Jewish Studies: Unscrolled

Written by: Tablet Studios
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  • Summary

  • Jewish Studies: Unscrolled features host Alyssa Quint in conversation with expert guests and historians. Each episode focuses on a single classic Jewish text and covers topics ranging from a 17th-century hostage crisis, to modern classical interpretations of a Yiddish lullaby.
    2025 Tablet Magazine
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Episodes
  • Jewish Studies Unscrolled: “Raisins and Almonds” and Yiddish Folksong in Classical Folk Music with Alex Weiser

    Jewish Studies Unscrolled: “Raisins and Almonds” and Yiddish Folksong in Classical Folk Music with Alex Weiser
    Dec 31 2024
    Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we explore the history and evolution of “Rozhinkes mit Mandlen” (Raisins and Almonds), the iconic Yiddish lullaby written by Avrom Goldfaden for his 1880 operetta Shulamis. Our guest, Pulitzer Prize finalist Alex Weiser, Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, joins us to discuss the song’s transformation from its original folk origins in the rendition, “Unter dem Kinds Vigele” (Under the Child’s Cradle), to a theatrical centerpiece, as well as its lasting influence on Jewish music. Beginning with a field recording by the folklorist Ruth Rubin, we discuss how this simple lullaby inspired classical compositions by Lazare Saminsky, Joseph Achron, Stefan Wolpe, and Judith Shatin.
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    24 mins
  • Jewish Studies Unscrolled: American Horror and Sidney Lumet’s film The Pawnbroker (1964), with Jeremy Dauber

    Jewish Studies Unscrolled: American Horror and Sidney Lumet’s film The Pawnbroker (1964), with Jeremy Dauber
    Dec 30 2024
    Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we delve into a rare cultural intersection: Jewish life and the genre of horror. While Jewish contributions to American culture often focus on comedy, literature, or music, horror remains largely unexplored, even by prominent Jewish filmmakers. We’re joined by Jeremy Dauber, Columbia University professor and author of American Scary: A History of Horror from Salem to Stephen King and Beyond. Together, we examine Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film The Pawnbroker as a rare exception, highlighting its haunting depiction of Holocaust survivor Sol Nazerman’s trauma, particularly through the “thin place” of the subway—a space where the present collides with the horrors of the past. You can watch the subway scene we discuss here.
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    29 mins
  • Jewish Studies Unscrolled: The Petitions of Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, with Glenn Dynner

    Jewish Studies Unscrolled: The Petitions of Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, with Glenn Dynner
    Dec 27 2024
    Today on Jewish Studies Unscrolled, we dive into the fascinating world of kvitlekh—19th-century petitions addressed to Rabbi Elijah Guttmacher, a misnagdic rabbi whose miracle-working reputation drew thousands of supplicants. Discovered in a Polish attic in 1932 and preserved by the YIVO Institute, these handwritten pleas offer vivid, if fragmentary, snapshots of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, revealing stories of financial struggles, illness, and family crises. Glenn Dynner, historian and author of The Light of Learning: Hasidism in Poland on the Eve of the Holocaust, joins us to share how he has teased history from these tantalizingly incomplete records.
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    30 mins

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