Join us November 19 for "From Neighboring to Bordering: Mizrahi Jews as Mediators, Spies, and Go-Betweens," a lecture with Yuval Evri (Brandeis University) at 5pm in White Hall room 106. 

Yuval Evri is Assistant Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Marash and Ocuin Chair in Ottoman, Mizrahi and Sephardic Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. He is a cultural historian who specializes in Sephardi/Arab-Jewish modern history and culture. He is particularly interested in Palestine during the first half of the 20th century.
His current book project traces the invention of the Mizrahim/Sephardim as go-betweens and mediators on the borderline that emerged between the Jew and the Arab and between Hebrew and Arabic and explores how the fluidity inherent in this position became a source of resistance to the dominant national and monolingual forces. His last book, titled: The Return to Al-Andalus: Disputes Over Sephardic Culture and Identity Between Arabic and Hebrew, was published by Magnes Press in 2020. The English edition of Evri's book, titled The Return to Sepharad and the Erasure of al-Andalus, is scheduled for publication by Indiana University Press in 2026.

This lecture delves into the intricate historical duality of situating Mizrahim as mediators, translators, and go-betweens operating on the borderlines between Jews and Arabs, as well as Hebrew and Arabic. It explores how this role was perceived as “bridging” the two cultures and national identities while still maintaining clear lines of separation. Mizrahim were expected to support the Jewish national struggle as translators and interpreters, yet they were also viewed as a threat for potentially mixing with Arab-Palestinians, crossing linguistic, social, and cultural boundaries. This led to suspicions of dual loyalties, accusations of treason, and fears of cultural assimilation.