The Eighth Online NGFP Course
The Jewishness of the Jewish State
Moderated by Ruth Gavison , Professor at the Faculty of law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
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ABOUT THE COURSE The week of February 1, 2010 the Nahum Goldmann Alumni Online Magazine will conduct its eighth online course. From the beginning of the Zionist movement, through the foundation of the State of Israel and until this very day, Israelis have been confronted with a fundamental question: what does Jewishness have to do with the Jewish State? This question has both internal and external aspects. How does Israel relate to its Arab minority and Arab nationalism in general? How does Israel reconcile conflicting demands of religious and secular Jews? Is it possible to be a Jewish and democratic state? How does Israel relate to the Jewish diaspora? This course is an attempt to approach some of these questions and examine them using historical and contemporary perspectives. After an initial introduction to the topic, the course will focus on three concrete issues among the many related to this topic. Professor Ruth Gavison, who is leading the course, is an academic scholar who has also played central roles in Israeli civil society. As such, she brings a unique perspective, providing both scholarly and practical knowledge. The 4-lesson course is a guided reading of various articles on the topic. The course is free, and is conducted via email listserve over a period of four weeks. The discussion "thread" will also be viewable online by date, author, and topic at this url: http://lists.ngfp.org/pipermail/ngfp-bookclub/. READING MATERIAL The Professor has provided us with various articles on this topic. Before each weekly lesson, please read the text and think about the questions Professor Gavison has provided. You may submit reactions and further questions via the email list and Professor Gavison will respond. |