Wars of the Jews

Materials and ideas for teaching "Modern Jewish Movements" in a way that is at once historically honest, mutually respectful, and compatible with an Orthodox outlook.

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The Idea

The inspiration for the materials and lessons found here is the book Arguments for the Sake of Heaven by British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.

Contents of the English Version

Introduction and Teacher's Guide are in Hebrew only (see below).

English Texts: The French National Assembly | Non-Traditional Alternatives | Traditional Alternatives

Charts: DOC | PDF (This file contains a blank version of the "Chart of Ideologies" on the first page, which can be filled in by hand in English during the lesson. The second page is a filled-in chart in Hebrew.)

Suggested teaching order is the following (filling in the chart along the way):

(1) French National Assembly: crucial exerpts from the French debate about the emancipation of the Jews in the wake of the Revolution.
(2) Non-Traditional Alternatives: readings from David Friedlander, Abraham Geiger, and Moshe Hess.
(3) Traditional Alternatives: readings from Hatam Sofer, S.R. Hirsch, and Abraham Isaac Kuk.

The "Chart of Ideologies" is designed to show both the striking parallels and the deep differences between the two sets of alternatives, as well as to provide a springboard to discussion of the post 19th century debate, to new realities of Jewish life (both good and evil) that were hardly imaginable in the 19th century, and to the additional new alternatives we are faced with today.

Following these sources, discussion must include the later impact on these alternatives/movements of modern Zionism and the rise of the State of Israel; the Holocaust; and post-19th century changes in general culture. In addition, major trends that were non-existant or not well represented in the 19th century include the Conservative movement, the widespread Israeli phenomenon of the masorti Jew, the mass immigration of non-Ashkenazic Jews to Israel; the Russian aliyah; Judaism as a national identity.

Contents of the Hebrew Version

Introduction and Teacher's Guide
Hebrew Texts: The French National Assembly | Non-Traditional Alternatives | Traditional Alternatives
Charts: DOC | PDF (The Hebrew file for the "Chart of Ideologies" contains a blank version on the first-page and a filled-in version on the second page.)

Open Content License

CC BY-SA 3.0

Unless otherwise noted, all contents available here may be copied and modified freely

according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license (or a later version).

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