A Historical Overview of the Ideology of Zionism

with WES Scholar-in-Residence 2026 - Dr. David Kaufman 

The term “Zionism” is often contested nowadays as many flatten it to express one basic idea or another, whereas the history of Zionist ideology (what Arthur Hertzberg called “the Zionist idea”)
is far more diverse and varied. In this Shabbat afternoon lecture Dr. Kaufman will review the larger history of Zionism in all its complexity to enable better understanding of the phenomenon
and thus, it is hoped, help better navigate the current intracommunal tensions between Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews.

Brochure - 3 events: April 22, April 24, April 25

Dr. David Kaufman is an American Jewish historian who has served on the faculties of Hebrew Union College and Hofstra University, and authored two books, Shul with a Pool: The Synagogue-Center in American Jewish History (1999) and Jewhooing the Sixties: American Celebrity and Jewish Identity (2012). Now living on the Upper West Side, David works as an independent scholar and public historian teaching Jewish history and writing primarily on the subject of Jewish New York.

Members, see weekly newsletter or Members' section for Zoom link.  Interested others, please contact admin [at] westendsynagogue.org (office) for Zoom link.