Jewish food is no longer confined to what you’d find on a deli menu. Bourekas, shakshuka, adafina, jachnun, and harira have claimed their place on the Jewish dining table right alongside blintzes, cholent, kugel, borscht, and matzoh ball soup. Join guest scholars Ari Ariel, Hélène Jawhara Piñer, and Noam Sienna, along with host Avishay Artsy as they explore the diverse world of Sephardic Jewish food, where recipes can tell us about immigration, assimilation, memory, identity, the Jewish past and potential futures, and so much more.
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When Life’s a Drag: A Look into the History of Jews & Cross-Dressing
Every year on Purim, Jews around the world stage shpiels, or plays, that not only feature people in costumes, but cross-dressing as well. These Purim events have allowed Jews to participate in drag throughout history, and have opened the door for other traditions like cross-casting in theater. In this episode, we’ll hear from scholars Golan Moskowitz and Naomi Seidman, former drag queen Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie, and host Erin Phillips about Jewish historical examples of drag, Jewish contributions to the art and culture of drag, and how Jews have used drag to explore trauma, identity, and belonging.
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Death & Community: Jewish Burial Societies
The Jewish life cycle includes rituals and customs to mark major rites of passage – birth, coming of age, marriage and parenthood. Likewise, there are traditions of how to navigate death and mourning, including how to care for the deceased and comfort the living, which is where we find Jewish burial societies. In this episode, guest scholars Cornelia Aust, Samuel Heilman, and Howard Lupovitch, along with host Avishay Artsy, look at the history of Jewish burial societies, how they have served their communities, and how they continue to evolve today.
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Around the World with Jewish Newspapers
In this episode, host Erin Phillips and guest scholars Zachary Baker, Philip Keisman, and Devin E. Naar discuss four Jewish newspapers from across the 19th and 20th centuries. Every detail in their pages provides clues about Jewish life in a particular time and place - from the advertisements in their margins, to letters to the editor, to even the news articles they chose to excerpt from other publications, these newspapers provide scholars with a valuable window into a historical, geographical, and linguistic cross-section of Jewish history.
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Alternative Zions: The Jewish Territorialist Movement
The quest for a homeland, to journey from bondage and persecution, has been inherent to Jewish history for as long as it’s been told. In this episode, join scholars Laura Almagor and Adam Rovner and guest host Devan Schwartz in exploring the Jewish Territorialist Movement. We’ll travel back in time and across the globe to explore proposed alternative homelands for the Jewish people – and what these projects teach us about Jewish history and culture to this very day.
Adventures in Jewish Studies is a podcast produced by the Association for Jewish Studies, the largest learned society and professional organization representing Jewish Studies scholars worldwide. The episodes take listeners on a journey, exploring a wide range of topics, from the contemporary to the ancient, in a way that’s informative, engaging, and fun. Launched in 2018, the Adventures in Jewish Studies series produces five episodes annually.
Netherlands