Jews and Political Philosophy
June 14-26, 2020 | New York City
For current undergraduates and recent college graduates
Faculty and Speakers: Leora Batnitzky, Yuval Levin, and Ruth Wisse
$1,000 Stipend & Housing
Application Deadline: Application Deadline has passed.
What are the great political questions facing modern Jews today,
and what can Jews learn from the great texts of modern political philosophy?
The modern West, with its emphasis on progress, freedom, and individualism, has created unprecedented opportunities for Jewish flourishing. In America, Jews have had incredible opportunities to succeed as individuals without the hindrances that often held them down in other times and places in the diaspora. And in Israel, Jews have benefited from the ideas and institutions of political liberty in fashioning a modern democratic state and making it prosper as a protective homeland for Jews everywhere.
But the freedom that Jews as individuals have enjoyed has led to novel and difficult challenges – challenges in preserving Jewish identity, in educating a rising generation of Jews about the unique greatness and enduring importance of Jewish civilization, and in negotiating the complexities of a world with two major Jewish centers – Israel and America. Young people who feel a calling to live a life of Jewish purpose and Jewish leadership need to understand the competing political ideas that have given birth to the modern Jewish condition and how the Jewish situation relates to the greater challenges and choices now facing the democratic West.
This seminar will explore this exciting drama of ideas by looking at some of the key texts that have shaped the Jewish and political landscape that we live in today. Our guides will be world-renowned experts in the areas of Western political thought (Yuval Levin, editor of National Affairs), modern Jewish thought (Leora Batnitzky of Princeton University), and modern Jewish literature (Ruth Wisse, emeritus professor at Harvard University and now Senior Fellow at the Tikvah Fund). Classes will be held at the Tikvah Center in Midtown Manhattan and students will be housed in a hotel nearby.
The bios of students enrolled in the program for summer 2020 can be found here.
Meet the Instructors
Leora Batnitzky
Princeton University
Leora Batnitzky is the Ronald O. Perelman Professor of Jewish Studies at Princeton University and the Chair of the Department of Religion.
In our students’ words:
“Above all, I think that Leora Batnitzky is an especially talented facilitator of seminar-style discussions. Her patience, thoughtfulness and quick wit allowed for an engagement with the difficult thought of Leo Strauss that I thought to be quite profound.”– Ami Berman, SF ‘17
Yuval Levin
Editor, National Affairs
Yuval Levin is the editor of National Affairs and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
In our students’ words:
“Yuval Levin’s seminars were focused, substantive, and followed a logical progression. By the end of his series, I felt like I had gained a literacy in major thinkers about tradition and freedom.” –Rochel Hirsch, SF ‘18
Ruth Wisse
Senior Fellow, The Tikvah Fund
Recently retired from her position as Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard, Professor Wisse is currently Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Tikvah Fund.
In our students’ words:
“I’ve always heard studying by Ruth Wisse changes one’s perspective on a text, and I can now say that I’ve tasted some of that. The combination of a warm heart alongside a razor-sharp analysis were eye-opening and heart capturing – the themes rushed into me and fought within me. I gained a lot not only from her insights on the texts and books, but also from her perspectives and beliefs about life and the Jewish people.” – Yehuda Taragin, SF ’18
CONTACT US
Aaron Bondar
Associate Director for University and Young Professional Programsabondar@tikvahfund.org