UM Humanities Institute presents Erica Lehrer & Magdalena Waligórska: "Gentiles Doing Jewish Stuff...and the Jews who Love/Hate Them"

Michigan Anthro alum Erica Lehrer and Polish cultural historian Magdalena Waligórska explore a phenomenon that has attracted a great deal of attention and provoked many controversies: Jewish heritage revival in Poland.

Two books, two perspectives, one destination: Krakow Poland's historical Jewish quarter of Kazimierz. American cultural anthropologist Erica Lehrer and Polish cultural historian Magdalena Waligórska explore a phenomenon that has attracted a great deal of attention and provoked many controversies: Jewish heritage revival in Poland. Described as the world’s largest Jewish cemetery and the realm of “virtual Jewishness,” Poland is a space where the non-Jewish interest in things Jewish has been looked upon with particular scepticism. Lehrer, with Jewish Poland Revisited, and Waligórska, with Klezmer’s Afterlife, venture into this territory, both fascinating and fraught with tension, giving a fresh glimpse into the backstage of the Jewish heritage industry.

In this joint book presentation, the authors will read excerpts of their books and discuss Jewish heritage revival as a space of profound encounter for Jews and non-Jews.