Can we even be surprised that a people called after their struggle against divinity - as this is the etymology of the name Yisrael that is given to the patriarch Jacob - are rebellious in their core? This course aims to explore that rebellion in three sessions where we will read cases of Jewish rebels who construct their rebellion via their reflections on Jewishness. The red line guiding the course will be the question of whether Jews are rebellious or whether Judaism is rebellious? Or both? Is it the defiant attitude of Jews a product of their Jewishness or is it a coincidental factor in their defiance to authority?

Based on this question, the goal of the reading group is to inspire some reflections using Jewish approaches to social issues. The sessions are guided dialogues around texts and what they can propose to us. The participants are not expected to agree or even like the texts; all we ask is that you think about them and join us in the conversation. Reading ahead of the session is essential, but we will spend a significant part of the session on a general introduction to the main arguments of each text and then move on to the discussion.

Our first session will be dedicated to reading sections from Aaron Samuel Tamares and Yehuda Ashlag (the Baal HaSulam), two anarchist rabbis who challenge traditional ways of thinking sovereignty and government. We will focus on their account of freedom and justice. The second meeting will be dedicated to the concept of marranism as it is constructed in Agata Bielik-Robson’s work. The figure of the Marrano plays a central role in constructing a different model of identity. As a creative development from the concept of marranism, the session will also explore Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick’s text “Epistemology of the Closet” to talk about queerness and Jewish identity. We will conclude with Silvana Rabinovich’s reading of the book of Job. Her interpretation argues that the book shows an alternative account of political utopia. One that challenges traditional accounts of politics.