Because of its rich radical tradition, Eastern-European Yiddish history and culture has become a site of resistance to ethnonationalist and apocalyptic ideas about modern Jewish history. However, in community-based Jewish education, this study also risks losing nuance and recovering only the past we may desire: an ideologically-driven reverse-image of Zionist historiography. This presentation explores some of the epistemological, educational, and political questions that emerge from teaching and learning Ashkenazi Jewish history and Yiddish in a liberatory, communal setting.
This event is co-sponsored by the UBC Jewish Faculty Network. If you wish to attend virtually, you can register for the Zoom link below.
Bio
Itamar Manoff is Co-Executive Director of the Peretz Centre for Secular Jewish Culture. He received his PhD from the UBC Department of Educational Studies in 2025. Drawing on scholarly discussions in second language acquisition research, educational ethics, pragmatism and phenomenology, Manoff’s scholarly work highlights the existential and ethical dimensions of committing, and learning from, one’s errors in the context of coming into a new language. Working in the field of community-based adult education for over 15 years, Manoff has led and developed educational programming that focuses on social justice, cultural renewal and language education. At UBC, he has taught adult education courses in the Department of Educational Studies and the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology, as well as Yiddish language courses in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies. He has also taught English, Hebrew, and Yiddish courses with community organizations, and is the co-founder of This is Not an Ulpan, a grassroots community based cooperative language school in Israel Palestine based on the principles of critical pedagogy.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
