The topic of liberation has been celebrated in the spring holidays of Purim and Passover throughout the course of Jewish history.
During a Special Shabbat on the topic of Jewish Liberation, Natan Fuchs traces Jewish liberation from Hellenistic and ancient Rabbinic Judaism to present day Secular Humanistic Judaism.
This presentation took place on Friday, Mar. 24, 2017 at the Congregation for Humanistic Judaism of Metro Detroit.
“Jewish Liberation: A History” with Natan Fuchs. from Library of SHJ on Vimeo.
Nathan Shalom
The matter of national liberation is not addressed. This is necessitated by the failure of social assimilation as demonstrated by the Holocaust which began in a most ‘civilized’ political-culture. The recourse to Zionism as the fulfillment of such a national liberation, was a reaction to the failure of not only Secularism in Germany but also of Marxism in the USSR. Such a reaction though merely duplicated the problematic of what national liberation is, since one’s liberation cannot be had at the expense of another.
Some years ago I was a member of the book club at the Temple. Natan was also a contributor, a very wise and learned one. I once mentioned a book to him that I had read years earlier, “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis. As I recall, he said something to the effect that it could never happen in our Democratic country. I doubt he remembers this, but sad to say, here we are.
Herb Kaufman