To mark the 75th anniversary of modern Israel, this six-week series of Wednesday evening lectures will explore the lives, culture and history of the Jewish community in the pre-state period, as well as the discussions leading up to the Declaration of Independence. This course is run in partnership with the Lyons Learning Project.
Events begin at 7.30pm (GMT). You can register for the whole series or book separately for individual talks. Streaming links will be sent out shortly before each event. See below for full details.
JR has an ethical ticketing policy and is offering free tickets to the lectures, but if you can afford it, please donate to support our work. We are proposing denominations of 18 – the numerical value of the Hebrew word 'chai', meaning 'life'.
Wednesday 18 January
Exploring the Yishuv: A Historical Overview
What was Jewish life like under the British Mandate? What did the Jewish community look like before Israeli independence? How did the different waves of immigration change the nature of the Yishuv? And how did the Yishuv shape the modern state of Israel? Professor Aviva Halamish, historian at the Open University of Israel and editor-in-chief of the Open University of Israel Press, examines this dynamic period of Israeli history.
Bezalel Art School, 1929
Wednesday 25 January
Between Paris and Tel Aviv: Jewish Art in the 1930s
From the very first steps of artistic activity in Jewish Palestine in the first quarter of the 20th century, there were attempts to establish a “local, genuine” art. The idea was that the art made in Eretz Yisrael – often called Hebrew Art, to distinguish it from Jewish art – was significantly different from art created in the diaspora. Dr Dalia Manor explores the developments in art in Jewish Palestine during this period and the ideology behind this new style of art.
Wednesday 1 February
The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem
Hit Netflix series The Beauty Queen of Jerusalem, based on the bestselling novel by Sarit Yishai-Levi, captured the imagination of Jews around the world with its portrayal of four generations of a Sephardi family against a backdrop of the Ottoman Empire, British Mandate and the War of Independence. The show’s creator, Ester Namdar Tamam, will share her experiences of bringing the Yishuv to life for modern audiences.
Wednesday 8 February
Canine Pioneer
Harvard academic Dr Susan Martha Kahn charts the extraordinary life of Rudolphina Menzel, a Viennese-born Jewish scientist, whose pioneering research fundamentally shaped the ways dogs came to be trained, cared for and understood. Known throughout Europe as one of the foremost breeders and trainers of police and military dogs, she was also a fervent Zionist responsible for inventing the canine infrastructure in what came to be the State of Israel and for training hundreds of dogs to protect Jewish lives and property in pre-state Palestine. Read more by Dr Kahn in the Winter 2023 issue of JR.
Wednesday 15 February
Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?
While the Irgun and Haganah have become legendary in the story of the Jewish struggle against the British Mandate, there is no denying their controversial tactics – with the bombing of the King David Hotel in Jerusalem being the most famous example. So are they heroes or terrorists? In this session, writer Julia Pascal, whose new play 12:37 explores this episode, will offer her perspective on the struggle for independence. Read our review of 12:37 on the JR blog.
Wednesday 22 February
Dreams for a State
When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, its founders agonised over the wording of the Declaration of Independence, which would be a statement of intent for the fledgling federation. While specific reference to God was kept out, references to non-Jewish inhabitants of Israel were included – the country tasked itself with ensuring complete equality of social and political rights to all who live there. Speakers from the Israeli organisation Rabbis for Human Rights will explore how Jewish law influenced the writing of this document – and the uncodified Constitution that followed it – and ask whether the modern state has lived up to the Jewish values of its founders.
