A number of fascinating encounters-both face-to-face and imaginary have taken place between Jews and Native Americans from the discovery of the New World right up to the present. Drawing from his freshly completed research, Koffman will analyze the claim that Indians descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. Who advanced the theory, how did they “prove” it, and what were their motivations? How did Jews respond to the claim that they were, in essence, Indians? And what do the various Jewish responses teach us about the questions, dynamics and anxieties on the minds of 18th and 19th century American Jews?

David S. Koffman is a doctoral candidate in New York University’s Departments of History and Hebrew and Judaic Studies. He holds masters degrees in Anthropology (University of Toronto), Hebrew and Judaic Studies (NYU) and Public Administration (Wagner School of Public Service, NYU). He is a junior faculty member at the Network for the Teaching of Jewish History, and a member of the Jews/Media/Religion Working Group at the Center for Religion and Media.