Provocate.org

Indiana University Jewish Studies Program founder Alvin Rosenfeld kicked off a stormy debate among Jews and Goyim with his essay “‘Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism” … and things got stormier when the New York Times wrote an article about Rosenfeld for which it later had to apologize. Hear for yourself what is at stake when the Jewish Community Relations Council host a talk by Rosenfeld.

When: Monday September 17, 7:00 PM
Where: Laikin Auditorium, Jewish Community Center 6705 Hoover Road Indianapolis 46260

All community members are welcome to attend this free event. Kosher Dessert Reception to Follow

Alvin Rosenfeld has helped carve an important niche for Indiana University as he has contributed very thoughtful reflections on the meaning of the Holocaust for Jews and non-Jews. His books, A Double Dying: Reflections on Holocaust Literature and Imagining Hitler, were published by Indiana University Press. He is editor of a series of books on Jewish literature and culture published by Indiana University Press. Other publications include “Jean Améry as Witness” in Holocaust Remembrance: Shapes of Memory (1994) and “Primo Levi: The Survivor as Victim” in Perspectives on the Holocaust: Essays in Honor of Raul Hilberg (1995). He is also editor of Thinking about the Holocaust: After Fifty Years.

In 2006 he sparked a heated debate among Jews around the world with his provocative essay, “‘Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism,” which argues that some criticisms of Israel by left-leaning Jews inside and outside Israel could be contributing to the wave of anti-Semitism rising around the world. A serious and important argument, which raises questions of how far one can question Israeli governmental policies without slipping into anti-Semitism, and whether this itself threatens to stifle constructive debate. Provocate.org will return to these questions later before Prof. Rosenfeld’s talk. In the meantime, you can read his original essay here; go here for a flavor of the arguyment it generated; and the good people at Wikipedia have assembled an excellent overview of the various sides of the arguments Rosenfeld set off.

Contrast this discussion with the surely very different workshop organized by Christians for Peace & Justice in the Middle East on October 28. You can get useful background about the evolution of thinking about Israel for Jewish Americans in “Three Centuries of Jewish Voices in America” October 24.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, August 26th, 2007 at 6:51 pm and is filed under Events, Democracy, Domestic politicking, Foreign policy, Jews & Judaism, Middle East. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.