10/07/2025 08:30
- 10:45
HALL: Seminar Room 07
Chair:
Hershkowitz I.
Proponent:
Hershkowitz I.
Speaker:
Balázs G.,
Hershkowitz I.,
Mashiach A.
Jewish thought in the twentieth century experienced profound upheavals, rivaling, if not surpassing, the turbulence of the two thousand years of Jewish exile. This reality profoundly impacted numerous thinkers who emerged from diverse Jewish communities across Europe, only to find themselves suddenly without a home, without a stable historical legacy, without a homeland, and facing a deep crisis of identity.
In this panel, we aim to explore various approaches taken by these thinkers as they grappled with these crises, each in their unique way. Some chose to remain in Europe even after World War II, driven by a desire to rebuild Jewish communities, revive Jewish consciousness, and reconstruct European Jewish thought. Others sought new places to call home. Yet all of them, without exception, were part of an intellectual lineage with undeniable European roots.
Indeed, those who stayed in Europe remained there physically, but their critical approach toward their environment and heritage resonates in their thought. Those who left the continent retained an enduring connection to their cultural origins, grappling throughout their lives with the tension between their departure and the enduring dialogue with the cultural incubator in which they were nurtured.
What, then, is the place of European cultural and spiritual heritage in the works of these thinkers? Where do their loyalties lie? How does this dissonance—personal, social, national, and human—shape and sustain their intellectual pursuits? These questions, and others, will be examined in depth during the panel, which will showcase a wide range of strategies for confronting and engaging with these challenges.