Dreams for Living Jews: Rethinking Antisemitism and Jewish Life with Dara Horn

Spend a morning with Dara Horn – Leave with a new way to carry your Jewish story; Why is Jewish life so often introduced to the world through stories of antisemitism, persecution, and the Holocaust? And what might change if we shifted the conversation toward understanding Jews as a living, diverse, and culturally vibrant people?

In this provocative and timely talk, Dara Horn draws on the ideas from her books to examine the complicated relationship between antisemitism, Holocaust education, and the way Jewish identity is understood in contemporary society. She explores how a historical emphasis on Jewish suffering can sometimes overshadow Jewish culture, creativity, particularity, and the richness of Jewish life itself.

Dara Horn considers the connection between recent antisemitic attacks and debates over how the Holocaust is taught and remembered, revealing the larger assumptions that shape how Jewish identity is presented to non-Jewish audiences. Rather than focusing solely on how we combat antisemitism, she asks us to consider a deeper question: Do people actually understand who Jews are?

By turning the conversation from dead Jews to living Jews, Dara Horn offers a compelling vision for how understanding Jewish culture and its tradition of creative resilience can contribute to a more genuinely pluralistic society—one in which Jews are not defined primarily by persecution, but recognized as a living people with a culture, history, and future.

Dara Horn is the author of the new book The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living and the acclaimed People Love Dead Jews, along with five novels. She has won three National Jewish Book Awards and holds a PhD in Hebrew and Yiddish literature from Harvard. She hosts the podcast Adventures with Dead Jews and founded The Tell Institute, which helps schools teach Americans about Jewish civilization.

Breakfast will be served.

Doors open at 8:15 AM