AROUND THE WORLD IN SIX DAYS: GLIMMERS OF JEWISH HISTORY

Think Jewish history is just exile, persecution, and survival? Think again.

For two millennia, Jewish life across the diaspora was bursting with creativity, innovation, and cultural brilliance. This course uncovers that story—the music, the food, the philosophy, the poetry, the scientific breakthroughs, the political revolutions, the rabbinic daring, and the everyday magic Jews brought to communities around the world.

Over six weeks, we will journey through Jewish life in Morocco, Iraq, Ethiopia, Iran, India, and China.

Each week, we zoom into a different country and ask four simple questions that open an entire universe:
• How did Jews get here?
• What did they build and contribute?
• What did they absorb and transform from the surrounding culture?
• Who were the extraordinary figures who shaped this community?

THURSDAYS, 12:00-1:30pm (ET)

Dates: Feb. 12, 19, 26; Mar. 5, 12, 19

Rachel Benaim-Abudarham is a storyteller, scholar, and award-winning journalist passionate about bringing Jewish history to life. A third-year PhD student researching how Jewish communities have transmitted wisdom and burdens across generations, Rachel specializes in the lived experiences of diaspora Jews.

For more than a decade, Rachel has traveled the world reporting on religion, migration, and cultural memory for outlets such as The Washington Post, The Guardian, Haaretz, and The Weather Channel. Her work invites readers, and now students, to see the Jewish journey not through hardship, but through meaning and joy.

Rachel holds degrees from Columbia University and Yeshiva University, with additional studies at Oxford, NYU, and institutions in Jerusalem and Stockholm. She is thrilled to share stories of the “other 2,000 years” of Jewish life and help learners discover new perspectives about our global heritage. 

A South Florida native, she recently moved back to Boca Raton with her husband and two kids.