Jewish and American Exceptionalism

In distinctive ways, exceptionalism stands as a feature in both Jewish and American discourses. While moral problems arise from arrogant Jewish or American exceptionalism, is it possible or desirable or even honest to educate Jews and citizens without claiming some degree of exceptionalism? Join Tamara Mann Tweel for a conversation with Leora Batnitzky, professor of Religion at Princeton University and Hartman senior fellow, about how we might answer this question from the different vantage points of Jewish education and American citizenship. Is there a difference between viewing Jewish values as exceptional and claiming exceptionalism for a modern nation state, be it the US or Israel?    

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Educating Towards Love of Country: Legal, Philosophical, and Social Lenses
How should our communities and society educate toward a love of country in an age of brokenness, broken heartedness, and at a time when a unifying vision for the country is absent? What roles do Jewish education, Jewish values, and Jewish identity play in cultivating a North American Jewish civic-mindedness? A series of armchair conversations exploring the challenges and opportunities of educating for citizenship, patriotism, and dissent in this moment.

Other sessions in this series:

• Can Civil Discourse Imperil Civic Integrity?
• Legal Visions for Religious Pluralism and Civic Responsibility

This program is part of Ideas for Today, curated courses by Hartman Institute scholars on the big Jewish ideas we need to think better and do better.