The Peoplehood Papers, a publication of the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education, in collaboration with the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture, celebrates the second anniversary of the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, with a special issue focused on Jewish museums, and how museum professionals understand their respective missions to educate,…
In this edition of the Peoplehood Papers we decided to explore the relations between millennials and Peoplehood through the practical lens of the Peoplehood nurturing work in that age group. We engaged three groups of stake holders in this conversation: senior professionals of organizations focusing on millennials, educators and millennials themselves. Some key questions we asked were: • What are…
In the period of change and transition that we experience today the role of the leadership in envisioning, planning and building the Jewish collective future is crucial. For that reason we decided to dedicate a series of Peoplehood Papers issues to the topic of nurturing Jewish leadership with a Peoplehood orientation – What does it take…
Peoplehood16Heb finalהעם היהודי חי היום בעידן של שינוי ומעבר. תפקידה של ההנהגה בתקופה כזאת ביצירת חזון ותכנון ובניית עתידו של הקולקטיב היהודי, הינו תפקיד מכריע. מסיבה זו, בחרנו להקדיש סדרה של גיליונות של דפי עמיות לנושא של טיפוח מנהיגות יהודית באוריינטציית עמיות – איך עושים זאת והיכן מתחילים? ננסה לבחון את האתגרים הייחודיים של פיתוח מנהיגות קולקטיבית ואת האופן…
Learn about the notion of Judaism as a Civilization and its components in this short and engaging video.
The concept of mutual responsibility between Jews is explained in this short and engaging video clip from the CJPE.
In this video talk Dr Noam Pianko, Director of the Stroum Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, looks back at the origins of the term “Jewish Peoplehood”. Finding it in the 1930s and 40s he then asks whether it is still a useful concept for the 21st Century and offers a new…
This collection of 16 essays on the topic of sustainability and its connection to Jewish Peoplehood is a partnership between the CJPE and Siach. With shmita as the framework, authors from different disciplines consider what sustainability means for the Jewish People in the 21st Century. Some take an activist stance and call on us to…
זוהי אסופה של 18 מאמרים המתמודדים עם שאלות היסוד של התחום: “מה משמעותה של העמיות היהודית? מה חשיבותה? כיצד יש לטפח אותה?” באופן לא מתוכנן התפתח באסופה זאת שיח בין דורי בסוגית העמיות. מעניין לציין שככל שהכותבים צעירים יותר הדגש עובר יותר מתוכן העמיות לטבע הקשרים המתחייבים ממנה. בעוד שאצל הכותבים הוותיקים מילות המפתח הן: ערכים,…
In this contemporary midrash (legend) David Zvi Kalman imagines the giving of the Torah to each individual Israelite, and to the Jewish People at the same time.
The author brings her experience with engaging unaffiliated young Jewish adults and argues that one key element of fostering Jewish Peoplehood is through the building of meaningful relationship between individuals from different backgrounds.
In this collection, 20 short articles grapple with the following questions: “What does Peoplehood mean? Why is it important? How do we nurture it?” It is interesting to note that the younger the age of the contributors the stronger the shift from the content of Peoplehood to the nature of the relations it entails. While…
Sarah Mali develops a conceptual framework for Jewish belonging that is built out of what she terms neighborhood and peoplehood attachments. She argues that Jewish personal and moral fulfillment requires actualizing and synthesizing both of these seemingly contradictory attachments. In Section 2 of the paper she applies the conceptual framework to the field of leadership development and presents a leadership training…
Fiss suggests that modern Jewish experience can be compared to other diaspora groups and takes a look at which characteristics and experiences are unique to the Jewish people and which are universal. She suggests that the idea of “homeland” is a universal concept, but is defined per group. She also suggests that the Jewish experience…
Friedman reflects on the tension of universalism and particularism in Israel’s current ethical dilemma surrounding whether to absorb African refugees into its population. She expands the tension to her work as coordinator of Siach, a network of international Jewish social justice and environmental professionals. She uses an upcoming conference in Budapest of Jewish social justice…
Grant points to Daniel Elazar’s work to show how American Jewry has leaned towards universalism while Israel leans towards universalism, the difference and differentiation threatening to divide the entities. But she also points to Chaim Nachman Bialik’s writing to show how “Jewish life is challenged, but ultimately strengthened by the constant tension between the pull…
Sztokman and Sztokman suggest that one of the most powerful messages in the Torah “is the mission of the Jewish people to look after the vulnerable members of society.” They point out that, “the Torah tells us that we actually can change others’ lives and fates for the better. This radical idea, that we can…
Rettig looks to the story of Cain and Able and the infamous “am I my brother’s keeper?” to explore the question “for whom are we responsible?” He suggests that from the Cain and Able story, “we learn the first lesson in human responsibility toward other humans and its relationship with deadly violence.” He suggests that…
Messinger proposes two guiding principles “to advance the discourse about balancing universalism and particularism in the 21st century.” First, she suggests moving beyond the binary and embracing hybridity. Quoting Rabbi Hirsch, she writes, “We must forget the views and prejudices that we inherited about Judaism. Instead we must turn to the sources of Judaism… because…
Nir Lahav and Idit Groiss try to understand the Jewish collective responsibility for others. They argue that “The poor of your city come first” cannot come at the expense of “Repairing the World” (“Tikkun Olam B’Malchut Shaddai”). They suggest that there is no conflict between the options, but rather, it is a question of timing…
