Explore the connections between the self-reliance, resilience, and democratic local self-governance Jews developed and nurtured in the Diaspora and the institutions and systems that define the complex parliamentary democracy of the State of Israel and the role of nongovernmental organizations.

How did people long oppressed and terrorized as a scattered minority under democracies and autocracies develop and maintain a vibrant Jewish democracy? How do the movements for and against the 2023 judicial overhaul demonstrate that democracy in action?

This course is made up of four sections:

• Part I: Lessons Learned in State Building — How Jews as minorities in the Diaspora cleaved together as communities while interacting with non-Jewish populations and accommodated one another through innovation, adaptation and self-reliance, leading to religious pluralism without surrendering Jewish values and traditions.
• Part II: Defining Democracy — How Jews from many places formed the state, accommodating diverse definitions of Zionism and geographic backgrounds from autocracies to democracies to form a community preserving themselves in a national territory. How Israel’s Declaration of Independence incorporates the Jewish past, Zionism and the preservation of democracy with rights for all of its citizens.
• Part III: Democracy in Action and Israeli Civil Society — How Israel’s parliamentary system functions differently from the American presidential system and has produced a vital mix of nonprofit organizations meeting societal needs.
• Part IV: The Judicial Overhaul of 2023 — How Israelis protested and counterprotested over efforts to weaken the judiciary in comparison with the parliament and what the political and philosophical clashes say about the government’s operation without a written constitution.

What You’ll Learn

Upon completing this course, you will have a deep and clear understanding of how modern, vibrant, messy Israeli democracy is rooted in centuries of Diaspora experiences, including:

• Jews exercised survival skills, cooperation, self-governance and communal decision-making before having a state.
• Democratic decision-making evolved into acceptance of pluralistic views and equality of leadership roles regardless of gender.
• Israel’s Declaration of Independence is a democratic outline.
• Without a formal, written constitution, Israel is governed by Basic Laws.
• Proportional representation in a parliamentary system gives Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, more power than the courts and president.
• Judicial review shapes the democratic guardrails for the parliament.
• Nongovernmental organizations and wide civic engagement play vital roles in societal matters the government does not take on.

And much more.

Estimated Completion Time: 1 hour*

* Those who want to dive deeper into these and ancillary topics will find accompanying sources that can keep you learning for hours on end.