Wroclaw en Route to Krakow

The Jewish Culture Festival in Krakow begins tonight...and I am heading there this afternoon from Wroclaw, where I took part in a fascinating conference on Modern Jewish Culture at Wroclaw University. Organized by the university's Jewish Studies Department and the Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, it grouped scholars from North America, Europe, Israel and Austria. Several speakers either quoted from or made mention of my book "Virtually Jewish" in their presentation, and it was gratifying and a little overwhelming to see what an impact the book seems to have had.

Coincidentally, or probably not coincidentally, an interview I conducted months ago with Wojtek and Malgosia Ornat, the Jewish tourism entrepreneurs in Krakow who run Klezmer Hois, ran today in the Forward. The Ornats also run the Austeria publishing house, which published "Letters from Europe (and Elsewhere)".