The Balancing Act. A lecture on integration among Eastern European Jews in Norway

Welcome to the lecture!

What exactly is a home? Where do you feel you belong? Is it in Norway? In Trondheim? Is it perhaps in the schoolyard or on the football field? Or in your religion or culture? Sometimes it can be difficult to negotiate different aspects of belonging. Many of us have perhaps felt pulled in different directions by our own identity: Should we go on a weekend trip with a group of friends, or to the cabin with our grandparents? Should we keep our dialect, or adapt to be better understood? Many may recognize themselves.
A group that particularly often has to deal with such challenges are immigrants. They have come to a foreign country where they have to learn a new language and adopt a new culture - perhaps even at the expense of what they come from. The Jewish minority in Norway has a significant element of immigrants who have come to the country in recent times.

In his recent master's thesis, Johan-Elias Harnes has explored how Eastern European Jewish immigrants in Norway have navigated their Jewish identity and belonging in light of their migration processes. He discusses how elements such as religion, history, culture and memory practices play into Jewish identity in a migration context, and how these can strengthen - as well as challenge - an immigrant's sense of "home" in a new society.

The lecture will explore questions such as: What is a Jew? How is Jewish identity used among immigrants in the process of establishing themselves in a new country? And how can Jewish identity be a source of belonging to something new, but also a reminder of what has been left behind? These questions (and more) will be discussed through the presentation of personal stories, interview material and analysis of historical context, and the audience will gain insight into how a selection of Eastern European Jewish immigrants create meaning, belonging and identity in their new lives and communities in Norway.

The event is free. The lecture is in Norwegian.

No registration is required, but please register your interest via this Facebook event: click here.

After the lecture there will be a winter party here at the museum. Read more about it by clicking here

A warm welcome to a relevant and exciting lecture at the Jewish Museum Trondheim. Welcome!