Israel and the Diaspora: Jewish Connectivity in a Changing World (Studies of Jews in Society)

This collected volume is based on the proceedings of a symposium held in 2018 at York University, Canada, which was held to commemorate the 70th anniversary of Israel. This symposium highlighted contemporary Jewish identity, Israel-Diaspora relations, and how Jewish life has been transformed in light of various types of antisemitism. The book considers the diasporic Jewish experiences through examining the intersections between various Jewish communities sociologically, historically, and geographically.

The text covers world Jewry in general, and each of the diaspora and Israeli Jewries more specifically in the context of mutual responsibility, but also focuses on areas of tension concerning values and political matters. The challenges of antisemitism, racism, and nationalism are explored in terms of the relationship of the Jewish diasporas to their host countries. This text also covers antisemitism, which may take the form of traditional antisemitism or of the new antisemitism in the era of anti-Israel activity related to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. The latter movement is especially prevalent on university campuses and has an impact on students, faculty, and staff.  This volume is unique in its international perspective in examining issues of Jewish identity, Israel-diaspora relations, and antisemitism and will appeal to students and researchers working in the field.

Robert A. Kenedy (Ph.D. York University) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University, Canada. He has written articles about immigration and resettlement in Canada focusing on integration into Canadian society. Professor Kenedy has been studying ethnic identity issues since 1989, with much of his research focusing on collective identity, ethnic communities, Diasporas, and identity formation through resettlement in host countries. He has written refereed scholarly works in the areas of identity, antisemitism, multiculturalism, interculturalism, civic participation, immigration, and resettlement. Most recently, he has been researching Lusophone resettlement in Canada, the French Jewish Diaspora, campus BDS, and the new antisemitism.

Carl S. Ehrlich (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Professor of Hebrew Bible in the Departments of History and Humanities, and Director of the Israel and Golda Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Studies at York University in Toronto. Among his areas of interest are synchronic, diachronic, and contextual approaches to the biblical text and Israelite civilization. His recent publications include the (co-)edited collections From an Antique Land: An Introduction to Ancient Near Eastern Literature (2009) and Purity, Holiness, and Identity in Judaism and Christianity: Essays in Memory of Susan Haber (2013). Current projects include a cultural history of Moses and a commentary on Chronicles.

Uzi Rebhun (Ph.D. Hebrew University) is Professor and Head, Division of Jewish Demography and Statistics, at the A. Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He holds the Shlomo Argov Chair in Israel-Diaspora Relations. His areas of interest are Jewish migration, Jewish identification, the Jewish family, Israel-Diaspora relations.  His most recent book (Jews and the American Religious Landscape) was published in 2016 by Columbia University Press.