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Rachel Benaim-Abudarham, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Â鶹¾«Æ·ÊÓƵ's PhD program in Comparative Studies, on the Culture, Society and Politics (CSP) track, has published a peer-reviewed article in the latest issue of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism (Vol. 9.2), one of the field's leading scholarly publications, issued by Academic Studies Press.

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The article, "Antisemitism and the Unclaimed Past: A Trauma-Informed Critique of Jewish Political Discourse," argues for a trauma-informed approach to contemporary Jewish political thought. Drawing on trauma theory — including Cathy Caruth's concept of "unclaimed experience," the work of Bessel van der Kolk, rabbinic tradition (Chazal), and research on the epigenetics of inherited trauma — Benaim-Abudarham contends that centuries of unmetabolized collective pain can resurface in present-day rhetoric, policy, and communal posture, at times collapsing the distance between disagreement and existential threat. The article makes the case for a Jewish politics that honors genuine danger while refusing to let inherited fear eclipse present accountability and pluralism.

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The piece appears in the issue's "Trauma, Memory, and Repair" section and is accompanied by a companion rebuttal, "Weaponizing Trauma Theory against the Jews," by Dr. Corinne E. Blackmer, whose scholarship Benaim-Abudarham engages critically in her article. The pairing of the two pieces reflects the journal's commitment to rigorous, good-faith scholarly debate conducted openly and in print.

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The article was developed with the support of Dr. Alan Berger of Â鶹¾«Æ·ÊÓƵ, who mentored Benaim-Abudarham through the writing and publication process. Dr. Matty Lichtenstein and Dr. Yangsook Kim of the Department of Sociology were also supportive in the academic process.

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The full issue is available through the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism and Academic Studies Press.ÌýThe Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Academic Studies Press.