Stanley Kubrick is generally acknowledged as one of the world's great directors. Yet few critics or scholars have considered how he emerged from a unique and vibrant cultural milieu: the New York Jewish intelligentsia. In this talk, Nathan Abrams re-examines the director's work in context of his ethnic and cultural origins. Focusing on several of … Continue reading Stanley Kubrick: New York Jewish Intellectual?

In the 1940s a third of Baghdad’s population was Jewish. Within a decade nearly all 150,000 had fled. Of those remaining, most escaped in the 1970s or were killed. Today, fewer than half a dozen remain.   This graphic memoir of a lost homeland is a wordless narrative by an author homesick for a home … Continue reading The Wolf of Baghdad: Memoir of a Lost Homeland

During the Inquisition, the Crypto-Jews or Chuetas publicly professed Catholicism while privately adhering to Judaism. Synagogues were secretly built in private homes. Signs of this “secret” community can still be found today. We will visit the inside of the permanent exhibit in the Jewish Quarter Interpretation Center inaugurated in 2015 as we trace the footsteps … Continue reading The Secret Jews of Majorca Island