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| Spring/Summer 2020 Newsletter
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Message from the Director
Dear friends,
Well, it's been a hard year – and we’re only halfway through. We started the year off reeling from the passing in late December of our beloved Rabbi Joshua Stampfer. The Portland Jewish community lost another great leader with the passing in February of Rabbi Emanuel Rose, longtime spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Israel. Our friend and former Judaic Studies artist-in-residence David Ehrlich died much too young in late March, and a few weeks later we lost one of our staunchest supporters, Arlene Schnitzer. We are grateful for their leadership and inestimable contributions to our world. Please see below for remembrances of Rabbi Stampfer, David Ehrlich, and Arlene Schnitzer.
For the past few months, of course, we – like all of you – have been dealing with the impact of the novel coronavirus. After the lockdown began, Judaic Studies faculty, like their colleagues across PSU, pivoted to remote instruction within a matter of weeks. Our students coped remarkably well with the new arrangement, though it wasn’t always easy for them. As of this writing, it is still unclear what fall will look like, though we presume that it will probably be fully or mostly remote. Senior auditors continue to be welcomed in all of our courses, including those taught remotely (though we may ask you to turn your webcam off!). I also want to thank the staff of the Judaic Studies Program for their dedication over the last few months as they themselves adjusted quickly to remote work while providing essential support to faculty and students.
Thankfully, there have been some wonderful bright spots. Our Gus and Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture in January featured Eddy Portnoy of the YIVO Institute with a lively talk on “The Seamy Underbelly of Yiddishland -- Brawlers, Crooks and Charlatans in the Yiddish Press,” and in early June we celebrated the accomplishments of our largest graduating cohort ever: three majors and four minors. The fact that our graduation took place on Zoom made it no less festive. We’re so proud of all of our graduates, and are particularly gratified that Judaic Studies minor Sarah Rohr was chosen to be one of four student speakers at the graduation ceremony of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (watch her inspiring speech here). We also want to extend a hearty mazel tov to Jordan Schnitzer, a longtime supporter of our program, on receiving an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from PSU’s College of the Arts. (You can watch President Percy’s conferral of the degree, as well as Jordan’s charge to graduates – which includes his rendition of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe”! – here.
As I write these words, our society continues to be rocked by massive protests against racial injustice. In Judaic Studies, instead of issuing yet another statement of sympathy, we have embarked on a period of discussion and reflection to consider carefully what our most effective response might be, given our particular context. In addition, I am joining my fellow department chairs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in an ongoing conversation about racial diversity and systemic inequities in our college. If you have ideas about how teaching, scholarship, and community-faced programming in the Judaic Studies Program could engage further with questions of race and structural bias in society, we would welcome your input. Please feel free to email me directly.
Be well, stay healthy, and stay in touch,
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Natan M. Meir, Academic Director
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| Congratulations to our June 2020 graduates!
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Judaic Studies Minors:
Max Blust
Emily Horger
Megan Olsen
Rachael Walkinshaw
Congratulations to all!
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| Do you know someone interested in Judaic Studies?
We encourage applications for the
offering up to $7000 in tuition support for Judaic Studies majors.
Next application deadline: July 5, 2020
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Student Profile: Max Blust
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|  | Max Blust, student speaker during the 2020 Solomon Memorial Lecture event.
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Political Science major Max Blust, one of our June 2020 graduates, found his connection to Judaic Studies by means of the Holocaust course that he took in 2017. He went on to do a summer course at the Netherlands Honors Institute on Holocaust Remembrance Study in Groningen, Holland, followed by a Sara Glasgow Cogan Memorial Internship at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. During his senior year, he researched and wrote an Honors thesis on the history of the Oregon Holocaust Memorial in Washington Park (available to read on PDX Scholar here). The following is an excerpt from the address that he gave at the Solomon Memorial Lecture in January 2020:
"I was first drawn to the Judaic Studies Department by a desire to learn more about the fates of my relatives who stayed behind in Europe when my great-great-grandparents immigrated to the United States, and who eventually perished in the Holocaust. Since my relatives were murdered for who they were, I have felt a need to engage more with their history, and ultimately more with my own Jewish identity. I am fortunate enough to have the freedom to be Jewish, a right which was denied to my relatives in Europe. The department has provided me with an avenue to experience Jewish culture and history through an academic lens. Before my courses here, I knew little about the origins of Jewish people, or how I was connected to that history. I grew up in Alaska where Jews are few and far between. But here at Portland State, it has been possible to learn about what our ancestors’ lives were like through the history of the Jewish people. Two years ago, my grandmother and I took a class together and for the first time learned side by side in Jewish History II. We have been so lucky to be able to take many classes together in the Judaic Studies Program, because we feel that each course here has had a unique way of displaying the spirit of Judaism, and a voice of the Jewish people that calls out to us from history. As a secular Jew, taking Judaic Studies has strengthened my Jewish identity. The Judaic studies program has been incredibly welcoming… In all the courses that I have taken, I have learned alongside students and auditors, Jews and gentiles. This Judaic Studies department has shown that this subject is accessible to everyone, whether they are Jews themselves or even if they have never met a Jew before."
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 | Prof. Weingrad and alum Maddie Marcus at an Israeli cafe
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"Maddie Marcus is thriving in Israel and can't get enough of the Mediterranean sunsets in Bat Yam!" says Professor Michael Weingrad.
During a recent research trip to Israel, Weingrad had the chance to catch up with Maddie at a local coffee shop. Maddie, who graduated with a degree in Judaic Studies in 2019, is teaching English at a school in Bat Yam as a Masa Israel Teaching Fellow. She loves the work and feels that her teaching is really making a difference. She plans on exploring a career in Jewish non-profit work when she returns to the US.
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Congratulations to JST alum Beryl Elia Bessemer (’16) on her promotion to Associate Director of Donor Stewardship at American Jewish University.
We extend our thanks to Beryl for addressing our 2020 Judaic Studies graduates at our June celebration. Thank you for your insightful presentation and advice to our new graduates.
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 | JST 201 | Introduction to Judaism
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JST 317U/HST 317U | Jewish History I: From Antiquity to the Middle Ages
| |  | JST 319U/HST 319U | Rabbinic Culture in the Roman World
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 | ENG 330U | Jewish and Israeli Literature
| |  | JST 335U | Sex, Love and Gender in Israel
| |  | JST 380U/HST 380U | The Holocaust
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 | FILM 384U | Topics in American Cinema and Culture: The Jewish American Experience
| |  | HST 494/594 | Public History Seminar: Museums and Memory in the U.S. and Israel
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 | HEBREW 201 | Second-Year Hebrew
INSTRUCTOR: Sharon Erez-Shai
| |  | HEB 301 | Third-Year Hebrew
INSTRUCTOR: Sharon Erez-Shai
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Senior Auditors
Take a course this Fall! You may be eligible for the Senior Auditors program through PSU. Learn more about the "SALC," the Senior Auditor Learning Center:
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Excellent learning opportunity
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Stimulating interaction with faculty
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Loren Spielman is on sabbatical and working on a new research project devoted to the study of Jewish violence in antiquity. In May he was interviewed by Rabbi Drew Kaplan, host of the Jewish Drinking podcast. In this fun and fascinating interview, Prof. Spielman illuminates the messages behind the Sepphoris Dionysus mosaic.
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Moshe Rachmuth prepared a paper about computer-aided author verification in the Bible for the NAPH conference that was supposed to be held in Boston. He is currently reworking it into an essay. He was happy to learn that PSU has granted him a sabbatical for 2020-21 so he can work on this project.
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Arlene Schnitzer
1929-2020
We mourn the loss of Arlene Schnitzer, who laid the foundation for Portland’s thriving arts scene and, together with her husband Harold and son Jordan, played a leading role in Portland philanthropy for decades. Almost twenty years ago, Harold and Arlene gave the founding gift that made possible the establishment of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies, and they both took a keen interest in the growth of the program. More recently, Arlene and Jordan gave a transformational five-year gift to establish the Harold Schnitzer Family Scholarship, which covers a significant portion of tuition for eligible Judaic Studies majors. As the Oregonian pointed out in its obituary, the Schnitzers “were among the first Jews to rise to prominence in a city with deep Protestant roots.” The family’s generosity always included both general (often arts-related) and Jewish causes, and Harold and Arlene were visionaries in understanding the importance of Jewish Studies both in the academic sphere and in the realm of Jewish community. In that as in so much else, Jordan carries on their legacy in his support of our program as well as of the broader field of Jewish Studies. May her memory be a blessing.
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|  | Rabbi Stampfer receives honorary degree from PSU, 2011
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| Rabbi Joshua Stampfer
1921-2019
Rabbi Stampfer played a seminal role in the establishment of the Judaic Studies Program at PSU. He started teaching modern Hebrew at Portland State University in 1961, and continued teaching Hebrew and Jewish Studies courses as an adjunct instructor until 2001. His leadership and support were key factors in the creation of the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies in 2002, and he served as a member of our Advisory Committee for many years. We in the Judaic Studies Program were honored by his unwavering support for our teaching, research, and community-facing programs. May his memory be for a blessing.
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David with Prof. Michael Weingrad in Yodfat, Israel, March 2020
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| David Ehrlich
1959-2020
It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of David Ehrlich (1959-2020), father, writer, founder of Jerusalem's legendary literary cafe Tmol Shilshom, and the 2009 Schusterman Israeli Artist-in-Residence at Portland State University's Judaic Studies department. Read the full obituary written by Michael Weingrad.
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PDX Hillel
Some of you may already have heard that Greater Portland Hillel received Hillel’s highest honor, the Philip H. and Susan Rudd Cohen Outstanding Campus Award, at Hillel International’s Global Assembly in Atlanta, held in December 2019. The award recognizes individuals and campus Hillels that are creating innovative experiences and meaningful connections to help students develop stronger ties to their Jewish identities. We congratulate the fabulous professional leadership of PDX Hillel on this wonderful achievement and on all they have done to build student engagement on the PSU campus.
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| Every gift makes it possible for us to
continue serving our students and community.
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Portland State University | Judaic Studies PO Box 751 | Portland, OR 97207-0751 US
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