Deviant Yeshiva: Part 2-Self-Criticism

What? Me worry? What’s so funny about self-criticism? Talk among yourselves during the Deviant Yeshiva.

Being Jewish, Being Weird

Overview

Are you feeling weird? Are having trouble explaining your Jewish identity, and why it is important to you? Welcome to the club! We are here to help…make you even more confused! We will read texts by weird Jews (and some non-Jews) about how weird it is to be Jewish. The idea is to create a safe space for conversations that never seem to have a place.

What? Me Worry? Self-Criticism

The notion of self-criticism is a funny one. To think about oneself is both the arrogant exercise of being self-centered and the humble exercise of self-reflection. This session will reflect on the ability to laugh about oneself as a way to move forward. To be critical about one’s idea can be a mechanism of both undermining and advancing one’s idea.

What we’ll be reading:

Homi Bhabha “Joking Aside: The Idea of a Self-Critical Community” in Cheyette, B., & Marcus, L. (1998). Modernity, culture and “the Jew.” Polity Press.

Cohen, S. (1984). “The Leftʹs Advice to Jews”That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Anti-Semitic. Leeds: Beyond the Pale Collective.