Difference between revisions of "Daniel Gordis"
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| − | Gordis has written of what he calls a "troubling but undeniable shift in the loyalties of many rabbinical students", suggesting that the next generation of | + | Gordis has written of what he calls a "troubling but undeniable shift in the loyalties of many rabbinical students", suggesting that the next generation of Rabbis are becoming less supportive of Israel and this will alter what American Jews will hear from their spiritual leaders. He claims that Zionist rabbinical students are often treated like "pariahs" by fellow students and says "they are the frontline in a battle that must be won, a battle to ensure that the next generation of American rabbis is unabashedly committed to the continued flourishing of a Jewish State of Israel".<ref>Daniel Gordis, [http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/Article.aspx?id=214664 Of Sermons And Strategies], Jerusalem Post, accessed June 25, 2012</ref> |
The article sparked some debate and a wide range of groups and individuals responded.<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/gallery/debate-about-young-rabbis-and-israel-articles-and-responses/ Debate About Young Rabbis and Israel], DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012</ref> | The article sparked some debate and a wide range of groups and individuals responded.<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/gallery/debate-about-young-rabbis-and-israel-articles-and-responses/ Debate About Young Rabbis and Israel], DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012</ref> | ||
Revision as of 12:14, 25 June 2012
Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President of the Shalem Center and a writer on Zionism, national identity, currents in Israel, Jewish identity in Israel and the Diaspora and biblical political thought.
Alan Dershowitz has called him “one of Israel’s most thoughtful observers".[1].
Leonard Fein has described him as “perhaps the single most popular speaker on Israel to American Jewish audiences.”[2]
Contents
Activities
His writing has appeared in magazines and newspapers including the New York Times, The New Republic, Moment, Tikkun, Azure, Commentary, and Conservative Judaism. Gordis also writes a regular column — “A Dose of Nuance” — for the Jerusalem Post.[3].
His book, Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End was awarded the National Jewish Book Award. His next book on Israel, The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness is Actually Its Greatest Strength, will be published in August 2012. His biography of Israel’s sixth Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, will be published in spring 2014.[4]
History
He received his BA from Columbia University, his M.A. and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and his Ph.D from the University of Southern California.[5]
Gordis was the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, the first rabbinical college on the West Coast of the United States.
In 1998 he emigrated to Israel[6] and worked at the Mandel Foundation in Israel for nine years as vice president and director of its Leadership Institute.
In 2007 he joined the Shalem Center where he is currently senior vice president and the Koret Distinguished Fellow.
Views
Interpretation of the Bible as an argument against multiculturalism
Gordis has written that Hebrew Bible can be interpreted as "an eloquent argument in favor of the ethnic-cultural commonwealth — a precursor of sorts to the modern nation-state — as an indispensable condition for human freedom and self-realization"[7], and "advocates not only the concept of ethnic and cultural heterogeneity (expressed here as the “dispersion” of different peoples), but also the formation of political entities that can promote the flourishing of those ethnicities and cultures—what is known today as the nation-state".[8]
Criticism of J Street
In May 2011 Gordis addressed a J Street 'Leadership Mission to Israel and Palestine' in Jerusalem and accused the group of being "arrogant and intellectually shallow" and not clearly pro-Israel. First he told the audience:
- "As most of you know, I disagree strongly with much of what you do. But I think that we have an obligation to meet with people with whom we disagree. Given the extent of the forces aligned against Israel, seeking to delegitimize the very idea of a Jewish State, the pro-Israel camp needs a big tent. Neither Israel nor the Jewish People will survive if we work only with those with whom we agree".[9]
Then he challenged the group to prove they would "stand up for Israel, not her enemies" and questioned why BDS campaigners had been invited to their annual conference:
- "[I]f you want those of us who are still unsure to become convinced that you are part of the Big Tent, then I have another piece of advice for you - recognize that not everyone can be part of the tent. There are groups who are clearly opposed to Israel's existence as a Jewish state; they are our enemies. It doesn't matter if they are in Israel or outside, or if they are Jewish or not. If they are working to end Israel, or to end it as a Jewish and democratic state, then they are our enemies, plain and simple. There are enemies who cannot be loved or compromised into submission, and you need to recognize that. The BDS [Boycott, Divest and Sanction] movement is a case in point".[10]
J Street Founder Jeremy Ben Ami is said to have responded by calling it "astounding" that Gordis had given an entire presentation "without mentioning the occupation of another people.[11]
Opposition to Goldstone report
Gordis has reportedly argued against the conclusions of the Goldstone report into Israel's 2008-9 bombing of Gaza which were highly critical of the campign[12]
Rabbinic training in America as a'battleground'
Gordis has written of what he calls a "troubling but undeniable shift in the loyalties of many rabbinical students", suggesting that the next generation of Rabbis are becoming less supportive of Israel and this will alter what American Jews will hear from their spiritual leaders. He claims that Zionist rabbinical students are often treated like "pariahs" by fellow students and says "they are the frontline in a battle that must be won, a battle to ensure that the next generation of American rabbis is unabashedly committed to the continued flourishing of a Jewish State of Israel".[13]
The article sparked some debate and a wide range of groups and individuals responded.[14]
Affiliations
Publications
- God Was Not in the Fire: The Search for a Spiritual Judaism (Scribner, 1995)
- Does the World Need the Jews: Rethinking Chosenness and American Jewish Identity (Scribner, 1997)
- Becoming a Jewish Parent: How to Explore Spirituality and Tradition with Your Children (Random House, 1999)
- If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State (Crown/Random House, 2002)
- Home to Stay: One American Family's Chronicle of Miracles and Struggles in Contemporary Israel (Random House, 2003)
- Coming Together, Coming Apart: A Memoir of Heartbreak and Promise in Israel (Wiley, 2006)
- Saving Israel: How the Jewish State Can Win a War That May Never End (Wiley, 2009)
- Pledges of Jewish Allegiance: Conversion, Law and Policy-Making in 19th and 20th Century Orthodox Responsa, with David Ellenson (Stanford University Press, 2012)[15]
Resources
- Daniel Gordis webinar, "A State Unto the Nations: A New Vision of Israel for a New Generation of Leaders", Shalem Dialogues, recorded 7 December 2011
- DanielGordis.org, Daniel Gordis's website
- Daniel Gordis, A Dose of Nuance: Our hope (for what?) is not yet lost, Jerusalm Post, May 17, 2012
- Leonard Fein, Will the Real Daniel Gordis Please Stand Up?, The Jewish Daily Forward, June 23, 2011
- Daniel Gordis, Emails from an Anxious State, New York Times, accessed June 25, 2012</ref>
Notes
- ↑ About, DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Leonard Fein, Will the Real Daniel Gordis Please Stand Up?, The Jewish Daily Forward, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ About, DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Biography of Menachem Begin, DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis Biography, Shalem Center, accessed 18 June 2012
- ↑ About, DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, The Tower of Babel and the Birth of Nationhood, Azure Online, Spring 5770 / 2010, no. 40, accessed June 15, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, The Shape and Meaning of Biblical History, Azure Online, Summer 5771 / 2011, no. 45, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, In The Tent Or Out: That Is Still The J-Street Question, Huffington Post, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, In The Tent Or Out: That Is Still The J-Street Question, Huffington Post, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, In The Tent Or Out: That Is Still The J-Street Question, Huffington Post, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Rachel Abrams, Arianna in Israel, The Weekly Standard, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis, Of Sermons And Strategies, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Debate About Young Rabbis and Israel, DanielGordis.org, accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Daniel Gordis Biography, Shalem Center, accessed 18 June 2012
