Ben Kinder

Major: Data Science & Social Systems and Public Policy

Minors:Jewish Studies

Instructor: Makena Mezistrano

Winning paper: "Forging a Shared Identity: Sephardi and Ashkenazi Relations in Late Ottoman Palestine, 1882-1914"

This paper explores the complex intra-communal Jewish relations in late Ottoman Palestine through the First Aliyah period and Young Turk Revolution. In this paper, I argue that while deep divisions rooted in different legal statuses, self-conceptions, languages, and relationships to the land kept Sephardi and Ashkenazi communities largely separate before 1882, the arrival of Zionist immigrants and the political opening of the Young Turk Revolution gradually created the conditions for convergence. Together, these forces forged a fragile but meaningful shared Jewish identity rooted in the land, expressed through Hebrew language, a flourishing press, and cross-communal political organizing within the framework of Ottoman civic nationalism.

Ben will complete a co-term in Management Science and Engineering during the 2026-2027 academic year.