The Adult Education Committee of Temple Concord and Temple Israel will hold a program, “The Yiddish Bund and Bundism: The Politics of Here-ness, Then and Now,” and light brunch on Sunday, April 27, from 10 am-noon, at Temple Concord, 9 Riverside Dr., Binghamton. Gina Glasman, lecturer in Judaic studies at Binghamton University, will be joined by some members of Binghamton University’s “New Jewish Bund” in a panel discussion about Bundism, its history and current relevance. 
The entire community is welcome to attend. There is a suggested donation of between $5-20 per person. For more information and to RSVP, contact Temple Israel at 607-723-7461 or office@templeisraelvestal.org, or Temple Concord at 607-723-7355 by Wednesday, April 23, so enough refreshments can be prepared.
In Poland before World War II, a Jewish political party known as the Bund campaigned in local and national elections with a one-word slogan, “Here!” or “Do!” in Yiddish. The slogan was designed as a challenge to competing Jewish electoral parties that had an agenda of “there,” or a Zionist-informed ticket. Often, both these opposing parties were rooted in similar socialist positions, but differed on this key question: namely, to align Jewish politics with a “Diasporist” or “Zionist” orientation. At the time, these were competitive alternatives at the ballot box. Today, in a vastly different time and place, a contemporary generation of students, both in America and beyond, has turned to Bundism as a way to channel their Jewish political identity. The program will feature examples of the phenomenon. 
Glasman teaches Yiddish language, Yiddish culture and the history of Jewish New York, to name just some of the many courses she has taught in the Judaic Studies Department at Binghamton University. With degrees from University of Cambridge, Jewish Theological Seminary and Columbia University, her interest in the study of Yiddish society and its urban culture has roots in her own biography as the grandchild of Yiddish speaking immigrants to London. As a recipient of BU’s Provost’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, Glasman’s work often seeks to bind together forms of personal engagement with scholarly research and she encourages students to do the same – whether they are learning Yiddish language, or immersing themselves in the history of this distinctive diasporic minority.