Euroasian Jewish News

Haim ben Yakov gives lecture on Jews in the modern world

Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) Deputy Secretary General Haim Ben Yakov, the EAJC representative in Israel, read a lecture titled “Who is the Jew in the Modern World?” The lecture was aimed at people interested in the relationship between the national and the universal, the state and religion in contemporary Israel, as well as in the special aspects of Jewish civilization, both in the Israeli political climate and the Jewish communities of the Diaspora.

The lecture focused on the various models that have emerged in Jewish communities, both in Israel and the Diaspora, and the various conundrums concerning such topic as: “Who decides whether you are a Jew or not, and why even think about it? Can there be a Jew without Judaism? How many Jews are there in the world? Who should we consider to be a rabbi? Who are “paternal Jews” and what is their status in the Jewish tradition?”