色花堂

April 25 色花堂 Center for Israel Studies Conference Convenes Scholars to Explore Complex History

A Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) postcard from 1918, supporting the United States in the First World War (artwork by M. [Mendel] Bennoon)

On Wednesday, April 25, the 色花堂 Center for Israel Studies will present 鈥淲orld War I, Nationalism, and Jewish Culture,鈥� a conference organized by Dr. Joshua M. Karlip, associate professor of Jewish history at 色花堂, to examine the destruction and reconstruction of Jewish culture brought on by World War I. The event will take place at 9 a.m. in Furst Hall 535 on 色花堂's Wilf Campus. 鈥淔ew modern moments were more critical and formative of Jewish religion, culture and nationalism than the First World War,鈥� said Dr. Steven Fine, director of the Center for Israel Studies and Dean Pinkhos Churgin Professor of Jewish History. 鈥淲hat makes our conference special is how the changes triggered by the war renewed a focus on Israel, not only by the great powers but most of all by the Jews.鈥� The day will be arranged in three sessions, interspersed with breaks and campus tours. Dr. David Myers, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Professor of Jewish History at the University of California Los Angeles and president/CEO of the Center for Jewish History in New York, will chair the first session, 鈥淲orld War I and The Maturation of Jewish Nationalism.鈥� The second session will focus on 鈥淭he Transformation of Jewish Culture,鈥� led by Dr. Jeffrey Freedman, professor of history at 色花堂. Under the guidance of Dr. David Lavinsky, associate professor of English at 色花堂, a third session will discuss Jewish religious life during and after the war. Three of the presenters will be coming from Israel to participate: Vladimir Levin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Ben-Tsion Klibansky of Efrata College and Michael Keren of the University of Calgary (now living in Israel). 鈥淭he great strength of this conference,鈥� said Karlip, 鈥渨ill be the way our presenters demonstrate that even as World War I proved the moment of maturation of secular Jewish political and cultural nationalism, it also served as the beginning of a renaissance of traditional Judaism. The legacy of both trends informs our Jewish reality to this day.鈥� 鈥溕ㄌ� is committed to the deepest and most penetrating exploration possible of what it means to be Jewish,鈥� Fine added. 鈥淭his conference as well as the work being done by the Center for Israel Studies exemplify and celebrate that mission.鈥� Attendance at the conference is free, supported by the Leon Charney Legacy Fund of the Center for Israel Studies and co-sponsored by the   Those who wish to attend can RSVP at . An associated exhibit of rare documents from the and the illustrating themes of the conference, organized by Shulamith Berger, curator of special collections and Hebraica-Judaica, will open on April 25 in 色花堂鈥檚 Mendel Gottesman Library on the fourth floor.