De Balie, November-9th, 12:00-16:15
Zionism and Humanism, a Failed Marriage?
A symposium with prof. Vivian Liska, prof. Bernard Wasserstein, and dr Charles Lesch
Many early Zionists were also ardent humanists. They combined their belief in the power and necessity of Jewish nationalism with a strong, often secular, commitment to liberal values such as democracy, tolerance, and equality—principles enshrined in the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948, that stated the state of Israel will ‘ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex.’
However, in practice, balancing Jewish nationalism with humanist ideals has proven difficult. Throughout Israeli history, the relationship between state and religion, as well as the question of how Israeli society should treat its Palestinian inhabitants, have continuously tested the fusion of these two visions.
The deep crisis currently facing Israel and Zionism, which involves the occupation, the judicial overhaul proposed by the Netanyahu government, and the war in Gaza—sparking controversy not only within Israel, but across the globe, has made the question of the relationship between Humanism and Zionism more urgent than ever. That makes it all the more important to revisit the Humanist legacy of Zionism, and ask if the marriage between Humanism and Zionism has truly failed—or might still be revived.
We will explore this topic with three distinguished thinkers and experts in Jewish history and thought: historian Bernard Wasserstein, literary scholar Vivian Liska, and political philosopher Charles Lesch. Each will deliver a lecture, followed by a panel discussion addressing questions such as: How did Zionists reconcile Zionism with Humanism? What became of their legacy? Was the attempt to combine the two sincere? Was it a doomed fallacy? Or was it an ingenious synthesis that still holds the potential to bring about a peaceful and just future for Zionism, Israel, and all its inhabitants?
De Balie, Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10, Amsterdam.
Program:
12:00 Opening
12:15 Vivian Liska
Theodor Herzl’s Last Will: Zionism as Humanism in his Late “Philosophical Tales”.
13:00 Bernard Wasserstein Reflections of Zionism and Humanism
(Originally ‘Steven Aschheim, Reflections on Liberal Democracy and Humanist Nationalism in Times of War: George Mosse on the Possibility and Limits of Zionist Humanism.’was programmed here. He had to cancel due to personal circumstances)
13:45 break
14:20 Charles Lesch
Towards a Humanist Zionism out of the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas
15:05 panel: Vivian Liska, Steven Aschheim, Charles Lesch.
Zionism and Humanism, a Failed Marriage?
16:15 end
The symposium will be finished in time, for those who wish to attend the Kristallnacht memorial services
Vivian Liska is a renowned scholar of German literature, literary theory, and modern Jewish thought. She is Professor of German Literature and Director of the Institute of Jewish Studies at the University of Antwerp, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the German Department at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Liska’s research focuses on figures such as Franz Kafka, Walter Benjamin, and Hannah Arendt, exploring the intersections of literature, philosophy, and Jewish identity. Her publications include When Kafka Says We: Uncommon Communities in German-Jewish Literature and German-Jewish Thought and its Afterlife.
Steven E. Aschheim is a prominent historian known for his work on German and European intellectual history, modern Jewish history, and the cultural history of modernity. He has written extensively on topics such as Weimar culture, Zionism, and the legacy of the Holocaust. Aschheim served as a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was affiliated with the Department of History and the Franz Rosenzweig Center for German-Jewish Literature and Cultural History. His influential works include Culture and Catastrophe and Beyond the Border: The German-Jewish Legacy Abroad.
Charles H. T. Lesch is an Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) of Political Science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. After earning his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2016, he held Mellon fellowships and assistant professorships at Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University. His research focusses on questions at the intersection of religion and democracy, and on the topic of political solidarity. He authored Solidarity in a Secular Age: From Political Theology to Jewish Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2022) and Maimonides and Jewish Theocracy: The Human Hand of Divine Rule (Cambridge University Press, 2024)
