Feinstein Lecture Series
The Association of Jewish Libraries received a grant from the Foundation for Jewish Culture (FJC) given by the Myer and Rosalind Feinstein Family to fund an annual lecture. Lectures on Judaic bibliography and librarianship were delivered at the annual conferences from 1996-2010. The FJC is no longer active, but it left AJL with monies to continue these lectures. The Feinstein Lecture resumed at the 2019 AJL Conference and will continue to encourage and inspire Judaica librarians at future conferences.
2025 Feinstein Lecture
Thursday, June 26, 2:45 pm EDT (at the 2025 AJL Digital Conference)
Going Darker and Deeper: The Future of Online Antisemitism
Gabriel Weimann, PhD
Professor Gabriel Weimann, PhDAntisemitism has persisted in many forms for over two thousand years and always thrived on spreading disinformation and bigotry, rumors, and fake news. Recently, online channels provided free, fast, and uncensored platforms for disseminating antisemitism and racism. Online computer-mediated communication networks are ideal for hate groups, as they are decentralized, unregulated, or unrestricted, allowing free access and anonymity to anyone who wants it. Moreover, emerging new cyber technologies provide new outlets for antisemitic content’s spread and storage. Based on recent studies on hate speech, terrorism, and antisemitism online, Professor Weimann will highlight a number of emerging trends.
Dr. Gabriel Weimann is a full professor of communication (emeritus) at the Department of Communication at Haifa University and at Reichman University, and a visiting professor at Georgetown University and many other universities.
His research interests include the study of political campaigns, persuasion and influence, modern terrorism and the mass media, online terrorism and cyberterrorism. He has published nine books, including The Theater of Terror (Longman, 1994); Terror in the Internet: The New Arena, the New Challenges (USIP Press, 2006), Freedom and Terror (Routledge, 2011); and Terrorism in Cyberspace (Columbia University Press, 2015). His 215 papers and research reports have been published in leading scientific journals, and he has received numerous grants and awards from many international foundations.
Access the past lectures in the table below.
| Name | Lecture Title | Year | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shalom Sabar | The Hidden Treasures of Jewish Ephemera | 2021 | |
| Abraham Karp | The Hebrew Book in the New World: From Bibliography To History | 2000 | Karp Lecture |
| Bella Hass Weinberg | Explorations in the History of Hebrew Indexes | 2005 | Hass Weinberg Lecture |
| Colonel S. J. Pomrenze | The Restitution of Jewish Cultural Treasures After the Holocaust: The Offenbach Archival Depot's Role in The Fulfillment Of U.S. International And Moral Obligations (A First Hand Account) | 2002 | Pomrenze Lecture |
| Dina Abramowicz | Guardians of a Tragic Heritage: Reminiscences and Observations of an Eyewitness | 1998 | Abramowicz Lecture |
| Elhanan Adler | The Digital Library and the Jews | 2003 | Adler Lecture |
| Michael W. Grunberger | Orphaned Treasures: Libraries and the Disposition of Ownerless Jewish Books in the Aftermath of the Holocaust | 2009 | Grunberger Lecture |
| Herbert C. Zafren | Was Gutenberg Jewish? And Other Conundrums: Exploring the Margins of Jewish Bibliography | 1996 | Zafren Lecture |
| Jacob Kabakoff | Some Notable Bibliographers I Have Known | 1999 | Kabakoff Lecture |
| Leonard Gold | Creativity and Its Imprint: Three Jewish Artists and Some Books About Them: Philip Guston, Charlotte Salomon, R. B. Kitaj | 2001 | Gold Lecture |
| Menahem Schmelzer | One Hundred Years of Genizah Discovery and Research: The American Share | 1997 | Schmelzer Lecture |
| Pearl Berger | From Otzar Sefarim to Otzar Hokhmah: Transitions and Transformations | 2008 | Berger Lecture |
| Philip Miller | The Art and Science of Reference Work | 2007 | Miller Lecture |
| Robert Singerman | Contemporary Racist and Judeophobic Ideology Discovers the Khazars, or, Who Really Are the Jews? | 2004 | Singerman Lecture |
| Zachary Baker | Getting in on the Ground Floor: Confessions of a Yiddish Impersonator | 2006 | Baker Lecture |