Colloquium 2003: Jews and Non-Jews: The Love/Hate Relationship

The eternal puzzle of the love/hate relationship between Jews and non-Jews has spawned a wide range of challenging issues. At one end is virulent anti-Semitism and international conflict. At the other end is intermarriage and assimilation. Colloquium ’03 explored key questions like:

Is intermarriage a sign of freedom or a sign of lost identity?
Is anti-Semitism necessary for Jewish survival?
Are Jews as prejudiced as non-Jews?
Do Christian fundamentalists really love the Jews?
Does a secular world make it easier for Jews and non-Jews to live together?
Has the Middle East conflict legitimized global anti-Semitism?

No printed volume of Colloquium ’03 was produced.

Video for each Colloquium presentation and the following panel discussion is now available on the IISHJ YouTube channel. Click here to see the complete playlist.

Rabbinic Ordination of Judith
Seid and Sivan Maas

Lynn Davidman

Derek Penslar

Colloquium Audience

Yaakov Malkin

Sherwin Wine – Introduction
Opening session of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism’s Colloquium 2003 – “Jews and Non-Jews: The Love/Hate Relationship”.

Yehuda Bauer – Keynote
Former academic chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at Hebrew University and of the Vidal Sasoon International Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism. World renowned Holocaust scholar and author of A History of the Holocaust, Out of Ashes and Jews For Sale.

Derek Penslar – The Story of Antisemitism
Director of the University of Toronto’s Jewish Studies program and expert on the history of modern European Jewry, Zionism and the state of Israel. Author of Zionism and Technocracy: The Engineering of Jewish Settlement in Palestine, 1870-1918, and Shylock’s Children: Economics and Jewish Identity in Modern Europe. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Todd Endelman – Antisemitism of the Right and Left
William Haber Professor of Modern Jewish History at the University of Michigan and then-director of the Jean and Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. Recipient of National Jewish Book Award for The Jews of Georgian England, 1714-1830: Tradition and Change in a Liberal Society. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Harry Cook – A Christian Looks at Antisemitism
Former Episcopal minister and rector of St. Andrew Church in Clawson, Michigan. Former religion, ethics and public policy columnist for the Detroit Free Press. Author of Christianity Beyond Creeds and Sermons of a Devoted Heretic. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Yaakov Malkin – Jews and Arabs
Professor of aesthetics and rhetoric at Tel Aviv University and Jewish scholar, playwright and author. Founder of the first community art and culture center in Israel and academic director of the College of Judaism as Culture in Jerusalem. Author of many books including What do Secular Jews Believe? To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Ze’ev Chafets – Being a Jew in a Christian World
Columnist, author and founding managing editor of The Jerusalem Report. Former director of the Israel government press office. Author of The Project and Hang Time. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Lisa Beyer – Being a Christian in a Jewish World
Journalist and current foreign editor for Time Magazine. Previously, bureau chief for Time in Jerusalem. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Bethamie Horowitz – New Models of Jewish Identity
Research director for the Mandel Foundation, Israel. Author of a landmark study Connections and Journeys while Director of Planning and Research at UJA-Federation of New York. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Lynn Davidman – Jewish Survival in an Open Society
Professor of Judaic studies, American civilization and gender studies at Brown University. Author of Motherloss and Tradition in a Rootless World: Women Turn to Orthodox Judaism. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

David Biale – Living in a Multicultural Society
Professor of history and currently Emmanuel Ringelblum Professor of Jewish History, Department of History, University of California at Davis. National Book Award recipient for Gershom Scholem: Kabbalah and Counter-History and Powerlessness in Jewish History. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Rabbi Sherwin Wine – Where Do We Go From Here?
Rabbi of the Birmingham Temple and founder of the worldwide movement of Humanistic Judaism. Sought-after lecturer on philosophy, religion and ethics. Celebrated author of innumerable publications and inspirational texts, including Staying Sane in a Crazy World. [now deceased]