A Skirball Academy Class
Chaim Seidler-Feller
Navigating Zionism in an Age of Opposition: A Return to a Zionism for the Future
The current antagonistic political climate around the very word Zionism has all but shut down any constructive engagement with Zionist ideology and its redemptive possibilities. In this course, we will study a range of foundational texts promulgated by Zionist thinkers from Ahad Ha’am, Martin Buber and Moshe Avigdor Amiel to the influential modern thinker Rabbi Yehuda Amital. The purpose is to frame a Zionism of values with the potential to inspire a new generation. Our ambitious goal is to return to and reclaim the humanistic spirit of the Zionist revolution that has been eclipsed by political interests, and to formulate an inclusive and principled Jewish national vision.
- Session 1: Zionist Aspirations and the Challenge of Contemporary Israel
- Session 2: The Dangers of Nationalism and Messianic Politics
- Session 3: An Inclusive Zionism in the Pursuit of Peace
- Session 4: Judaism and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Gaza War
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller has worked with Hillel for over 50 years, 40 as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. He has been a lecturer at both UCLA and Loyola Marymount, served as Founding Director of the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals and currently is a faculty member at both the Shalom Hartman Institute and the Wexner Heritage Federation. He served as a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the making of Yentl.
The current antagonistic political climate around the very word Zionism has all but shut down any constructive engagement with Zionist ideology and its redemptive possibilities. In this course, we will study a range of foundational texts promulgated by Zionist thinkers from Ahad Ha’am, Martin Buber and Moshe Avigdor Amiel to the influential modern thinker Rabbi Yehuda Amital. The purpose is to frame a Zionism of values with the potential to inspire a new generation. Our ambitious goal is to return to and reclaim the humanistic spirit of the Zionist revolution that has been eclipsed by political interests, and to formulate an inclusive and principled Jewish national vision.
- Session 1: Zionist Aspirations and the Challenge of Contemporary Israel
- Session 2: The Dangers of Nationalism and Messianic Politics
- Session 3: An Inclusive Zionism in the Pursuit of Peace
- Session 4: Judaism and Zionism in the Aftermath of the Gaza War
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller has worked with Hillel for over 50 years, 40 as the Executive Director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. He has been a lecturer at both UCLA and Loyola Marymount, served as Founding Director of the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals and currently is a faculty member at both the Shalom Hartman Institute and the Wexner Heritage Federation. He served as a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the making of Yentl.