Jewish Lecture Series Seeks to Understand Present, Clarify Past

Impassioned by the Dreyfus Affair in France, Hungarian journalist Theodor Herzl convened the First World Zionist Congress in 1897. One hundred years later, we are still feeling the reverberations of the Zionist movement, according to David Sorkin, Francis and Laurence Weinstein Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and director of its Center for Jewish Studies.

“Zionism has been one of the most successful nationalist movements of the late 19th century,” Sorkin says. “Within 50 years of its founding, it revived the Hebrew language and established a Jewish state. Yet the history of Zionism has been ambiguous and troubled from the start, and that is no less true today than it was 75 years ago.”

Consequently, the Center’s 1997 Jewish Heritage Lecture Series will consider “Zionism at 100: Retrospect and Prospect.” The seven talks by distinguished guest scholars will include:

• “The Zionist Challenge to American Jewish Culture” by Stephen Whitfield, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Brandeis University. Whitfield is the author of “The Culture of the Cold War” and “American Space, Jewish Time.” He will deliver the first of two 1997 Stanley and Sandra Kutler lectures March 3.
• “Still the Best Catch There Is: Joseph Heller’s ‘Catch 22,'” Stephen Whitfield,” March 6. The second 1997 Kutler Lecture.
• “Has Zionism Solved the ‘Jewish Problem?'” Derek Penslar, associate professor of history and Jewish studies, Indiana University. The author of “Zionism and Technocracy: The Engineering of Jewish Settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918,” Penslar will speak March 17.
• “The ‘Jewish’ Education of Israeli Youth: A Recurring Kulturkampf,” Ilan Troen, Lopin Professor of Modern History, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Troen currently is writing a book on the Zionist settlement experience. He will speak in Madison March 20.
• “Remembering the First Zionist Congress: The Beginnings of Modern Jewish Politics,” Michael Berkowitz, professor of history, Ohio State University. Berkowitz is the author of “Zionist Culture and West European Jewry Before the First World War” and “Western Jewry and the Zionist Project, 1914-1933.” He will speak April 7.
• “Israeli Identity in War and Peace” by Israeli novelist A.B. Yehoshua, whose works include “Open Heart,” “Mr. Mani,” “Five Seasons” and more. The recipient of every literary prize Israel offers, he will speak April 16.

“These lectures will interpret the successes and failures of Zionism, using the past to help us understand the present, and the present to clarify the past,” Sorkin says.

The series will be free, open to the public and will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union (check Today in the Union for room location). In addition to the discussions, a special concert of Jewish and Arabic chamber music, “Fusions,” will be presented April 12 at 8 p.m. in Mills Concert Hall. For more information, contact Anita Lightfoot at the UW–Madison Center for Jewish Studies, (608) 265-4763.