Speaker: Ofir Haim, Mandel Scholion Research Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Respondent: Eve Krakowski, Princeton University

Ofir’s research concerns the social, intellectual, and linguistic interactions between different religious and ethnic groups in the pre-modern Iranian world. As a Mandel Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, his current project is dedicated to a rich and multi-lingual corpus which was dubbed the “Afghan Geniza.” This textual corpus sheds light on “voiceless” groups that are virtually absent from known sources, particularly the Jewish minority. Through a meticulous reading and translation of the corpus documents, Ofir delves into the everyday experiences of the Jews of eastern Iran and their relationship with the Muslim majority.