CONFERENCE INFORMATION
 

CONFERENCE HOTEL 
Francis Marion Hotel

Charleston Visitors and Convention Bureau

AGENDA & PROGRAM

“Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: Commemorating 350 Years of Jewish Settlement in America” is the theme of the 2004 SJHS conference, which will be held in Charleston on October 28-31. Mark Bauman, Program Committee chair, reports that this year’s meeting will be familiar yet different.  The conference features an all-star line up of scholars, Shabbat services, book signings, and a musical gala. 

The SJHS annual meeting will coincide with a meeting of the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and the 150^th anniversary celebrations of Brith Sholom Beth Israel (BSBI), Charleston’s Orthodox congregation.  

For those who arrive on Thursday, October 28, the convention is offering an optional bus tour to Savannah.  On Friday, participants will explore the Jewish sites of Charleston, a Jewish community that traces its roots to the late 17^th century.  After lunch Hasia Diner, Paul and Sylvia Steinberg Professor of American Jewish History at New York University, will deliver a keynote address on “Wandering Jews: Peddlers, Immigrants, and the Exploration of New Worlds.”   Afternoon panels will explore “Bending Boundaries: Southern Jewish Women” and “Fiction as History/History as Fiction.”

Friday’s panel themes include “Jewish/Christian Encounters” and “The How-Tos of Oral History and Oral History Programs,” “Jewish Genealogy,” “Jewish ‘Racial’ Identities in the Urban Pre-Industrial South,” and “The Conservative Moment in Charleston and the South.”  Shabbat night will celebrate Jewish diversity.  Participants may enjoy a festive dinner and Orthodox service at BSBI; hear a “service in song” and organ recital at the historic K.K. Beth Elohim Temple (1840), followed by a talk by Gary Zola, executive director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives. on “What Have We Wrought? Reflections on 350 Years of American Jewish History”; or enjoy a dinner, a service led by a new cantor, and a panel discussion on Conservative Judaism in Charleston at Synagogue Emanu-El.   

Saturday’s program will feature the Jerome M. Gumenick Lecture by Rabbi Marc Lee Raphael, Nathan and Sophia Gumenick Professor of Judaic Studies at the College of William and Mary.  Saturday night entertainment at will be led by Lama Lo!, an Israeli klezmer band comprised of musicians from the former Soviet Union.

After the annual Meet the Authors panel, the Sunday  program will move to Brith Sholom Beth Israel for their 150^th anniversary celebrations.  At a re-dedication ceremony Jeffrey Gurock,  Libby M. Klaperman Professor of American Jewish History at Yeshiva University, will present “A Commentary on a Synagogue History: Congregation Brith Sholom-Beth Israel and American Jewish History.”  Ceremonies will conclude with a birthday bash and street party. 

This year’s convention will give people a choice of hotels, opportunities to sample Charleston’s famous eateries, and options for walking tours on Friday morning and Saturday afternoon, if they would prefer a break from the panel and speaker sessions.  The convention headquarters at the Francis Marion Hotel is centrally located so anyone can easily take a relaxing walk in historic Charleston or sit along the water’s edge at a beautiful park.   

Joining SJHS as conference sponsors are Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, Synagogue Emanu-El, and the Yaschik/Arnold Jewish Studies Program of the College of Charleston.

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