In 1922, Harvard University was under investigation by the city of Boston for antisemitism. The President of Harvard vehemently denied he was an antisemite, he claimed that his plan to set a quota limiting the number of Jews at Harvard (and all colleges) was actually meant to fight antisemitism by limiting the number of Jews on campusses. In a troubling bit of logic he argued that if college students experienced less Jews they would be less antisemitic.

If the government investigating the Harvard administration for antisemitism seems eerily familiar, much of the history of antisemitism in America will ring similarly prescient. The particular antisemitic claims change over time – for Henry Ford, Jews were a cabal of bankers controlling the world economy to enrich themselves, while for Father Charles Coughlin, the leading purveyor of antisemitism in the 1930’s, Jews were atheistic communists  bent on destroying morality– but the larger historical story is that there has always been elements in American society repeating versions of the oldest myths about Jewish power and the Jewish relationship with money.

In this course we will explore this deeply troubling but deeply fascinating history of American antisemitism, paying particular attention to the present rise of antisemitism and trying to make historical sense of this moment. Even the antisemitism seen today from those who would decry Israel as an illegitimate state and decry Jews as imperial colonialists that should be shunned, even this idea has its own history which we will explore.

Besides an exploration of history, this course will also be an opportunity to share and reflect on our present experiences in what feels like an old-new moment in America’s relationship with Jews and Judaism.

• JCOGS members receive a discounted cost for this course: $90. Regular: $180. In addition, financial aid is available and should not be a barrier to participation.
• For Registration please click HERE.

• If you have trouble registering please reach out to Hebrew College Adult Education department Tamid’s administrative assistant, Candace Lyons:  clyons@hebrewcollege.edu.  You may also call Candace at 617 559 8735