Led by Rabbi David Ponet and Natalie Cohen

On Zoom

Democracies rarely collapse in a single moment; they erode slowly. As Hannah Arendt warned in The Origins of Totalitarianism, mass loneliness, the lure of simple narratives, and the breakdown of a shared reality can create the conditions for tyranny. And as Timothy Snyder argues in On Tyranny, authoritarianism often begins with the small things: accepting lies, normalizing cruelty, practicing “anticipatory obedience.”

Examining Arendt’s thinking on these questions, along with other thoughts leaders, this chevrutah will explore how democracies die—and what steps we can take right now to halt the decline. What acts of vigilance, courage, solidarity and spirit might keep democracy alive?