Limmud Seattle 2020 presenter Natan Meir discusses how marginalized Jews were viewed and treated in Jewish communities in Eastern Europe in the modern period. Natan starts off by talking about how modernity is defined and how Jewish history classes in college sparked his fascination with the Jews of Eastern Europe. He later describes how East European Jewish culture was the precursor to many aspects of modern Jewry. While figuring out who the marginalized of Eastern European Jewry were, he found two cultural institutions that helped him define his subjects: the hekdesh (poorhouse), and the cholera wedding. He also discusses literary sources from this time period that portrayed the marginal person as the protagonist, which he saw as part of a larger trend of using those on the edges of society as "outcast" symbols for the Jewish people. He ends by reporting that he has discovered many modern organizations whose mission it is to bring those with disabilities into the heart of Jewish community and hopes to share his findings with those groups. Interview by Tamar Libicki.