Jewish Studies?

[u/pomegranie]

Just curious, but is there anyone else in Jewish Studies here? I switched my major a month before 10/7 and I’ve felt pretty isolated since then—just wanted to know if there were other people feeling like that, and how y’all cope with it.

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[u/Benyano]

Im not, though I did a Jewish Studies during my undergrad (2018-2022). That said I know a couple anti-Zionist folks are Jewish Studies majors at UCSC. It’s a small department there, and they’ve been able to push the department away from normalizing Zionism (to an extent). Definitely a contested space.

[u/pomegranie → u/Benyano]

oh wow, i know someone there in holocaust studies. i should ask her how that is. my department has Some anti-zionist members but we’re very outnumbered

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[u/loselyconscious]

Sorry for the long post. I've got a lot of thoughts on this

I am doing my PhD in Jewish Studies; it's a weird road. What do you feel is isolating about it?

In my experience, there are far more anti/non-Zionists in the Jewish Studies world than in the broader Jewish world. I don't usually use the word "antizionst," but I frequently criticize the foundations of Zionism in JS spaces, and it's pretty accepted that that is a valid thing to do (even if not everyone agrees). Some of the most important scholars in the field are anti-zionists (i.e., Daniel Boyarin) or non-zionists (i.e., Shaul Magid). No one would question their place at the top of their fields.

On the other hand, less established scholars (including myself) are very worried about career prospects. Jewish Studies is very dependent on outside funding, and the Jewish donor world is very conservative and there has already been at least one "Israel studies" professor who lost significant funding for their position for being overly critical.

BDS is a tough sell because Israel is such a center of Jewish Studies and has so many resources and archival material, not to mention the professional relationship we have with Israelis. Some research projects in JS are super interesting and important but probably just should not be done right. Arguably, the entire field of biblical archeology (which is not usually part of JS but still) is in violation of BDS.

I also know many of us feel like "Jewish Studies" is sometimes asked to be held to account for Israel in ways that other departments (Russian/Slavic Studies is the most common comparison here) are not. I don't know how true that is; I have some anecdotal evidence that there is something to it. I have been asked to explain 10/7 when my research area is entirely North America (and I have friends who have been in the same situation and don't study anything that happened in the last 1,000 years). I definitely have seen the work of some older scholars dismissed or even protested because of liberal Zionist views, which I have mixed feelings about.

Of course, Jewish Studies has always felt like its place in the academy is precarious, and we are a bit obsessed with our own uniqueness. When the academy tries to place us inside Religious Studies (which is why my degree will be in) or Area Studies, we reject that as trying to fit us in the boxes of Western hegemony. When we get grouped with Ethnic Studies, we complain they are denying Jewish Studies a place in the "core disciplines" of the academy. Sussanah Heschel has a great (now pretty old) essay called Jewish Studies as Counterhistory on how JS both critiques and serves Western hegemony in the academy.

[u/Thisisme8719 → u/loselyconscious]

BDS is a tough sell because Israel is such a center of Jewish Studies and has so many resources and archival material, not to mention the professional relationship we have with Israelis

Yeah, research would be extremely difficult if not impossible if you couldn't use some of the digital databases. Which doesn't only mean the governmental or quasi-governmental databases, but ones which are developed and maintained by scholars in the upper echelon of Kohelet and Tikvah.

[u/pomegranie → u/Thisisme8719]

Ugh, yeah. Every time I have to resort to RAMBI a little part of me dies.

[u/pomegranie → u/loselyconscious]

Firstly, thank you for your insight—a PhD in Jewish Studies is really cool!! My particular area of interest is the Ashkenaz and the Pale, but I’ve learned a lot about American Jewish history while at school and it’s also super interesting.

I think what I meant was a mixture of the people (the professors are by and large fine, but Hillel and JWST share a building and the students tend towards Kahanism on the worst days) and the donors: my department is supported by a large and rather wealthy community. Hell, I’m an intern whose position is paid for by the local Jewish Federation and whose current project has me working closely with the community, so I definitely feel like there’s that extra pressure to keep quiet. I do what I can, but…

On the other hand, as you said, it’ll difficult to find work as an anti-Zionist Jew. That one piece about leftist Jewish organizations purging their anti-Zionist employees definitely had me scared.

On a personal level, I grew up in a very Jewish area where Zionism was baked into the community, and maybe some of that isolation is leaking over. My intended degree makes people think Zionism is guaranteed from me, and there’s always that terrible little moment when I correct them and I see the confusion on their faces.

Lastly, thank you for the reading! I hadn’t thought of JWST’s place in the campus community, but it sounds very familiar to the usual interdepartmental politics. And again, thanks so much for your insight! Good luck with the PhD!

[u/loselyconscious → u/pomegranie]

t Hillel and JWST share a building 

That's an interesting arraignment, and I get why that would make things pretty uncomfortable. Usually, Hillel/Chabad, etc, and Jewish Studies maintain an air of separation (in the same way that Religious Studies maintains separation from religious groups on Campus. Usually, JS is funded through the university academic programs (under the Dean of Academics), while Hillel is funded either through outside funding, Student Life and Spiritual Life, or the Student Government. This usually creates a degree of separation.

but it sounds very familiar to the usual interdepartmental politic

Yes, only JS feels like it's not just representing the discipline but also "The Jews,"

[u/pomegranie → u/loselyconscious]

Right? Our funding is separate, but Hillel and the department work together a lot. It’s not something I saw as strange before I started talking to other JWST majors from other universities.

[u/Adept_Thanks_6993]

I was supposed to go to Hebrew U in Jerusalem for a M.A in Jewish Studies, but then the world ended in 2020.

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