Finding “Sephardic Treasures”…and Finding Myself with Jewish Studies
By Toni Heilman When I began working at the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies, I was very far removed from my Jewish culture. As a
The Nazi Translation Office in Athens — A Reflection on Sources
Nazi-translated documents in a Jerusalem archive reveal how the Rosenberg Task Force looted and repurposed Greek Jewish records during World War II. By Joana Bürger
Regina Roza and the Forgotten Lives of Radical Sephardic Salonikan Women
Alexandra Ritsatos writes on the activism of Regina Roza, a Sephardic tobacco worker in 1930s Salonika, whose leadership in labor strikes reveals the erased
Liberal Jews and the American eugenics movement: A forgotten history
Before eugenics became infamous, the movement to select and control human reproduction "to suppress defective classes" was popular among American liberals and progressives — including Jews. Graduate fellow Ari Forsyth explains.
Antisemitism, Jewish Studies, and university campus conflict
Dr. Gilah Kletenik and Dr. Devin Naar discussed the past, present and future of Jewish Studies with Dr. Daniel Heller in "Today's Campus Conflicts and the Future of Jewish Studies," a conversation on March 11, 2025.
A Jewish, feminist, Ottoman gynecologist: A portrait of a physician from 19th-century Ottoman Istanbul
Graduate fellow Büsra Demirkol tells the story of the Romanian Jewish doctor who chose to live in Ottoman Istanbul and became a prominent member of its Jewish medical community — and an outspoken feminist.
A descendant of a crypto sect of converts to Islam is challenging notions of Jewish identity
Reclaiming Jewishness can be difficult for people whose families converted long ago — especially for descendants of the "Dönme" in Turkey, writes graduate fellow Sasha Marie Ward.
The religion of law and the law of religion: A 16th-century Ottoman murder mystery shows the rich history contained in Jewish and Muslim legal “questions and answers”
Religious legal scholars' explanations of their reasoning, called "questions and answers" in Hebrew, are a valuable source for historians, writes graduate fellow Elyakim Suissa.