Academic

When Should The Holocaust Move From Center Stage?

By Eric Muller

At Volokh, David Bernstein makes a point one sees with (to my eye, anyway) increasing frequency:

"I remember when I was a student at Brandeis, with what was then the top Jewish Studies department in the country, by far the most popular Jewish Studies course, and one of the most popular courses in the entire university, was a course on the history of the Holocaust.  It says something disturbing and unhealthy about American Jewish life that for both Jews and non-Jews, a three thousand year old living tradition and culture is so reduced to the horrific events of the mid-twentieth century."

This is something I too worry about sometimes.  I am a co-planner of  the (NC) Triangle's annual Yom Hashoah commemoration, and I read a lot (and write a little) about the Holocaust.  The Holocaust is a pretty central subject for me.  In truth, I know a lot more about the Holocaust than I do about any earlier period of Jewish history, or about its theology.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on December 30, 2009 (boomark / email).