Jewish Folklore and Ethnology
Jewish Folklore and Ethnology (JFE) is a peer-reviewed, annual journal issued by Wayne State University Press. It features innovative, original analytical studies, essays, and commentaries in English on the diverse ways in which Jewishness is expressed, conceived, transformed, and perceived by Jews and non-Jews through folklore, tradition, and social/cultural practice. JFE succeeds previous international serials of Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Review and Jewish Cultural Studies sponsored by the Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Section of the American Folklore Society. JFE’s coverage includes but is not limited to genres of narrative, song, music, speech, custom, ritual, belief, art, craft, architecture, dance, dress, and food; practices and performances of the body, faith, home, and community in the past and present; and ideas of tradition, identity, ethnicity, race, gender, religion, education, and culture. JFE invites submissions from varied disciplines in the humanities and social sciences and methodologies/approaches. JFE strives for an international reach in content and authors and values engaging academic writing that will be of interest to lay as well as scholarly audiences.
Current Issue: Volume 4, Issue 1 (2025)
Articles
“Holy Trash” and the Tears of the Deceased: The Emotional Role of Genizot for the Jewish Communities of Central Europe
Nathanael Riemer
The Uncanny, The October 7 Massacre, and the Folktale “The Wolf and the Kids” (ATU 123)
Ravit Raufman
Hiding from Kohanim: Covering Hands, Faces, and Children with a Tallit During the Priestly Blessing
Zvi Ron
From a Shtetl House to an Urban Apartment: The Soviet Jewish Home Negotiated, Transformed, and Reimagined
Anna Kushkova
Contributors