(HISTORY 85B is 3 units; HISTORY 185B is 5 units.) Jews: How to understand them? A religious faith, yet many - perhaps most - are not religious. A ubiquitous presence in contemporary life yet numbering barely more than the population of Tokyo. Viewed widely as speaking in one resounding voice yet divided along political and cultural lines, not the least of which regarding attitudes toward the State of Israel. How to identify the ties that have bound Jews together and - as often as not - tear them apart? Why the persistence of antisemitism? Are anti-Zionism and antisemitism one and the same? Does the recent Jewish past provide guidelines for the future, or a hopelessly distorted map? Class sessions will be conducted in an interplay between open-ended discussions and lectures regarding these and other pressing, perplexing issues.
3 units · Letter or Credit/No Credit · GER: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
(85B is 3 units; 185B is 5 units.) Jews: How to understand them? A religious faith, yet many - perhaps most - are not religious. A ubiquitous presence in contemporary life yet numbering barely more than the population of Tokyo. Viewed widely as speaking in one resounding voice yet divided along political and cultural lines, not the least of which regarding attitudes toward the State of Israel. How to identify the ties that have bound Jews together and - as often as not - tear them apart? Why the persistence of antisemitism? Are anti-Zionism and antisemitism one and the same? Does the recent Jewish past provide guidelines for the future, or a hopelessly distorted map? Class sessions will be conducted in an interplay between open-ended discussions and lectures regarding these and other pressing, perplexing issues.
Offered in Spring 2026 at Stanford University.