SHABBAT SHABBANG: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A BAD JEW?

What Does It Mean to Be a Bad Jew?

Many Jews use the term “Bad Jew” as a weapon against other members of the community or even against themselves. In Bad Jews, author Emily Tamkin argues that perhaps there is no answer to this timeless question, that throughout American history, Jewish identities have transformed in a variety of ways. The issue of what it means, or doesn’t, to be a Good Jew or a Bad Jew is particularly fraught at this moment, as American Jews feel and fear antisemitism is on the rise. Drawing on over 150 interviews, Emily explores many of the evolving and conflicting Jewish positions on assimilation, race, Zionism and Israel, affluence and poverty, philanthropy, finance, politics, and social justice.

In this book talk, moderated by Laura E. Adkins, Opinion Editor of the Forward, we will explore the profound ways in which American Jewish identities have transformed in the past 100 years. The first 20 guests to register will receive a free copy of the book at the event.

Co-presented with the Forward.

Emily Tamkin is author of The Influence of Soros and the forthcoming Bad Jews. She is senior editor, US at the New Statesman. Previously, she covered foreign affairs on staff at Foreign Policy and BuzzFeed News. Her work has also appeared in the Boston Globe, the New Republic, the New York Times, Politico, and the Washington Post, among other publications. She was an International Affairs Fellow for the Council on Foreign Relations in New Delhi, India and a part of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s inaugural Jewish Writers and Journalists Seminar. She lives in Washington, DC. 

Laura E. Adkins is the Opinion Editor of the Forward. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and other outlets.