Can Jewish Peoplehood Have a Future?

In a recent talk Noam Pianko, a contemporary scholar of Jewish Peoplehood, and professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Washington, offers a stimulating and thoughtful challenge to those of us interested in the future of Jewish Peoplehood, both as a concept and as a way of building collective Jewish identity. See here for…

Jewish Peoplehood: A Contemporary Midrash

Check out David Zvi Kalman's contemporary midrash (Jewish legend), published in the Peoplehood Papers volume #13, in which he imagines the Jewish People standing at Sinai and receiving the Torah. In this modern midrash, Kalman uses his imagination and knowledge of Jewish texts to create his own interpretation of one of the central collective memories of…

Asking Big Questions of Jewish Peoplehood

Big Questions and Hard Questions For whom are we responsible?” is a different question than “What does it mean to be responsible?” or “Do we have a responsibility to our particular heritage?” The latter questions are examples of what I’ve come to call Hard Questions: they matter to everyone, but they invite a response only…

Israel and the Peoplehood Paradigm

There are many ways in which to understand why and how Israel is significant for Jews. Some argue that it is the Promised Land; it is a refuge from persecution; it is the realization of secular Jewish nationalism; it is the hub for Jewish culture and innovation. Each of these approaches reflect a set of…

Welcome to our Blog

It is time for like-minded Jewish peoplehood educators and activists to share a common platform for discourse and mutual enrichment.  We live in times when Jewish peoplehood can be a practice and an active experience, so let's celebrate this opportunity.  In ancient times, the notion of Jewish Peoplehood was primarily a conceptual framework reflected in…