Lives & letters

Writers, rabbis and readers: Leon Modena, and the long conversation about exile and diaspora in Jewish literature.

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  Leon Modena (1571–1648): the rabbi who explained the Ghetto to the world

  Preacher, cantor, poet, gambler and author of the first book explaining Jewish rites to Christian readers: the life and works of Leon Modena, the most famous rabbi of the Venice Ghetto.

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  Not exile, diaspora? Jewish writers and modern American culture

  Why American Jewish writers from Abraham Cahan to Philip Roth rethought the old idea of exile as diaspora, and what the debate owes to Europe, to Israel and to the image of Venice and Shylock.