Senior Educators Forum 2017-18
Presented by
The Shalom Hartman Institute
and The Lola Stein Institute

Reflections on Anniversaries in Israeli History

The school year 2017-2018 marks important milestones for the State of Israel:
  • 100 years since the Balfour Declaration 1917;
  • 70 years since the rejected Partition Plan 1948;
  • 50 years since the Six Day War 1967
 
This year's monthly study session will focus on the legacies of the above milestone moments and together work to understand their impact on the future of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.
 
Topics to be explored will include:
 
  • Jewish Peoplehood as the legacy of the 1917 Balfour Declaration and where Jewish Peoplehood stands today for Israel and the Diaspora;
  • The place of the Jewish State among the world of nations, and the hope and anxieties generated by the UN Partition Plan and Arab rejection of it;
  • How religion and politics became more intertwined in Israeli life after the Six Day War in 1967;
  • Legal discussion on the debate between occupation and. liberation, with respect to settlements over the Green Line;
  • The meaning of Jerusalem affectively, theologically, and historically;
  • How we might build community from shared moral values rather than shared political policies;
  • How these anniversaries give rise to contradictory and complicated feelings of urgency and humility in our community.
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2017-18 Dates and more Course Information