Temple Emanu-El's Scholar-in-Residence weekend features American Jewish history professor

Deborah Dash Moore, a prolific author, scholar and expert on American Jewish history, will give two presentations at Temple Emanu-El as part of the 2024 Scholar-in-Residence program on Feb 23 at 7:15 p.m. and Feb. 24 at 10:30 a.m.

Moore, the Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History and professor of Judaic studies at the University of Michigan, focuses on Jewish urban life, the creation of ethnic identity, 20th century urbanization, and documentary photography. She serves as editor-in-chief of the 10-volume Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization and is an award-winning author, including "GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation."

Moore's first book, "At Home in America: Second Generation New York Jews," explores how the children of immigrants created an ethnic world that blended elements of Jewish and American culture into a vibrant urban society.

Moore, also author of "To the Golden Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish Dream in Miami and L.A." and "Urban Origins of American Judaism," received a Ph.D. from Columbia University and has taught at Vassar College, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She earned a B.A. degree in history (magna cum laude) from Brandeis University.

“The committee decided to build on last year’s Temple Emanu-El Scholar-in-Residence topic, which focused on the role of Yiddish in the lives of early Jewish immigrants as well as the scholars of Jewish ghettos in Eastern Europe,” said Scholar-in-Residence Committee co-chair Ellen Klein. “This year’s scholar will share the development of American Judaism in more recent times.”

'From Ghetto to Suburbs'

Moore will join Temple Emanu-El’s rabbis on the pulpit during Shabbat services on Feb. 23 to speak on “GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation.” The presentation will chart the lives of 15 young Jewish men as they faced military service and tried to make sense of its demands, simultaneously wrestling with what it meant to be an American and a Jew.

On Feb. 24, Moore will address the topic “From Ghetto to Suburbs: Transforming Jewish Life.”

The presentation will demonstrate how the children of East European immigrants both preserved and reshaped their parents’ ethnic consciousness in the New World.

“This is a very personal story for many with families that started in the large urban centers up North,” said Scholar-in-Residence Committee co-chair Wendy Wicks. “It explains the migration across this vast country.”

Moore has been widely recognized for her achievements. According to the Jewish Women's Archive, she has held a Fulbright Fellowship for Senior Scholars at the Hebrew University (1984–85), a Skirball Visiting Fellowship at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (1996), a Center for Judaic Studies Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania (1996–97), a Pew Fellowship at Yale University (2001–02), a visiting scholar appointment as the Edna Gene and Jordan Davidson Chair at Florida International University (2003); an OAH-JAAS Visiting Lecturer Award at Kitakyhushu University in Japan (2011); and a Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania (2020-21).

Temple Emanu-El’s Scholar-in-Residence Committee includes Cindy and Dan Aminoff, Rita Feder, Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman, Toby Halpern, Dr. Janet Hiller, Arnold Kaplan, Dr. Ike and Judith Koziol, Philip Meltzer, Esther Rose, and Ellen Zipin. The Scholar-in-Residence weekend is made possible by support from Arny and Dee Kaplan.

Temple Emanu-El is located at 151 McIntosh Road in Sarasota. For more information or to register for the lectures, visit sarasotatemple.org.

Submitted by Rabbi Elaine Rose Glickman

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Esteemed American Jewish history scholar to lecture at Temple Emanu-El