Yair Wallach Lectures on Ashkenazi History in the Modern Middle East: Early 20th Century Egypt and Palestine

Yair Wallach, recipient of the 2022 David and Ruth Musher/JDC Archives Fellowship, lectured on “Rethinking Ashkenazi History in the Modern Middle East: Early 20th Century Egypt and Palestine.”

In this lecture, Yair Wallach discussed the ways in which Ashkenazim negotiated their place within the late Ottoman Middle East, focusing on Palestine and Egypt. The plight of (primarily Ashkenazi) Jews in Palestine was one of the key catalysts for the establishment of JDC in 1914. The lecture draws on the JDC Archives and other sources to provide information on the condition of Ashkenazi Jews in Palestine as well as in Egypt during wartime.

The JDC Archives Fellowships allow scholars engaged in graduate level, post-doctoral, or independent study to conduct research in the JDC Archives, either in New York or Jerusalem. All fellows give a public presentation on their research; watch more of these JDC fellowship lectures here.