David Ben-Gurion (First Prime Minister of Israel) publicly pronouncing the Declaration of the State of Israel, May 14 1948, Tel Aviv.
On April 17th, Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller will draw on foundational texts by Zionist thinkers in an attempt to frame a Zionism of values that has the potential to inspire a new generation.
Thursday, April 17, 20255:30 PM - 7:00 PMUCLA Bunche Hall, Rm. 10383
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Organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies.
About the Talk
The current antagonistic political climate has all but shut down any constructive engagement with Zionist ideology and its redemptive possibilities. By referencing a range of foundational texts promulgated by Zionist thinkers such as Ahad Ha’am, Martin Buber and, Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv(1935-46) Moshe Avigdor Amiel, Rabbi Seidler-Feller will attempt to frame a Zionism of values that has the potential to inspire a new generation. He will argue for reclaiming the spirit of the Zionist revolution that has been eclipsed by political interests and formulate an inclusive and principled Jewish national vision.
About the Speakers
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller is a faculty member at Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He was executive director of the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA for 40 years, and currently is director emeritus and also director of the Hartman Fellowship for Campus Professionals. He is a lecturer in the Departments of Sociology and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at UCLA and in the Department of Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is also a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and was a founding member of Americans for Peace Now. In 2014 he initiated a fact-finding mission for non-Jewish student leaders to Israel and the Palestine Authority which is now offered on 60 campuses across the country. The International Hillel Center granted him the Hillel Professional Recognition Award for "blending the love of Jewish tradition with the modern intellectual approach of the university." Rabbi Seidler-Feller was ordained at Yeshiva University where he completed a master's in rabbinic literature. Seidler-Feller was a rabbinic consultant to Barbra Streisand during the making of the film Yentl.
Carol Bakhos (moderator) is Professor of Late Antique Judaism and Jewish Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and teaches for the Study of Religion IDP. Since 2012 she has served as Chair of the Study of Religion program and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion at UCLA. Her most recent monograph is titled The Family of Abraham: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Interpretations (Harvard University Press, 2014). She has served on the Board of the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS) for several years, was the AJS Vice President for Outreach from 2013–15, and is currently the co-editor of the AJS Review journal. Bakhos serves on several editorial boards of journals and is on the editorial board of the monograph series PEN (Poetry, Exegesis and Narrative): Studies in Jewish Literature and Art, published by Vandenhoeck & Reuprecht. She serves on the Faculty Advisory Committees of the Center for Near Eastern Studies, the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies, and from 2002–18 on the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies (she was acting director in 2009–10).
DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.
Sponsor(s): UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies