Tuesday, January 16, Thursday, January 25, and Tuesdays, January 30 & February 6, 7:00-8:30 pm [please note the one Thursday class]
Please register here for Zoom
In this class, we will revisit the expansive debates in the Jewish world about Zionism before the founding of the state of Israel, and explore the ways in which our own lives have been shaped by Zionism and its discontents. What has Zionism meant to each of us? How has our perspective changed? What does it mean to call oneself a Zionist, anti-Zionist, post-Zionist? Starting from the assumption that there has always been complexity to the Zionist project, we will explore the ways in which American Jewish identities have interacted with this epoch-defining development in Jewish history.
Class #1 (Tuesday, January 16) (Class recording)
Sources/Resources: Chapter 1 of Zionism: An Emotional State; Texts - Session 1
Class #2: (Thursday, January 25) (Class recording)
For this class, we will be joined by Prof. Derek Penslar, Director of Harvard's Center for Jewish Studies and author of Zionism: An Emotional State (Rutgers University Press, 2023)
Class #3 (Tuesday, January 30) (Class recording)
We will by joined by CDT member Marjorie Feld, who will discuss her forthcoming book, The Threshold of Dissent: A History of American Jewish Critics of Zionism.
Sources/Resources: Chapter 4 of The Necessity of Exile, Shaul Magid; Marjorie Feld, Abstract of The Threshold of Dissent
Class #4 (Tuesday, Feb 6) (Class recording)
Sources/Resources: Where do I connect? (worksheet); Book talk - Omri Boehm, Haifa Republic: A Democratic Future for Israel; Pieces by Rabbi Toba: Creating a New Narrative; Beyond Erasure: On Anti-Zionism & Antisemitism; Loving All Who Dwell in the Land.
