The Skirball Cultural Center has awarded the 2025–2026 Howard I. Friedman Memorial Graduate Essay Prize (The Friedman Prize) to Andrew Sperling for his essay, "Exorcising the Dybbuk." 

In his essay, Sperling explores the role that Jews played in shaping the American counterculture of the 1960s and early 1970s, centered on an unusual episode, the exorcism of Judge Julius Hoffman, whom Jewish counterculturalists deemed “possessed” because of his actions during the infamous Chicago conspiracy trial of 1969. 

As the winning entry in this nationwide competition, Fogel has received the prize of $5,000 and will be recognized in the Skirball's Oasis magazine. He will also be recognized at a public program on June 11, 2026 featuring Skirball trustee Mitch Kamin.

"The showdown between students, police, and administrators remains essential in narratives of Sixties rebellion, but the centrality of Jewish actors is often overlooked. Those involved recognized how their Jewish heritage dovetailed with their contemporary concerns."

—Andrew Sperling, "Exorcising the Dybbuk"

Read full essay: 

"Exorcising the Dybbuk" by Andrew Sperling

Andrew Sperling is the Historian at the American Jewish Historical Society in New York City. Before starting his position, he completed his PhD in History at American University and served as the Leon Levy Fellow at the Center for Jewish History. His research explores American Jewish responses to antisemitism, Jews in the Sixties and Seventies counterculture, and Jewish politics of the post-World War II era. His first book, The Menace Among Us: The Jewish Fight Against Antisemitism, from the Ku Klux Klan to the White Power Movement, will be published by New York University Press in January 2027.

The Howard I. Friedman Memorial Graduate Essay Prize and related programs are made possible by generous support from the following donors:

Pamela and Jeffrey Balton
Howard Bernstein
Alyce and Philip de Toledo
The Friedman Family
Marcie and Cliff Goldstein
Dennis Holt z"l
Harry and Yvonne Lenart Charitable Foundation
Jessie Kornberg and Aaron Lowenstein
Madeline and Bruce Ramer
May and Richard Ziman
 

The views, opinions, and interpretations expressed in the winning essay are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Skirball Cultural Center, its leadership, staff, or affiliates. The Skirball Cultural Center does not endorse the perspectives presented and makes no representations regarding the historical accuracy or scholarly validity of any assertions or claims made therein.

Established in the memory of the Skirball’s founding chairman, Howard I. Friedman, the annual Friedman Prize invites graduate students from across the U.S. and beyond to submit essays offering perspectives on American Jewish experience to encourage scholarship and dialogue in these areas.