J Street is a Pro Israel, Pro Palestine, Pro Peace, Pro Democracy student group dedicated to conducting peaceful, productive, and nuanced dialogue on college campuses! Rabbi David Seidenberg is a jewish professional in the Amherst Jewish community who J Street would like to bring in to teach his course called "Jewish Indigenousness - A Key to Peace, Not a Cudgel for War." The premise of his teaching is that even though Judaism's cycles and rituals are deeply keyed to the land and ecology of Canaan/Israel/Palestine, the Torah insists that the Israelites are not indigenous to Canaan. Why? We will explore this question with Rabbi David Seidenberg, creator of neohasid.org and author of Kabbalah and Ecology, and unlock how the rhetoric of indigenousness can become a foundation for co-existence today, instead of a battering ram against the "other side."
This workshop is for everyone who cares about what happens in Israel/Palestine, no matter what your relationship is to Zionism or to Palestinian liberation. Our conversation will be grounded in Torah and in recent research on colonialism and indigeneity.
Can Judaism’s indigenous core help us rise above the damaging politics of our time? The answer is yes - find out how!