American Shtetl - A Conversation with Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers

Please join us for a conversation with Nomi M. Stolzenberg, Nathan and Lilly Shapell Chair in Law at the University of Southern California Law School, and David N. Myers, Sady and Ludwig Kahn Chair in Jewish History at The University of California, Los Angeles on their recent book, American Shtetl. The conversation will be hosted by Kenneth Moss, Harriet and Ulrich E. Meyer Professor of Jewish History at The University of Chicago, and Eric Slauter, Director of the Karla Scherer Center. American Shtetl is a compelling account of how a group of Hasidic Jews established its own community and local government, Kiryas Joel, on American soil. Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers paint a richly textured portrait of daily life in Kiryas Joel, exploring the community's guiding religious, social, and economic norms. They delve into the roots of Satmar Hasidism and its charismatic founder, Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, following his journey from nineteenth-century Hungary to post-World War II Brooklyn, where he dreamed of founding an ideal Jewish town modeled on the shtetls of eastern Europe. Timely and accessible, American Shtetl unravels the strands of cultural and legal conflict that gave rise to one of the most vibrant religious communities in America and reveals a way of life shaped by both self-segregation and unwitting assimilation. This event is sponsored by the Joyce Z. and Jacob Greenberg Center for Jewish Studies, the Karla Scherer Center for the Study of American Culture, and cosponsored by the Martin Marty Center and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago. For information, contact Nancy Pardee at npardee@uchicago.edu.