[Live on Zoom] Chaim Zhitlovsky and His Philosophy of Yiddishism

Yiddish Civilization Lecture Series See all lectures » Admission: Free Registration is required. Watch the video

Tony Michels | Delivered in English.

View the Program & Bibliography

Although barely remembered today, Dr. Chaim Zhitlovsky (1865-1943) was a towering figure in modern Jewish politics and culture during his own lifetime. He was highly influential yet often controversial. A revolutionary socialist and Jewish nationalist, Zhitlovsky promoted the idea of a Yiddish cultural renaissance in the United States, eastern Europe, and wherever Yiddish-speaking Jews lived. At various times, he supported Zionism and Communism; at other times he was a fierce critic of both. Who was Chaim Zhitlovsky and what was his philosophy of Yiddishism? This lecture explores the life and thought of one of the most intriguing Jewish thinkers of the modern era.

About the Speaker

Tony Michels teaches American Jewish history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also serves as director of the Mosse/Weinstein Center for Jewish Studies. He is author of A Fire in Their Hearts: Jewish Socialists in New York, editor of Jewish Radicals: A Documentary History, and co-editor of The Cambridge History of Judaism. Volume Eight: The Modern World, 1815-2000.