The war being waged on the foundations of Western civilization by woke leftists in schools, publishing, culture and the government threatens the Jewish community as much as anyone else. JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin argues that the rights of American Jews are as much at risk as those of other citizens from the effort to tear down the great achievements of Western history, philosophy, literature and art.
He is joined by Tikvah Fund executive director Eric Cohen, who discusses a Mosaic magazine essay he co-wrote about the need for a new model for Jewish education. Cohen argues that “the West and Israel are under assault.”
He said that his goal was to “articulate a vision of what we call Jewish classical education that would put Jewish ideas back at the center of the Western story.”
According to Cohen, “the Jews have something to contribute to the renewal and strengthening of American culture at a moment when it needs Hebraic remedies for some of our woke disorders.”
Rejecting the models of both isolationism and assimilation for Jews, Jewish classical education would prioritize the study of Hebrew and a revival of the “great books” curriculum that is at the heart of the study of Western civilization.
Cohen argues that despite the prevalence of woke indoctrination throughout our culture, the excesses of the war on the West are producing a backlash that will impel more Jews to seek an alternative to failing public schools and other institutions that are undermining Jewish values and families. Those who have been “mugged by the reality of progressive education” need an alternative, he says.
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