The fellows participating in the public programs next year will challenge the common belief that modern Jewish life traces a linear trajectory from the religious to the secular. Just as it is clear today that religion remains an important factor despite the dominance of secularism in modern Jewish life, so the relationship between the two poles is complex and evolving. The fellows will ask such questions as how did Jews respond historically to seemingly "secular" concepts such as science, toleration, or the state? How did the advent of the State of Israel redefine the categories of "religious" and "secular"? How did Jewish poets, novelists, and musicians reconcile the tension between religion and secularism in their cultural products?
The 2010 Penn Lectures in Judaic Studies will run from January to March 2010 in the greater Philadelphia area.
2008-2009 Public Programs
