When a Spanish researcher announced in a documentary last fall that he had identified Columbus’s remains in Seville Cathedral—and that genetic analysis revealed he was Jewish—the story spread through international media like a viral tweet. But the science behind it relied on questionable methodologies.

Earlier last year, in an effort to build on the educational recommendations of Penn’s task force on antisemitism, the Katz Center established a three-year postdoctoral fellowship in the study of contemporary antisemitism studies. The goal was to strengthen an ongoing initiative to promote better understanding of antisemitism through new courses and public programs, and to support new research in the field by creating a position for an early career scholar. We are grateful in this initiative for the generous support of Katz Center board members Ivan Ross and Jerry Silk.

The atrocities that occurred on October 7, 2023, have proven to be part of a much larger chain of traumatic, globe-shaking events that are still unfolding, and it will take years to unpack their significance and consequences. At the same time, the effort to make sense of their impact is already underway. This forum, convened by Rebecca Kobrin, shares preliminary reflections on October 7 as a historical turning point by five Jewish studies scholars:

Inspired by this year’s theme of Jews and Health, I’ve spent the summer combing through the Katz Center’s archives looking for hidden gems on the subject to share on social media. As you might imagine, I found a quite a wide variety of voices and topics coming from some exciting scholars.

In the months following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Katz Center joined with the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and other research centers in an initiative to support colleagues in Ukraine—Jewish studies scholars, archivists, and others—who were seeking to continue their work under dangerous, unpredictable, and under-resourced conditions. 

The integration of Jews into the university is one of the great success stories of modern American culture and Jewish life. Penn was at the forefront of this success story, with the first Jewish Students’ Association formed here in 1924. But recent events at Penn and at other campuses have led to accusations that the university has been too tolerant of antisemitism and become less welcoming to Jews.

There is a good deal of heated discussion today about what is and isn’t anti-Zionism. Much of it surrounds the question of whether harsh forms of criticism of the state of Israel can be deemed antisemitic. What is rarely recalled in those debates is that one of the most prominent anti-Zionists of the twentieth century was a Jew, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), the founding Satmar Rebbe, who formulated a detailed theological rationale for his opposition to the state of Israel.

In the current issue of JQR (113.2), Adam Ferziger makes exciting use of archival audio footage of David Ben-Gurion speaking live on university campuses in the United States in 1960. He uses the footage alongside contemporaneous first-hand accounts to offer new insight into the way the legendary prime minister approached the relationship between American Jews and Israel at a late stage in his career.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the Katz Center and other institutions have been collaboratively figuring out how to support their Jewish studies colleagues in Ukraine. One form this support has taken is an initiative sponsoring mini-grants to Jewish studies scholars in Ukraine. Katz Center director Steven Weitzman reflects with other leaders of this initiative in this piece on a year of supporting scholars amidst war.