Dr. Mijal Bitton will deliver the 17th annual Gus and Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture virtually on Feb. 10 at 5:30 pm. Mijal is Scholar in Residence at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. She is a teacher, writer, and leading thinker on questions relating to Jewish American identity, Sephardic Jews, pluralism, gender equity and sociological diversity. She is co-founder and Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) of the Downtown Minyan in New York City. Mijal received a BA from Yeshiva University and earned her doctorate from New York University, where she conducted an ethnographic study of a Syrian Jewish community with a focus on developing the field of contemporary Sephardic studies in America. She is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. In 2018 Mijal was selected for inclusion in “36 Under 36” in New York Jewish Week.
In her presentation, “American Jews in 2022: Who Counts? And Why That’s Important,” Mijal Bitton explains why understanding this diversity and its implications is so crucial for the future of American Jewry. In recent years, American Jews have become much more aware of the diversity of their community. For example, American Jews are not only Ashkenazi Jews whose ancestors immigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, but also Sephardic Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Jews of color, and Jews of many other backgrounds.
The 17th Annual Gus and Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture is presented by the Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies at Portland State University and sponsored by Richard B. Solomon and Alyce Flitcraft. Co-sponsors include the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation, PSU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and PSU Department of Sociology.
Portland State University Harold Schnitzer Family Program in Judaic Studies
Annual Gus and Libby Solomon Memorial Lecture
When: Feb. 10 at 5:30 pm
Where: Zoom; this is a free online event
Registration: pdx.edu/judaic-studies
