Empowered by the Soviet state before World War II to create a Jewish national culture, Soviet Jewish activists were interested in building such a culture because they were striving for a national revolution--through the creation of a new culture in which Jews would be able to identify themselves as Jews on new, secular, Soviet terms. This book explores the ways in which Jews functioned as part of, not apart from, the Soviet system, as well as Jewish history.

This title helps us understand why so many Jews flocked to Soviet photography; what their lives and work looked like during the rise of Stalinism, during and then after the war; and why Jews were the ones charged with documenting the Soviet experiment and then its near destruction at the hands of the Nazis.

In the Jewish tradition, reading of the Torah follows a calendar cycle, with a specific portion assigned each week. Following on this ancient tradition, Torah Queeries brings together some of the world's leading rabbis, scholars, and writers to interpret the Torah through a -bent lens.- This incredibly rich collection unites the voices of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and straight-allied writers, including some of the most central figures in contemporary American Judaism. All bring to the table unique methods of reading and interpreting that allow the Torah to speak to modern...