Tel Aviv Review

Jewish history professor Aron Rodrigue of Stanford University was the keynote speaker at an international conference held this week at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, dedicated to the Jewish history of Salonica. In the late 15th century, the then-Ottoman city (today the Greek city of Thessaloniki) welcomed large numbers of Sephardi Jews who had been expelled from Spain, making it very soon the largest Jewish city in Europe. A series of crises and disasters, culminating in the Nazi occupation in the 1940s, led to its ultimate destruction. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Larry Derfner, a veteran American-Israeli journalist, discusses his new memoir No Country For Jewish Liberals, chronicling the twin ideological journey that he, as well as Israel, have made since his aliyah in 1985. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Amir Engel, a lecturer in German language and literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the author of the newly published Gershom Scholem: An Intellectual Biography, analyzes the unique legacy of a leading scholar of Jewish mysticism and one of Israel's first public intellectuals. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

America has long been viewed as the quintessential broker of Israeli-Palestinian peace. In his book Brokers of Deceit: How the US Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East, Columbia University Professor Rashid Khalidi argues that it's no accident peace has not yet materialized. He shows how the US undermines, rather than advancing an agreement, by playing the role of "Israel's lawyer," or perhaps its siamese twin. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Bernard Avishai, an essayist and lecturer at Dartmouth College and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discusses his book Promiscuous: 'Portnoy's Complaint and Our Doomed Pursuit of Happiness, outlining how Philip Roth's celebrated novel changed his life, as well as that of so many Americans of his generation. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Deborah Golden and Dr. Lauren Erdreich, anthropologists at the University of Haifa and the Levinsky College of Education, discuss their new book (co-authored with Dr. Sveta Roberman) Mothering, Education and Culture: Russian, Palestinian, and Jewish Middle-Class Mothers in Israeli Society. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, a series editor at the SY Agnon Library at Toby Press, discusses the soon-to-be completed 15-volume collection of stories by the famed Israeli author - some appearing in English for the first time. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Yael Ziegler, an assistant professor of Bible at Herzog College and the Matan Institute, discusses her book Ruth: From Alienation to Monarchy, which explores one of the Bible's most complex female characters. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Dana Mills, a political and cultural theorist, discusses her groundbreaking book Dance and Politics: Moving Beyond Boundaries, which seeks to analyze dance as primarily a political expression. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Dr. Talia Sagiv, a sociologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem discusses her book On the Fault Line: Israelis of Mixed Ethnicity that focuses on Israelis of both Ashkenazi and Sephardi descent. On paper, they are the realization of the Zionist dream of the gathering of the diaspora, but in reality, their situation is no less troublesome. This episode originally aired on May 2, 2014. This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.