Was New York like Vienna? — Marsha Rozenblit on Jewish Community in Two Cities
Historian Marsha Rozenblit offers a comparative analysis of Jewish community development in New York and Vienna, exploring parallel paths of identity.
Why we picked this
A deceptively simple question — were these two Jewish capitals more alike than different? — that opens into a rich exploration of how cities shape community identity.
Historian Marsha Rozenblit brings a comparative lens to two of the world’s most important Jewish communities, asking whether the Jewish experience in New York paralleled or diverged from that of Vienna. It is a question with implications far beyond the two cities themselves.
Rozenblit is one of the leading scholars of Habsburg Jewish history, and her work on the interplay between assimilation, identity, and urban life has reshaped how historians think about diaspora communities. This lecture brings that expertise to bear on a comparison that is both intuitive and surprising.
The event is free and held at the Center for Jewish History, which houses one of the world’s great archives of Jewish life and culture.