What are the ideas, texts, and stories that gave birth to the United States and the American spirit? The Declaration of Independence, the battles of Lexington and Concord, the exodus from the Old World and its tyrannies? In this course, we will explore a key aspect of the American story: the interplay between the Hebrew Bible and foundational values of American culture: community, liberty, and equality. Students will explore how Hebraic ideas influenced the American Founding, reading selections from the Hebrew Bible alongside Franklin, Jefferson, Washington, Hamilton, Madison, Tocqueville, and Lincoln.
Yishai Schwartz
Yishai Schwartz is an attorney in Washington DC. Previously, he was a Bristow Fellow in the Office of the Solicitor General of the United States, and a law clerk to Judge Jose Cabranes of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge Kenneth Karas of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He has also been an associate editor at Lawfare and reporter-researcher for The New Republic. His writing on national security, law, and culture has also appeared in National Affairs, Foreign Policy, Haaretz, Town and Country, and Comment as well as several Jewish publications. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School.