Tikvah

An intensive workshop on Jewish texts, Jewish thought, and Jewish perspectives on the great questions of human life. Featuring Ruth Gavison, Leon Kass, Moshe Halbertal, Shai Held, Michael Walzer, and many more master teachers from academia and beyond. Visit http://forum.tikvahfund.org/ to read about the alumni of this and other Tikvah programs.   

The program will take place under the leadership of Leora Batnitzky (Princeton University), Director of the Tikvah Project on Jewish Thought. Professor Batnitzky will be joined by outstanding faculty and senior lecturers from other universities. The topics for this year’s seminar will include: Tradition and Authority; Parents and Children; Hope and Progress; Love and Piety; Shame and Honor; and the Future of Jews and Judaism. For more information, see the Curriculum page. Instruction will take the form of lectures, seminars on foundational texts, focused text study, individual mentoring, and a concluding symposium.

As in past years, the student community will include Israelis and Europeans in addition to North Americans, all united by a serious interest in the Jewish intellectual tradition and the current situation of the Jews as a people. Dorm accommodations and kosher meals will be provided throughout the program. There is no fee for participation and students will be offered a $1,000 stipend from the Tikvah Fund. Travel stipends, based on need, are also available.

In partnership with the Princeton seminar, Middlebury Language Schools will offer an intensive program in Modern and Biblical Hebrew for Tikvah participants in the weeks before the program (exact dates to be announced soon). Hebrew reading competence is not a requirement for the Princeton program. However, such skill will be of great service there, since close reading of texts and engagement with Israeli thinkers will be a part of the learning.  Students who are accepted to the Princeton program will have the opportunity to receive funding for the Tikvah Hebrew Program at MLS. The program is intended for learners at all levels - no prior knowledge of Modern or Biblical Hebrew is required.