The Wandering Jew

Authors

  • Michael Woolf CAPA: The Global Education Network

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v30i1.401

Keywords:

Myth, Wandering Jew, Diaspora history, Cosmopolitanism, Study Abroad, Education abroad

Abstract

This essay examines the interaction between the myth of the Wandering Jew, diaspora history and the notion of cosmopolitanism. This is a paradoxical synthesis that points in several directions: towards the ideals embedded in international education; towards the roots of anti-Semitism; in the direction of the notion of cosmopolitanism as a crime against the nation (something that Hitler, Stalin and Henry Ford agreed upon). The figure of the Wandering Jew has roots in history and myth and is a presence in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The figure wanders through history as an emblem of a cursed outcast, the possessor of arcane secrets, and a sophisticated global flâneur. The essay explores Biblical, literary, and historical sources with further reference to memoirs including Edmund de Waal’s The Hare with Amber Eyes.

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References

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Published

2018-01-31

How to Cite

Woolf, M. (2018). The Wandering Jew. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 30(1), 20–32. https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v30i1.401

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