The word ghetto began with Jewish history, yet by the late 20th century it was more commonly associated with Black urban life in America. That shift echoed a familiar urban pattern: neighborhoods once densely Jewish became overwhelmingly Black, and the term ghetto moved with them. What happens when a word so marked by one group’s past is taken up by another? How do shared words shape solidarity—or strain it? And what anxieties surface when communities feel their histories are being eclipsed, appropriated, or misunderstood? This talk explores the shifting meanings of ghetto and the ethical challenges that arise when different groups frame their experiences through the same vocabulary.

Registration extended: Please register below by Wednesday, January 14 at 11am.

Kabbalat Shabbat service will be held at 5:30pm, followed by Shabbat dinner around 6:30pm and the discussion around 7:30pm.

If cost is a barrier to attending, please contact Executive Director Amy Shapiro-Kessler (ashapirokessler@anschechesed.org, 212-865-0600 x209) or Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky (rjk@anschechesed.org, 212-865-0600 x210).

Daniel B. Schwartz is Professor of Jewish History at George Washington University. He is the author of The First Modern Jew: Spinoza and the History of an Image (2012) and Ghetto: The History of a Word (2019), and the editor of Spinoza's Challenge to Jewish Thought: Writings on His Life, Philosophy, and Legacy (2019). He writes regularly for the Jewish Review of Books and other outlets. His current project explores Jews, the Upper West Side, and American intellectual and cultural life in the 20th century.