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Abstract This article aims to decipher distinctive conceptual characteristics attributed to the legendary founder of Ḥasidism, Israel Baʿal Shem Ṭov, as documented by his faithful disciple, Jacob Joseph of Polonnoye (1710–1784). I endeavor to demonstrate how a quantitative analysis of the earliest testimonies of Beshtian teachings can improve our understanding of the interplay between major concepts within these teachings. To achieve this objective, I apply a combination of statistical tools of distant reading with textual analysis of close reading. It will reveal singular characteristics of the reported teachings of the Beshṭ, while distinguishing them from the textual corpus into which they were integrated, Jacob Joseph’s writings: Sefer Toldot Yaʿaqov Yosef (1780), Ben Porat Yosef (1781), and Ṣafnat Paʿneaḥ (1782). The results indicate a significant focus on negativity—moral, emotional, and conditional—as well as verbs that offer followers guidance regarding how to overcome these negative aspects of the human experience.

While Holocaust museums have embraced social media to connect with online audiences and provide educational materials, the specifics of their use are not well understood. A Delphi study involving 22 experts developed a framework for examining Holocaust-related social media content. This framework, the result of a three-round iterative process, includes three main areas: Historical content of the Holocaust, Contemporary issues related to the Holocaust, and Museum activities and communication. The hierarchical system of categories can help users explore the vast range of online materials and help educators identify effective strategies for using social media content in Holocaust education.

AbstractScrutinizing the diverse history of the Atlantic world reveals intriguing insights into the complex interactions between the Orient and the Occident. While Islamophobia and Orientalism are commonly discussed in relation to Muslims and Arabs, the somewhat archaic term Mahometanism shares semantic similarities but is less familiar in contemporary literature. This study adopts a methodology rooted in literary theory to examine the trajectory of the term Mahometanism in Orientalized discourse from the 11th to the 18th centuries. Comparing European Mahometanism with its American counterpart, this study claims that the former primarily symbolizes the perpetual religious conflict between Christianity and Islam, whereas the latter represents the clash of civilizations, transitioning from religious perspectives to secular attitudes during America’s separation from Britain. Given the scant body of relevant literature, the current study makes a unique contribution by offering a deeper understanding of the evolvement of Mahometanism over time and its enduring significance in the literary canon alongside its profound implications on past and modern-day anchors between the East and the West.