Throughout American history, Jews have argued with one another about difficult issues and events in our country. We will learn with scholars about critical times in American history when the Jewish community wrestled with deep divides on key issues of the day, including slavery, freedom of speech, Communism, and the peace movement. We will consider how these debates of the past resonate in our own fractured moment. What can history teach us about the diversity of opinion in the Jewish community then and now?

This series is offered and supported by Alan Rottman.

Challenges Faced by 1930s American Jewish Women Peace Activists
monday, December 9th, 7:00 pm, on zoom

During the 1930s, American Jewish women confronted the significant challenges of figuring out how best to react to world events that posed a special threat to Jews. While many women had spent decades as peace activists, the rise of Nazism and the silence of their allies led many to focus on their Jewishness as never before.

Melissa R. Klapper is Professor of History and Director of Women's & Gender Studies at Rowan University.

Past Sessions:

The First Amendment from an American & Jewish Vantage
monday, October 28th, 7:00 pm, on zoom

In the past year, we have seen many claims of and challenges to the First Amendment’s freedom of speech. Many of these have made us think deeply about the protections and limits of the freedom of speech that our Constitution guarantees. With a panel of First Amendment scholars, we will explore the history of the First Amendment and its impact and challenges today. Additionally, we will discuss what Jewish law says about freedom of speech and the ability to protest. Alyssa Gray is the Emily S. and Rabbi Bernard H. Mehlman Chair in Rabbinics and Professor of Codes and Responsa Literature at HUC-JIR in New York, and her scholarly interests are the development of Talmudic literature, the history of Jewish law, and literary studies of post-Talmudic legal writings. David Greene, Senior Staff Attorney and Civil Liberties Director at Electronic Frontier Foundation, has significant experience litigating First Amendment issues in state and federal trial and appellate courts and is an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he teaches classes in First Amendment and media law. David Kaye, professor of law at the University of California, Irvine, and is the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. 

Anti-Communism, Antisemitism, and Acculturation: The Complicated World of Mid-Century American Judaism
monday, November 4th, 7:00 pm, on zoom

Using selections from historical documents, we will discuss how American Jews in the 1950s and early 1960s found themselves on many different sides amidst the politically tumultuous time, known as the McCarthy Era. Jews participated in both communism and anti-communism, and they experienced the privileges of middle-class suburban life while still encountering some forms of antisemitism. Judaism played a key role in claiming that the U.S. was a religious nation — as opposed to the “godless” USSR — while Jews themselves were often seen as politically suspect at home. Sarah Imhoff is the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Chair in Jewish Studies and Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and the Borns Jewish Studies Program at Indiana University.

On the Cusp of Crisis: Jews and the Coming of the Civil War
monday, November 18th, 12:00 pm, on zoom

What did Jews think about the great political issues that divided American society prior to the Civil War? How did they respond to the political polarization that fractured the Republic? This talk will explain how American Jews grappled with slavery and secession, and why their responses are neither unified nor what we might expect. Adam D. Mendelsohn holds the Isidore and Theresa Cohen Chair in Jewish Civilization at the University of Cape Town where he is Director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Head of the Department of Historical Studies