with WES Scholar-in-Residence 2026 - Dr. David Kaufman 

In 1982, the renowned historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi published what became an instant
classic, Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory. "History" here refers to Yerushalmi’s own
profession, the modern study of the Jewish past; whereas "memory" refers to the Jewish
tradition of narrating our collective origins in our sacred literature and religious ritual. In his
talk, Dr. Kaufman will further explain the dichotomy between history/memory and why
understanding it is vital to the modern Jew.

Brochure - 3 events: April 22, April 24, April 25

Dr. David Kaufman is an American Jewish historian who has served on the faculties of Hebrew Union College and Hofstra University, and authored two books, Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue-Center in American Jewish History (1999) and Jewhooing the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity (2012). Now living on the Upper West Side, David works as an independent scholar and public historian teaching Jewish history and writing primarily on the subject of Jewish New York.

Members, see weekly newsletter or Members' section for Zoom link.  Interested others, please contact admin [at] westendsynagogue.org (office) for Zoom link.