In 2020, I began studies in the Hebrew University as a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Jewish History and Contemporary Jewry. With a prior B.Sc. in biochemistry and food science, my interest in Jewish history was kindled during the decade I spent as a Jerusalem tour guide.
Tours I led often followed the biographical journeys of key figures in late Ottoman Jerusalem. A common factor among many was their bridging the gap between the old society and the new, bringing depth and complexity to their identity. My increasing interest led me in 2015 to a graduate degree in Israel Studies at Haifa University, culminating with a thesis about two central figures, entitled "David Yellin and Gad Frumkin: Identity and Belonging in the Transition Period". Analysis of their public activity shows the conflict between their coexisting social contexts, acting within the framework of the new Yishuv while self-identifying with the native Jerusalem-born population.
In this vein, my doctoral thesis strives to encapsulate this period's complexity, going beyond the individual perspective and looking through the prism of the activities of the the Va'ad Ha'Kehila Ha'Ivrit B'Yerushalayim Yerushalayim (the community council of Jerusalem's Jews, a local organ of the National Institutions). In my research, I show how the pre-Zionist norms, ethnicity and local communities effect the Va'ad's work, reflecting the transition between the Ottoman and Mandate periods.