Book Launch of Jews in Old Rus' by Alexander Kulik

Wed., Sep. 16, 2026, 12 – 1:30 p.m.



Join us for a riveting conversation on September 16 as author Alexander Kulik discusses his latest book, Jews in Old Rus'. This volume is paradigm-changing in more than one way: for the first time, this collection makes available a selection of documents on the history of Jews in Old Rus' that provide a unique insight into Slavic-Jewish relations, offering both the original texts of the documents in Latin, Hebrew, Church Slavonic, and Arabic, and their English translations.

Adding nuance to our understanding of the difficult relations Rus' had with Khazaria, the volume also realigns the position of East European Jews within the larger diaspora of European Jews. This collection meticulously portrays legal rulings, religious and liturgical customs, practices regarding food and garments, linguistic acculturation, and the political loyalties of Jews in Old Rus'.

Gazette Classification: Lecture
Organization/Sponsor: Harvard Ukrainian Research InstituteHURI BooksHarvard Center for Jewish Studies
Speaker(s): Alexander Kulik, Author, Michael Flier, Emeritus Professor of Ukrainian Philosophy at Harvard University, Oleh Kotsyuba, Director of Print and Digital Publications at HURI, Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern, Professor of Jewish Studies and Professor of Jewish History at Northwestern University, Antony Polonsky, Emeritus Professor of Holocaust Studies at Brandeis University and Chief Historian at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw, Michelle Viise, Monographs Editor at HURI Books
Contact Info: [email protected]
Harvard Key Required: No
More info: www.huri.harvard.edu…