On Wednesday, April 25, the Yeshiva University Center for Israel Studies will present “World War I, Nationalism and Jewish Culture,” a conference organized by Dr. Joshua M. Karlip, associate professor of Jewish history at YU, to examine the destruction and reconstruction of Jewish culture brought on by World War I. The event will take place at 9 a.m. in Furst Hall 535 on YU’s Wilf Campus.

The day will be arranged in three sessions, interspersed with breaks and campus tours. The first session will be “World War I and the Maturation of Jewish Nationalism,” the second session will focus on “The Transformation of Jewish Culture” and the third will discuss Jewish religious life during and after the war.

“The great strength of this conference,” said Karlip, “will be the way our presenters demonstrate that even as World War I proved the moment of maturation of secular Jewish political and cultural nationalism, it also served as the beginning of a renaissance of traditional Judaism. The legacy of both trends informs our Jewish reality to this day.”

Attendance is free, supported by the Leon Charney Legacy Fund of the Center for Israel Studies and co-sponsored by the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. RSVP at yu.edu/wwi. An associated exhibit of rare documents from the Yeshiva University Libraries and the Yeshiva University Museum will open on April 25 in YU’s Mendel Gottesman Library on the fourth floor.