The Tikvah Advanced Institutes

Instructors: George Weigel, Daniel Johnson, and Yoram Hazony
Stipend: $1,000 (Israel residents); $3,000 (International)

Europe—for so long the political, cultural, and military center of the world—is in crisis.

Various European countries are in the grips of economic calamity, reflecting a mix of unwise policies and cultural exhaustion. Demographic decline is weakening the entire continent. In many European capitals, Islamic radicalism—including violent crime and outright terror—is on the rise, and the return of anti-Semitism is raising questions about Europe’s dark past, and leaving many Jews to wonder whether they need to exit en masse for their own safety and dignity. From Dublin to Athens, from Lisbon to Warsaw, religious observance is down or non-existent, and the spirit of nihilism pervades the land.

The problems in Europe seem only more remarkable in light of the European faith in its own post-national experiment—the belief that the centralized administration of the continent would create a new, pacified, welfare-state model for all. But this dream now likes more like the beginnings of a new nightmare.

Is the crisis of Europe a crisis for Western civilization? Can these disquieting trends be reversed? If so, what would a reformation look like? If not, what does the decline of Europe mean for America, for Jews, and for Israel?

This November we will convene in Jerusalem to take up these big questions, seeking to understand the origins of European malaise and what hope there might be for the future. The seminar will be led by historian, theologian, and world-renowned intellectual George Weigel, author of The Cube and the Cathedral: Europe, America, and Politics without God and more than a dozen other books. He will be joined by Daniel Johnson, acclaimed author, journalist, and founding editor of Standpoint, and philosopher, political theorist, and Herzl Institute President Yoram Hazony, to help us see the European condition in all of its demographic, cultural, religious, and political complexity.

A note to our alumni: In the interest of bringing more new faces into the Tikvah community, we are not taking applications this round from past participants in Tikvah programs. We have a limited number of auditor seats in the programs that we are always thrilled to give to alumni of past programs. If you are interested in attending a program as an auditor please write to info@tikvahfund.org.