Gershom Scholem characterized Yiddish as an ungeheuere dämonische Zwichensphäre des Wortes (monstrous demonic intersphere of the word) and, although the phrase is clearly meant to be derogatory, as a student of Yiddish I cannot help but to concede that he identifies a vital, fundamental aspect of the language. Yiddish is what happens in between, when the word breaks down and reveals itself. Every language is, of course, but what makes Yiddish so monstrous and demonic, so frightening and so powerful, is that it makes no attempt to deny this fact.

This issue of mkwm collects seven pieces on the theme of digital diaspora: two essays, two series of paintings, translated poems, a comic, and a digital humanities study. All seven pieces seek to understand how meaning is produced when the meaning-makers are separate from each other. Each poses and explores the question: “What are the productive aspects of rupture?” To put it another way: “What is produced in the space between discrete entities, separated by time, space, and subjectivity?”

We hope you enjoy.

Jonah Lubin
New Brunswick, 6/3/21, כ״ד בסיון תשפ״א