Montclair Event: A ‘Modern History of Jews And Muslims’ Via Music

MONTCLAIR, NJ — The following news release comes courtesy of Bnai Keshet. Learn more about posting announcements or events to your local Patch site.

Chris Silver, Bnai Keshet’s 2019 Scholar in Residence, will discuss a modern history of Jews, Muslims and music making in North Africa in several sessions: Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m. and again at 11 am in a Dvar torah, as part of the synagogue’s Kaplan Minyan series. All sessions are free and open to all and will be held in Bnai Keshet’s main sanctuary, 99 So. Fullerton Ave. Montclair.

On Friday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 p.m., Silver, a professor of Jewish History and Culture at McGill University, will present his scholarship on the outsized role played by Jewish musicians in Morocco, Algeria and Tunesia in the first half of the 20th century. He will play rare recordings from the era. There will be no Shabbat service that night.

From 9 to 10 a.m. the next morning, Nov. 23, Silver will lead a conversation on popular culture and music that brought Jews and Muslims together deeper into the 20th century than previously thought. And an hour later during Shabbat services on Nov. 23, Silver will examine the modern history of Jewish-Muslim relations beyond just conflict. He will lead a discussion exploring the interconnected and entangled worlds of Jews and Muslims as the two communities navigated colonialism, nationalism, war, and decolonization, and will challenge assumptions about ways in which Jews and Muslims lived together in the not too distant past. A Kiddush, or light lunch, will follow

Silver is Segal Family Assistant Professor in Jewish History and Culture in the Department of Jewish Studies at McGill University. He earned his PhD in History from UCLA, and has received awards from the Posen Foundation, the American Academy of Jewish Research, and the American Institute for Maghrib Studies. His scholarship on Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia has appeared in Hespéris-Tamuda, History Today, and online for the USHMM’s Holocaust Encyclopedia. He is currently completing a book manuscript on the subject of Jews, Muslims, and music in twentieth century North Africa.

Reconstructing Judaism in and around Montclair, Bnai Keshet invites the larger community to attend its events. For more information, visit www.bnaikeshet.org or call 973-746-4889.

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