Conference May 3, 2009

Jews and Political Power in the Modern World
Overview | Presenters | Registration 

Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History,
15 West 16th Street, New York City 

Modernity has brought Jews political power unknown to previous generations.  Both in Diaspora communities and in Israel, Jewish thinkers have conceptualized political power in imaginative and exciting ways. This conference, sponsored by the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program of Yeshiva College with Yeshiva University’s Center for Israel Studies and its Rabbi Arthur Schneier Center for International Affairs, will explore the intellectual life of Jews as they coped with political power and power relationships during the 20^th century. The conference brings together leading scholars in the fields of history and culture to explore the concept of power in the Jewish experience. The conference was conceived and organized by a team of students of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program of Yeshiva College, advised by Professors Ruth A. Bevan and Steven Fine.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

1:30 - 2 p.m.       
Welcome and introduction

2  – 3:30 p.m. Session 1
Jewish Political Power in Historical Perspective
Chair David Berger, Yeshiva University

Speakers
• Motti Inbari, Brandeis University 
   Between Human and Divine Powers:
   The Zionist Image in the Teachings of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook
• Jess Olson,Yeshiva University
   Jewish Power and Politics in Central Europe:
   The Case of Fin-de-Siècle Czernowitz
• Ruth Wisse, Harvard University  
   Is There Pride in Being History's No-Fail Target?

3:30 – 4 p.m. 
Break
Guided tours of current YU Museum exhibitions 

4 – 5:30 p.m. Session 2
Political Power in Jewish Thought
Chair Shalom Carmy, Yeshiva University

Speakers
• Daniel Rynhold, Yeshiva University 
  Conceptions of Power in Modern Orthodox Theology: Some Nietzschean Reflections
• Suzanne Last Stone, Yeshiva University 
  Conceptualizing Power in Rabbinic Sources in Response to the
  Rise of the State of Israel
• Michael Walzer, School of Social Science at the Institute 
  for Advanced Study, Princeton 
  The Power to Rule Over the “Others”   

5:30 – 6 p.m.   
Discussion and Summation: 

Speaker
• Ilan Troen, Brandeis University 

6 – 6:30 p.m.  
Concluding remarks