THE TIKVAH FUND 165 E. 56th Street New York, New York The Hebrew Bible and Jewish Excellence November 30, 2014 December 4, 2014

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1 I. Description: The Hebrew Bible and Jewish Excellence November 30, 2014 December 4, 2014 Dean: Alan Rubenstein s:,, Chaim Navon, and Aryeh Tepper At the 2014 International Bible Contest that took place in Jerusalem on Israel Independence Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Bible the greatest cultural contribution ever made to human civilization. While pointing out the profound universal import of the Book of Books, he emphasized its special significance for the Jewish people and its formative influence on the Jewish mind. The Bible, he said, provides the foundational narrative of our people s existence, the touchstone of our faith, and the vision of our redemption. Indeed, the Hebrew Bible shaped and inspired some of the greatest leaders and figures of the modern Jewish age in politics, in religious life, in philosophy, and in literature. This course will examine the life and work of several prominent 20th-century Jewish leaders David Ben-Gurion, Abraham Isaac Kook, Ze ev Jabotinsky, Shaul Tchernichovsky, Leo Strauss, Ahad Ha am, and Joseph Soloveitchik with special focus to the ways that the Tanach influenced their ideas and their leadership. In the broadest sense, the course will explore the idea of human excellence itself: What are the highest human possibilities? Do the different forms of human excellence the life of the mind and the life of the statesman, the life of faith and the life of literature come into tension with one another, and how do we choose the best life worth living? In asking these questions, we will explore whether there is a distinctively Jewish idea of human excellence and a distinctively Jewish approach to politics and philosophy, piety and creativity, that might guide Jewish civilization into the future. p. 1

2 II. Institute Calendar Sunday, November 30, :30-9:15 Welcome Breakfast, Introductions, and Orientation 9:15-12:15 Evening Aryeh Tepper Moses: A Biblical Paradigm of Human Excellence Leo Strauss on Excellence and the Liberal Spirit of the West Review the Moses narrative from Tanakh, at your discretion Leo Strauss, Three Waves of Modernity Dinner together in Jerusalem 9:15-12:15 2:45-5:45 Monday, December 1, 2014 Political Excellence in Tanakh A Study of David Ben-Gurion The Bible in the Poetry of Shaul Tchernichowsky Deuteronomy, focusing on Chapter 17 David Ben-Gurion, Ben-Gurion Looks at the Bible o The Bible Is Illuminated by its Own Light o The Image of King Cyrus o The Return to Zion o The Bible and the Jewish People Background: Shlomo Avineri, Ben- Gurion: The Vision and the Power, from The Making of Modern Zionism Shaul Tchernichovsky, 10 Poems: "עין דור"; "שיר מזמור לבני תובל קין"; "המלך"; "מות התמוז"; "לנוכח פסל אפולו"; "מחזיונות נביא השקר"; "עוד יש בשדה מואב ויהודה"; "על הרי גלבוע" "לעולים בהרי יהודה"; "אומרים ישנה ארץ" Background: YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, Tchernichowsky, Sha ul p. 2

3 Chaim Navon Tuesday, December 2, 2014 Sacred Rituals and Sacred Nation A Study of Joseph Soloveitchik Daniel, Chapters 1-7 Joseph Soloveitchik, selection from Halakhic Man Background: Reuven Ziegler, Introduction to Rav Soloveitchik s Life and Thought from Majesty and Humility Wednesday, December 3, 2014 Two Forms of Religious Excellence in the Bible A Study of Abraham Isaac Kook 1 Samuel, Chapters 1-6 Jeremiah, chapter 7 Abraham Isaac Kook, The Road to Renewal Optional Background: Yehuda Mirsky, Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution Aryeh Tepper Ahad Ha am on Prophecy Ahad Ha am, Moses Ahad Ha am, Priest and Prophet Thursday, December 4, 2014 Military Excellence in Tanakh A Study of Ze ev Jabotinsky Joshua, Chapters 1-9 Ze ev Jabotinsky, Shimshon/Samson Optional Background: Hillel Halkin, Jabotinsky: A Life Concluding Session p. 3

4 III. Faculty Biographies Dean Alan Rubenstein Alan Rubenstein was educated in Liberal Arts at St. John s College in Annapolis, MD and also at Georgetown University. He was a senior consultant for the President s Council on Bioethics and currently serves as Hanson Scholar of Ethics at Carleton College in Northfield, MN. At Carleton, he teaches ethical thought through close reading of great literature of the West in particular, Plato, Hebrew Bible, and Shakespeare. He has served, for Tikvah, as Co-Director of the program Jewish Thought and Enduring Human Questions and as Co-Convener of a working group on the life and thought of philosopher Hans Jonas. He is married and father of three children. s is a leading voice on Judaism, Zionism, the Bible, and the challenges and opportunities facing Israel and contemporary world Jewry. Dr. is the author of two Israeli bestsellers on canonical Jewish texts: The Dream of the Kuzari published in 2012 and The Secrets of the Guide for the Perplexed published in 2011, both by Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir. A distinguished speaker and teacher, lectures regularly at Israel s leading universities, think tanks and cultural venues, to audiences that include Israel s political and national leaders, and around North America. s analyses of the Torah portion are featured in a weekly show broadcast by Israel s leading television network, Channel 2. earned a Ph.D. in Jewish Thought from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and lectures at his alma mater. Dr. is the CEO and Rosh Midrasha of Ein Prat Academy and he also serves as a senior fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and is the recipient of numerous awards for his publications. is the head of the history department at Herzog College and a member of faculty in the Shalem College, both in Israel. In the last few years he has also been a teacher at Ein Prat the Academy for ership. Dr. holds a Ph.D. in modern Jewish history and has published in numerous academic and popular Israeli journals and newspapers. p. 4

5 Chaim Navon Chaim Navon is the rav of Kehilat Shimshoni (Modi in). He teaches Gemara and Jewish thought in Midreshet Lindenbaum and the Herzog College (Yeshivat Har Etzion). He writes a weekly column for Mekor Rishon and has written six books on Jewish topics and two novels. His books include Caught in the Thicket: An Introduction to the Thought of Rav Soloveitchik; Genesis and Jewish Thought (English); A Bridge for Jacob s Daughters: The Status of Women in Jewish Law; Between Past and Future; and Eve Did Not Eat an Apple: 101 Common Mistakes in Judaism. Rav Navon studied at Yeshivat Har Etzion from 1992 to 2004 and received his rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein. He received a master s degree in Jewish thought from the Hebrew University. Aryeh Tepper Aryeh Tepper is the author of Progressive Minds, Conservative Politics: Leo Strauss Later Writings on Maimonides (SUNY Press). He teaches at Ben Gurion University and is a Visiting Scholar at the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem. His articles and essays have appeared in English and Hebrew in The Weekly Standard, Commentary, the Jewish Review of Books, The Literary Review, Tiferet, Jewish Ideas Daily, Forward, Jerusalem Post, Akdamot, and Makor Rishon. Aryeh was a visiting member of the faculty of the Tikvah Fellowship during the years IV. Our Mutual Commitment Our pledge to you is that the program will be excellent and that the teachers are, in every case, among the best people in the world teaching the subjects they are teaching. Your pledge to us is that you will invest yourselves in the texts and the seminars, and do the work to the fullest extent of your talents. You have put your everyday work on hold to join us, so we know you come to us with great interest and commitment. We will insist that you continue that commitment a commitment to attending each and every session, a commitment to coming to class on time, a commitment to doing all the readings throughout the duration of the Institute. If anyone fails to honor his or her commitment, he or she will be dismissed from the Institute. p. 5

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