Books in the Jewish Cultures of the World series

Exploring how Algerian Jews responded to and appropriated France's newly conceived "civilizing mission" in the mid-nineteenth century, Arabs of the Jewish Faith shows that the ideology, while rooted in French Revolutionary ideals of regeneration, enlightenment, and emancipation, actually developed as a strategic response to the challenges of controlling the unruly and highly diverse populations of Algeria's coastal cities.

Investigates the period from the 1890s until the 1930s, when prostitution was legal in Argentina. At the same time, pogroms and anti-Semitic discrimination left thousands of Eastern European Jewish people displaced. For many Jewish women, participation in prostitution was one few ways they could escape the limited options in their home countries.

When non-Orthodox Jews become frum (religious), they encounter much more than dietary laws and Sabbath prohibitions. They find themselves in the midst of a whole new culture, involving matchmakers, homemade gefilte fish, and Yiddish-influenced grammar. This explains how these newcomers learn Orthodox language and culture through their interactions with community veterans and other newcomers.