About Shai Afsai

Shai Afsai lives in Providence. His recent research has focused on Zionist historiography, the religious traditions of the Beta Yisrael Jewish community from Ethiopia, Judaism in Nigeria, Benjamin Franklin in Jewish thought, aliyah to Israel from Rhode Island, and Jewish pilgrimage to Ukraine. His articles have been published in Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies, Rhode Island History, Reform Jewish Quarterly, Journal of the American Revolution, and Anthropology Today. He was awarded the Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association’s 2013 Horvitz Award for his earlier work on Jews and Freemasonry.