For over 20 years, I’ve had the opportunity to observe Jewish communities and organisations worldwide, from youth programmes and summer camps to social work initiatives and efforts to preserve cultural heritage. More recently, I’ve turned my focus to my hometown, Izmir, Turkey, engaging with its small and aging Jewish community, as you can learn more about at izmirjcc.org. This work, focused on preserving our unique Sephardic heritage, has been a complex experience, shaped by both positive moments and difficult realities. Navigating the tensions between traditional, elder-dominated structures and the push for reform and renewal has offered profound insights. These challenges and contradictions have inspired me to turn this journey into academic research, exploring how communities like ours struggle to adapt and endure over time. I’m particularly interested in how Jewish communities and organisations evolve and adapt to changing times and circumstances.I

I’m also curating a list of resources, including websites and PDF documents, to experiment with AI tools and explore how they can enhance Jewish studies: jewish101.net and books.jewish101.net.

This blog is a space to share my thoughts, experiences, and ideas about Jewish life today and its future.