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A special congrats to one of our PhD Candidates, Rachel Benaim-Abudarham, for being awarded the Southern Jewish Historical Society Dr. Lawrence J. Kanter Grant for her research on Mizrahi Jews in Â̲èÖ±²¥.

Rachel's research, supported by the Southern Jewish Historical Society, explores the life and legacy of Moses Elias Levy, a pioneering Moroccan-Jewish abolitionist, utopian thinker, and early advocate for interfaith dialogue in the American South. Tracing her own roots to Essaouira, Morocco, and Gibraltar, Rachel brings a deeply personal lens to uncovering Levy’s transatlantic vision of justice, dignity, and coexistence. Her work sheds new light on how non-Ashkenazi Jewish histories intersect with American and global struggles for liberation and belonging.