Great Essays

“Judaism and Modern Politics”

Most Jews have strong political beliefs—about the role of government, the uses of power, the meaning of social justice, and the proper place of religion in public life. But how does one approach politics in a way that draws deeply from Jewish experience and advances the interest of the Jewish community as well as America more broadly? In an era in which antisemitism is on the rise, questions of religious liberty are central to our national discourse, and American support for the state of Israel continues to wane, political engagement becomes ever more crucial to the American Jewish future.

In this three session mini course, we will examine contemporary politics from a Jewish perspective and Jewish approaches to our modern political challenges. We will explore the shortcomings of Jewish statecraft that have resulted from the long experience of powerlessness in the diaspora. We will analyze the threat to Jewish existence that comes from the waning of American religiosity. We will end by looking at a critique of Jewish liberalism and a potential model for a Jewish conservatism.

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