American Jews take pride in Israel as the only true democracy in the Middle East. Yet American and Israeli concepts of democracy are not interchangeable. In America, religion and state are fundamentally separate; in Israel, Judaism is at the heart of the political system.

What it means to be both Jewish and democratic and how to resolve complex issues of the rights of citizenship are subjects of intense debate in Israel—and the focus of a three-session lecture series at Hebrew College this fall.

"This series will be a major opportunity for us as a community to move from the sidelines to the center of a discussion on our place as American Jews invested in the future of Israel," says Dr. Avi Bernstein-Nahar, Dean of Educational Planning and Development for the Center for Adult Jewish Learning.

Three insiders will lend clarity to the controversy: Dr. Liora Bilsky of Tel Aviv University Faculty of Law will speak on October 22 to examine the principles and problems that have emerged in Israel's case law. Dr. Ruth Gavison of Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Law will speak on October 26 to explain the Israeli political system, tensions between the dual values of democracy and a Jewish state, and prospects for reform. On November 5, Dr. Suzanne Last Stone of Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law will place both presentations within the broad context of contemporary law and politics.

For more information, email cajl@hebrewcollege.edu.



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Article Index
An Iraqi Scholar Builds Bridges at HC
President Gordis to Retire in 2009
A Shaper of Modern Hebrew Comes to Hebrew College
A Very Good Year
Olam Haba: The World to Come
Religious Educators and Academics Visit the US, Gather at HC
Synagogue and State: Making Democracy Work in Israel
Calendar
Publication Credits and Additional Information