Abraham events, Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester and Region
Jewish studies. Professor Jean-Marc Dreyfus delivered a talk titled ‘Doctor Satan. Marcel Petiot, a killer of Jews in Occupied Paris’ as part of the Abraham events, on Friday 15 May 2026, online. The talk focused on Marcel Petiot, the most famous serial killer in modern French history. He was beheaded in April 1946 for having killed 26 people, most of them Jews, whom he had promised to smuggle out of occupied France. The talk reconsidered this gruesome story and analysed, with the eye of an historian, how it is linked to the Holocaust in France. Watch the recording of the talk or for futher information visit the Abraham events webpage.
Department of History award for undergraduate student
Jewish education. Congratulations to Archie MacConnel, L3 History student, who was awarded one of the 2026 History awards, as 'most consciencious' student, for his field trip to Poland. T. In Poland, Archie visited the sites of death camps, and later wrote a report about his experience.
New publication
Jewish studies. CJS fellow Richard Fay has co-authored a paper (with Zhuomin Huang) in Intercultural Communication Education titled, ‘Intercultural musicking - portraits and narratives of klezmer ensemble experience.’ DOI: https://doi.org/10.29140/ice.v8n2.103051.
New publication
Jewish studies. CJS fellow Richard Fay has published a paper in Language and Intercultural Communication titled, ‘The practice of intercultural musicking - a ‘mirky’ business.’ DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2025.2610817
Israel Seminar Series, University of Cambridge
Jewish studies. Moshe Behar will speak at the University of Cambridge’s Israel Seminar Series this week, on ‘Leftist Arabised Jews on the Conundrum of Individual and Collective Rights: three Chapters between 1919 and 1954’. Wednesday 4 March, 5.15 - 6.15pm at the University of Cambridge. Further information.
Sherman Conversation in Jewish Studies 2026
Jewish Studies. Prof. Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth) and Dr. Roy Bar Sadeh (Manchester) in conversation "Muslim-Jewish Modernity: Towards an Entangled History?" Chaired by Dr. Tom Woerner-Powell (Manchester). Wednesday 18th February 2026, 5.30-7.00pm, on campus and online. Venue TBA via registration, which is required - tickets here.
Bogdanow Lectures 2026
Holocaust and Jewish Studies. The CJS is delighted to announce that the Bogdanow Lectures in Holocaust Studies 2026 will be given by Professor Susannah Heschel (Dartmouth and Harvard University). The lectures are entitled: The Yellow Star in Church: Baptized Jews in Nazi Germany and It's Happening Here: Antisemitism in the United States. 16 and 17 February 2026, 5.30pm, on campus and online. Venue TBA via registration, which is required - tickets here.
Classics research seminar
Septuagint studies. The Classics, Ancient History, Archaeology and Egyptology (CAHAE) research seminar invites you to hear a paper by Thomas Ford from Münster titled ‘A Fragment of Septuagint Habakkuk from Trinity College, Cambridge’. Thursday 27 November, 5pm, Sam Alex A115. The seminar will be followed by a reception.
Book launch
Jewish mysticism. Alison Bashford will discuss her new book Decoding the Hand: A History of Science, Medicine, and Magic, which includes a study of religion, scientific thought and Jewish mysticism. Monday 17 November at Blackwell’s Manchester, 6.30pm. Tickets and further information here.
Research seminar, University of Glasgow
Middle Eastern Studies. Moshe Behar is guest speaker at a University of Glasgow seminar titled ‘Reflections on Edward Said (1935-2003)’. Hosted by ArtsLab: Heritage, Urban Studies, and Development Lab. Thursday 23 October, 4 - 5.30pm, Gilbert Scott Building, Melville Room (458) (University of Glasgow).
Incident at Heaton Park Synagague, Yom Kippur
In solidarity. We express our heartfelt sympathy with those who died, their families, and all who have been affected by the attack on the Heaton Park Synagogue on 2 October 2025. Rabbi Daniel Walker, the synagogue’s spiritual leader, is a former student of ours, and another of those present was the synagogue’s vice president Rob Kanter, a current PhD student with us, researching the history of Jewish-Muslim relations in the UK. Their ties to our community make this tragedy feel especially close. Education alone will not repair the world, but as we go about our work in the Department of Religions & Theology and in the Centre for Jewish Studies, attempting to understand religion, that most powerful of social forces, let us rededicate ourselves to building understanding, resisting hatred, and affirming the bonds of humanity that unite us. Here is the UoM President’s statement.
BBC News
Judaism. R&T PhD student Rob Kanter whose research is in Jewish-Muslim history, speaks to the BBC about the attack on Heaton Park Synagogue and continuing the Yom Kippur service. 2 Oct 2025. Further information.,
New publication
Jewish studies. CJS fellow Lindsey Taylor-Guthartz has published a paper in the European Journal of Jewish Studies titled, ‘“A Taste of the World to Come”: Time, Timelessness, and Community at Limmud Festival,".
New publication
Jewish studies. CJS fellow Rachel Lichtenstein has co-written a paper with Duncan Hay and Laura Vaughan titled, ‘Digital Mapping and Memory: Recollection and Mediation in Two Memory Maps of Anglo-Jewish History’, European Journal of Jewish Studies 19.1 (2025).
Jewish Chronicle Online Database
Jewish studies. The University of Manchester Library has acquires access to The Jewish Chronicle digitised archive for staff and students. The archives of Britain’s oldest weekly Jewish newspaper go back to 1841 and provide an extremely important window for historians of Anglo-Jewry. For details on how to access the collection using your university library account, contact kerry.mccall@manchester.ac.uk.
New publication
Jewish Studies. MA student Yehudis Fletcher has co-authored a chapter entitled 'Judaism: Our Revolt-ing Women: Bringing Women Together to Highlight Abuse in Jewish Communities Today' in Abuse in World Religions edited by Johanna Stiebert (Routledge, 2025), 7-23. Further information
BIAJS PhD ECR Seminar
British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies. The second BIAJS PGR/ECR seminar will take place on Thursday 29 May. Tim Spurrier (Bangor University) will present a paper titled, ‘“The Jewish Ladykillers” as Jewish Black Comedy: Yiddish Archetypes and Moral Irony in Postwar British Cinema’ and Michael Lipiner (Bangor University) will present a paper on Stanley Kubrick and the Holocaust. Each presentation will be followed by a Q&A, and all PhD and ECRs are welcome to attend the session. 5.30-6.30pm on Zoom. Join here.
Upcoming talk
Moshe Behar and Simon Podmore will discuss ‘Post-Holocaust Theologies of Peace and Justice: The Case of Israel and Palestine’. The event is organised by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies (Liverpool Hope University), Liverpool Cathedral, and Princes Road Synagogue. Thursday 8 May, 17:00-19:00 at the Princes Road Synagogue, Liverpool.
BIAJS PhD/ECR Seminar
British and Irish Association for Jewish Studies. The first BIAJS PhD/ECR seminar will take place on Thursday 1 May. The first speaker is Robert Costello (PhD University of Aberdeen) who will present the paper, ‘Reading the Songs of the Sage (4Q510 and 4Q511) as Nationalistic Hymns to Drive Away the Roman Gods Rather than Anti-Demonic Hymns’. All PhD students and ECRs are welcome to attend. The session will be followed by a Q&A on presenting to academic audiences and working on a PhD thesis. 5:30-6:30pm on Zoom. Join here.
Manchester Jewish Museum: Museum Evening Talks
Jewish Studies. Dr Tereza Ward (CJS) will give the next evening talk at the Manchester Jewish Museum titled, ‘“We are the Shaun Spadah boys!” Jewish Youth Culture in Interwar Manchester.’ Tereza’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A open to the audience and hosted by Sherry Ashworth. Thursday 24 April, 6-7:30pm at the Manchester Jewish Museum. Tickets and further information here.