What is Jewish “Peoplehood?”: Reform Responses (Online)

Jewishness is a complicated mixture of a religion and “Peoplehood,” a sort of national or familial bond, and the question of what it means for Jews to be a “People” has had profound personal and political implications throughout Jewish history. Rabbi Dr. Jan Katzew (Associate Professor of Education and Jewish Thought, HUC-JIR) will lead us through the ongoing evolution of Reform Jewish responses to this question, beginning with Napoleon’s famous query to the French Jewish community in 1806 — “Can you join us fully and unequivocally as Frenchmen, or does your commitment to your fellow Jews define you principally as a member of the Jewish nation, thereby creating insurmountable boundaries and dual loyalties?” — through the present day.

This course follows a sequential structure, and participants are encouraged to attend all sessions. If you are interested in joining once the course has begun, please contact the program leader.

About the teacher: Rabbi Katzew, PhD, is Associate Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought and Education and Senior Educator of the EMA Program at HUC-JIR, where he had been ordained in 1983. After serving for six years as rabbi/educator at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY, Jan became a Jerusalem Fellow and earned a doctorate at the Hebrew University in Jewish Thought and Education. For fifteen years Jan led a team of educators at the Union for Reform Judaism that was responsible for designing, developing, and implementing curricular resources for early childhood centers, congregational schools, day schools and adult learning communities throughout the world. Since its inception in 2008, Jan has been a senior consultant to the iCenter for Israel Education, mentoring students from multiple graduate schools and seminaries to become Israel educators, a task made even more important after October 7, 2023. Jan is the author of popular and scholarly articles in multiple fields that include Interfaith dialogue, Mussar, Medieval Hebrew Poetry, Israel Education, Moral Development, and educational philosophy and practice. Jan’s spouse is Cantor Alane Katzew, and together they are the parents of two children and three grandchildren, who enrich their lives beyond measure.

Registration: This event is available online. Please click the purple bar above to register.

This event is part of Summer Institute; please click here to view other adult learning opportunities this summer. We are deeply grateful to the family of Burton D. “Bud” Rose, M.D., who has underwritten the Summer Institute in loving memory of Bud, who was a lifelong teacher and student.