Culture is constructed, negotiated, managed, and shared by various ideological, political, and moral reasonings which manifest themselves tangibly and intangibly in public monuments, architecture, memorial sites, theaters, museums, orchestras, and heritage associations. The contributions to this volume explore the intersection of cultural heritage and nationality in societies that are characterized by national, multi-national, and post-national concepts. They question the roles that cultural heritage plays in its various contexts, and the ways in which ideology functions to produce it.

This book presents aliving history of the Turkish Jews. Author Elli Kohen attempts to combine the patience of the chronicler with the folksy humor of the storyteller, without undermining the presentation of the Sephardic Jews cultural history.

National Jewish Book Award Finalist: “A fresh and delightful portrait of Jewish renewal in Poland . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice Since the end of Communism, Jews from around the world have visited Poland to tour Holocaust-related sites. A few venture further, seeking to learn about their own Polish roots and connect with contemporary Poles. For their part, a growing number of Poles are fascinated by all things Jewish. In this book, Erica T. Lehrer explores the intersection of Polish and Jewish memory projects in the historically Jewish neighborhood of Kazimierz in Krakow. Her own journey becomes part of the story as she demonstrates that Jews and Poles use spaces, institutions, interpersonal exchanges, and cultural representations to make sense of their historical inheritances.

Turkey is famed for a history of tolerance toward minorities, and there is a growing nostalgia for the "Ottoman mosaic." In this richly detailed study, Marcy Brink-Danan examines what it means for Jews to live as a tolerated minority in contemporary Istanbul. Often portrayed as the "good minority," Jews in Turkey celebrate their long history in the region, yet they are subject to discrimination and their institutions are regularly threatened and periodically attacked. Brink-Danan explores the contradictions and gaps in the popular ideology of Turkey as a land of tolerance, describing how Turkish Jews manage the tensions between cosmopolitanism and patriotism, difference as Jews and sameness as Turkish citizens, tolerance and violence.

This book introduces the reader to the past and present of Jewish life in Turkey and to Turkish Jewish diaspora communities in Israel, Europe, Latin America and the United States. It surveys the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, examining the survival of Jewish communities during the dissolution of the empire and their emigration to America, Europe, and Israel. In the cases discussed, members of these communities often sought and seek close connections with Turkey, even if those ‘ties that bind’ are rarely reciprocated by Turkish governments. Contributors also explore Turkish Jewishness today, as it is lived in Israel and Turkey, and as found in ‘places of memory’ in many cities in Turkey, where Jews no longer exist today.

Jews of Turkey: Migration, Culture and Memory explores the culture of Jews who immigrated from East Turkey to Israel. The study reveals the cultural values of their communities, way of life, beliefs and traditions in the multicultural and multi-religious environment that was the East of Turkey. The book presents their immigration processes, social relationships, and memories of their past from a cultural perspective. Consequently, this study reconstructs the life of Eastern Jews of Turkey before their immigration to Israel. The anthropological fieldwork for this research was carried out over a year in Israel. The author visited eleven cities, where he found Jewish communities from the Ottoman Empire. The book examines their history and origins, personal stories of their immigration, and different social aspects, such as their relationships with Muslims, other Jewish neighbourhoods, the family, childhood, status of women, marriages, clothing, cuisine, religious life, education, economic conditions, Shabbat and holidays. This is the first book that discusses multiple Jewish communities living in Israel who moved from East Turkey. The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students who are interested in Jewish and Israeli studies, Turkish minorities and anthropology. Süleyman Şanlı is the chair of the anthropology department at Mardin Artuklu University, Turkey. He was a visiting scholar at the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University, where he conducted the anthropological fieldwork on Jews who migrated to Israel from Turkey. His research interests are, Ottoman Jews, Jews of Turkey, Jewish cultural studies and social and cultural anthropology.