New ‘Jews and Power’ Course at Oberlin College Questioned by Rabbi
The rabbi is warning that Oberlin is setting itself up for another Gibson’s Bakery style lawsuit.
The College Fix reports:
Oberlin College ‘Jews and Power’ course questioned by rabbiOberlin College students can learn about “Jews and Power” this spring in a four-credit course.“Popular conceptions” of “Jews and power” can focus on “sympathetic accounts” that “view Jews as perennial victims,” the course description states.Or the conceptions can focus on a “hostile/antisemitic” view that “Jews” are “overly or preternaturally powerful,” according to the course description at the private Ohio college.Instead, this class will “complicate that bipolar framework by exploring a more diverse range of encounters between Jews and power from antiquity to the present,” the course description states.Matthew Berkman, a Jewish Studies professor, will teach the course.He did not respond to an email and phone call from The College Fix in the past several weeks that asked for his motivation behind the class and for a syllabus.In addition, Berkman (pictured) is set to teach a course titled “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict” this semester. He has been affiliated, including as an organizer, with Jewish Voice for Peace, which tends to support pro-Palestinian efforts and oppose Israel.Spokeswoman Andrea also did not respond to an email and phone call in the past several weeks.An Orthodox rabbi criticized the course in emailed comments to The Fix.He also brought up the lawsuit the college lost to local Gibson’s Bakery after school officials falsely maligned it as racist after a family member and employee stopped three black students who were stealing alcohol.“Oberlin recently got a $36 million lesson in how using DEI to decide what is or isn’t racism and bigotry is a bad idea, yet it is setting itself up for another costly lawsuit,” Rabbi Yaakov Menken told The Fix via email.“The belief that Jews operate as a single, hostile unit, disloyal to society and manipulating others to serve their own ends, is a telltale sign of antisemitic bias,” Rabbi Menken said.“In accordance with annals of Jew-hatred, the course takes for granted that ‘Jews’ can be seen as a block, who have a ‘relationship’ with power that is somehow different than that of the Irish, Italian, or even German communities,” Menken said.
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