Michael: On the History of the Jews in the Diaspora

Volume 4: “Between Authoritarian Trends and Democratization Processes in the Jewish Diaspora”

2026/7.  Deadline for submitting articles: April 27, 2025

About the Journal

Michael is a bilingual (Hebrew and English) academic journal that discusses key issues in the history of the Jews in the Diaspora and is published by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University. The journal was published continuously between 1972–2004 and was renewed in 2024.

The first three volumes of the renewed journal include articles written following conferences held by the Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University: “The Jewish Neighborhood in the Middle Ages”; “Jewish Soldiers in World War II”, and “On the Jews of the Ottoman and Post-Ottoman States – A Jubilee Volume in Honor of Prof. Minna Rozen”.

We are pleased to now publish the call for papers for the fourth issue to be published in 2026/7:

Volume 4: “Between Authoritarian Trends and Democratization Processes in the Jewish Diaspora”

If at times it seemed that the trend of history was clearly moving towards democracy and the reinforcement of democratic values, at least in what is defined as the “liberal-democratic world”, the last decade emerged and proved, once again, that human-historical paths are not linear. Authoritarian trends are increasing all over the world, including in the two countries where the majority of Jews live: the State of Israel and the United States.

We therefore decided to dedicate the next volume of the journal Michael to examining the issue of authoritarianism versus democratization processes in the Jewish Diaspora, from ancient times to the very present day.

Below is a list of relevant points – we emphasize that this list is only partial and certainly not binding:

·         Communal Institutions and their source of validity

·         The distinction between “the court”, which represents the learned leadership, and “the public” or “the citizens”, which represents the entire community, and its expression in regulations set by the community

·         “The ruling follows the majority” – The diverse interpretation and the different and contrasting ways of application: in the court only or among the public/ community; the majority principle – majority of what and according to what? A majority in a limited institution; “Rov Binyan” = of those with the ability (taxpayers, for example); A majority of the quorum regardless of affiliation, education or wealth, among all (adult males) in the community

·         Interpretation of the “King’s Law” – its implications for the perception of the leadership, the sources of its authority and status, and expressions of all these in social reality

·         The perception of the community as a corporation, which allows the majority to impose on the minority; or the perception that the members of the community are individuals who maintain a partnership between them, and therefore the right of the individual should not be violated except with the consent of all (as interpreted by Rabbeinu Tam’s position)

·         Enforcement – in what matters; by whom; by what means; “excommunication” and “boycott” and the struggles against them

·         Demographic-community decentralization and dispersion processes as factors affecting the degree of authoritarianism

·         Test cases: small community versus large community; rural versus urban

·         Reciprocal effects with the non-Jewish environment, and the fundamental dispute as to whether these are “reciprocal effects” or “parallel phenomena”

·         The degree of linguistic and cultural exposure (“Multilingualism”? “Multiculturalism”?) and its effect on democratic processes versus authoritarian trends

·         Authoritarianism and obedience versus a culture that encourages debate, deliberation, and an acceptance of a variety of interpretations

·         Expressions in the field of education: “Train up a child in the way he should go” or according to the way of a sage/leader/courtier

·         The voices of vulnerable groups – Women, the poor, children

·         Global developments in the Modern Era (science, secularism, nationalism, totalitarianism) and their influence on the opposing directions of openness and democratization versus closure and authoritarianism

·         The place of Jews in the struggles for democracy and human rights

The call for papers addresses both formal and informal aspects, direct and indirect. Informal and indirect aspects are, for example, satire, art, architecture, environmental planning, and non-verbal expressions.

Guidelines for submission:

The articles can be submitted in Hebrew (according to the citation rules formulated by the Israel Historical Society) or in English (according to the Chicago Manual of Style). Your article should be between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length, including footnotes. In addition, we ask you to also provide a short biographical note (up to 150 words). Any accompanying images, illustrations, or maps – for which you are responsible for obtaining and providing any required permissions – should be precisely labeled and sent together with the article in high resolution (300 DPI or more), as separate JPG or PNG files, along with a list of illustrations containing full credit captions.

The submitted articles will first be reviewed by the editorial board and then by peer-review experts in the field. Once accepted for inclusion in the volume, the article will be sent for linguistic editing.

Deadline for submitting articles: April 27, 2025

The articles should be sent by email to: adip@tauex.tau.ac.il

Michael Editorial Board:
Yuval Shahar (Editor-in-Chief), Tova Beeri, Joseph Isaac Lifshitz, Dina Porat, and Roni Stauber

https://en-humanities.tau.ac.il/diaspora/news/CFP_Michael_4

• the movement of Hebrew or Yiddish manuscripts and ritual objects across geographies;
• the impact of Jewish migration on production practices;
• the repurposing of Jewish books and ritual objects as well as ritual and secular spaces by non-Jewish communities both within and beyond the medieval period;
• the collecting of Hebrew manuscripts and Judaica by both Jews and non-Jews;
• the changes made to Hebrew manuscripts, ritual objects, and ritual/secular spaces by Jewish and non-Jewish communities at any point in an object or space’s “life”;
• the archival and museological histories associated with the collecting and displaying of Jewish objects as well as the creation of Jewish-centered arts institutions;
• and the ways Jewish objects are displayed and studied today in museum, library, and archival settings.