In Days to Come: A New Hope for Israel
Book Reading and Discussion with Avraham Burg
Moderated by Faculty Host Professor Deena Aranoff
Sponsored by Nation Books and the New Israel Fund
Hosted by the Graduate Theological Union
***This event has been cancelled due to illness***
For more information, contact Neder Gatmon-Segal at neder@nif.org or 415.543.5055
Wednesday, February 21st
Presentation to begin promptly at 7:00 pm
Graduate Theological Union
2400 Ridge Road
Berkeley, CA 94709
Space is limited
Copies of In Days to Come will be available for purchase following the book talk.
Born in 1955, Burg witnessed firsthand many of the most dramatic and critical moments in Israeli history. In this groundbreaking work, he chronicles the highs and lows of his country over the last five decades, threading his own journey into the story of his people. Burg explores the misplaced hopes of religious fundamentalism through the lens of his conservative upbringing, explains the cultural dominance of Israel’s military while relating his own experiences as a paratrooper officer, and probes the country’s democratic aspirations informed by his tenure in the Knesset.
With bravery and candor, Burg lays bare the seismic intellectual shifts that drove the country’s political and religious journeys. In Days to Come offers a deeply personal and unique reflection on Israel’s history, Zionism, and Jewish identity in the modern world.
Speakers
Avraham Burg was born in Jerusalem in 1955 to one of the most prominent families in Israel. His father, Dr. Josef Burg, was a German Jew who lost his family during the war and escaped from Germany to Palestine in September 1939. He went on to lead the National Religious Party and serve as a minister in the Israeli government from 1948 to 1988. His mother Rivka was a seventh-generation resident of Hebron and the daughter of the local community rabbi. Avraham Burg first took on a public role during the first Lebanon war in 1982, when he was a leader of the antiwar protests. He went on to serve as adviser to Prime Minister Shimon Peres, a member of the Israeli Knesset, the chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization, and the speaker of the Knesset, among other public positions. Since his voluntary retirement from public life in 2004, Burg has become an outspoken leader of the Israeli left wing. He is the author of numerous books, including (in English) The Holocaust Is Over and Very Near to You. He lives in Nataf, just outside Jerusalem.
Deena Aranoff is Faculty Director of the Richard S. Dinner Center for Jewish studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She teaches rabbinic literature, medieval patterns of Jewish thought, and the broader subject of continuity and change in Jewish history. Deena is also a community educator and teaches Bible, rabbinics and Jewish mysticism throughout the Bay Area.
Sponsors
The New Israel Fund is the leading organization advancing and defending democracy in Israel. Widely credited with building Israeli progressive civil society, NIF has provided hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel since its inception in 1979. More about NIF here: www.nif.org
Nation Books has become a leading voice in American independent publishing since its founding in 2000. The imprint’s mission is to tell stories that inform and empower just as they inspire or entertain readers. We publish award-winning and bestselling journalists, thought leaders, whistleblowers, and truthtellers, and we are also committed to seeking out a new generation of emerging writers, particularly voices from underrepresented communities and writers from diverse backgrounds. As a publisher with a focused list, we work closely with all our authors to ensure that their books have broad and lasting impact. With each of our books we aim to constructively affect and amplify cultural and political discourse and to engender positive social change. More about Nation Books here: www.nationbooks.org
The Graduate Theological Union brings together scholars of the world’s diverse religions and wisdom traditions to advance new knowledge, share inspiration, and collaborate on solutions.
