Read & Listen

Dear Friends, As we celebrate Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish culture this Shabbat and coming week at the WJC, I wanted to offer some thoughts. The vast majority of American Jews are of Ashkenazi origin – that is, their ancestors lived in Central and Eastern Europe and spoke Yiddish. Ashkenaz is the Hebrew name for Germany, ... Read more

We examine the stories of John the Baptist and Jesus in an illuminating discussion that explores historical, cultural and literary context.

This week we turn to the text of the Gospel of Mark, and study it in the context of the Biblical texts that animate its narrative and its choice of metaphors. We also discuss a wide range of compelling questions from participants in the class.

In the context of 1st century Judaism, what did Jesus mean when he spoke of the Kingdom of God? And what did the term "Messiah" mean to Jews of that era? In this week's class we explore these and many other questions.

Rabbi Jonathan Kligler and The Reverend Matthew Wright continue and deepen our exploration of the intersections between Judaism and Christianity. In this class series we will study the Christian Gospels of the New Testament in their original context: Judaism of the 1st century C.E. We will learn about the latest historical research on the origins ... Read more

Dear Friends, This past week my wife Ellen and I participated in the Living Legacy Pilgrimage, a civil rights pilgrimage tour. Our dear friend Reggie Harris was one of the leaders of the trip. It was an intensive journey, as we visited key sites, memorials and museums throughout Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, while meeting with ... Read more

This session brings our course to a close. Since the Six-Day War of 1967 the mantle of the Zionist “pioneering spirit” has gradually passed from the Socialist Zionism of the founders to the Religious Zionists and “Greater Israel” nationalist Zionists of the present. Meanwhile, in much of the international arena, “Zionism” has become an epithet, ... Read more

We discuss the emergence of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and debate the differing historical narratives that accompany these developments. Also, Rabbi Jonathan describes the holiday of Lag Ba’omer, which coincides with our class meeting, as a case study in how the success of Zionism has transformed Jewish observance.

In a wide-ranging discussion, we cover the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate period; the beginnings of the Jewish-Arab conflict; the thinking of Vladimir Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism; the story of Rabbi Jonathan’s Grandfather, Professor I. J. Kligler, and his pioneering work eradicating malaria in Palestine; and background on the Jews from Arab-speaking countries.