Alex Sinclair
ISRAEL
Alex Sinclair is Chief Content Officer at Educating for Impact, and an adjunct lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has written and spoken widely on Jewish education, Israel-Diaspora relations, and Israeli politics, in both academic and popular contexts. He has worked or consulted for many of the finest Jewish educational and communal institutions in North America, Europe and Israel, including the Hartman Institute, Hebrew College, Hebrew Union College, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and the Schechter Institute. His first book, published in 2013, Loving the Real Israel: An Educational Agenda for Liberal Zionism, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award, and his debut novel, Perfect Enemy, which Daniel Gordis called “A great, great story [which] raises profound issues about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, about the moral issues inherent in Zionism,” was published in 2023. He holds an M.A. (Oxon) and M.St. from Balliol College, Oxford, and a Ph.D. from Hebrew University. He and his wife run a hotel for their three children in Modi'in, Israel.
SESSION INFO
SATURDAY - LIMMUD IN YOUR LOUNGE
Perfect Enemy Book Talk - with Richard Parker
Perfect Enemy, a thriller set in contemporary Israel, is an exciting, page-turning suspense novel which raises uncomfortable questions about Jewish power, the hunger for revenge, and the idealism of those seeking peace. Join novelist Alex Sinclair in conversation with Richard Parker for some short readings from the book to whet participants’ appetites, and a discussion about some of the uncomfortable issues it raises (without giving away too many spoilers, of course).
SUNDAY 10.10-11.10am
Engaging with Israel in the era of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir: A guide for the perplexed, the despairing, and the petrified
"Loving the real Israel" means grappling with Israel's wonders and warts, its appeals and abominations. Politicians like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir belong, for many Diaspora Jews, to the second half of those dichotomies: their fundamentalist, messianic worldviews, if they come to fruition, will make it hard to like, let alone love, the Israel of the future. What could be the role of Diaspora Jews in this struggle for the soul of the Jewish people?
SUNDAY 11.30-12.30pm
From Trauma to Tomorrow: A look at Jewish and Israeli identity post-October 7th
A panel with Linda Gradstein and Dina Kraft
Jewish identity is often shaped by the Holocaust and other painful episodes of our history; October 7th has only increased the trauma that weighs upon us. How do we respond to trauma as a people? How do we liberate our collective narrative and self-understanding from its sociological and religious chains? We will study some classical and modern Hebrew texts and traditions to help us grapple with these questions.
SUNDAY 4-5pm
Without "red lines": A safe space for conversation about Israel where no questions or issues are off the table, with Peri Sinclair
In this session, we will encourage and facilitate open conversations about Israel. Using a pedagogy that enables questioners to remain anonymous, we'll open up the floor for whatever you want, whether it's clarifying historical questions you were too embarrassed to ask, or raising challenging perspectives you were too afraid to voice. Whether you want to talk about politics, history, sociology, culture, war, peace, Zionism, or just where to buy the best falafel, this is the place where it's all on the table.