This 3-session course continues our June 2025 introductory study of Gandhian philosophy and practice of nonviolent resistance and noncooperation.

We will focus on Gandhi's development in South Africa with his turn to civil disobedience in 1906-1909 and then his 1947-48 fasts in Calcutta and Delhi.

What were the precise circumstances of his dramatic shift to resist the law in 1906? How did Gandhi transform from being a lawyer for the British empire to the activist, writer and thinker he became? Does any of this offer us models for our own lives?

All are welcome. The link to videos of the previous Intro classes will be provided. This course will be particularly meaningful for Jews in their spiritual preparation for Yamim Noraim.

Readings and Bibliography:

Dennis Dalton. Mahatma Gandhi. Nonviolent Power in Action. (Columbia University Press, 2012)

Mahatma Gandhi. Selected Political Writings, edited and with introduction by Dennis Dalton. (Hackett paper, 1996)

Ramachandra Guha. Gandhi. The Years that Changed the World. 1914-1948. 2 vols., (Knopf, 2018). Definitive biography.

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"Lessons for Our Time" are offered by The Beacon, a project of 501c3 fiscal sponsor Union Theological Seminary, with community partners, The Interfaith Center of NY, NY Jewish Agenda (NYJA), T'ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and a growing cadre of like-minded congregations and organizations.

Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum is Senior Rabbi Emerita at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, NYC, and founder and Director of The Beacon. She has exercised her lifelong passions for Jewish study, history, prayer and tradition, and her love for music and literature, her commitment to LGBTQ rights and her determination to erase the bifurcation of spirituality and social justice. rabbikleinbaum.com/

Dr. Dennis Dalton was the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science and is now emeritus at Barnard College, Columbia University. The winner of a Fulbright scholarship and grants from the American Council of Learned Societies and the American Philosophical Institute, he is the author of "Indian Idea of Freedom: Political Thought of Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose, Mahatma Gandhi, and Rabindranath Tagore" and editor of "Mahatma Gandhi: Selected Political Writings." barnard.edu/profiles/dennis-g-dalton

Gandhi: The Power of Nonviolence

By The Beacon

Gandhi: The Power of Nonviolence

LESSONS for OUR TIME