Jewish Responses to Assimilation and Antisemitism through Art, Literature and Culture
Organized by Mirjam Rajner (IIAS Fellow, Bar-Ilan University)
Jewish creativity found itself often suspended between two extremes: assimilation, on one hand, and
growing antisemitism on the other. While a reaction to the first aroused at times nostalgia and imaginary,
beautified visions of Jewish otherness, exemplified by the spirituality of the pre-modern, rural communities,
the latter evoked memories of eternal “Jewish fate” – exile, wandering, and persecution. Often, such opposites appeared simultaneously in the works of primarily Central and Eastern European Jewish artists and writers, in search of their place in the modern society marked by growing nationalism.
The proposed colloquium will critically explore those processes and the complexity of new Jewish identities as its immediate outcome.
Jewish Responses to Assimilation and Antisemitism through Art, Literature and Culture
Organized by Mirjam Rajner (IIAS Fellow, Bar-Ilan University)
Jewish creativity found itself often suspended between two extremes: assimilation, on one hand, and
growing antisemitism on the other. While a reaction to the first aroused at times nostalgia and imaginary,
beautified visions of Jewish otherness, exemplified by the spirituality of the pre-modern, rural communities,
the latter evoked memories of eternal “Jewish fate” – exile, wandering, and persecution. Often, such opposites appeared simultaneously in the works of primarily Central and Eastern European Jewish artists and writers, in search of their place in the modern society marked by growing nationalism.
The proposed colloquium will critically explore those processes and the complexity of new Jewish identities as its immediate outcome.
Mar 17, 2026
17:00
IIAS, Feldman Bldg, Givat Ram, JLM
Jewish Responses to Assimilation and Antisemitism through Art, Literature and Culture
Organized by Mirjam Rajner (IIAS Fellow, Bar-Ilan University)
Jewish creativity found itself often suspended between two extremes: assimilation, on one hand, and
growing antisemitism on the other. While a reaction to the first aroused at times nostalgia and imaginary,
beautified visions of Jewish otherness, exemplified by the spirituality of the pre-modern, rural communities,
the latter evoked memories of eternal “Jewish fate” – exile, wandering, and persecution. Often, such opposites appeared simultaneously in the works of primarily Central and Eastern European Jewish artists and writers, in search of their place in the modern society marked by growing nationalism.
The proposed colloquium will critically explore those processes and the complexity of new Jewish identities as its immediate outcome.
Mar 17, 2026
17:00
IIAS, Feldman Bldg, Givat Ram, JLM
Jewish Responses to Assimilation and Antisemitism through Art, Literature and Culture
Organized by Mirjam Rajner (IIAS Fellow, Bar-Ilan University)
Jewish creativity found itself often suspended between two extremes: assimilation, on one hand, and
growing antisemitism on the other. While a reaction to the first aroused at times nostalgia and imaginary,
beautified visions of Jewish otherness, exemplified by the spirituality of the pre-modern, rural communities,
the latter evoked memories of eternal “Jewish fate” – exile, wandering, and persecution. Often, such opposites appeared simultaneously in the works of primarily Central and Eastern European Jewish artists and writers, in search of their place in the modern society marked by growing nationalism.
The proposed colloquium will critically explore those processes and the complexity of new Jewish identities as its immediate outcome.