Contemporary Jewish history has been rich in both revolutionary events and more gradual but no less significant evolutionary processes. This talk will look from this perspective at several points in Jewish history, including the growth of Hasidism and the sharp opposition it provoked, secularization and assimilation, the emergence of Orthodoxy and non-Orthodox movements in Europe and North America, Zionism as well as the crystallization of a Jewish nationality in the Soviet Union and the State of Israel. An important and often neglected aspect of this history is the fate of Jews in the lands of Islam in the context of imperial expansion and colonialism.
Yakov M. Rabkin is Professor of History at the University of Montreal. His areas of interest include contemporary Jewish history and the history of science. He has published and edited five books as well as over three hundred articles and book chapters. His bestseller “A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism” (2006) is now available in fifteen languages. His most recent book is “What is Modern Israel?” (2016) published in French, Japanese, and Russian.
El genocidio en Gaza continúa sin tregua mientras escribo estas líneas. Tardíamente, algunos israelíes han empezado a denunciar la hambruna y el asesinato en masa que su ejército -un ejército del pueblo- ha perpetrado desde octubre de 2023. Estos actos, apoyados por la mayoría de los judíos del país, superan en crueldad y brutalidad la […]
Avec les missiles qui volent en Asie occidentale, je me souviens de mon voyage en Iran en 2016, où j’ai découvert un pays fascinant et une communauté juive dynamique. Chaque jour, je m’enquiers de la sécurité de mes amis et de mes proches, tant en Iran qu’en Israël. La situation y est tragique et criminelle. […]
The genocide in Gaza continues unabated as I write these lines. Belatedly, a few Israelis have begun decrying the starvation and mass murder that their army—a people’s army—has perpetrated since October 2023. These acts, supported by the majority of the country’s Jews, exceed in cruelty and brutality the violence that the IDF routinely used against […]
With missiles flying across West Asia, I am reminded of my trip to Iran in 2016, when I discovered a fascinating country and a vibrant Jewish community.* Every day, I ask about the safety of friends and loved ones in both Iran and Israel. The situation there is tragic and criminal. Many criticise Israel for […]
With missiles flying across West Asia, I am reminded of my trip to Iran in 2016, when I discovered a fascinating country and a vibrant Jewish community. Every day, I ask about the safety of friends and loved ones in both Iran and Israel. The situation there is tragic and criminal. Many criticize Israel for not […]
In March 1896, William Hechler, the Anglican chaplain at the British Embassy in Vienna, came across a book titled Der Judenstaat (The State for Jews). Hechler belonged to a centuries-old Protestant movement that aimed at gathering Jews in Palestine and converting them to Christianity. The book’s author, journalist Theodor Herzl, also lived in the Austrian capital. Hechler […]
The return of Donald Trump to the White House has caused a shift in long-established patterns in the conduct of international relations. Many countries around the world have been grappling with this challenge. For Canada, the issue is particularly acute due to Trump’s trade and tariff threats and their immediate impact on domestic economic interests. […]
During a sabbatical I spent in West Jerusalem in the late 1980s, my 7-year-old daughter was enrolled in an Israeli school. One day, she came home and could not find her tricycle anywhere. “Arabs must have stolen it,” she said. We later found the tricycle behind the building, but her immediate assumption gave me pause. […]
Многие, евреи и неевреи, обвиняют Израиль в нарушении библейских заповедей. А чтобы обосновать свою точку зрения, некоторые эрудиты ссылаются на Пятикнижие, Пророков, Талмуд и даже кодексы иудейского права. Это не только ошибочно, но и несправедливо. Основатели Израиля, в основном выходцы из черты оседлости в Российской империи, иудейскую мораль – как и иудаизм в целом – […]
Un desafío global a las libertades democráticas Yakov M. Rabkin * En el contexto del actual debate sobre la libertad de expresión, hay un tema tabú que muchos se resisten a nombrar explícitamente. Medidas recientes como la revocación de visados, la detención de estudiantes y académicos, la represión de protestas, la restricción de la libertad académica y la […]
Biblical accounts teem with violent episodes. Just a few days ago, we read in the synagogue the story of Jacob’s two sons, Levi and Simeon, massacring the entire male population of a city in a devious scheme using a religious pretext. (Genesis 34) Their father was so aggrieved that even on his death bed, when […]
Hanukkah is, perhaps, the easiest Jewish holiday to celebrate. There are no restrictions on what one may or may not do—no fasting and, in fact, no prohibitions except one: the lights of Hanukkah must not be used for any practical purpose, not even for studying Torah or lighting the Sabbath candles. Hanukkah candles are symbols […]