Howard Simon: Violence and Non-Violence in Jewish Tradition (Virtual on Zoom)

In partnership with Osher Marin JCC

This inquiry into violence and non-violence in Jewish tradition employs Gandhi’s model of satyagraha (“a determined but nonviolent resistance to evil”) as a benchmark for non-violent resistance.  

How have concepts of violence and non-violence played out in Jewish history? What consequences have followed when Jews have responded violently or non-violently in times of turmoil?

We will explore these questions at four critical moments in Jewish history: in the time of the Patriarchs and the first century CE, in medieval Germany, and in 1934-5, when Martin Buber and others faced off with Mahatma Gandhi over how Jews should responses to Nazi terror.