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Jewish Peoplehood in an Age of Globalization |
Dr Ami Bouganim, The Research and Development Unit of the Department of Jewish-Zionist, Education, 2007
In the summer of 2005, a group of thinkers from the United States and Israel gathered to discuss and define the new emerging term of "Jewish Peoplehood". Professor Arnie Eisen of Stanford University formulated four leading questions for the group: a defining question, a question about the components of the term, a question regarding how fit the concept is for the current Jewish reality and the ways this concept can be assimilated into Jewish thought. One of the participants of this brainstorming process was Dr. Ami Bouganim from the Education Department of the Jewish Agency who chose to examine the concept of Jewish Peoplehood from a Zionist viewpoint. This is the first part of his analysis which deals with the effects of globalization on the Jewish people. According to Dr. Bouganim, in every generation the Jews have to choose their identity and embed meaning into that choice. Another challenge for the Jewish People is to realize the theological-political standing with the other religions as well as the internal relations between the different Jewish communities around the world.
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What is the Positive Content of Jewish Peoplehood? |
Some preliminary thoughts by KolDor member Terry Newman, March 2007
According to KolDor member Terry Newman, Jewish identity in the 20th century was built on three pillars; religion, nationalism and responses to anti-Semitism. Terry claims that these three pillars do not address the needs of the non-religious, post-nationalist Jew who is three generations removed from the Shoah and has seldom experienced anti-Semitism. Hence, the term "Jewish Peoplehood" can serve as an ideological platform through which the non-religious, post-nationalist, optimistic Jew can identify as a Jew.
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Four Questions, Five Answers: On Passover, Peoplehood, and Policy |
Yosef Israel Abramowitz and Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Zeek, April 2007
Zeek invited KolDor member Yosef Israel Abramowitz to convene a conversation on the meaning of the Exodus of the Israelites with a group of some of today’s Israelites of vision and purpose. Five members of KolDor were asked to think about the Passover story and answer four questions regarding Law of Return, contemporary slavery and ways of making Passover an even stronger Peoplehood holiday.
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Toward a 21st Century Alternative Zionism-Mordecai Kaplan, A.D. Gordon, and the future of Israel-Diaspora relations. |
Rabbi David Gedzelman, myjewishlearning.com, April 2007
Rabbi David Gedzelman, Executive Director of Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation and KolDor member, claims that voices from the Israeli public no longer perceive Zionism as relevant and meaningful. In order to create a mature relationship between Israel and the Diaspora two components of traditional Zionist discourse need to still be addressed: Shelilat HaGolah, the idea that the Diaspora should be negated; and Mamlakhtiyut, the idea that the state is the ultimate and exclusive expression of Jewish Peoplehood. Are we approaching a post-post Zionist era?
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Staying Together As A People |
Gary Rosenblatt, The Jewish Week, May 2007
Gidi Grinstein, founder and president of the Re’ut Institute, Rabbi Donniel Hartman of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, and John Ruskay, executive vice president and CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, shared their visions and concerns about the changing Israel-Diaspora relationship at a New York Federation forum in Jerusalem called “Where Do We Go From Here?” Grinstein said that the key to Jewish survival over thousands of years has been "resilience", the ability to adapt and create new societies outside of Israel after the destruction of the Temples and displacement from our homeland. Rabbi David Hartman, stressed pluralistic values within Jewish study and that the Jewish people today lack a sense of "we", or shared values. John Ruskay, the third speaker on the platform, focused on the need “to build Jewish life based not on guilt but on opportunity”.
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