January 08, 2025 January GROW Session: Colliding Dreams

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For tour first 2025 program in Hebrew College Adult Learning’s free, monthly GROW series, we examine modern Zionism. We hope you will spend an hour with us for this and future programs in our series, to gather, reflect, observe, and wrestle with topics that will deepen your Jewish learning.

The Story of Israel and Modern Zionism as Seen Through the Eyes of the Inhabitants of Israel

Date: January 8, 2024 | 12-1 PM EST/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Program: Colliding Dreams: The Story of Israel and Modern Zionism as Seen Through the Eyes of the Inhabitants of Israel
Instructor: Jan Darsa

This session will explore the evolution of modern Zionism from a concept to a reality. We will examine the impact modern Zionism and the Jewish national rebirth in its historical homeland has had on the people of the state of Israel. This history is one of the most dramatic stories of rebirth the world has ever seen, yet it is fraught with conflict. The very legitimacy of the Zionist idea and the state of Israel are questioned more today than ever before. The debate over Israel, triggered by the latest conflict, is often guided by emotion rather than substance, by fear, anger, or deep loyalty rather than an understanding of Zionism and its history.

This session is an attempt to bring these issues and the questions they raise to the forefront of our conversation. Drawing on the celebrated documentary film Colliding Dreams, we will begin to address the internal battles as well as the continuing conflict between Jews and Palestinians and Jews and Jews, attentive to the wide range of viewpoints.

We will address such questions as: What is Zionism, why does it take on a new significance in the 20^th century, what challenges and opportunities did the establishment of a Jewish state create, how did the settler movement impact the conversation and how does Israel balance the tension between a Jewish and a democratic state?

Our Instructor

Jan Darsa was Director of Jewish Education at Facing History and Ourselves for over 20 years, and has developed curricula in the field of Holocaust History, Jewish life before WW II and Israeli History. Her recent publications are Sacred Texts, Modern Questions: Connecting Ethics and History Through A Jewish Lens, and Colliding Dreams Study Guide. Jan has taught in public and private high schools and Tufts University. She is a Jerusalem Fellow, studying for two years (1988-90) in Jerusalem, and in 1991 was a scholar-in- residence in South Africa. In 2010 she received the Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish Education. She is offering a course exploring Zionism this spring as part of Tamid of Hebrew College.

Support Tamid of Hebrew College

Tuition alone does not cover the cost of offering these quality opportunities, which are supported by generous funding from CJP and caring individual donors who are committed to making learning possible for all. Please support Tamid of Hebrew College: Your Home for Adult Learning as you consider your end of the year donations. Every donation is valued. You can click here and choose “Adult Learning Programs” from the dropdown menu.