Across three sessions, we’ll uncover a rich landscape of ideas, debates, and experiments in Jewish life—many of which still shape our world today.
Tuesday 6 October: Jewish Diasporism
What does it mean to live as a people dispersed yet connected, as a religious group, a people, a nation? We begin by exploring Jewish Diaspora, Diasporism, and Radical Diasporism, examining how thinkers and communities reimagined Jewish life within and beyond nationalism. From 70CE and the destruction of the temple through to Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz and R.B. Kitaj we’ll look at how these ideas have evolved religiously and creatively, and can inform Jewish life today.
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Tuesday 3 November: Hasidism
Born in the 18th century and often seen as inward-looking, Hasidism was in fact a bold spiritual revolution. We’ll trace its development from the Ba’al Shem Tov to its 19th-century golden age, asking how it responded to modernity, and why it continues to resonate today through Neo-Hasidism and Jewish Renewal until today. Key thinkers like Rav Zalman Schachter-Shalom and Hillel Tzeitlin will inform our conversation about how Hasidism might continue to radically inform social movements.
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Tuesday 8 December: The Bund and Jewish Anarchism
Where do the mystical ideas and religious notions we've studied sit in relation to political action? We turn to the Jewish Labour Bund and Jewish Anarchism that redefined Jewish identity through socialism, culture, and organising. How did they challenge tradition and normative politics — and what legacies do they leave behind? How are these ideas reemerging today and how have they changed?
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Yael Roberts is a Jewish educator, artist, and community builder. She is a PhD student in Creative and Critical Practice at Sussex University, where she has received the Morris & Bessie Emanuel Scholarship in Modern Jewish History and Culture. Her research explores the 19th century Hasidic homilies of Izbica/Radzyn. Outside of her studies, she is a visiting service leader and educator at Exeter Synagogue, and an educator for the Jewish Learning Collaborative. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, she has lived in the UK for over a decade. She has taught across the UK at Limmud UK and Azara Yeshiva, and has worked at Alyth Synagogue, Westminster Synagogue, and Reform Judaism.
This course will take place online and in the building. The in building section of the course can be booked on this page. To book the online section, please click here.
