7 Monday evenings, February - April 2024:
2/12, 2/26, 3/11, 3/18, 3/25, 4/1, 4/8
This class, originally scheduled for Me’ah, is now being offered as a special program for A TREE WITH ROOTS:
NOW, MORE THAN EVER: An online course to understand the roots and dynamic history of modern Israel.
Zionism sprouted from modernity, the 19th century social and intellectual trends that challenged just what, exactly, it meant to be a Jew in a new era of history. Simply put, the genesis and development of Zionism remains one of the most astonishing and fascinating moments in Judaism’s four thousand-year history. Zionism was not a single ideology, but a cluster of ideas that reflected a new era’s thinking about the Jew’s place in the modern world. We’ll explore how those ideas impacted the Jewish people in Israel and in America. We’ll discuss the writings of the movement’s key thinkers and writers, including often-neglected figures from the worlds of Mizrahi Judaism and women writers. We’ll look at art and literature, and we’ll explore how Zionist ideology was implemented in key political documents in Israel’s history.
This class is not offered from a particular political point of view. It is hoped, however, that by the end of the course, all of us will be able to articulate the reasons why the State of Israel needed to come into existence, why it looks the way it does - especially against the background of the current war.
This is a new endeavor for A TREE WITH ROOTS: A two-hour weekly course, with syllabus and background “homework” readings. Students will be offered background readings and asked to participate in real-time, with Zoom cameras turned on. There is a suggested enrollment fee of $200 (waivable for those who have already contributed $200 or more to ATWR in the past 12 months), and enrollment will be limited in order to maximize participation. Questions can be emailed to us at: ndzahav@gmail.com.