Comparative Studies PhD Candidate Rachel Benaim Abudarham Publishes in Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism

Rachel Benaim-Abudarham, a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Florida Atlantic University's PhD program in Comparative Studies, on the Culture, Society and Politics (CSP) track, has published a peer-reviewed article in the latest issue of the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism (Vol. 9.2), one of the field's leading scholarly publications, issued by Academic Studies Press.

 

The article, "Antisemitism and the Unclaimed Past: A Trauma-Informed Critique of Jewish Political Discourse," argues for a trauma-informed approach to contemporary Jewish political thought. Drawing on trauma theory — including Cathy Caruth's concept of "unclaimed experience," the work of Bessel van der Kolk, rabbinic tradition (Chazal), and research on the epigenetics of inherited trauma — Benaim-Abudarham contends that centuries of unmetabolized collective pain can resurface in present-day rhetoric, policy, and communal posture, at times collapsing the distance between disagreement and existential threat. The article makes the case for a Jewish politics that honors genuine danger while refusing to let inherited fear eclipse present accountability and pluralism.

 

The piece appears in the issue's "Trauma, Memory, and Repair" section and is accompanied by a companion rebuttal, "Weaponizing Trauma Theory against the Jews," by Dr. Corinne E. Blackmer, whose scholarship Benaim-Abudarham engages critically in her article. The pairing of the two pieces reflects the journal's commitment to rigorous, good-faith scholarly debate conducted openly and in print.

 

The article was developed with the support of Dr. Alan Berger of Florida Atlantic University, who mentored Benaim-Abudarham through the writing and publication process. Dr. Matty Lichtenstein and Dr. Yangsook Kim of the Department of Sociology were also supportive in the academic process.

 

The full issue is available through the Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism and Academic Studies Press. The Journal of Contemporary Antisemitism is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Academic Studies Press.