Lecture Topics

Dr. David Weinberg
 

Dr. Weinberg has lectured extensively in America, Europe, Australia and Israel on Modern European  Jewish
History and the Holocaust. He is available to give lectures in the Jewish and general communities, as well as
 in academic institutions. Among the topics he is prepared to lecture on are the following:.

•From Conversion to the Final Solution: The Development of Antisemitism in Europe - An Audio-Visual Presentation

             The "Jewish Question" has existed in Europe for almost two thousand years, yet it is only in the twentieth century that antisemites sought to "solve" it through the implementation of a policy of genocide.  This slide presentation traces the development of anti-Jewish attitudes and policies from its early beginnings in Christian doctrine to the ideology of Nazi Germany. In examining the different ways in which Jews were defined as enemies and the programs that antisemitic leaders devised to deal with them, it also discusses how and why Nazi racism led inevitably to the positing of a "Final Solution."  

•How We Differ: The Historical Origins of Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism 

            Most Jews today view the three major denominations in American Jewish life as differing radically according to their degree of religious practice, from the least observant Reform to the strictly Orthodox, with Conservatism standing somewhere in between.  The presentation discusses the historical origins of the three movements in 19th-century Europe to understand how they were all actually movements of "reform." As such, they represented – and continue to represent – equally authentic responses to the ongoing challenge of balancing the commitment to Jewish life and to the larger society in which Jews in the Diaspora live. The presentation can be offered either as one lecture or as a three-part series.

•From “Griner” to “Yenkee”: The Fate of East European Jewish Immigrants and Their Descendants in America   

            The story of the integration of Polish and Russian Jewish immigrants into American life is often described as an unmitigated success.  In reality, the transition from the Old World to the New often was quite difficult and required numerous sacrifices.  Through an analysis of selected letters in English from the Bintel Brief, the famous advice column published for over fifty years in the Jewish Daily Forward, the presentation traces the challenges and opportunities faced by East European Jewish immigrants and their descendants over three generations – from the arrival at Ellis Island to the present day.

•Holocaust and Halakha: The Response of Orthodox Jewry during the Holocaust

             There is a popular view that Jews did not resist during the Holocaust.  Such a view is predicated on the assumption that the only form of resistance is armed struggle.  In actuality, many victims, who were unable or unwilling to take up arms, engaged in what can be described as "spiritual" or "psychological" resistance - the attempt to maintain one's humanity, individuality, and values in the face of the Nazi onslaught.   The talk focuses on this important issue by examining the ways in which traditional Jews in eastern Europe used religious law or halakha to defy the attempts by Nazi Germany to destroy their beliefs and their morality.

•The Shattering of Taboos: Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in European Political Life and in the Media

Until quite recently, the prevailing wisdom among observers of contemporary Europe and European Jews themselves was that antisemitism in England and on the Continent was in decline. The recent increase in violent attacks upon Jewish religious and communal institutions, schools, monuments, and individuals has challenged this assumption.  Equally disturbing has been the resurgence of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist rhetoric in European political discourse and in the media.  The presentation examines the upsurge of antisemitic violence and propaganda in Europe over the past four years and its attack upon two central ideals of Jewish life – the Holocaust and Israel.  It also discusses the Jewish reaction to these developments and raises the question as to whether there is a future for the Jews in Europe. The lecture can also be limited to a discussion of France, where the overwhelming number of antisemitic incidents have taken place.

•A "Third Way": The Jews of Contemporary Europe

            There is a tendency to assume that European Jewry disappeared during the Holocaust, with its scattered remnants fleeing to either America or Israel.  The reality is far more complicated.  Despite numerous material and psychological obstacles in the post-war period and continuing threats of antisemitism, a number of communities have managed to revive themselves. The presentation discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the Jews of Europe today as they attempt to find their own distinctive path, separate from that of both American and Israeli Jewry. (Note: The talk can also be geared to emphasize developments in the most populous and dynamic contemporary European Jewish community - that of France.)

For further information, please call  (313) 577-6135,
or e-mail: aa1380@wayne.edu