Led by: Rabbi Phil Graubart
Date: Tues., June 30, July 7, 14, and 21, 2020

In the last few years, we’ve seen unprecedented divisions in the North American Jewish community regarding Israel. Issues that once attracted a broad consensus such as the two-state solution; moving the American embassy to Jerusalem; opposing all boycotts; Birthright; even embracing the Zionist vision of a Jewish state, are now subjects of division, controversy, and often bitter contentiousness. Synagogues, Federations, Jewish umbrella organizations, and sometimes whole Jewish communities have been torn apart, as partisan feuding replaces the former consensus.

In this class, we’ll study ancient Jewish sources, as well modern Zionist thought, and relevant selections from American Jewish culture in an attempt to recover the deep ideological underpinnings of the Jewish connection to Israel. This isn’t a class that takes sides on any of the above controversies. Rather, we will attempt to understand the origins of these disputes, and the most helpful ways of engaging with Israel today, as an American Jew.

Register in advance for this four-part series:

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