Key Words for the Modern Jew with Professor Howard Lupovitch

Judaism is replete with concepts that help us define and understand what it
means to be Jewish and part of the Jewish community in the modern world. In
this series, we will explore three of these concepts that have been especially
pivotal in helping us map out and navigate the challenges of modernity:
Assimilation, Diaspora/Exile, and Chosenness.

Free but advance registration at
[www.cbahm.org/event/keywords](https://www.cbahm.org/event/keywords) is
required.

**July 7: Assimilation**

These days, the notion of assimilation generally has a pejorative connotation
that means abandoning or marginalizing one’s Jewish identity. In fact, our
forebears often used the term in a more positive way, referring to the ability
of Jews to incorporate into Jewish life the most vital aspects of mainstream
society and culture of Judaism and, in this way, enhance Jewish life itself.
Thus some measure of assimilation was deemed necessary and even indispensable
for Judaism to thrive; only extreme forms of assimilation were seen as a
threat to Jewish survival.

**July 14: Diaspora/Exile**

From the moment Jews lived outside the Land of Israel, there has been a
tension between _exile_ (sense of displacement and loss redeemable only
through the restoration of Jewish statehood) -and _diaspora_ , a belief in the
possibility of building a vibrant Jewish life outside of Israel. While there
have always been some Jews who championed one and rejected the other, in fact
the two conceptions are still inseparable parts of Jewish identity. In the
age where the American Jewish community — the most successful diaspora Jewish
community — lives alongside the State of Israel, the tension between exile
and diaspora has intensified.

**July 21: Chosenness**

What does it mean to believe at once that all people are created equal and
that Jews have been singled out by God? This is a quandary that has faced
Jews for the last three centuries. How do we square the belief that Jews are
special with our fundamental beliefs in equality?

Organized by: Congregation Beth Ahm

View event on Jlive: https://jlive.app/events/15757