, and History, 2015, 16: 2, 178- duction of Place, Sites and and their Historical Contexts’, 195. Scales of Violence, ed. Annika in Camelia Crăciun, ed., Eadem, ‘About bakers, Björkdahl and Susanne Lumea evreiască în literatura butchers, geese and pigs: Buckley-Zistel. Houndsmills:

32 Palgrave Macmillan, 2016, of Jewish Art and Visual 242-264. Culture, vol. 9, 2015 (actually Edward Kessler, Jesus. appeared March 2016). Stroud: The History Press. Eva Frojmovic, ‘The Patron Forthcoming. as Scribe and the Anthony Gelston, 'The Idem with Akbar Ahmed, ‘A Performance of Piety in Boundaries of Translation', Muslim and Jewish Perpignan during the The Temple in Text and Perspective on Dialogue Kingdom of Majorca’, in Tradition: A Festschrift in between Islam and Judaism’, Patronage, Production, and Honour of Robert Hayward, Handbook of Muslim-Jewish Transmission of Texts in ed. R. Timothy McLay. T & T Relations, ed. J. Meri. London: Medieval and Early Modern Clark, Bloomsbury, 2015, 1- Routledge, 2016. Jewish Cultures, ed. Esperanza 12. Idem, ‘And Finally…’, The Alfonso and Jonathan Decter. Expository Times,2016, 127: Turnhout: Brepols, 2014, Hannah Holtschneider, with 312. 299-337. Maria Diemling, ‘Surfing the Idem, ‘Reading the Bible after Eadem, ‚A Sense of Order: Great British Jewish Web: Auschwitz’, Crucible: The Text and Image in some of Jewish History Resources Journal of Christian Social the earliest illuminated Online’, Medaon 9:17, 2015 Ethics [Special edition: The Hebrew Manuscripts from Eadem, ‘Salis Daiches – Holocaust 70 Years On: Ashkenaz’, in Zu Bild und Text Towards a Portrait of a Jewish and Christian im jüdisch-christlichen Scottish Rabbi’, Jewish Culture Reflections], 34-45. Kontext im Mittelalter, and History, 2015, 16:2, May ed. Frank Bussert, Sarah 2015, 142-156. Nicholas de Lange, Japheth Laubenstein, Maria in the Tents of Shem. Greek Stürzebecher. Jena/ Helen R. Jacobus, ‘Balaam’s Bible Translations in Quedlinburg: Bussert & ‘Star Oracle’ (Num 24:15-19) Byzantine Judaism (Texts and Stadeler, 2014, 48-65. in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Studies in Medieval and Early Eadem with Marc Michael Bar Kokhba,’ in P. Barthel and Modern Judaism, 30). Epstein, ‘Ashkenaz: Franco- G. van Kooten, ed., The Star of Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, Germany, England, Central Bethlehem and the Magi: 2015. and East Europe’, in Skies of Interdisciplinary Perspectives Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish from Experts on the Ancient Daniel Langton, ‘Elijah Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. Near East, the Greco-Roman Benamozegh and Marc Michael Epstein. World, and Modern Evolutionary Theory: A Princeton: Princeton Astronomy. Leiden: Brill, Nineteenth Century Italian University Press, 2015, 63- 2015, 399-429. Kabbalist's Panentheistic 71. Eadem, ‘Calendars in the Response to Darwin’, Eadem with Marc Michael Qumran Collection, ‘ in S. European Journal of Jewish Epstein, ‘The Problem of White Crawford and C. Studies, 2016, 10:2. "National Style’, in Skies of Wassen, ed., The Dead Sea Idem with A-J Levine and M. Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish Scrolls and the Concept of a Brettler, eds., Paul in Jewish Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. Library. Leiden: Brill, 2015, Thought. In The Jewish Marc Michael Epstein. 217-243. Annotated New Testament Princeton: Princeton Eadem, ‘Zodiac Calendars, (second edition). Oxford: University Press, 2015, 77- Angelic Teaching and the Oxford University Press, 88. Dead Sea Scrolls,’ The ASOR 2016. Eadem with Marc Michael blog (June 2015). Online. Idem, ‘Joseph Krauskopf’s Epstein, ‘No Graven Image: Eadem, ‘Reconstructing Evolution and Judaism: One Permitted Depictions, 4Q208–4Q209 as an Reform Rabbi’s Response to Forbidden Depictions, and Astronomical Artefact,’ The Scepticism and Materialism Creative Solutions’, in Skies of Bible and Interpretation in Nineteenth-century North Parchment, Seas of Ink: Jewish website (July 2015) Online. America’, Melilah: Manchester Illuminated Manuscripts, ed. Journal of Jewish Studies, Marc Michael Epstein. Katharina Keim, ‘The Role of 2016, 12. Princeton: Princeton Small Forms in Pirqei Idem, ed., Melilah: Manchester University Press, 2015, 89- deRabbi Eliezer’, In ‘It’s Journal of Jewish Studies, v. 96. better to hear the rebuke of 12: Atheism, Scepticism and Eadem, ‘Inscribing Piety in the wise than the song of fools' Challenges to Monotheism. Late-Thirteenth-Century (Qoh 7:5): Proceedings of the Perpignan’, in The Hebrew Midrash Section, Society of Leonard Mars, ‘Reflections Book in the Western Biblical Literature, vol. 6., ed. of a Jewish Atheist’, Sociology Mediterranean, ed Javier del Edited W. David Nelson & and Anthropology, 4(1), 37- Barco. Leiden: Brill, 107-47 Rivka Ulmer. Piscataway, N.J.: 42. (forthcoming). Gorgias Press, 2015: 141- Idem, Review of Jonathan Eadem, ‘Feasting at the Lord’s 166. Boyarin. Jewish Families. Table?’ in IMAGES: A Journal Rutgers University Press,

33 American Anthropologist, Idem, Jewish Prayer Texts Time’, in Secularism in 2015, 117:4, 818-819. from the Cairo Genizah. Question: Jews and Judaism in Leiden: Brill, 2016. Modern Times, ed. Ari Denis Maier, Isaac Breuer Idem, ‘Another Glance at a Joskowicz and Ethan Katz. (1883-1946). Philosophie des Gifted Grammarian: More on Philadelphia: University of Judentums in der Krise der Shabbethai Sofer of Pennsylvania Press, 2015, Moderne. De Gruyter: Przemysl’, in A Universal Art. 299-313. Berlin/Boston 2015. Hebrew Grammar across Disciplines and Faiths, eds. N. Karen E. H. Skinazi, and Lori Michael T. Miller, The Name Vidro, I. E. Zwiep and J. Harrison-Kahan, ‘Miriam of God in Jewish Thought: A Olszowy-Schlanger. Leiden: Michelson’s Yellow Philosophical Analysis of Brill, 2014, 162–75. Journalism and the Multi- Mystical Traditions from Idem, ‘Genisa’, in Ethnic West’ and edition of Apocalyptic to Kabbalah. Enzyclopädie jüdischer ‘In Chy Fong’s London: Routledge, 2015. Geschichte und Kultur, ed. D. Restaurant’, MELUS: Journal Idem, ‘Kaplan and Diner. Stuttgart: Weimer, of the Society for the Study of Wittgenstein: Atheism, 2012, 2.417-21; Multiethnic Literature of the Phenomenology, and the Use Idem, ‘Some Divine United States 40.2 (2015): of Language’, Melilah. Metaphors in Early Rabbinic 182-217. Forthcoming. Liturgy’, ISDCL Year Book Idem, ‘The Evolution of the 2014, ed. M. Witte and S. Norman Solomon, A Very Patriarch Enoch in Jewish Behnke. Berlin, 2015, 487- Short Introduction to Tradition’, Distant Worlds 1.1 507. Judaism. 2nd, revised (2016): 128-141 edition. Oxford: Oxford Idem, ‘Abraham Abulafia's Zuleika Rodgers, with H. University Press, 2014. Mystical Theology of the Howell Chapman, eds., Idem, Historical Dictionary of Divine Name and its Companion to Josephus. Judaism. 3rd, revised edition. Philosophical Revision in Oxford, Wiley Blackwell, Lanham Md: Rowman & Walter Benjamin’, Medieval 2015. Littlefield, 2015. Mystical Theology Idem, ‘The Eight-Month 24.1 (2015): 80-94. Miri Rubin, ed. and transl., Fetus’, in As a Perennial The Life and Passion of Spring: A Festschrift Honoring Kevin James McCarthy, William of Norwich. London: Norman Lamm. Downhill Robert Briscoe: Sinn Féin Penguin Classics, 2014. Publishing LLC: New York, Revolutionary, Fianna Fáil 2013, 445-72. Nationalist and Revisionist Alexander Samely, ‘Jewish Idem, ‘Jewish Pilgrimage and Zionist. New York: Peter Lang, Studies and Reading’, in ‘Let Peace’, in Pilgrims and 2016. the Wise Listen and Add to Pilgrimages as Peacemakers Their Learning’. Festschrift for in Christianity, Judaism and Larry Ray, with Maria Günter Stemberger on the Islam’ ed. Antón M. Pazos. Diemling, 'Arendt's 'con- Occasion of his 75th Birthday, Farnham: Ashgate, 2013, 39- scious pariah' and the ambi- ed. G. Langer and C. Cordoni. 62. guous figure of the sub- Berlin: de Gruyter, 2016, Idem, ‘The Dialogue altern', European Journal of 751–783. Experience: Reflections on a Social Theory, 2016, 1-18. Idem, ‘Observations on the Decade of Engagement’, [online first] Structure and Literary Fabric in From Encounter to Idem with Maria Diemling, of the Temple Scroll’, in The Commitment: Interreligious eds., Memory, Identity and Temple in Text and Tradition. Experience and Theological Boundaries of Jewishness. A Festschrift in Honour of Engagement (IKZ-Bios Vol. 2 London: Routledge, 2016. Robert Hayward, ed. T. (2015)), ed. A Berlis and McLay. London: Bloomsbury Douglas Pratt, Stämpfi AG, Stefan C. Reif, with Renate T& T Clark, 233–77. Bern, 59-77. Egger-Wenzel, eds., Religious Idem, ‘Some Literary Features Idem, ‘Public law and Identity Markers – A of Midrashic and Masoretic traditional faith’, in The Workshop on Early Judaism at Statements’, in The Text of the Confluence of Law and St John’s College, Cambridge Hebrew Bible. From the Religion: Interdisciplinary in June 2014 (Biblische Rabbis to Masoretes, ed. Reflections on the Work of Notizen 164). Freiburg: Elvira Martín-Contreras and Norman Doe, ed. Frank Herder, 2015. Lorena Miralles-Maciá. Cranmer, Mark Hill, Celia Idem, with Renate Egger- (Journal of Ancient Judaism Kenny and Russell Sandberg. Wenzel, eds., Ancient Jewish Supplements, 13). Göttingen: Cambridge: Cambridge Prayers and Emotions. Berlin: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, University Press, 2016, 161- de Gruyter, 2015. 147–74. 174.

Andrea Schatz, ‘”Eleven Sacha D. Stern, ‘A Christian Calendars”: Beyond Secular calendar in the Northern

34 French Hebrew Miscellany’, Thoughts on the Construction (2016). [Digital scholarly p on Female Prophets in the Marcel Stoetzler, ‘From Idem, ‘A primitive rabbinic Ancient Near East and the interacting systems to a calendar text from the Cairo Hebrew Bible’, Journal of system of divisions: The Genizah’. Journal of Jewish Ancient Judaism 6 (2015), concept of society and the Studies, 67 (1), 2016, 68-90. 320-334. “mutual constitution” of Idem, ‘A Christian liturgical Idem, ‘Prophetic intersecting social calendar in Hebrew’. Genizah Hermeneutics in Texts from divisions’, European Journal Fragments 70:3, 2015, the Hebrew Bible and of Social Theory, 2016. Idem, ‘Rabbinic, Christian, Mesopotamia: Roots, Images [online first] and local calendars in late and Genres’, Hebrew Bible Idem, ‘Intersectional antique Babylonia: influence and Ancient Israel 4 (2015), individuality: Georg Simmel’s and shared culture’. In M. 267-292. concept of “the intersection Geller (Ed.), The archaeology Idem, ‘“A Youth Without of social circles” and the and material culture of the Blemish, Handsome, emancipation of Babylonian Talmud. Leiden: Proficient in all Wisdom, women’, Sociological Inquiry Brill, 2015, 260-288 Knowledgeable and (2016), 86:2, pp. 216–240 Idem, ‘Calendars, IV. Intelligent”: Ezekiel’s Access Idem, ‘Reflection: Judaism’. Encyclopedia of the to Babylonian Culture’ in antisemitism, anti- Bible and Its Reception. Exile and Return: The imperialism and liberal Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, Babylonian Context, ed. J. communitarianism’,openDem 2014, 799-803. Stökl and C. Waerzeggers. ocracy (26.5.2016). Idem & Isserles, J., ‘The Berlin: de Gruyter, 2015, Idem, ‘Antisemitism and the astrological and calendar 223–252. British Labour Party’, section of the earliest Mahzor Idem, ‘Schoolboy Ezekiel: The Opinion Article in History & Vitry manuscript (MS ex- Text of Ezekiel, Scribal Policy (18.5.2016). Sassoon 535)’. Aleph: Education and the Production Idem, ‘Karl Marx (1818-1883) Historical Studies in Science of Knowledge’, Welt des and Imperialism’, in Palgrave and Judaism, 15:2, 2015, 199- Orient 45, 50-61. Encyclopaedia of Imperialism 318. Idem, ‘Prophecy and the State and Anti-Imperialism, volume in the Ancient Near 1, ed. Immanuel Ness, Zac Jonathan Stokl, ‘Innibana, East’, Religion Compass 9 Cope and Saër Maty Bâ, 2016, Deborah and Huldah: (2015), 55-65. 167-174.

35 Book Reviews

Michael Berkowitz Jews interview with Prince the importance of social and Photography in Phillip with whom he realism and political and Britain. Austin: shared an interest in the social commentary, such University of Texas now little-known as Erwin Blumenfeld’s Press, 2015. pp photographer ‘Baron’ political photomontages, 358+xxvi HB (Sterling Henry Nahum). Stephan Lorant’s work on $30.15/£35.00 He was the Court the Picture Post and Photographer who took Lilliput, press the official photographs photographers Erich for many occasions, Salomon, Zoltán Glass and including the wedding of the war photojournalism Philip to Elizabeth in of Robert Capa. But the 1947. The Prince’s focus is again on studios opening challenge to and it is a pity that this Berkowitz though was largely overlooks telling, ‘Why Jews and important social realist photography? Aren’t Jews photography such as that everywhere in the arts of Edith Tudor Hart and and professions? So her brother, Wolfgang what?’ (p. xxi). More on Suschitzky, who at 103 is this below. still alive and met The story begins (Chapter Berkowitz in the course of 1) with the growth of his research. Chapter 3 studios where Jewish introduces the Gernsheim The material for this study migrants and refugees brothers (Helmut and was intended to fill a who were excluded from Walter) especially the footnote but became the many professions and former who was a first major study of its trades established photographer, collector, kind, tracing the innovative historian, curator, author involvement of Jews in the entrepreneurship and and lecturer and a development of British developed photographic dominant figure in later photography from the late techniques that were twentieth century nineteenth to late subsequently widely photography. The ‘quasi- twentieth centuries. adopted. Photography was Jewish’ Warburg Institute Berkowitz’s main accessible to migrants moved from Hamburg to objective is to ‘interpret partly because it was London in 1933 and the integration of Jews newly expanding but also supported the and Jewish matters in because it was regarded Gernsheims’ work on art- photography … to gain a as rather disreputable. historical knowledge. In better understanding of Berkowitz notes the Chapters 5 and 6 Helmut photography’s history and ‘sexualized dynamic’ of emerges as the principal its influences on the studio which also character of the study modernism’ (p.11). His served the broad whose life in many ways thesis is that from the cosmopolitan aesthetics of epitomizes the cruel fate 1930s Jewish emigres the late Victorian middle of many Jewish refugees from central and eastern classes. Established from Nazi Germany. A Europe ‘played roles studios such as Barnett’s precarious existence immensely out of also photographed before the War, then proportion’ to their celebrities and aristocrats interned as an enemy numbers in thereby establishing the alien, transported to exile photojournalism, association with the rich, in Australia on the advertising, fashion and famous and royalty. infamous Dunera to sports photography. Chapter 2 on emerge after the War as a Berkowitz also has the photojournalism leading photographic unusual distinction of continues the focus on collector and historian being able to open the society photography. with gratitude to the study with a reported Berkowitz acknowledges country that grudgingly

36 saved him. Chapter 6 illustrious Gernsheim not much explored. takes us through to the family, especially Michael Perhaps, as has been 1970s where Helmut (one Gernsheim, the last suggested in relation to might note by contrast Judenbischof von Worms. other Jewish intellectual with more political But here arises an issue emigres, such as Marx or figures) seeks acceptance that Berkowitz does not the Frankfurt School, into the cultural address directly. British there is a kind of establishment but photography was unconscious Jewishness in encounters a ‘gentle developed by ‘secularized their work. But this is not antisemitism’, for example Jews who did not simply suggested here. Is the from Cecil Beaton and assimilate into the realms socially realist desire to Kenneth Clarke when they inhabited’ (p.29) and show an indigent world of striving to establish his he concludes by calling for suffering and inequality proposed National research that looks at (for example in Tudor Photographic Museum. In Jewishness ‘not only as Hart) a secularized tikkun Berkowitz’s account he something to be treated in olam? Again, an remains unaware of this passing as part of an interesting question to largely because in missing individual’s origins, but as pose is whether there is a cultural signals, he is seen a vital factor throughout paradox in the Jewish as a Jew ‘overstepping the their lives’ (p.271). contribution to bounds of comportment However, it is not clear photography against a and respectability’ (p. that for many of those background of Halachic 222). The failure of his featured here Jewishness aniconism? In other museum project was a (as opposed to marginality words, to what extent has loss to British cultural life or migrant status) was the the challenge of the as the works ended up in vital factor in their lives. Prince’s ‘So what?’ been Austin, Texas where the Many of those whose fully answered? Gernsheim Collection is careers are featured here housed in the Harry barely or at all Larry Ray Ransom Centre. Berkowitz acknowledged Jewishness University of Kent concludes that Helmut’s and some, such as Lotte Jewishness and Meitner-Graf, were Lucille Cairns, Franco- ‘foreignness’ played a part converts to Christianity. It phone Jewish Writers in his less than is true that most had been Imagining Israel. Liver- sympathetic treatment by forced into exile but this the British cultural elite could be accompanied by pool University Press. (p.244). Along the way too what Wolfgang Suschitzky 2016. Pp. 310, HB. £75 his photographic career called ‘konfessionslos’, (also available as e- had given way to that of often in favour of radical Book). collection and historical politics. Likewise, research. although Berkowitz Helmut is chosen as the suggests that biographies central character here of Robert Capa, the perhaps not only because world’s leading war of his importance to photographer, overlook photography (Blumenfeld his Jewishness, Capa’s after all was a much more autobiographical Slightly innovative and successful Out of Focus makes many photographer) but also references to his because he was, though Hungarian-ness but not to secular, the most ‘Jewish’ Jewishness (apart from a character in the story. humorous reference to the This is evident in his Passover Seder), though it commitments and is true he did elect to identity, illustrated by his cover the Israeli War of involvement in the Independence and the Hebrew University, post- new state. But the role of Francophone Jewish War antifascist politics Jewishness beyond these Writers Imagining Israel is and celebration of the photographers’ origins is a vital contribution to

37 scholarship on Franco- production, is significant chapters, which are phone Jewish literature, in the context of preceded by an Intro- and to cultural studies Francophone Jewish wri- duction and followed by a more broadly. While there ting because of a twofold Supplement. In the is a relatively large body reason: first, due to Introduction, Cairns out- of scholarship on the Francophone Jews’ emo- lines her methodological political and social tional investment in Israel, approaches, establishing connections between and second, because the inherent need for the France and Israel, the France has the largest inner division of the book paucity of considerations Jewish and Arab popu- according to topoi as a of Jewish Francophone lations in Europe [2]. result of the ‘salience of literature renders this Importantly, while the these topoi in the primary book crucial. The book Palestinian-Israeli conflict texts themselves’ [1]. offers careful analysis of is represented in the book, The book opens with a representations of Israel this is not the focus of the chapter titled ‘Historical by French-language book, which offers a wide Foundations of Israeli writers with a delicate range of perspectives of Nationhood’, which awareness of the inner Francophone Jewish explores literary respon- diversities of French and writers in France and ses to what might be Israeli Jewish communi- Israel. considered ‘key con- ties, and the cultural, Through literary analysis stituents in the historical historical, and political of 44 texts by 27 authors foundations of Israeli processes that shape and (published 1965-2012) nationhood’ [11], focusing influence these communi- Francophone Jewish on representations of ties and their cultural Writers examines some of Messianism [14-22], early production. Cairns’ metho- the fundamental questions Zionist pioneers [22-37], dological approach privi- regarding Francophone and the Shoah [37-54], leges primary sources Jewish identities (and including considerations even while anchoring modern identities more of the Shoah as ‘source of meticulous literary ana- broadly) and the inter- current anti-Israeli lysis in cross-disciplinary actions between Jewish sentiment in France’ [44- theoretical foundations, communities in France 50]. and the evaluation of and Israel. The book affective and cognitive The second chapter, titled compares affective and representations of Israel ‘Modern Israeli Paradigms logical treatments of these provides a unique of Identity’, considers issues in several texts by exploration of Franco- Jewish Francophone Ami Bouganim, as well as phone Jewish identities. literary representations of texts by Joseph Kessel, post 1948 Zionism and its The book examines Michel Warschawski, Line theoretical and practical representations of Meller-Saïd, Esther Orner, derivatives, such as the identities and Israel in the Marc Hillel, Henri ‘new Hebrew’, the kibbutz, Franco-Jewish socio- Raczymow, Jean-Luc and the Israeli army. cultural space in relation Allouche, Valérie Zenatti, Highlighting issues such to inner-Israeli frictions Paula Jacques, Brigitte as anti-diasporism [66-67] between ethnic and Peskine, Eliette Abécassis, and the influence of the political groups, as well as Emmanuel Moses, Marco Francophone community in the context of the Koskas, Ania Francos, on modern Israeli relationship between Patricia Finaly, Sarah identities [92-93], Cairns France and Israel. The Frydman, Michaël Sebban, covers a wide variety of texts are positioned in the Chantal Osterreicher, approaches to the Israeli framework of literary and Myriam Anissimov, nation state. cultural theory, and are Nathalie Azoulai, Marcel also analysed in the Cohen, Karin Bernfeld, As the title of the third context of the Palestinian- Yaël Hassan, Chochana chapter suggests, ‘Intra- Israeli conflict. The Boukhobza, Anne Rabino- Israeli Conflict’ examines Palestinian-Israeli conflict, vitch, and Olivia Rosental. representations of the which bears crucially diverse Israeli society. Francophone Jewish upon both regional and Outlining the ways Writers is divided into six global politics and cultural tensions between various

38 ethnic, religious, and examine the impact of the chapter refuses to draw a political groups in Israel Palestinian/Israeli and conclusion, but none- elicit affective and Jewish/Arab conflicts on theless confirms the cognitive responses in Jewish Francophone lite- importance of the affective Jewish Francophone rary conceptualisations of and conceptual impact of literature, Cairns’ analysis identities and Israel. the convoluted historical illuminates not only the Cairns’ analysis empha- and political connections texts, but also the delicate sizes the importance of between France and Jews, weave of the Israeli social intersections and distin- and France and Israel fabric itself. The tensions ctions between anti-Semi- [283-292]. between groups in Israel tism, anti-Zionism, and Cairns notes that ‘[g]iven are revealed as anti-Israel [193-195, 200, the irreducibility of these particularly lucid in 230], as well as between multiple French-Jewish Jewish Francophone the private and political voices imagining Israel to literature, and Cairns [165, 171, 174-177]. single affective and/or offers a fascinating The penultimate chapter, cognitive idioms, it cannot reading of intra-ethnic titled ‘Metaphysics and be stressed too much that racism in the context of Poesis of Israel’, considers the goal of this queer theories [104-109] elements that transcend monograph is to be as well as race theories the previous topoi helpfully introductory and [109-123]. The short division, such as expository, and not section dedicated to representations of Jerusa- meretriciously synthe- depictions of denial of the lem [239-256], madness sizing’ [10]. High-lighting Shoah by some Sephardi [256-262], and the Heb- the threads of affective and Mizrahi Jews contains, rew language [262-271]. and cognitive responses to as Cairns notes, Israel, Francophone Jewish ‘affectively explosive The final chapter, titled Writers is an important material’ [124]. Holocaust ‘Supplement’, presents study of Francophone denial by Sephardi and some of the answers given Jewish literature, which Mizrahi Jews, according to to Cairns in question- outlines- the profound Cairns, might be read as a naires and during her diversity of reflection of deep interviews with several of representations of Israel resentment towards Ash- the authors whose texts in Jewish Francophone kenazi Jews, and a wish to the book examines. This literature. be the ‘true’ victims [125]. provides an unusual perspective on the issues The fourth and fifth explored, and opens a chapters titled ‘Arab– Vered Weiss porthole into the authors’, Israeli Conflict’ and ‘Arab– Independent Scholar as well as Cairns’, metho- Israeli Conflict Turned dology and intentions. The Franco-Israeli Conflict’

39