This issue presents the Sklare address of Judit Bokser Liwerant, the Marshall Sklare Memorial Award recipient for 2017. The Marshall Sklare Memorial Award was instituted by ASSJ in 1992 to recognize a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the social scientific study of Jewry, primarily through the publication of a body of research in books, articles, and/or through published work related to public policy. Liwerant’s contributions are exemplary in this regard, migrating across the disciplines of political science, sociology, history, and contemporary Jewish studies and the subjects of transnationalism, globalization, collective identities, and multiple modernities, with the distinct focus on Latin American Jewry. Her address contains layer upon layer of insight, including her own personal micro-level experiences, meso-dynamics at the institutional and national level in Latin America, as well as the macro-level perspective in terms of migration flows, transnational presence in various settings, historical underpinnings and foundations, and their interplay with contemporary social forces. I recommend that you read it more than once to mine its depth, and have an idea what you want to come back to for even greater understanding. Liwerant has attached to the end of her address a suggested bibliography on transnationalism, based on her own extensive research on the topic, which will serve many researchers in good stead. Her address is followed by commentary from Sergio DellaPergola, Naomi Lindstrom, and Riv-Ellen Prell, which I trust you will find illuminating as well.

In the spirit of global Jewry as well as different facets of transnationalism, the Sklare address is followed by three international articles. The first article, authored by Alla Marchenko, studies the tourists who make pilgrimage to the grave of Rav Nachman of Breslav in Uman, Ukraine, in a piece which contributes to our understanding of religious tourism, pilgrimages, as well as one of the ways contemporary Jews incorporate a transnational identity, even for transient or sporadic—yet often recurring—visits. In the second article, Galina Zelenina focuses on Jewish communities in contemporary Russia and the role of Lubavitch Hasidism in bridging between the Jewish communities and the Russian government centered in the Kremlin. Focusing on the meso-level of institutionalization, the paper demonstrates the historical and political layers involved in establishing such a relationship. In the third article, Kobi Cohen-Hattab and Doron Bar study the changes that occurred in the role of the Western Wall after the Six-Day War, when the Wall assumed not only a religious (Jewish) significance, as it had throughout Jewish history, but developed as a national Israeli symbol as well. As many will attest, the Wall more recently has become a contested area for Diaspora-Israeli relations, given the controversy over an egalitarian prayer space, which has yet to be resolved. The perspective presented will deepen understanding of the complicated layers and perspectives surrounding this important historic religious and national symbol.

The issue concludes with the now-familiar research updates as well as two book reviews—one on Chrismukkah, and the other on Jewish upward mobility in postwar America—and a list of books received.

I want to take this opportunity to announce an important change in the journal. Beginning in January 2019, Contemporary Jewry will increase its publication from three to four issues a year. This will allow articles to be published with a shorter turn-around time as well as enable more special issues and symposia (see guidelines for these on the Contemporary Jewry website). The upcoming issue of Contemporary Jewry will be a special issue on methodology in the social science of contemporary Jewry that promises to be enlightening and thought-provoking for all.

Happy reading! And feel free to contact me with any suggestions or comments (hartman@rowan.edu).