Judaism, Democracy, and Civic Duty

 

Judaism, Democracy, and Civic Duty. A special lecture by Straus Center Resident Scholar and Young Israel of Jamaica Estates’ Rabbi Dov Lerner in association with Koren Publishers. Dedicated to Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Wishing him a refuah sheleima and a speedy return to full health. At the core of the human condition, there is an existential tension that political philosophers have spent centuries trying to resolve—they have sought to design the perfect administrative state that allows us to be together and succeed together, despite the fact that we compete with each other. Ever since the Magna Carta in 1215, the West has progressively replaced Monarchy with Democracy, and our question is—what is the position of Jewish thought and tradition? Image of Honi the Circle Maker taken from The Circle Maker for Kids by Mark Batterson Copyright © 2013 by Mark Batterson. Used by permission of Zondervan. https://www.zondervan.com Learn more at https://www.yu.edu/straus Follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@YUStrausCenter)