Pastrami on Rye – An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli

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Pastrami on Rye
An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli
presented by author, Ted Merwin

Wednesday, June 25, 2025
8:00pm Eastern / 5pm Pacific

For much of the twentieth century, the New York Jewish deli was an iconic institution in both Jewish and American life. As a social space it rivaled—and in some ways surpassed—the synagogue as the primary gathering place for the Jewish community. In popular culture it has been the setting for classics like When Harry Met Sally. And today, after a long period languishing in the trenches of the hopelessly old-fashioned, it is experiencing a nostalgic resurgence.

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Ted Merwin, Ph.D. has given hundreds of talks on Jewish humor in synagogues, JCCs, libraries, book festivals, and universities from coast to coast. He is the author of Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli (which won a National Jewish Book Award) and In Their Own Image: New York Jews in Jazz Age Popular Culture. His articles on Jewish culture have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Haaretz, Newsweek, and many other publications. A long-time former professor of religion and Judaic studies at Dickinson College (Carlisle, Pa), Ted serves now as senior writer for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), based in New York and Washington, DC. He lives in Baltimore with his wife and three daughters. 

Ted Merwin ABC television interview