How the Bible's heroes shaped American valor.
ONLINE
TUESDAYS, 12-1:30 pm (ET) Oct. 6, 13, 20, 27; Nov. 3, 10
"Who is mighty? One who conquers his own impulse."
-- Ben Zoma, Pirkei Avot
Course Description:
George Washington was eulogized as "the Moses of Israel." Benjamin Franklin wanted the Great Seal of the United States to show Moses parting the Red Sea. Abolitionists saw their fight as a new Exodus, and in 1862 a group of ministers stood before Abraham Lincoln and asked him Mordecai's question from the Book of Esther: had he come to power "for such a time as this"?
Before Marvel and Star Wars, Moses, Esther, Samson, Daniel and Elijah were America's heroes. Colonists used the Purim story to debate whether to defy the King. Presidents quoted the prophets. Today, politicians on the left and the right still reach for the same verses.
In this series, we'll look at how these biblical figures gave Americans a shared language for courage, freedom and leadership. We'll also ask why that language faded and what it can still teach us.
TUESDAYS, 12 - 1:30 pm (ET)
Rabbi Dr. Stu Halpern serves as the senior advisor to the provost as well as the deputy director and chief strategy officer of the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. In addition to his doctorate in education, Rabbi Halpern has master’s degrees in both Bible and Psychology in Education, and an MBA in Nonprofit Management.
Rabbi Halpern has lectured to diverse audiences across the globe from the White House and the Senate to Europe and Western Australia, is on the Speakers Bureau for the American Bible Society, and has taught in YU’s undergraduate colleges as well as its graduate school of education. He is the editor or author of twenty books, including Jewish Roots of American Liberty: The Impact of Hebraic Ideas on the American Story and the upcoming Two Nations Under God: How (Biblical) Israel Inspires America, both of which received National Endowment for the Humanities grants. Among his other books are The Promise of Liberty: A Passover Haggada, Esther in America and Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land: The Hebrew Bible in the United States.
He has authored over two hundred articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Commentary, Newsweek, the American Bible Society, Law and Liberty, Tablet, Jewish Review of Books, Tradition, First Things, The Washington Free Beacon, Sapir, City Journal, ARC, the Jewish Journal, JTA, and the Jerusalem Post and was a finalist for a Rockower Award in 2025 for “Excellence in Writing about Jewish Thought and Life.”
