Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time
6 sessions, February 23 – March 30, 2021
Online class via Zoom. Registration Required.
This class is offered in partnership with Hebrew College’s Open Circle Jewish Learning.
What is galut (exile), and is it good for the Jews? In this course, we’ll explore Jewish texts about exile, diaspora, state oppression, Zionism, and antisemitism and consider their meaning for Jews in America today. Do we still consider ourselves to be living in exile? Should we? What are the risks and benefits of seeing ourselves in such terms?
Through the lens of rabbinic narratives about Purim, supplemented by contemporary religious and scholarly sources, we’ll discuss the political, spiritual, and psychological dynamics of galut (exile) and diaspora. Though the class will focus on the situation of American Jews, we’ll also address the consequences of Zionism for American Jewish identity and politics, as well as whether Zionism solves, complicates, or compounds galut.
This class qualifies for the “Bible, Rabbinics, and Philosophy” categories of the Chochmat Lev, A Learned Heart Certificate.
To join us, please register with the form below, and the Zoom link will be shared in your confirmation email. Contact Brigid Goggin with any questions at bgoggin@tisrael.org.