In one dramatic week in June 1967, Israel went from being a besieged mini-state in the Middle East to a victorious and optimistic success story. The scrappy nation of Israel defeated its Soviet-armed enemies and inspired many Americans amid the quagmire of the Vietnam War. And for the first time in centuries, Jews regained control of Jerusalem’s Old City. How did Israel win on the battlefield? What was Israel’s strategy? And how did Jews around the world make sense of the political, historical, and religious meaning of this great victory? This course examines both the military drama and deeper significance of the Six Day War, whose legacy still reverberates in Israel today.
Dr. Neil Rogachevsky
Neil Rogachevsky is associate director and assistant professor at the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University, where he researches and teaches Israel studies and political philosophy. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Mosaic, Jewish Review of Books, American Interest, Ha'aretz, American Affairs, and other publications. With Dov Zigler, he is the author of Israel's Declaration of Independence: The History and Political Theory of the Nation's Founding Moment and is currently working on a book on constitutional debates in 1948-1949. He received his BA from McGill University, his MA from the University of Toronto, and his PhD from the University of Cambridge.