Journey through the history of a Passover classic: the matzah ball. Jewish Studies professors Rachel B. Gross and Jessica Kirzane discuss the cultural and culinary evolution of the Jewish people’s most darling dumpling, its enduring status and importance within modern Jewish communities, and its connection to Jewish identity. This program was presented in partnership with the Yiddish Book Center.
This program was originally presented via Zoom on April 1, 2021.
Rachel B. Gross is Assistant Professor and John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies in the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. She is the author of Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice (New York University Press, 2021).
Jessica Kirzane is Assistant Instructional Professor of Yiddish at the University of Chicago and Editor-in-Chief of In geveb: A Journal of Yiddish Studies. She is the translator of Miriam Karpilove's Diary of a Lonely Girl, or the Battle against Free Love (Syracuse University Press, 2020).
Public Programs at The CJM are made possible thanks to generous support from Grants for the Arts and the Walter & Elise Haas Fund.