Sex, Drugs & Rock’n Roll? - Fellowship, Homemade Hallah & Niggunim! Jewish Religious Counterculture in 1960s and 70s America

The class looks at the 1960s and 70s through a lens of religious culture. Progressive religious Jews engaged the spirit of the time by searching for new forms and expressions of traditional Judaism. In the process, they both embraced America and conceived of Judaism as a critique of problematic aspects of American policy and society. We will look at the Jewish Renewal and Havurah movements, the Jewish Catalogue, the re-discovery and re-purposing of Hasid-ism, the Orthodox ba’alei tshuvah movement as well other expressions of countercultural Ju-daism. The Jewish engagement with key political issues of the time, e.g. the Vietnam war, Black-Jewish relations, women’s liberation, and the Soviet Jewry movement will provide the context for the efforts to change Judaism, America, and the world, as will a comparative look at countercultural activities in other American religions. We will conclude by assessing the legacy and impact of the Jewish religious counterculture after some 50 years.