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On the Margins: Conversos and the Question of Jewish Belonging Throughout History
Mar 20, 2023 By Jonathan Ray | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Jewish law provides relatively clear standards for who is, and who is not, a member of Jewish society. But popular Jewish acceptance – or rejection – of certain people as “Jews” has often run counter to these legal definitions. From medieval Spain to the Ottoman Empire to modern day America and the State of Israel, conversion out of, or into, the Jewish community has raised tensions over who is (and isn’t) considered Jewish. We discuss the question of Jewish belonging throughout history by looking at groups of converts and the liminal space they inhabited on the margins of the Jewish world.
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Intra-Jewish Censorship: The Case of Spinoza
Nov 21, 2022 By Jonathan Ray | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In July 1656, Baruch Spinoza was excommunicated from the Jewish community of Amsterdam for his “abominable heresies” and “monstrous deeds.” He was 23 years old. This class explore some of the key writings of Spinoza, as well as the social and political context of 17th-century Holland to try to understand the reasons behind Spinoza’s harsh, and historic, banishment.
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A Journey Without End—
The Explusion From Spain and the Age of Perpetual Jewish Migration
Aug 16, 2021 By Jonathan Ray | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In the summer of 1492, the Jews of Spain were expelled from their homeland by royal decree. The dispossessed embarked on a series of journeys in search of new homelands – a process that would last generations and transform Sephardic society and culture.
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