“Another Promised Land? A Texan Perspective on Southern Jewish History”
Professor Joshua Furman

“There are Jews in Texas?” Nearly forty years ago, the documentary film West of Hester Street attempted to shed light on the history of Jews in Texas by narrating the story of the Galveston Movement, a project that brought almost 10,000 Jews to the United States via the port on Galveston Island in the years before World War I.
Today, Texas Jewish history and the larger history of Jews and Jewish communities across the southern United States are enjoying a 21st-century renaissance, as evidenced by the work of the Institute for Southern Jewish Life in Mississippi, the formation of the Joan and Stanford Alexander South Texas Jewish Archives at Rice University in 2018, and the opening of the new Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans. Nevertheless, outside of Texas and the Deep South, Jews who have made this region their home remain something of an obscure curiosity.

Seasonal fruit plate, dinner rolls & mini muffins
Choice of entrée: Pecan-crusted walleye or Vegetable Napoleon, sour cream and chive whipped potatoes, roasted root vegetables
Dessert: Door County cherry pie a la mode
The Dead Sea Scrolls’ discovery reads like the opening scene of an Indiana Jones thriller. Were it not for some dramatic twists and turns, the Scrolls might have gone from their limestone-cave hiding places directly into the hands of private collectors.
But now, thanks to digital imaging technology and the pioneering work of Israel Antiquities Authority, these precious texts can be read, translated and studied by all who wish to explore this priceless world heritage. Hear the dramatic story and take a look at surprising revelations about some familiar Biblical personalities.
