Note from the Editor

The simple question “What is a Jew?” has, at least since the Enlightenment, elicited an enormous range of racial, theological, cultural, experiential, geographic, and linguistic answers. Many of these responses have had powerful and long-lasting consequences on politics, culture, and society. In the modern era, this fundamental question continues to captivate popular and academic audiences of Jews and non-Jews alike. New technological, cultural, and political developments are alternately updating, redefining, and discarding definitions of Jewishness. In such an environment, it is incumbent upon scholars of Jewish Studies to recognize, analyze, and critique such trends, using a wide range of methodologies.

The Journal of Jewish Identities was established as an interdisciplinary scholarly forum to address identity and surrounding issues. This journal seeks to reflect the richness of the contemporary and historical experience of world Jewry through its encouragement of scholarly explorations of the flexible linguistic, geographical, and cultural boundaries of Jewish identities.