New and Noteworthy

A public radio report from WHYY on the renewed interest by young people in West Philadelphia toward Yiddish language and culture quotes Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dr. Jeffrey Shandler, author of "Yiddish: Biography of a Language". Read the Full Article: Why Yiddish is Experiencing a Grassroots Revival in West Philadelphia

Undergraduate Director, Dr. Michal Raucher, and Rutgers alumna, Samantha Geldberg, have had their article "#ShoutYourAbortion from the Bimah: U.S. Abortion Masterplots and Jewish Counternarratives from Rabbis for Repro published in the Nahsim: A Journal of Jewish Women's Studies & Gender Issue.  Article summary: In the context of increasing attacks against reproductive rights and religious freedom, the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) launched the Rabbis for Repro campaign, which...

Medievalists.net has named Professor Azzan Yadin-Israel's new book, TEMPTATION TRANSFORMED: THE STORY OF HOW THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT BECAME AN APPLE, among the top ten medieval books of 2023. Read the full article: "The Best Medieval Books of 2023"

Karten Memorial Lecture | Lucy S. Dawidowicz (1915-1990) and the Beginnings of Khurbn forshung (Holocaust Studies) in the United States This talk will explore the contribution of Lucy S. Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a postwar American Jewish public intellectual and historian, to the field of Holocaust historiography. Witness to the vital Jewish world of pre-war Vilna and to its destruction, Dawidowicz devoted her life to bringing this world to the attention of the American public. Her The War...

"My Child, You Are a Refugee": 1942 poem achingly familiar today The Forward April 4, 2022   Read Article   Image by Getty Images

Religious women have abortions, too. And many faiths affirm abortion rights. It's long overdue for the American public to recognize the diversity of religious positions in the abortion debate in this country — and for our courts to honor them. Read Op-Ed

Professor Nancy Sinkoff's book, From Left to Right: Lucy S. Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History, named as one of the top 26 books in Jewish History to read in 2022! BookAuthority website

Written by John Chadwick | SAS Senior Writer Challenging new class offered for the first time at Rutgers Read Arts and Sciences News Digest article

December 8, 20217 PM ET | 4 PM PT Professors Paola Tartakoff and Anthony Appiah will discuss how concepts of race continue to feed antisemitic ideologies, how antisemitism continues to impact ideas of race, and how we can work to uproot white supremacy and racism from our schools and our society today. Register for webinar here

Michal Raucher featured on the podcast "Identity Crisis, " speaking on "How Jews Talk about Abortion" As the U.S. Supreme Court takes up the highest-profile legal challenge to Texas' new abortion law this week, Yehuda Kurtzer and Michal Raucher (Rutgers University) examine the Jewish communal conversation around abortion. Jews have historically been both pro-natalist and pro-choice. And that's not an obvious combination. How does this dichotomy manifest in attitudes, social policy, and...

Rutgers’ Nancy Sinkoff will talk about Europe, America, and Lucy Dawidowicz for two local shuls By Lois Goldrich October 6, 2021 Read Article

Michal Raucher has received an Emory RISE seed award for her project "Abortion and Religion: Listening to Women." This award will enable Michal and her four co-PIs to begin work on a project that seeks to understand how race and religion shape women's decisions and experiences of abortion. Through academic and public scholarship, they aim to develop a new discourse around abortion that foregrounds religious women's voices.     The Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast

Annabelle "Nonnie" Sinoff, Class of 2021 English majorJewish Studies and Business Administration double minorHenry Rutgers Scholar Award Recipient The Henry Rutgers Scholar Award recognizes graduating seniors who have completed outstanding independent research projects leading to an interdepartmental thesis or a thesis in their major field of study.  Every year, professors are invited to nominate students who have done exceptionally strong work in their discipline that highlights the...

Christine Jensen, Class of 2021 Jewish Studies and Religion double majorHistory minor   A Rutgers Senior Finds Her Path Studying the Mysteries of Scripture and the Big Questions of Faith Written by John Chadwick | SAS Senior Writer Read article

The Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center at Baruch College, CUNY proudly presents a public lecture with Dr. Nancy Sinkoff, Rutgers University “From Left to Right: Lucy Dawidowicz, the New York Intellectuals, and the Politics of Jewish History” Wednesday, April 21st at 6:30 pm EST on Zoom: Public Lecture   This talk, based on Prof. Nancy Sinkoff’s recently published book by the same name, reconsiders the work and life of Lucy Dawidowicz, an eminent intellectual and historian. Sinkoff makes the...

Student Awards Click for applications and award details

Jew­ish Book Coun­cil announced the win­ners of the 2020 Nation­al Jew­ish Book Awards, now in its sev­en­ti­eth year. The third annu­al Biog­ra­phy Award in Mem­o­ry of Sara Beren­son Stone is giv­en to From Left to Right: Lucy S. Daw­id­ow­icz, the New York Intel­lec­tu­als, and the Pol­i­tics of Jew­ish His­to­ry (Wayne State Uni­ver­si­ty Press) by Nan­cy Sinkoff, which was also named a Natan Notable Book from Natan Fund and Jew­ish Book Coun­cil in fall 2020. Read more

Several summer programs that offer instruction in Yiddish language, literature, and culture are now accepting applications. Some of these programs will be conducted online. If you are interested in studying Yiddish this summer, check each program’s website (below) for information about deadlines, financial aid, and the option to earn transfer credits toward your Rutgers degree. Students admitted to a summer Yiddish program may apply for funds from the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish...

Episode 5: Epidemics in Yiddish Literature Listen to the podcast Professor Jeffrey Shandler dedicates his lecture to Joseph Opatoshu’s short story on the black wedding ceremony. * Image: Mayer Kirshenblatt, "The Black Wedding in the Cemetery," with permission of Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, January 2021 #DHJewish - Jewish Studies in the Digital Age The international virtual conference “#DHJewish - Jewish Studies in the Digital Age” will take place from 11 to 14 January 2021 and will bring together more than sixty scholars and heritage practitioners to discuss how the digital turn affects the field of Jewish Studies.