For the 2020-21 discussion season, we will be reading and sharing thoughts on Leora Batnitzky’s How Judaism Became a Religion.
“Is Judaism a religion, a culture, a nationality-or a mixture of all these? In How Judaism Became a Religion, Leora Batnitzky boldly argues that this question more than any other has driven modern Jewish thought. This wide ranging and lucid introduction tells the story of how Judaism came to be defined as a religion in the modern period—and why Jewish thinkers have fought as well as championed this idea.”
For the time being, the group will continue to meet virtually. Please sign up to lead discussion sessions and speak about a chapter! We need discussion leaders for all but the November 2 session. To sign up, please email Jeannelle D’Isa
November 2-Chapter 1-Modern Judaism and the Invention of Religion – Leader: Rabbi Zemel
November 16-Chapter 2- Religion as History:Religious Reform and the Invention of Modern Orthodoxy – Ed Grossman
November 30– Chapter 3- Religion as Reason and the Separation of Religion from Politics – Leader: Skip Halpern
December 14-Chapter 4- Religion as Experience: The German Jewish Renaissance – Leader: Francie Schwartz
January 11, 2021-Chapter 5- Jewish Religion after the Holocaust – Leader: Catherine Lynch
January 25– Chapter 6- The Irrelevance of Religion and the emergence of the Jewish Individual – Leader: Leslie Sewell
February 8-Chapter 7- The Transformation of Tradition and the Invention of Jewish Culture – Leader: Beth Jacob
February 22– Chapter 8- The Rejection of Jewish Religion and the Birth of Jewish Nationalism – Leader: Alan Carpian
March 8– Chapter 9- Jewish Religion in the United States – Leader: Mimi Wolf
March 22-Conclusion
April 5 – TBD Discussion Session
April 19
May 3
May 17