The Damascus ritual murder affair, in sharp contrast to many previous blood libel cases, did not go unnoticed; it provoked a stormy reaction amongst Jews and non-Jews throughout the Western world. It coincided with a ritual murder affair in Rhodes and in other places. The Damascus case induced the Western Jewish leadership to intervene, and spurred the mission of Crémieux and Montefiore to the Middle East on behalf of Syrian Jews. Although the mission failed to overturn the ritual murder accusation, it became a cause célèbre of Western Jewry. The mission was carried out at a time of a complex international situation and itself became a factor of international relations. The affair aroused mixed reactions in the European press, which sometimes upheld the blood libel myth or was ambivalent about it, and in clerical and academic circles. It launched both Christian "restorationist" projects and early forms of Jewish nationalism. The affair was mythologized in Jewish historiography, which has tended to see it as a turning-point in modern Jewish history, as well as in antisemitic discourse, where it became a recurring argument for the "truth" of the blood libel.

An account of Ulysses S. Grant's hotly contested Civil War decision to expel Jewish citizens from the territory under his command evaluates the reverberations of his decision on his career, the nascent Jewish-American community, and the nation's political process.

A Jewish leader describes how to reinvigorate the Jewish community in North America, calling for acceptance of intermarried families and disengaged Jews, embracing of Jewish diversity, and openness to innovation and young leadership.

Gives a short survey of French antisemitism and French Jewry before 1939, emphasizing the rift between the immigrant and native Jewish communities. The outbreak of war brought unity but, with the fall of France, many native Jews hoped to fit into the new order (in both the north and the south) while immigrants were stripped of all protection. Describes German efforts to set up a central Jewish representative body, and competition with Vichy's Commissariat General aux Questions Juives for control of the Jews in both zones. Examines the debates on the formation of the UGIF (Union Generale des Israelites de France) which institutionalized the separation of Jews on a racial basis. Surveys the activities of the UGIF and their relations with the French authorities. Contends that their welfare activities, including the administration of the deportation center at Drancy, assisted the Germans in the destruction of French Jewry.

This book examines Palestinian politics in Jerusalem since 1967, and in particular since the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000, focusing on the cityâe(tm)s decline as an Arab city and the identity crisis among the Jerusalemite Palestinians. Principally concerned with Palestinian politics and how they have evolved over time from the grass roots upwards, it covers issues such as the separation wall, military activity and terror, planning regulations, the joint Jewish-Arab struggle against the occupation, and efforts to remove Palestinians from the city. Drawing upon conversations with hundreds of Palestinians âe" Islamists, nationalists, collaborationists, and a-political people âe" as well as upon military courts files and Palestinian writings, Hillel Cohen tells the story of the failure of the Palestinian struggle in Jerusalem in both its political and military dimensions. He points at the lack of leadership and at the identity crisis among Palestinian Jerusalemites which were created by Israeli policies (the separation wall, the closure of Palestinian institutions) and Palestinian faults (the exclusion of Jerusalem from the Palestinian Authority in Oslo Agreements, or the suicide attacks in the second Intifada). Providing a broad overview of the contemporary situation and political relations both inside the Palestinian community and with the Israeli authorities, the book gives a unique insight into Palestinians' views, political behaviour, and daily life in Israel's capital. As such, it is an important addition to the literature on Palestinian politics, Jewish and Israeli studies, and Middle Eastern politics.

The Jews of northern France, Germany, and England, known collectively as Ashkenazic Jewry, have commanded the attention of scholars since the beginnings of modern Jewish historiography. Kanarfogel examines the educational process in Ashkenaz, exploring whether there was a developed system of education, whether compensation for Torah study was permitted and what the social status of those who taught Torah was; in the first comprehensive study of the relationship between the educational institutions, leadership, and the communities in medieval Ashkenaz.

This book is the first Comprehensive study of the relationship between the eductional institutions and leadership and the communities in medieval Ashkenaz.

The first book-length study of contemporary British Jewry, 'Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today' examines the changing nature of the British Jewish community and its leadership since 1990. Keith Kahn-Harris and Ben Gidley contend that there has been a shift within Jewish communal discourse from a strategy of security, which emphasized Anglo-Jewry's secure British belonging and citizenship, to a strategy of insecurity, which emphasizes the dangers and threats Jews face individually and communally. This shift is part of a process of renewal in the community that has led to something of a 'Jewish renaissance' in Britain. Addressing key questions on the transitions in the history of Anglo-Jewish community and leadership, and tackling the concept of the 'new antisemitism', this important and timely study addresses the question: how has UK Jewry adapted from a shift from monoculturalism to multiculturalism?