In recent years, there has been a nostalgic resurgence of interest in Jewish delis. In the third lecture, “The Jewish Deli Revival: Consuming American Jewish Nostalgia,” Prof. Gross will examine how restaurateurs are making American Jewish food fit for the twenty-first century, emphasizing sustainability and local produce. We will explore how these revitalized delis use nostalgic longing for family and community histories to create communities in the present and pass on their values to future generations.
Rachel B. Gross is Associate Professor and John and Marcia Goldman Chair in American Jewish Studies in the Department of Jewish Studies at San Francisco State University. She is a religious studies scholar who studies twentieth- and twenty-first-century American Jews. Her book, Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice, is a 2021 National Jewish Book Award finalist in American Jewish Studies and received an Honorable Mention for the 2021 Saul Viener Book Prize, given by the American Jewish Historical Society. She is currently working on a religious biography of the twentieth-century immigration writer Mary Antin.