Jewish Studies

Folklore and Anthropology

Staging and Stagers in Modern Jewish Palestine: The Creation of Festive Lore in a New Culture, 1882–1948

Yaacov Shavit and Shoshana Sitton

By analyzing key aspects of Hebrew culture, this book adds new dimension to the anthropological, sociological, and historical studies dealing with folklore, rituals, and festivals.

Defining the Yiddish Nation: The Jewish Folklorists of Poland

Itzik Nakhmen Gottesman

An examination of the history of Yiddish folklore from Poland between the two world wars.

Spirit Possession in Judaism: Cases and Contexts from the Middle Ages to the Present

Edited by Matt Goldish

A rich, multidisciplinary exploration of spirit possession among Jews.

Journey to a Nineteenth Century Shtetl: The Memoirs of Yekhezkel Kotik

Edited and with an Introduction and Notes by David Assaf

The first annotated English edition of a classic early-twentieth-century Yiddish memoir that vividly describes Jewish life in a small Eastern European town.

Our Lives Are But Stories: Narratives of Tunisian-Israeli Women

Esther Schely-Newman

A rich analysis of how four Tunisian-Israeli women tell the stories of their lives, and a look at the implications for our own understanding of stories and the behavior of communication.

Next Year I Will Know More: Literacy and Identity among Young Orthodox Women in Israel

Tamar El-Or

An investigation into the education of women in the religious Zionist community and its influence on Orthodox Judaism.