One Nation Under God? Heschel, Niebuhr, King and the Intersection of Religion and Politics in America

Jun 22, 2026 By Arnold M. Eisen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Part of the series “America at 250: Jewish Ideas and the American Experiment” Download Recommended Resources With Dr. Arnold Eisen, Chancellor Emeritus; Professor of Jewish Thought, 91快播, and E.J. Dionne, Journalist, Harriman Chair in American Governance, Brookings Institute A frank and wide-ranging conversation between two admirers of these great religious leaders 鈥痑bout the fateful linkage of politics to prophecy in America from the […]

The Changing Landscape of Jewish American Literature

Jun 15, 2026 By Benjamin Resnick | Public Event video | Video Lecture

For decades, Jewish American literature was defined by giants like Roth, Bellow, Malamud, and Ozick, whose novels explored assimilation and the immigrant experience. But what defines Jewish American writing today? Author and 91快播 alum Rabbi Benjamin Resnickreflectson how the field has changed and asks whether the Jewish American novel still exists in the way readers once understood it.

Jewish Storytelling and American Lawin Post-WWII America

Jun 8, 2026 By Shira Billet | Public Event video | Video Lecture

In the decades after World War II, Jewish American legal thinkers began drawing on biblical and rabbinic stories to help explore fundamental questions of constitutional interpretation. The work of Robert Cover in the 1980s, first developed in the context of the Vietnam war, is the most famous and influential example. Butlesser-knownfigures such as Edmund Cahn and 91快播 professor Shalom Spiegel began developing this discourse in the context of the postwar moment in 1950s America, and the civil rights movement thatemergedin its wake.

Hard Cases: Facing Law鈥檚 Challenges in American Legal Theory and Rabbinic Literature

Jun 1, 2026 By Sarah Wolf | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Part of the series “America at 250: Jewish Ideas and the American Experiment” Download Sources With Dr. Sarah Wolf, Assistant Professor of Talmud and Rabbinics, 91快播 How do judges settle cases when there is no clear right answer? How are precedents mined for new rulings? Should laws be the product of a legislator鈥檚 own creativity, or are […]

The Talented Dr. Finkelstein: His Initiatives, Allies and Critics

May 18, 2026 By Jack Wertheimer | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Within the first decade of his 91快播 presidency, Rabbi Louis Finkelstein energetically launched a broad range of new initiatives. 鈥疕is efforts garnered widespread attention and even an adulatory cover story in Time magazine. They also prompted sharp public challenges from some of his closest colleagues.

Baseball (A Jewish American Pastime)

May 4, 2026 By Robert Harris | Public Event video | Video Lecture

Part of the series “America at 250: Jewish Ideas and the American Experiment” Download Sources With Dr. Robert A. Harris, Professor of Bible and Ancient Semitic Languages, 91快播 Baseball has long been called America鈥檚 pastime鈥攂ut what happens when we read the game through the lens of鈥痯hilosophy, theology, halacha and aggadah? This session explores the striking parallels between rabbinic interpretation and […]

America at 250: Jewish Ideas and the American Experiment

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, this series explores the rich and surprising intersections between Jewish thought and American life. From baseball and youth culture to constitutional law, storytelling, and democratic theory, leading scholars reveal how Jewish ideas, texts, and experiences have shaped鈥攁nd been shaped by鈥攖he American experiment. Sources for sessions can be […]