"The Wandering Jew in Israel, 1952-1955", with Yair Mintzker
Monday, April 20, 2026, 12:00 -
Monday, April 20, 2026, 13:00
Event duration 1 hours
General Admission:
USD 0.00
About "The Wandering Jew in Israel, 1952-1955", with Yair Mintzker
Join IIJS for an illuminating lecture with Professor Yair Mintzker, “The Wandering Jew in Israel, 1952–1955,” on Monday, April 20, at noon ET, at 617 Kent Hall.
The origin of the expression “Wandering Jew” is a mysterious pamphlet published anonymously in German in the year 1602. The pamphlet describes in great detail the story of a Jew named Ahasversus, who lived at the time of the Second Temple and was cursed by Jesus to eternal wanderings after refusing to help him as he was led to Calvary. For more than four hundred years, many otherwise reliable witnesses have claimed to have met the Wandering Jew in person. Though appearing in different times and places, he is always described in the same exact way. The lecture recounts one of the most recent apparitions of the Wandering Jew. It took place in Israel of the early 1950s.
Yair Mintzker is Professor of European History at Princeton University. He is a specialist in the history of early modern and modern Germany, and the author or editor of five books and many articles in the field. His latest monograph, I, Wandering Jew (Princeton UP, 2016), combines history and memoir to retell the legend of the Wandering Jew across five centuries. Mintzker’s previous book, The Many Deaths of Jew Süss (2017), won the National Jewish Book Award in History and was chosen by the Financial Times as one of the best books of 2017.
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Monday, April 20, 2026, 12:00
Monday, April 20, 2026, 13:00
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The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University
https://www.iijs.columbia.edu/
617 Kent Hall, MC 3958, 1140 Amsterdam Avenue
The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies – Columbia University’s center for the academic study and discussion of Jewish life, history, and culture – has long been a national and international leader in the field. Over its half-century history, IIJS has trained many of the field’s leading figures. Its scholars and students have produced lasting and central works of scholarship in a field that continues to grow exponentially across the United States. The Institute is dedicated to the academic study and discussion of Israel and Jewish Studies. Committed to blending rigorous scholarship with cutting edge teaching and intellectual opportunities, IIJS explores the best that’s been thought and said in the field and examines the length and breadth of Jewish history and culture, as well as Israel and all of its complexities. The Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies supports the State of Israel’s right to exist and to flourish. As the oldest academic institute devoted to studying Israel, we support scholarly and scientific cooperation with Israeli academic institutions, colleagues, and students across the political spectrum. IIJS supports cooperative programs that involve Israel, including the Tel Aviv University-General Studies dual degree program, our Israel Fellowship programs, and other initiatives intended to strengthen the vigorous academic study of the region along with the human and intellectual diversity of our campus.