¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp’s 2018 Diane Feigenson Lectureship in Jewish Literature will be presented by Ken Frieden, PhD, of Syracuse University, on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 7:30 p.m. in the Dolan School of Business Dining Room.
In keeping with the lectureship’s purpose of bringing to campus scholars and writers who have made substantial contributions to the field of modern Jewish literature, Dr. Ken Friedan, the B.G. Rudolph Professor of Judaic Studies at Syracuse University, will present “Traveling to the Holy Land in Jewish Literature and Music.” The lecture will focus on the 1798-1799 pilgrimage to the Holy land by charismatic Hasidic leader Rabbi Nachman. Dr. Friedan will also discuss the issues surrounding travel, pilgrimage, translation, and the rise of the modern Hebrew narrative in 1815. His presentation will include a musical performance on hammer dulcimer by renowned klezmer musician Pete Rushefsky.
Dr. Frieden has published numerous books and essays on Yiddish and Hebrew literature. He is the author of Travels in Translation: Sea Tales at the Source of Jewish Fiction (2016), Classic Yiddish Stories of S.Y. Abramovitsh, Sholem Aleichem, and I.L Peretz (2004), among others. At Syracuse University Press, he edits the Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art , a series that focuses on expressions of modern Jewish Life.
Pete Rushefsky is a leading performer, composer, and researcher of the tsimbl, the traditional hammered dulcimer of klezmer music. He is the executive director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance in New York City, an organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of diverse immigrant music traditions. He tours and records with legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman as part of the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Boston Symphony Hall, Lincoln Center, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, and the US Library of Congress.
The Feigenson Lectureship honors the legacy of former ¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp professor Diane Feigenson and her contributions as a member of the English Department for two decades. Feigneson developed courses in Jewish literature and literature of the Holocaust.
Free and open to the public , the event is sponsored by ¶¶Òô»ÆƬapp’s Bennett Center for Judaic Studies. Reservations are requested. Please contact the Bennett Center for Judaic Studies at bennettcenter@fairfield.edu or call 203-254-4000, ext. 2066. For more information about other Bennett Center events, visit .
