JEAN & SAMUEL FRANKEL CENTER FOR JUDAIC STUDIES Fall 2018 Frankely Speaking From the Director

By Jeffrey Veidlinger, Director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and Joseph Brodsky Collegiate Professor of History and Judaic Studies

he theme for the 2018-2019 year of the Other scholars will be looking at issues of Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic knowledge. How did Andalusians understand the Studies is “Sephardic Identities, Medieval relationship between the oral law and the written and Early Modern.” As a result, the Frankel law? To what extent were they willing to overturn TCenter will be hosting a series of events around Ashkenazi precedents and allow the laws to this subject, and will be welcoming to campus reflect the standards of their own communities? eleven scholars from around the world, who will What role did non-Jewish legal opinions play in be in residence at the Frankel Institute along with Sephardic adjudication? These are all issues we two faculty. continue to struggle with today. Many of the scholars who will be with us this year The question of what it means to be “native” that so focus on the myth of Sephardi exceptionalism: the idea that the medieval and early modern animated Iberian thinkers resonates with some of the debates period in the Iberian peninsula represented a we are having in the today about citizenship. Golden Age, in which—thanks to the convivencia (coexistence) between , Christians, and Still other scholars will be focusing on the Muslims—Jews were able economics of the Sephardic community. How did to flourish intellectually, Jewish oligarchs in Castile utilize their wealth, tax culturally, and economi- exemptions, and privilege to secure their positions? cally, and were marked Did Jewish philanthropy help level social inequalities, by distinction and or did it perpetuate status? How did expanding excellence. Some global trade contribute to the wealth of the scholars will point to Iberian peninsula, and what happened to the moments of conflict and Spanish economy and cultural renaissance after competition to question the expulsion of Jews and Muslims? Why did new the factual basis of the centers of trade and intellectual life flourish in myth, others will look at how this myth was the and the Ottoman Empire, areas understood by non-Jewish communities, and in which the Spanish refugees were welcomed? still others will examine the myth’s impact on Once again, in today’s global world we too can more modern Sephardic communities. look for precedents in the past and learn from I am not an expert on this period in Jewish history the experiences of Jewish history. On the Cover myself and look forward to learning from those There are not always definitive answers to these scholars who will be in residence. But I recognize questions, but their relevance today is a testa- Students studied the themes of conflict and coexistence from my ment to the enduring legacy of the Sephardic abroad in Jerusalem own work and the world we live in today. The experience in the medieval and early modern and Tel Aviv with question, for instance, of what it means to be period, and serves as an invitation for all of us Professor Shachar Pinsker; “native” that so animated Iberian thinkers resonates to look at how some of the themes of Jewish Top: Nikki Shultz, Simone with some of the debates we are having in the history—migration, ethnic identity, religious faith, Jaroslaw, Will Hearn; United States today about citizenship. How do law and justice, social responsibility, entrepre- Bottom: Ayo Okunade, individuals reimagine and redefine their ancestry neurship, and economic adventurism—continue Ainslie Woodward, in order to derive real-life benefits? Should the to impact our world today. Ariel Lowenstern, extension of rights be contingent upon one’s ancestry? Or upon where an individual was born? Haley Johnson

2 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Events GI JEWS Lisa Ades reflects on Jewish Americans in World War II

ocumentary filmmaker Lisa mentary on the subject,” Ades said. Ades will be on campus this “Here, we would be able to tell the stories fall for a screening of her of Jews not only as victims of the war, latest work, GI JEWS: Jewish but as Americans fighting for both their she regrets having to cut the most? DAmericans in World War II. The film, based nation and their people.” She turned to “Jews did their part. Don’t ever forget it,” on Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor Dash Moore’s book, which tells the which was said by Bea Abrams Cohen, a Deborah Dash Moore’s 2004 book, GI stories of 15 Jewish men who enlisted 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant and Jews: How World War II Changed a during World War II and how they the oldest living female veteran in California Generation, has appeared at several film simultaneously managed the demands of at the time of her in interview in 2014. festivals across the United States and military service and the prejudices of their Ades hopes viewers walk away with a premiered on PBS this past April to fellow American soldiers. better understanding of the many Jewish commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Through interviews with historians and Americans who have served in U.S. wars, Day. The screening will be followed by a Jewish World War II veterans including Mel going at least as far back to the Civil War, discussion with Ades and Dash Moore, Brooks, Carl Reiner, and Henry Kissinger, and how important the fight for equality who also served as a senior advisor for viewers learn what it was like for Jewish still is now. “Today, with the rise of white the film. The event will be held at the U-M Americans fighting bigotry at home and supremacists, xenophobia, and anti- Museum of Art Auditorium at 5:30 pm on abroad. “The challenge was how to immigrant sentiment in the United States November 6. capture these stories while the men and and throughout the world, these stories Ades first became interested in making a women who served were still alive to tell of the children of Jewish immigrants film about Jews in World War II in 2012 them,” said Ades. “In 2013, fewer than 6 fighting at home in order to during her production of a documentary percent of WWII veterans, mostly in their fight it abroad—and thereby becoming about the history of Jewish people in 90s, were still alive. This was our last more American and Jewish in the Syria. While speaking with Jews of Syrian chance to record these stories, so we process—resonate profoundly for me. decent in America, she learned about appealed to the NEH [National Endow- “Every American has a relationship to their experiences in World War II. “Their ment for the Humanities], which had World War II,” Ades continued, “but the stories were fascinating and surprising— awarded us development and production role of Jewish American service people how after Pearl Harbor they had lied grants, to release ‘emergency funds’ has not been fully explored on film. about their age in order to enlist; what it to begin interviewing. Remarkably, our It’s been gratifying to hear from Jewish meant to serve as children of immigrants; first day of shooting, in December 2014, Americans about how grateful they are the antisemitism they confronted in basic was at 92-year-old Carl Reiner’s house that this story has been told for a national training on their way to fight the Nazis; in Beverly Hills. A gentleman and a audience. Many Jews don’t know the full the horror of the concentration camps mensch, he sat for an interview and history of this period, and it’s important they liberated; and how, on their return then allowed us to interview his close for non-Jewish audiences to learn about home, they found themselves changed friend and fellow GI Jew Mel Brooks the Jewish experience of World War II, forever,” she said. there that same afternoon. It was an from the standpoint of the men and auspicious start to the project.” “I was surprised that even though several women who served.” films had been made on aspects of Ades recorded almost 40 interviews Jewish Americans in World War II, no one with Jewish veterans, many of which had yet made a comprehensive docu- did not make it to the final cut. The line

Mark Your Calendar: GI JEWS, November 6, 5:30 pm, U-M Museum of Art Auditorium

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 3 Events

2019 David W. Belin Lecturer James Loeffler “Prisoners of Zion: , Human Rights, and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

n March 12, the Frankel The David W. Belin Lecture in American The book began as a relatively narrow Center will welcome Jewish Affairs was established at the study of American Jewish political Professor James Loeffler in 1991, through advocacy and legal diplomacy on behalf to the University of Michigan a gift from the late David W. Belin, to of Eastern European Jewry between the Oto deliver the 2019 David W. Belin Lecture provide an academic forum for the two world wars, and morphed over time in American Jewish Affairs. Loeffler’s discussion of contemporary Jewish life into a global history of Jewish involvement lecture, “Prisoners of Zion: American in the United States. Previous speakers in both the Zionist movement and the Jews, Human Rights, and the Israeli- have included Deborah Lipstadt, Samuel modern human rights movements of the Palestinian Conflict,” based on his Freedman, Lila Corwin Berman, and Ruth 20th century. Loeffler’s work weaves recently published Rooted Cosmopolitans: Messinger. Each lecture is subsequently together stories across five continents, Jews and Human Rights in the Twentieth published in the Belin Lecture Series. seven languages, and eight decades. Century, will explore how American “Global antisemitism has returned to Loeffler reasons that the people in his Jews have become polarized over the world in ways few ever anticipated book would be shocked and disappointed human rights issues related to both after World War II,”Loeffler explained. by today’s politically polarized climate and antisemitism. “For some in the Jewish world, the only and the amount of historical ignorance. solution is a renewed commitment to Not because they too argued over the protecting human rights at home and meaning of human rights, but because abroad. For others in the Jewish world, they understood there was a need to the very phrase ‘human rights’ has work together to try to reach pragmatic become a symbol of today’s antisemi- global solutions. tism, especially in the context of the Loeffler’s lecture will help audiences Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ” understand that human rights are in Loeffler is Jay Berkowitz Endowed Chair crisis and will investigate how we got to in Jewish History at the University of today’s political climate. “That means Virginia, where he teaches courses on viewing the intertwined pasts of human Jewish and European history, legal rights and Zionism not as political fables history, and the history of human rights. but as complex, real chapters in history,” Rooted Cosmopolitans explains the he said. Human rights “grew out of the history of Jewish political activism in world of politics, and, particularly the human rights through the stories of five world of post-World War I Zionism. Jewish activists, and shows how the idea Human rights were not the antidote to of human rights has been intertwined too much nationalism; they were an with Jewish history in the last 70 years. attempt to balance the nation-state It was named a “new and noteworthy” with the new international order—for book by The New York Times. Jews and everyone else.”

Mark Your Calendar: Belin Lecture, March 12, 2019, 7:00 pm, Forum Hall, Palmer Commons

4 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Visiting Faculty Yossi (Joseph) Turner Louis and Helen Padnos Visiting Professor in Judaic Studies

his fall semester Yossi (Joseph) Turner will be the Frankel Center’s 30th Louis and Helen Padnos Visiting Professor in TJudaic Studies. Turner is an associate professor at the Schechter Institute of in Jerusalem, where he has been teaching since 1995. The Padnos Visiting Professorship is made possible by a generous donation from Stuart Padnos, who in 1988 established the Professorship in commemoration of his parents, Helen and Louis Padnos. The Padnos endowment enables the Frankel Center to bring a distinguished scholar to campus every year to teach on various aspects of the thought of between problems and issues to which at the University of Michigan. Rosenzweig, Chaim Hirschenssohn, Martin the thinker responds; his or her manner Turner is a distinguished scholar of Buber, Hermann Cohn, and other leading of expression and logic of argumentation, modern Jewish thought with particular intellectuals of 20th-century Judaism. presuppositions; fundamental value expertise on the philosophy of the German “It is interesting, and often surprising, orientation, and overall direction Jewish theologian Franz Rosenzweig. that Jewish thought and philosophy deal concerning various religious, social, He received his Ph.D. from the Hebrew with universally human questions,” Turner and cultural issues.” University of Jerusalem in 1994, and has said, “but contemplates them from a Turner will also be giving two public since taught as a visiting professor at uniquely Jewish perspective, which in lectures. The first will be in Ann Arbor on Haifa University, the Jewish Theological many ways forms the basis of a critique October 9 and is titled “The Concept of Seminary of America, Queens College concerning the West, while weighing a Universal Humanity, Social Justice, and of the City University of New York, and conflicting concerns in ways not possible National Individuality in Modern Jewish Indiana University, in addition to his in other areas of Western discourse.” Thought.” The second, “The Crises Facing position at the renowned Schechter As Padnos Visiting Professor, Turner Jewish Existence in the Contemporary Institute. He has published two Hebrew- will be teaching two courses in the fall Period and their Educational Implications,” language books: the first on Rosenzweig’s semester: Judaic 318: “Modern Jewish will take place November 4 at Temple religious philosophy (Faith and Humanism: Thought” and Judaic 417: “Trajectories Emanuel in Grand Rapids. A Study of Franz Rosenzweig’s Religious of Zionist Thought.” Turner most enjoys While at U-M, he is looking forward to Philosophy, 2001) and the second on teaching classes about specific thinkers the class discussions with students. 20th-century Jewish thinking on Zion and philosophers, “because in such a “The University of Michigan has a very (The Relation to Zion and the Diaspora course one can get at the depths and high-quality student body,” said Turner, in 20th Century Jewish Thought, 2014). breadth of the subject matter, and “and I am always fascinated by the way He has also edited several works on reconstruct the manner in which a the subject matter I deal with takes on aspects of Jewish philosophy, most particular body of thought reflects the new forms of discussion in differing social recently The Actuality of Sacrifice, in thinkers’ life experience even as it and cultural contexts.” 2014. He has also published 30 articles enables me to trace the correspondence

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 5 New Faculty Rebecca Scharbach Wollenberg Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies

he Frankel Center is pleased to of Religion. Her dissertation, The People For her next project, Wollenberg is welcome Rebecca Scharbach of the Book without the Book: Jewish developing her interest in the role played Wollenberg into a tenure-track Ambivalence towards Biblical Text after by the transition from orality to writing in position as assistant professor the Rise of Christianity, argues that, in rabbinic biblical reception by moving in Tof Judaic Studies starting in Fall 2018. contrast to popular images of Jews as time to a later medieval period. In this Wollenberg, who has been a Michigan “the people of the book,” rabbis of the new direction of research, she seeks to Society Fellow through Rackham Graduate Talmudic period held ambivalent and see how new technologies contributed School since 2015, works in the field of even antagonistic attitudes toward the to the reification of the biblical text that Jewish biblical interpretation. biblical text. became paradigmatic of Judaism in the Wollenberg received her B.A. in medieval Her work focuses on the ways that late late medieval period. studies at the University of Chicago in antique and medieval Jewish scholars Wollenberg will be teaching two courses 2002 before moving to Israel, where she wrote about the biblical text, joining a this fall: Judaic 217, “Lost Books That became fluent in Hebrew, studied in new subfield within biblical interpretation Rewrote The Bible” and Judaic 318, traditional Jewish learning centers, and that has drawn attention to the mechanics “Men Of The Bible.” “I often use my Bible received her M. A. at the Hebrew University of reading and the ways that reading classes to explore what it means to be of Jerusalem in Religions of Late Antiquity, habits impact interpretation. The rabbis human in our own times. If the biblical with a specialty in Second Temple Judaism. of the Talmudic era, she argues, often defense of slavery and indentured She then returned to Chicago, where she displayed an aversion toward the written servitude makes us uncomfortable, received her Ph.D. in 2015 in the History text—instead valuing memorization as for instance, we can use that as an the primary means by which knowledge opportunity to think about the ways in should be disseminated. Many of these which structures of human hierarchy early authorities believed that revelation and ownership permeate our own lives could not adequately be conveyed in in all sorts of ways we don’t even think writing, and regarded any written record about. Or if we find the story of David of sacred knowledge as potentially and Jonathan moving, we can think dangerous and promiscuous. “It is about what that text suggests about how interesting to me how intensely critical to cultivate richer male relationships in some of the founders of rabbinic Judaism contemporary communities.” were toward their central canonical text,” Wollenberg and her children have easily she said. “A few of the foundational adjusted to university life in Ann Arbor. thinkers I study would be thrown out of “It’s been interesting to see how my a synagogue today for the kinds of things kids have immersed themselves in the they said about the Bible.... And yet, university community. I couldn’t help they always found a way to rehabilitate but laugh when my three-year-old this book about which they had so many announced that he was going to be a doubts.” field paleontologist with lots of grants when he grew up.” The Frankel Center is thrilled to welcome Wollenberg as an assistant professor and looks forward to more exciting research to come.

6 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Michael Yashinsky Yiddish Lecturer

he Frankel Center is welcoming wonders it could work on a person such a new lecturer in Yiddish as she, and the wonders a talented language instructions this fall, person like Gramma Liz could work with Michael Yashinsky. He encourages it.” His favorite thing about studying Teveryone to call him by his Yiddish name, Yiddish is the connection it gives him to “Mikhl.” Yashinsky studied history and the legacy of the thousands of people literature at Harvard College and graduated who communicated in Yiddish, like his with a bachelor of arts degree in 2011. grandmother, as well as to the world of For the past three years, he has worked Yiddish speakers today. as a Yiddish Education Specialist at the “Each student who comes to Yiddish Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, will find their own connections to the where he was previously an Applebaum language, will endow it with personal Fellow. In the summer of 2018, he played meanings and significances. What is the role of Mordcha in the National important for me is less or more impor- Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s production tant for another, and my own delight in of Fiddler on the Roof in . the language is every day finding new land to alight on,” Yashinsky said. “But this I know: Yiddish was the daily language of a vast proportion of world Jewry for nearly a thousand years. And to know these people, on any basis of investigation—historical, political, Yashinsky with a bust of classic Yiddish writer religious, artistic, literary—one must I. L. Peretz Credit: Ben Barnhart, courtesy of know their language. As Rabbi Joseph the Yiddish Book Center Soloveitchik said of Yiddish, ‘af poshetn Michael Yashinsky (far left) with his Yashinksy is most looking forward to mame-loshn’: in their simple mother co-stars in Fiddler on the Roof teaching and learning from his students tongue, ‘the Jewish masses expressed Photo Credit: Victor Nechay / Properpix while in Ann Arbor. “As the rabbis instruct, their simple love, their faith, and their ‘Eyzehu khokhem? Haloymed mikol odem’ Yashinksy grew up in the Detroit suburbs devotion.’ Reason enough!” — ‘Who are wise? They who learn from and comes from a family of U-M alums. In addition to his passion for Yiddish, everyone.’ A worthy principle for both In addition to Yiddish, he is fluent in Yashinsky is a lover of theater. He assisted students and teachers. My hope is that German, Hebrew, and Spanish, and in directing children’s plays at both the students will bring their own experiences previously taught Spanish at the Frankel Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit and the and passions into the classroom, and that Jewish Academy in West Bloomfield. Frankel Academy. In New York City this Yiddish will in turn enrich the existences Yashinsky was first drawn to Yiddish by past summer, he acted in a Yiddish- they lead outside it. Eybik lebn, eybik his grandmother. “She lent me treasures language production of Fiddler on the lernen, a proverb goes: for as long as from her vast library of Yiddish books Roof with the National Yiddish Theatre you’re living, you’re learning. The rules of and films, and I listened to her sing and Folksbiene. “Three months of rehearsing grammar and lists of vocabulary we learn declaim in the language. I was as much and performing in that—then off to help will be a key to discovering more of life, inspired by the robust and musical build up a burrow of Yiddish-speaking Jewish life, of the past, present, and sounds of Yiddish as I was by seeing the Wolverines,” Yashinsky said. future, in its infinite colors.”

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 7 Alumni Spotlight Melissa Sherman BA, Psychology and Judaic Studies, 2009

elissa Sherman is Director of Human Resources for Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) in Detroit, Michigan. JVS provides counseling, training, and support services to help people overcome life challenges in order to be self-sufficient. With a B. A. in Psychology and a minor in Judaic Studies, Mshe manages the department and serves as a liaison between leadership and employees. Sherman joined the agency 10 years ago as an intern through the Jeanette & Oscar Cool Jewish Occupational Jewish Intern program (JOIN), and returned two years later to work in the human resources department. In an interview with Frankely Speaking, she spoke about how her classes at the Frankel Center prepared her for her career in human resources.

What are some of the most rewarding Who are some of the U-M professors parts of your work? who inspired you? JVS is an incredibly inspiring place to I vividly remember sitting through my work. Our mission drives everything we first lecture with Professor Deborah Dash do in helping people realize their life’s Moore, and at the end of the class that potential. I do my part by helping our day I hadn’t written down a single note employees be the best at their jobs, because of how captivating she was. so they can in turn help as many clients I knew from that semester on I had to as possible. take every class she taught. I was lucky How did you decide to study at the enough to do an independent study with Frankel Center? Professor Dash Moore my senior year and it was a great personal capstone to the I finished my Psychology requirements so What advice would you give to program— and especially relevant quickly that I was able to take courses for students who are considering considering my career. Besides Judaic my minor in Judaic Studies for the pure studying Judaic Studies? Studies, I was heavily involved in the pleasure of learning. The program was Just do it! The classes are challenging Program on Intergroup Relations, and flexible inspired me to be a lifelong both academically and personally. Charles Behling and Adrienne Dessel were learner in Judaism. It will help shape you into a well-rounded fantastic professors and were incredibly professional, no matter your eventual How did your education at the Frankel supportive of my academic pursuits. career choice. You won’t regret it! Center prepare you for your current My freshman year I was in MCSP and position? David Schoem provided a great introduc- I couldn’t have picked a better minor to tion to community service and the idea prepare me for a career in the Jewish of nonprofit work. I also took two years nonprofit field. The blend of my degrees of courses with Richard Mann, studying in Psychology and Judaic Studies gives spiritual psychology. Those classes helped me a unique perspective. reinforce the idea that getting a minor in Judaic Studies was a perfect complement to my Psychology major.

8 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Students Class of 2018

“Because learning leads to action” Talmud Kiddushin 40b

arlier this year, 16 Judaic Studies minors, two majors, four graduate-certificate students, and one master’s student represented the Frankel Center at the EUniversity of Michigan’s spring commencement. In addition to their focus on Judaic Studies, the students explored a wide range of subjects including movement science, linguistics, and psychology. Judaic Studies minor and political science major Alison Schalop will be starting a new position as a teaching apprentice in New York at Blue Engine, a nonprofit organization that works to bring teachers to underserved schools. “I loved getting to know my Judaic Studies professors and the other Judaic Studies students,” Schalop said. “The department provided me with unique internship and research opportunities, for which I will be forever grateful.” Each year, the Frankel Center honors a graduate with the Outstanding Undergraduate Student “[Judaic Studies] has deepened and challenged my Award. The student who receives this award must appreciation for my own culture and will definitely be graduating with at least a 3.8 GPA and be recommended by Judaic Studies faculty members. help me in my future professional endeavors.” This April, the award was presented to Julia Berg, a double major in Judaic Studies and the Environ- own culture and will definitely help in my future ment. Maya Barzilai, associate professor of Judaic professional endeavors. I only wish that I had time Studies and Near Eastern Studies said, “Julia is to take more of the classes that I never got around a very thoughtful and serious student who is to taking and learn from some of the professors committed to the study of Hebrew language and I never met.” Berg started rabbinical school at Jewish culture. Her writing in Hebrew is sophisti- Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem this summer. cated and probing, and she devotes her essays to Nathan Moretto graduated with a master’s in careful analysis and insightful observations. Julia Judaic Studies and was awarded the Simeon is also an open-minded thinker who will listen to Brinberg Outstanding Student Award. “The Frankel others and engage with their viewpoints, which Center has provided exceptional opportunities for makes her a joy to have in the classroom.” me to advance my academic career in Biblical “Although studying Judaism has been a lifelong studies,” said Moretto, “including interdisciplinary journey, I think that it was really important that I research with world-renowned faculty and a trip studied it here at the University of Michigan from to Israel to participate in an archaeological an academic/historical standpoint, not just a excavation at Kiriath-Jearim.” religious standpoint,” Berg said. “I think this has The 2018 graduates joined a distinguished group deepened and challenged my appreciation for my of Frankel Center alumni.

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2017 9 Faculty Research Digital Mapping

rankel Center professors Shachar Pinsker, Bryan work evolved as they moved across the Roby, Devi Mays, and Deborah Dash Moore, along globe. Mays and Roby are both working with Digital Scholarship Librarian Alix Keener, are on “Jewish Literature in the Global developing a digital tool, “Mapping Modern Jewish South,” which will provide a platform Diasporic Cultures,” to map the multiple diasporas for engaging with and collaboratively Fof the Jewish people during the 20th century. translating Judeo-Arabic and Ladino The project is being funded through MCubed, a program at literature via their sites. the University of Michigan that seed-funds research from “While part of my research and analysis multi-unit faculty-led teams. As Dash Moore explains, “the is presented in my book,” Pinsker idea of digitally mapping Jewish cultural expressions reveals explained, “crucial aspects of this how diasporic connections can produce literature, art, and project cannot be communicated in a photography in the absence of a nation-state.” traditional, linear humanities mono- The project is being launched with modules mirroring the graph. For example, visually following research of the faculty members, but is being designed so that the trajectories of the writer Sholem it can expand to include other elements of the Jewish diaspora Aleichem and his fictional character experience. Working with a team from the Michigan Library, Menakhem-Mendel traveling between the School of Information, and graduate and undergraduate cafés in Odessa, Warsaw, Berlin, New students, Pinsker is developing one module based on his York, and Tel Aviv, enables the readers recently published book, A Rich Brew: How Cafés Created to deeply apprehend the diasporic, Modern Jewish Culture , which analyzes, maps, and recon- transnational nature of Jewish culture structs the network of Jewish cafes in Vienna, Odessa, Warsaw, and café culture.” The project demon- Berlin, Tel Aviv, and New York City. Users can browse by city, strates “how urban cafés acted as a ‘silk people, or story. Dash Moore’s module will trace the journeys road’ in the creation of modern Jewish of individual Jewish photographers and analyze how their culture.” “This project will allow students to become familiar with and understand the extent of the centuries-long literary tradition of secular works produced in Judeo-Arabic and Ladino,” said Roby. “Oftentimes, students are unaware of the existence of the Jewish connection to these languages.” Pinsker and Roby have both been integrating mapping into their classes, allowing students to visually combine history, culture, and literature with Jewish migration. As Pinsker explains, “ArcGIS Story Maps, which combine geographic data and multimedia content in an online presentation, allow students to create layers of maps comparing different time periods, while also including text, links, and images of places and the people who frequented them. In this way, students understand concepts of geography and history on a new, deep level.”

10 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Map Photo Credit: Daniel Vierge, “Le Tour du Monde en un Clin d’Oeil [A World Tour in the Blink of an Eye]” [France: A. Bourdilliat, 1876]

“It has helped students connect what they study to social creating a resource that is robust and sustainable over time, justice work that they do on campus and in their private lives,” integrating platforms with effective visual communication, and Roby said. One of his students, Jake Ehrlich, agrees: “Making capacities for narrative and data. It displays and analyzes a this story map was a highly rewarding practice in independent wealth of materials in visually rich and interactive ways, thus research and digital humanities, and the act of sharing them engaging both a scholarly and a general audience.” Roby agrees: with our classmates manifested the kind of collective critical “I would like for the collections available to grow in size and inquiry that Professor Roby set as an intention for us since day increase public engagement with it. With a completely open one.” Dash Moore also plans on assigning a project in her future source model, both in content and backend programming, courses on the transformations of urban and suburban spaces. I hope that this project can serve as a model for historically Pinsker hopes the website will provide a template for other marginalized communities to share their wealth of culture Judaic Studies scholars at U-M and around the world: “I am and knowledge.”

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 11 Fellows Meet the 2018-19 Frankel Institute Fellows

Ilil Baum Press, 1991), recipient of the National and a core member of the Max-Planck Bar-Ilan University Jewish Book Award for Sephardic Studies, interdisciplinary project, Convivencia: Iberia “Knowledge of Arabic and Power in the Portrayal: Representations to Global Dynamics, 500–1750. Her book among the Jews of the of Muslims and Jews in Islamic Spain The Religious Polemics of the Muslims of Crown of Aragon: Late (Princeton University Press, 2002). He has Late Medieval Iberia. Identity and Religious Medieval Jewish Multilin- received fellowships from the John Simon Authority in Mudejar Islam has appeared in gualism as a Marker of Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the the Brill Series, The Medieval and Early an Elitist Culture” National Endowment for the Humanities, Modern Iberian World. Baum recently received her Ph.D. in and the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Romance Philology from The Hebrew Judaic Studies, and was elected as a fellow Brian Hamm University of Central Florida University of Jerusalem and completed by the American Academy for Jewish “Being ‘Portuguese’ a year as a teaching fellow at the Salti Research. Brann is also the editor of four at the Diasporic Margins” Institute for Ladino Studies at Bar-Ilan volumes and author of many essays on the Brian Hamm earned his University in Israel. Her research focuses intersection of Jewish and Islamic culture. Ph.D. in Latin American on the interplay between language and He is currently completing Andalusi Moorings: history from the University identity among the Jews of Spain. She is Al-Andalus and Sefarad as Cultural Tropes of Florida in 2017. He has particularly interested in the linguistic (University of Pennsylvania Press). recently published an article in Anais de and cultural contacts between Jews, História de Além-Mar, and has a book Christians, and Muslims in the Crown of Mònica Colominas chapter forthcoming in an edited volume Aragon. Baum’s current project examines Aparicio on the colonial Spanish Caribbean. Hamm the use of Arabic among the Jewish elite Max Planck Institute for is currently working on a book manuscript of the Crown of Aragon on the eve of the History of Science entitled “At the Crossroads of Belonging: their expulsion, and the linguistic contacts “Sephardic Exceptionalism The Portuguese in the Spanish Circum- between Arabic, Hebrew, and the in the Anti-Jewish Caribbean, 1500–1750.” During the 2017–18 vernacular languages (mainly Catalan Polemics of Medieval academic year, he taught history at the and Aragonese) in their writings. Iberian Muslims” Mònica Colominas Aparicio obtained her B.A. University of Central Florida. Ross Brann and M.A. (cum laude) in Arabic Language and Culture at the University of Marc Herman Cornell University and her diploma in Classical Guitar at the and “Andalusi and Sefardi Conservatorium of Amsterdam. She earned Fordham University Exceptionalism” a doctorate from the Department of “Andalusian Independence Ross Brann is the Milton Religious Studies at the University of from Geonic Authority in R. Konvitz Professor of Amsterdam in 2016. Aparicio’s work its Mālikī and Almohad Judeo-Islamic Studies focuses on identity discourses of the Contexts” & Stephen H. Weiss Muslim minority communities living under Marc Herman is the Presidential Fellow. He has studied at Christian rule, the Mudejars, in their works Rabin-Shvidler Joint Post-Doctoral Fellow the University of California, Berkeley, the of religious controversy with Christians and in Jewish Studies at Columbia University Hebrew University of Jerusalem, New York Jews written in Arabic and in Aljamiado and Fordham University and holds an University, and the American University (Spanish written in Arabic characters). She Ephraim E. Urbach postdoctoral fellowship in Cairo. He has taught at Cornell since received the 2015–2016 Dissertation Award from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish 1986 and served 20 years as chair of the of the Amsterdam School of Historical Culture. Herman received his Ph.D. from Department of Near Eastern Studies. Brann Studies (ASH). Since April 2016, she has the Department of Religious Studies at is the author of The Compunctious Poet: been a Research Fellow at the Max Planck the University of Pennsylvania in 2016. Cultural Ambiguity and Hebrew Poetry in Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, He researches Jewish law in the medieval Muslim Spain (Johns Hopkins University

12 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 This year’s Frankel Institute theme is “Sephardic Identities: Medieval and Modern.” Thirteen fellows will spend the semester or year researching aspects of Sephardic history, culture, and society. The fellows will present lectures and symposia, and participate in a range of public events. We are delighted to welcome them all to Ann Arbor.

Islamic world, with a particular emphasis Martin Jacobs the Occultation of the Shī‘ī Imām — on legal theory. He has taught at the Washington University A Comparative Study of Judah Halevi and University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, (St. Louis) Early Imami-Shī‘ī Writers” (Jerusalem and Fordham University. His dissertation “Constantinople vs. Studies in Arabic and Islam 2013) and was named a finalist for the Association Tenochtitlán: Imperial “Cyclical Time in the Ismā’īlī Circle of for Jewish Studies Dissertation Completion Expansion through Ikhwān al-s.afā’ (tenth century) and in Fellowship; he has also been awarded a Post-Expulsion Early Jewish Kabbalists Circles (thirteenth fellowships from the Knapp Family Sephardic Lens” and fourteenth centuries)” (Studia Islamica Foundation, the Memorial Foundation Martin Jacobs is professor of Rabbinic 111, 2016). for Jewish Culture, the Cardozo Center Studies at Washington University in for Jewish Law, and the Wexner Foundation. St. Louis, where he teaches in the Devi Mays Herman is currently writing his first Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Near University of Michigan monograph, Imaging Revelation: Tradition Eastern Languages and Cultures. After “The Sephardi Connection: and Creativity in Medieval Rabbanite Legal earning his Ph.D. at the Free University Ottoman Jews, the Opium Thought. of Berlin, Jacobs served as visiting lecturer Trade, and the Aftereffects at the University of Jordan in Amman. Maya Soifer Irish of Empire” He later held fellowships at the Hebrew Devi Mays is assistant Rice University University of Jerusalem, the Herbert D. professor of Judaic Studies “Sephardic Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and History at the University of Michigan. Exceptionalism and the and the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Her research interests lie in the modern Castilian Jewish Elites” Jewish Studies. A cultural and intellectual Sephardic, Mediterranean, and transna- Maya Soifer Irish is an historian of Mediterranean Jews, Jacobs tional Jewish networks. She was the associate professor of is the author of three monographs, most inaugural postdoctoral fellow in Modern history at Rice University. recently Reorienting the East: Jewish Jewish Studies at the Jewish Theological She works on the history of interfaith Travelers to the Medieval Muslim World Seminary, and received her Ph.D. in History relations in medieval Spain and the (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014). from Indiana University in June 2013. She Mediterranean. Her first book, Jews and is currently revising a book manuscript, Christians in Medieval Castile: Tradition, Ehud Krinis tentatively entitled Forging Ties, Forging Coexistence, and Change, was published Ben-Gurion University Passports: Migration and the Modern in 2016 and explores the changes in of the Negev Sephardi Diaspora. Mays has begun work Jewish-Christian relations in the Iberian “‘Duties of the Heart’ on a second substantive project, which kingdom of Castile between the 11th and and the ‘Kuzari’ as Two focuses on Ottoman and post-Ottoman 14th centuries. Her other publications Alternative Systematic Jews’ centrality in global opiate trades, include “Beyond Convivencia: Critical Responses to the and aims to cast light on how class and Reflections on the Historiography of Hardships of the commerce, masculinity and honor, Interfaith Relations in Christian Spain” Jewish Communal life in al-Andalus” migration and citizenship, legality and in the Journal of Medieval Iberian Studies Ehud Krinis earned his Ph.D. at Ben-Gurion illegality, and imperial and national (2009). Irish is currently working on a University of the Negev in 2008. His studies belonging intersected in the transition monograph about power and society include God’s Chosen People: Judah from empire to nationalizing states. Her in Seville during the century before the Halevi’s Kuzari and the Shī‘ī Imām Doctrine work has appeared in AJS Perspectives, anti-Jewish riot of 1391. She was recently (Turnhout, Brepols, 2014) ; “The Arabic Mashriq & Mahjar: Journal of Middle East elected President of the American Academy Background of the Kuzari” (The Journal Migration Studies, and the Latin American of Research Historians of Medieval Spain of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 2013), Jewish Studies Association Bulletin. (AARHMS). “Galut and Ghayba: The Exile of Israel and

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 13 2018-19 Frankel Institute Fellows, continued

“. . . the exiles of Jerusalem, who are in Sepharad” Obadiah 1:20

S.J. Pearce Philosophie bei Marsilius von Padua (Brill, Moshe Yagur New York University 2007); and Well Begun is Only Half Done: University of Haifa “In the Taifa Kingdoms: The Medieval Tracing Aristotle’s Political Ideas in Medieval ”Who was a ‘Sepharadi’? Poetics of Modern Nationalism” Arabic, Syriac, Byzantine, and Jewish A view from the Cairo S.J. Pearce earned her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Sources (ACMRS, 2011). He taught previously Geniza” Studies at Cornell University in 2011, and is at Stanford University, McGill University, Moshe Yagur acquired now an associate professor of Spanish and the University of Chicago, and the École his academic degrees from Portuguese Languages and Literatures at Pratique des Hautes Études (Paris), and the Hebrew University of New York University. Her first book, The has held research fellowships at Columbia Jerusalem. Yagur’s Ph.D. research exam- Andalusi Literary and Intellectual Tradition, University, the University of Pennsylvania, ined cases of conversion to and from was published by Indiana University Press Princeton University, and the Royal Society Judaism in the Jewish communities of in 2017. Formerly a research fellow at the of Edinburgh. medieval Egypt and the Levant. Systematic Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic analysis of these cases enriches our Studies, Pearce’s academic work has Ryan Szpiech understanding of the way Jewish identity received a number of awards. Her writing University of Michigan was perceived by members of the commu- for a general audience has appeared in the “He is Still Israel? Conver- nity. During his research he was a fellow at Los Angeles Review of Books and minor sion and Sephardic Identity the Center for the Study of Conversion and literature[s]. before and after 1391” Inter-Religious Encounters (CSOC). Upon Ryan Szpiech is associate completion of his dissertation, Yagur joined Vasileios Syros professor of Spanish and a research project led by Dr. Uri Simonsohn at the University of Haifa, studying the University of Jyväskylä Judaic Studies and an cultural significance of converts in medieval (Finland) affiliate of the Program in Comparative Islamic civilization. “Visions of History and Literature at the University of Michigan, Sephardic Identities: and is this year’s Head Fellow. His first book, Medieval and Early Modern Conversion and Narrative: Reading and Perspectives” Religious Authority in Medieval Polemic Vasileios Syros is currently (Pennsylvania, 2013), won the La Corónica a Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Book Award (2015). He has also edited Sciences (KNAW) Visiting Professor at Medieval Exegesis and Religious Difference: Radboud University Nijmegen and the Commentary, Conflict, and Community in project leader for the research program the Premodern Mediterranean (Fordham, “Political Power in the European and Islamic 2015) and numerous special journal issues Worlds” at the Academy of Finland. His on medieval Iberian literatures. Szpiech has academic interests lie in the study of published numerous articles dealing with medieval and early modern Christian/Latin, translation, conversion, and religious Jewish, and Islamic political thought. Syros polemics in medieval Iberia, and is currently has published Marsilius of Padua at the working on a book project about translation Intersection of Ancient and Medieval and genealogy in medieval Castile between Cultures and Traditions of Learning 1250 and 1350. Since 2013, he has been (University of Toronto Press, 2012); Die editor-in-chief of the journal Medieval Rezeption der aristotelischen politischen Encounters.

14 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Frankel Ink

Sara Blair, Professor, Department of English, How the Other Half Looks: The Lower East Side and the Afterlives of Images, Princeton University Press Gabriele Boccaccini, Professor, Depart- ment of Near Eastern Studies, Second Temple Jewish Paideia in Context, De Gruyter Deborah Dash Moore, Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History, Depart- ment of History, Jewish New York: The Remarkable Story of a People and a City, New York University Press Mikhail Krutikov, Professor, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Three Cities of Yiddish: St Petersburg, Warsaw and Moscow, Legenda Shachar Pinsker, Associate Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies, A Rich Brew: How Cafés Created Modern Jewish Culture, New York University Press Brian B. Schmidt, Professor, Department of Near Eastern Studies, A Political History of the Arameans: From their Origins to the End of Their Polities, Society of Biblical Literature; Sargon II, King of Assyria, Society of Biblical Literature David Schoem, Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Teaching the Whole Student: Engaged Learning with Heart, Mind and Spirit, Stylus Publishing Scott Spector, Professor, Department of German, Modernism Without Jews? German-Jewish Subjects and Histories, Indiana University Press Genevieve Zubrycki, Professor, Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, National Matters: Materiality, Culture, and Nationalism, Stanford University Press; Beheading the Saint: Nationalism, Religion, and Secularism in Quebec, University of Chicago Press

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 15 Students 2018 Summer Funding

Ten students—seven graduates and three undergraduates—were awarded summer funding from Judaic Studies to do research, participate in summer seminars, and study abroad.

Ancient Judaism & Rabbinics Jerold & Kathleen Solovy Fund Nathan Moretto attended a conference in Poland and worked Emilie Duranceau attended the on the Tel Megiddo excavation project in the Jezreel Valley in Naomi Prawer Kadar International Israel. At the 11th Congress of the European Association for Yiddish Summer Program at Tel Aviv Jewish Studies, Moretto presented his paper, “The Status University. “It​ has been amazing to ​ of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and its Influence on the learn Hebrew in Israel, as it has Deuteronomistic History.” given me the opportunity to put into “The goals of this summer’s excavation,” Moretto said, practice what I learned in the “are to continue to expose Middle Bronze settlement layers, classroom. This is just the beginning undertake work at the fortifications and gates of Megiddo of a long journey, at the end of which I hope to be able to read (the famed ‘Solomon’s Gate’), and uncover a 7th-century layer primary and secondary sources in Hebrew. This will greatly that could be related to the reign of King Josiah. This will also enrich my doctoral studies in history.” help researchers better understand Megiddo during the pivotal time of the late Iron Age period.” Weingast Family Fund Hanna Demarcus traveled to Haifa Delta Phi Epsilon Scholarships for a social work internship with the Haifa Municipality Department of Hannah Katz interned this summer Community Social Work. “I’m in J Street’s Political Department in responsible for coordinating several Washington DC. “I’m helping J Street projects and developing groups for endorse and support candidates that asylum seekers and foreign workers align with their mission. I’m really in Haifa. One project I’m particularly enjoying getting to live and work in excited about is a mother-child group I will be facilitating for Washington, DC and experience the the Eritrean population. This field placement has given me the political process firsthand!” opportunity to learn more about social work practice in Israel and gain experience working directly with international Stanley Frankel Summer Travel Fellowship populations. After graduating with my MSW, I hope to work with refugee and immigrant populations in the United States.” Shai Zamir traveled to Israel to take an Arabic course. “My Arabic Isabella Isaacs-Thomas and Jamie Thompson participated in studies in Israel will allow me to U-M’s Global and Intercultural Study Course, “Intergroup further explore the cultural interac- Conflict, Co-Resistance, and Social Change.” They spent three tions between Muslims, Jews and weeks traveling in Jerusalem and Sakhnin while learning about Christians in pre-modern Spain, the sociocultural history of the area. and to study the significant role Jews played in translating and mediating Arabic texts for a Christian audience.”

16 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 2018 Student Awards

Marshall M. Weinberg Prize

Dory Fox won the Marshall M. Weinberg Prize, awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student engaged in Marshall M. Weinberg Endowed Fund dissertation writing, for her for Graduate Students promising dissertation, titled Cady Vishniac enrolled in the U-M “A Mystic Biology?: Jewish Hebrew Summer Language Institute in American Culture and Biological connection with her Ph.D. research in Imagination from the 20th-21st Centuries.” “I feel very Jewish social networking and online honored to receive the Weinberg Prize this year,” Fox said. interaction. “I’ve had a wonderful “I am delighted and appreciative of the generous support, experience with the class. Our lecturers which will assist me as I enter the second year of dissertation were gifted and energetic, and the writing. My thesis investigates the role that biological thinking coursework was designed to keep us has played in American Jewish literature and culture from from getting overwhelmed even as we worked long hours,” the early 1900s up to the present moment.” Vishniac said. “I’m now much more able to understand Israeli social media and online popular culture.” Simeon Brinberg Award for Outstanding Morgan Carlton attended the Naomi Judaic Studies M.A. students Prawer Kadar International Yiddish Summer Program at Tel Aviv Univer- Nathan Moretto received the sity. “As a historian, the language Simeon Brinberg Award in fall training will allow me to use primary of 2017. In his nomination of sources written in English and in Moretto, Professor Brian Schmidt Yiddish. My desire to focus on work- cited, among other things, ing-class Jewish American women Moretto’s skills in classical who resisted assimilatory practices requires Yiddish, a language Hebrew and excellent seminar used to retain one’s identity in newspapers, theater, and film in paper. Moretto’s research America. Learning Yiddish will make me a stronger historian.” focuses on ancient Israel in the late Bronze and Iron Ages exploring an ancient northern Israel influence in a predomi- Josh Scott presented a paper at the nately Judean text known as the Deuteronomistic History. Gender and Second Temple Judaism conference in Finland. His paper relates to his dissertation, which Outstanding Undergraduate argues that ancient authors used Student Award messianism to shape the development Julia Berg was this year’s of Jewish communities. recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award, which is given annually to a “I feel so lucky to have been a part graduating student recommended by a faculty member with at least of the Judaic Studies community a 3.8 GPA. At the Frankel Center’s throughout my time here at Michigan.” graduation reception, Berg said: “I feel so lucky to have been a part of the Judaic Studies community throughout my time here at Michigan…. I believe that this learning experience has challenged and deepened my appreciation for the Jewish tradition.”

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 17 Mazel Tov!

Undergraduate Students Walter Cohen participated Shelley Perlove delivered in a panel on his recent the keynote speech for the Madeline Jacobson, Judaic Studies minor, book, A History of European exhibition “Lines of Inquiry: was one of the winners in this year’s Jackier Literature: The West and Learning from Rembrandt” Prize Competition at the Kelsey Museum of the World from antiquity at Oberlin College. She Archaeology with an essay titled “Funerary to the Present, at the also published her article, Culture Re-Examined.” Renaissance Society of “Narrative, Ornament, America annual conference and Politics in Maerten Graduate Students in New Orleans. Ritchie Robertson, professor van Heemskerck’s Story of Esther (1564)” of German at Oxford, selected it as book of in The Primacy of the Image in Northern Jacqueline Dressler presented at the 2018 the year in the Times Literary Supplement. European Art. Equity Within the Classroom Conference. Cohen also presented a paper on Shakespeare Brian Schmidt was series editor for the and ecological catastrophe at the annual Dory Fox received the Frankel Center’s Society of Biblical Literature series Archae- Shakespeare Association of America Weinberg prize, which is awarded to a ology and Biblical Studies and published conference in New Orleans. student whose work has been outstanding three articles: “May Yahweh Bless You and and has the potential to make a significant Deborah Dash Moore released her newest Keep You… : More Musings on ‘Cult’ and contribution to his or her field. She also book, Jewish New York: The Remarkable Favissae at Kuntillet Ajrud,” “Was There published in an article in Shofar: An Interdisci- Story of a City and a People, as well as an An Ancient Israelite Pandemonium?” and plinary Journal of Jewish Studies, titled “’We article, “Sidewalk Histories, or Uncovering “Kuntillet Ajrud.” He was also promoted to Are in the First Temple’: Fact and Affect in the Vernacular Jewishness of New York.” full professor in Near Eastern Studies and American Jews’ Emergent Genetic Narrative.” She was also a senior advisor on and was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Daniel Kaplan was accepted to the Helix appeared in the documentary GI Jews: Pacific School of Religion, 2017–2018. Jewish Americans in World War II. Fellowship, a yearlong learning fellowship Rebecca Wollenberg received the David for Yiddishkayt history and culture, Caroline Helton presented Noel Freedman Award for Excellence and organized by Yiddishkayt. a series of concerts Creativity in Hebrew Bible Scholarship Sam Shuman was selected as a Fulbright co-sponsored by the from the Society of Biblical Literature representative to the EU-US Young Leaders Frankel Center, featuring and a summer stipend from the National Seminar on “The Future of Work.” chamber music and songs Endowment for the Humanities. of the Jewish experience performed by School of Faculty Music, Theatre & Dance Past Fellows faculty and students, along with guest Maya Barzilai received the Jordan Schnitzer Benjamin Baader published scholar and pianist Neal Brostoff. Book Award from the Association of Jewish an article in the Journal of Studies for her book Golem: Modern Wars R. R. Neis published “The Reproduction Jewish Identities titled “The and Their Monsters. She presented on her of Species: Humans, Animals and Species Fabric of Jewish Coherence: book at the University of Michigan Institute Nonconformity in Early Rabbinic Science” From Glikl of Hameln to for the Humanities Author’s Forum. She in Jewish Studies Quarterly and was Head Franz Rosenzweig’s also published an article, “The Flowers of Fellow of the Frankel Institute for the Grandmother.” He was also Shame: Avraham Ben Yitzhak’s Hebrew- 2017–18 academic year. guest editor on the January German ‘Revival’” in The German-Hebrew 2018 special issue, Gender Theory and Dialogue: Studies of Encounter and Exchange. Theorizing Jewishness, for the same journal.

18 Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 Mira Balberg had her book, Blood for Michal Kravel-Tov’s book, When The Alumni Thought: The Reinvention of Sacrifice in State Winks: The Performance of Jewish Robin Echt Axelrod (BA, 1983) was appoint- Early Rabbinic Literature, published by Conversion in Israel, was released by ed by Governor Rick Snyder to Michigan’s the University of California Press. Columbia University Press. Genocide and Holocaust Education Council. Lila Berman wrote “How Americans Give: Miriamne Krummel Jessica Evans (BA, 2008) joined the Anti- The Financialization of American Jewish published a book, Jews in Defamation League as the Director of National Philanthropy” for American Historical Review. Medieval England: Teaching Institutional Giving in September 2018. Marc Caplan received a Senior Fellowship Representations of the Sara Feldman (PhD, 2006) accepted a from the IFK International Research Center Other as a part of the New position as Preceptor of Yiddish in the for Cultural Studies in Vienna, Austria. Middle Ages Series by Plagrave Macmillan and an Department of Near Eastern Languages Susan C. Dessel was invited to exhibit in article, “The Ritual Murder and Civilizations at Harvard. “Resistance” at City Lore Gallery, “Leave Accusation As Medieval Invention: Linking Michele Freed (BA, 2015) was hired by the Your Swords at The Door” at Riverfront Thomas of Monmouth’s William of Norwich, Anti-Defamation League as Associate Gallery, and “Far From the Front Line” Matthew Paris’ Hugh of Lincoln, and Director of National Young Leadership. at the Evanston Art Center. Chaucer’s Litel Clergeon” released in Deborah Gurt (BA, 1994) Kirsten Fermaglich Jew-hatred from the Middle Ages to received a Southern Jewish published a piece entitled the Present Day. Historical Society project “Jews Changed Their Alona Nitzan-Shiftan was an Israel Institute completion grant through Names, But Not at Ellis Fellow at the University of Chicago and the University of South Island,” in The Conversa- received both the Shapiro Award for Best Alabama Seed Grant in sup- tion, which was picked up Book in Israel Studies and the John port of arts and humanities. by the Chicago Tribune, Brinckerhoff Jackson Book Prize for her new She also published a review Associated Press, Los book, Seizing Jerusalem: The Architecture of the United States Holocaust Memorial Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle. of Unilateral Unification. She also published Museum in the journal Reference Reviews. Chaya Halberstam published an article in three articles: “Jerusalemite Modernism: Saul Hankin (BA, 2013) was hired as a the Journal of Ancient Judaism titled David Anatol Brutzkus and the Making of a Quality Assurance Archivist by the YIVO “Legal Justice or Social Justice? Debating Local Modern Language,” “On the Relent- Institute for Jewish Research. the Rule of Law in Tannaitic Literature.” less Modernization of the Past: The Plan to Construct the ‘Kedem Center’ in the Givati Avery Robinson (MA, 2014) joined the Alexandre Kedar coauthored Emptied Parking Lot in Jerusalem,” and “A Historical Posen Library as a Senior Editorial Assistant. Lands: A Legal Geography of Bedouin Opportunity: Landscape, Mamlachtiyut Rights in the Negev with Ahmad Amara Ronit Stahl (PhD, 2014) had her book, and the competition over the Israelites in and Oren Yiftachel. Enlisting Faith: How the Military Chaplaincy the Construction of the National Park Shaped Religion and State in Modern Gil Klein released an article, “Forget The Surrounding Jerusalem’s Walls.” America, published by the Harvard Landscape: Between Roman and Rabbinic Barry Trachtenberg’s book, The Nazi University Press. Spatial Mnemonics” in Images: A Journal Holocaust: Race, Refuge, and Remem- of Jewish Art and Visual Culture. brance, was published by Bloomsbury Rachel Kranson published Ambivalent Academic. Past Visiting Faculty Embrace: Jewish Upward Mobility in Veerle Vanden Daelen released two articles: Hana Wirth-Nesher published an article, Postwar America, which received honorable “Making sure the data fit the researchers “Everyman and Nemesis in Newark: Philip mention in the First Book Award from the — Data identification and investigation in Roth, Hebrew, and American Writing,” in Immigration and Ethnic History Society. European Holocaust Research Infrastruc- English Without Boundaries: Reading She also published an article, “From ture (EHRI)” and “‘Art in a museum about English from China to Canada. Women’s Rights to Religious Freedom: and human rights’, in The The Women’s League for Conservative Art of War. Defined by Conflict.” He also Judaism and the Politics of Abortion, launched a website on Belgian journalist 1970–1982” in Devotions and Desires: Maurice De Wilde. Histories of Sexuality and Religion in the Twentieth Century United States.

Franke ly Speaking — Fall 2018 19 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Ann Arbor, MI University of Michigan (734) 763-9047 Permit No. 144 Frankel Center for Judaic Studies [email protected] 202 S. Thayer St., Ste. 2111 Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608

Save the Date! Yossi Turner Tuesday, October 9, 4:00 pm – Room 2022 GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II, Lisa Ades Tuesday, November 6, 5:30 pm – UMMA Auditorium The Yellow Ticket Monday, November 12, 7:00 pm – Michigan Theater Eddy Portnoy Tuesday, November 13, 4:00 pm – Room 2022

Executive Committee Frankel Institute for Academic Advisory Board The Regents of the Jeffrey Veidlinger, Director Advanced Judaic Studies Lila Corwin Berman, Temple University University of Michigan Karla Goldman Steering Committee Miriam Bodian, University of Texas-Austin Michael J. Behm, Grand Blanc Julian Levinson Anne Curzan Richard Cohen, Hebrew University Mark J. Bernstein, Ann Arbor Shachar Pinsker Karla Goldman Calvin Goldscheider, Brown University Shauna Ryder Diggs, Grosse Pointe Julian Levinson Galit Hasan-Rokem, Hebrew University Denise Ilitch, Bingham Farms Newsletter Credits Peggy McCracken Shaul Kelner, Vanderbilt University Andrea Fischer Newman, Ann Arbor Editor: Kelsey Robinette Shachar Pinsker Ranen Omer-Sherman, University of Louisville Andrew C. Richner, Grosse Pointe Park Designer: Mike Savitski Helmut Puff Derek J. Penslar, Harvard University Ronald Weiser, Ann Arbor Printer: Allegra • Print • Mail • Marketing Ronald Suny Jeffrey Shandler, Rutgers University Katherine E. White, Ann Arbor Jeffrey Veidlinger, Director Beth Wenger, University of Pennsylvania Mark S. Schlissel (ex officio) Yael Zerubavel, Rutgers University

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