2011 Yom Kippur Study Session

When:  Saturday, October 8, 2011, 3:30-4:30 pm  (10 Tishrei 5772)

Where: CBT Multi-Purpose Room

Discussion Leader: Dr. Howard Cohen

Topic: "The Origins of Political Zionism."

    Description : One of the anticipated rewards of the 19th century Enlightenment was that Jews would be welcomed in to the greater society of western and central Europe. By the end of that century, however, it was becoming clear that the hoped-for changes in attitudes and policies would not occur. One of the responses of the Jewish community to their continued sense of exclusion was a political movement to re-establish a Jewish national homeland

    Background : At last year’s Yom Kippur Study Session, Dr. Cohen led an engaging discussion focusing on the transformational changes within Jewish community in Western Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, occurring in tandem with the flowering of the Age of Reason in European society at large. This led to a less rigid adherence to Halakhah, eventually giving birth to the Reform Jewish Movement under the leadership of Moses Mendelssohn and his successors. This year’s discussion will examine one of the surprising consequences of these societal changes—the aspiration to establish a Jewish homeland in the region known then as Palestine. The sense of need for sanctuary grew out of the very real threats faced by the Jewish community, especially in eastern Europe and Russia, along with seemingly insurmountable barriers to acceptance in Central and Western Europe. Dr. Cohen will review how the pursuit of this goal gave rise to a political movement—Zionism—which slowly took form under the early leadership of Baron Edmund de Rothschild, Theodore Hertzl, and others, who provided not only the will, but the means of pursuing it, notwithstanding intensive theological and political dissention that has continued up to the present day.


Please join us for Howard Cohen’s informal guided discussion on this fascinating topic. Feel free to contribute your own thoughts and questions. Sponsored by the Adult Education Committee of Congregation Beth Torah.

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