The Practice of Jewish Politics, 1492-1880

Sunday, October 22, 2017, 1 PM – 6 PM 1100 Tawes Hall (TWS) 

Monday, October 23, 2017, 9AM – 5:15PM 4116 Susquehanna Hall (SQH) 

This two-day conference will challenge the common assumption that organized Jewish political activity began only in recent times. In fact, Jews “entered into history” and became active agents of their own collective destiny even before the birth of socialist or nationalist parties. Starting in the early modern period—from the sixteenth though nineteenth centuries—Jews organized to shape their group relations with outside collectivities. In doing so, they also built institutions of self-governance for themselves.

Speakers from Europe, Israel, and the US will address topics ranging from Jewish consuls and court systems to Jews’ engagement in American elections and the political organization of Orthodoxy. 

This event is sponsored by the Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies, the Louis L. Kaplan Chair of Jewish History, the Department of History, College of Arts and Humanities, and the Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies.