Tumultuous Years 1900-1948: Jewish Life in North Africa & Mideast

While most of us have some sense with European and U.S. Jewish history in the first half of the 20th century, what were the Jewish world and life like in North Africa and the mid-east during that time? What affects did colonialism, World War I, the Holocaust, and World War II have on Jews in these countries? How did Zionism and immigration, first to Ottoman controlled land and then to the British Mandate of Palestine transform the region? And what role did kabbalists play in defeating Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps at the Battle of el-Alamein?

Instructor: Dr. Edward Queen