The British Friends of the Hebrew University and the Institute of Jewish Studies at University College London recently teamed up for a thought‑provoking (and fully booked!) annual webinar: “The State of Desire – Religion and Reproductive Politics in the Promised Land.”
Our guest speaker, anthropologist Dr Lea Taragin‑Zeller, took us deep into one of the most intimate human questions: what does it mean to want children in a place where fertility is both a personal dream and a national project? Drawing on years of ethnographic research in Israel, she showed how orthodox men and women navigate between rabbinic rulings, medical expertise and their own longings, as they make decisions about family, treatment and technology.
From emotional conversations in fertility clinics to debates in religious courts and living rooms, Dr Taragin‑Zeller painted a vivid picture of the hopes, pressures and moral negotiations that shape contemporary Jewish life.
Heartfelt thanks to Sara Benisaac and Prof Mark Geller from UCL’s Institute of Jewish Studies for a wonderful collaboration – and, of course, to Dr Lea Taragin‑Zeller for a fascinating, original talk that left our audience with plenty to think about.