Identity/Crisis

With elections top of mind for Jews in the U.S, Israel, and around the world, growing threats to liberalism and the rise of religious fundamentalism, populism, and identitarianism pose the question – are we going back in time? This week on Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and Tomer Persico discuss the current challenges to liberalism as a Jewish value and why its survival may be the only path forward for a moral future.

Read Tomer Persico’s article HERE

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At a time when it can be easy to focus on the threats to North American Jewish life, it’s important to remember that the current generation of American Jews benefits from more affluence, influence, power, and privilege than any other Jewish community in history. In this episode recorded in front of a live audience, Yehuda Kurtzer argues that we are heirs to a golden age of American Jewry, and that it is our responsibility to sustain this magnificent era in the face of those who may claim otherwise.

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The Democratic congressional primary in New York’s 16th District was one of the most closely watched this year and ended with Representative Jamaal Bowman losing to George Latimer. Yehuda Kurtzer and J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami discuss Bowman’s visit to Israel with J Street and the shift in Bowman’s politics and strategy during his time in office.

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With looming threats and escalating violence from Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel is being forced to shift its gaze to the North. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with journalist and author Matti Friedman about the rising tensions with Lebanon, Hezbollah’s history and ethos, and the ideological and geopolitical challenges currently faced by Israel.

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The latest issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, centers around Jewish life on university campuses, where anti-Zionism and antisemitism have become frighteningly visible.

In this week’s episode, guest host Claire Sufrin, editor of the award-winning Journal, speaks with Adena Kirstein, Executive Director of Hillel at the George Washington University, about her article in this issue where she focuses on the importance of engaging Jewish students through joy instead of fear. They discuss how to respond to antisemitism on campus, how to relate to students with a range of perspectives on Israel, and how her ability to guide students emerges from her training as a social worker.

A new issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas will be released in early July.

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This episode was originally released on November 7, 2023.

Organizations and individuals throughout the world are responding to the October 7th massacre by Hamas, and Israel’s military response, in sharp and vociferous contrast with one another. While one camp mourns the atrocities by Hamas and pools resources to aid the IDF, the other rallies to decry the suffering of Palestinian civilians caught in the war’s crossfire. Few voices, it seems, give credence to both tragedies at once.

This week, Yehuda Kurtzer and Mickey Gitzin, Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel, consider how it’s possible to hold complexity during this time of intense polarization and the ways the political left in Israel differs starkly from progressivism globally. They explore the conflicting visions for the future of the region, the balance of criticism and solidarity, the state of shared society between Israelis and Palestinians, and the role of activists and NGOs like the New Israel Fund.

Mentioned in this episode:

Learn more about the New Israel Fund here.

In July 2021, Ben & Jerry’s bid its parent company not to sell its ice cream in the occupied territories.

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Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and is traditionally a holiday of immersive text study. Reflecting on the spirit of the holiday, this week's episode is a recording of an interview with Yehuda Kurtzer on “Jewish Insights” on Jewish Broadcasting Service. Yehuda and JBS host Justin Pines share how they each relate to the Torah and discuss how it informs the way they think today. 

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The whole world is watching Israel’s next moves in Gaza, particularly on the amplified information battleground of social media where images of civilian suffering and desolation abound. What is the ethical calculus at play for the IDF in continuing to conduct this war?

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks to writer and philosopher Rabbi Shlomo Brody about the conflicting moral imperatives at play in Israel’s war with Hamas, social media during the fog of war, and where the Israeli perspective diverges from that of Jews in North America.

Mentioned in this episode:

·     Shlomo Brody’s recent book, Ethics of Our Fighters

·     And his WSJ op-ed, Rescue Israeli Hostages, but at What Cost?

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October 7th and its unfolding aftermath have triggered a seismic shift in Jewish communal life.

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Mimi Kravetz, Chief Impact and Growth Officer for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), to talk about JFNA’s recent surveys on Jewish community engagement, vulnerability, and solidarity with Israel in the United States and Canada, and what Jewish institutions can do to adapt to these changes.

Referenced in this episode:

· ‘The Surge,’ ‘The Core’ and more: What you need to know about the explosion of interest in Jewish life by Mimi Kravetz, Sarah Eismann, David Manchester – eJewish Philanthropy

· Data by Air Kelman – Sources Journal

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In honor of Memorial Day next week and the 80th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, Yehuda Kurtzer brings together members of his family, all of whom have served in some capacity in public service, to share the story of his grandfather, a decorated United States military veteran who served during WWII. Yehuda, Daniel Kurtzer, David Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, and Jacob Kurtzer discuss their family’s legacy of civic engagement across generations and the sacrifices they honor on these two solemn days. 

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In a special crossover this week, Yehuda Kurtzer takes the guest seat for a change, as he is interviewed for the Fearless Interventions podcast by Hartman Teen Fellow, Max Alperstein and his co-host Jacob Finkel. Together they tackle a range of issues at the top of their minds, including navigating political polarization, exploring the boundaries of Jewish identity, and pursuing earnest pluralism.   

Learn more and apply for the Hartman Teen Fellowship HERE.

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As university life becomes increasingly volatile for Jewish students, Jewish leaders and institutions on campus are faced with the challenge of supporting and empowering students in navigating tumultuous times. This week, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Jason Rubenstein, chaplain at Yale University and future executive director of Harvard Hillel, about the dynamics of Jewish student life and role of Hillels in creating spaces for Jewish students to learn, lead, and live in diverse and pluralistic communities.

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Celebrating Jewish redemption on Passover this year feels nearly impossible, while the Israel-Hamas war rages on and so many hostages remain in captivity. Can the Exodus story and the raw pain of the current moment exist together at the seder table? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer turns to president of Hebrew College, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, to share her thinking on intergenerational disagreements, communal boundaries, prayer, and freedom as we approach the holiday.

In Every Generation Haggadah Supplements

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As we mark 6 months since October 7 and approach the holiday of Passover, questions of communal memory feel more critical than ever. This week, guest host Sara Labaton speaks with Raquel Ukeles, Head of Collections at the National Library of Israel, about how the library is grappling with preservation, ownership, stewardship, and accessibility while creating a physical and cultural gathering place that represents all the communities whose heritage it houses. 

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The organizations that constitute the Jewish world—schools, synagogues, social service agencies, philanthropic institutions, and more—keep Judaism alive, yet not everyone who works in that world is Jewish. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Darin McKeever, CEO of the William Davidson Foundation, about his experience leading a Jewish organization as a non-Jew, navigating Jewish culture, Israeli politics, and questions of identity and belonging. 

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Jewish organizations are finding it increasingly challenging to represent the wide diversity of North American perspectives on Zionism. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with David Matlow about his lawsuit against the Toronto Zionist Council and the responsibilities of Zionist organizations in their representation of the voices of the Jewish people.

This episode of Identity/Crisis is sponsored by the Howard and Irene Levine Family Foundation

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Antisemitism on college campuses has seen a dramatic uptick in recent months. In an attempt to pressure U.C. Berkeley’s administration to address this issue, Ron Hassner, a professor of political science and the Helen Diller Family Chair in Israel Studies, is staging a sleep-in protest. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Ron about his act of protest, what he wants from the Berkeley administration, and the importance of free speech, especially on university campuses. 

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After the single largest attack on Israeli civilians in its history, Israeli music has taken on the complicated, often conflicting feelings of the country itself. This week, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Lior Zaltzman, deputy managing editor of Kveller, about how Israeli music has been used to express the emotions of the country throughout history, and the ways it has changed since October 7. A playlist of the songs discussed in this episode can be found at the link below. 

Episode Playlist 

Ruach Halochamot Tenatzeach (youtube) 

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Unlike past wars, the war in Gaza has been surrounded by so much media noise that even talking about it can feel paralyzing. As death counts rise, fear and anger breeds, and the endless news cycle drones on. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on his 3 trips to Israel since the start of the war, the changes he’s witnessed in Israeli society, and how he is cutting through all the noise.

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The months since October 7th have brought tremendous grief, loss, uncertainty, and fear to North American Jewish communities. Jewish community leaders are working tirelessly to support their communities through these trying times. In early February, alumni of The Wexner Foundation’s fellowships for Jewish professional leadership gathered at their annual conference. This week’s guest host, Maital Friedman, spoke with seven of these leaders about the challenges they’re facing, the questions they’re asking, and how they are forging a path forward.  

Guests featured on this episode:

Ilana Aisen, CEO of JPro

Jacob Feinspan, Executive Director of Jews United for Justice

Erica Frankel, Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and co-founder of Kehillat Harlem

Rachael Fried, Executive Director of JQY (Jewish Queer Youth)

Dalit Horn, Executive Director of the Vilna Shul

Daniel Olson, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Research at the National Ramah Commission

Adam Weisberg, Executive Director of Urban Adamah

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What do we learn from reversing the genders of Biblical characters and reworking the text to center on the feminine? With their ambitious project Toratah – the Regendered Bible, Yael Kanarek and Tamar Biala seek to find out. They offer a matriarchal structure, female characters, and feminine divinity that contrasts with a sacred text that has been dominated by masculinity and male characters for millennia. Yael and Tamar join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the process of regendering the Torah and the new and unexpected perspectives that Toratah reveals through transformative language. 

Read texts from Toratah and learn more about the project HERE. 

Get tickets to attend the Songs of Toratah: Album Release Concert HERE. 

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As Israeli society grapples with the aftermath of October 7th, Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is among the religious leaders rising to the challenge of providing spiritual, pastoral, and psychosocial support to evacuees, wounded soldiers, families of hostages, and others affected by the trauma of the attacks and the war. In this week's episode, she joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss her recent experiences and personal insights as a rabbi navigating communal grief, maintaining a spiritual position towards peace, and digging into the Jewish tradition for answers. 

Tamar’s rabbinic work was highlighted on NPR’s Morning Edition.  

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This week, Identity/Crisis is excited to share the first episode of Hartman’s newest podcast: TEXTing with Elana Stein Hain. On each episode Elana delves deeply into the issues of our day through the lens of classical Jewish texts, in conversation with Hartman scholars Christine Hayes, Yonah Hain, or Leora Batnitzky.   

In this first episode of TEXTing, Elana and Christine turn to the Talmud in tractate Hagigah to address the shock, disbelief, alienation, and despair Jews around the world are experiencing in the wake of October 7 and throughout the subsequent Israel-Hamas War. 

We are grateful to the Walder Charitable Fund and Micah Philanthropies for their generous support of TEXTing. 

This episode is also sponsored by Erica Schacter Schwartz 

Episode Source Sheet 

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Jews around the world hold deep moral commitments that are often in conflict. In the face of this kind of communal division, how can we foster a coherent sense of peoplehood? Is there an overarching narrative that deepens and enriches Jewish life while connecting Jews across oceans and ideological differences? Donniel Hartman tackles these existential questions of Jewish peoplehood in his newest book, Who Are the Jews — And Who Can We Become? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer and Donniel discuss the book and the core issues it explores, ultimately addressing what it means - and what it takes - to be a Jewish people today.  

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Link to purchase the book 

The relationship of many Jews to top tier American universities has recently undergone a transformation from an aspiration to study at an ivy league institution to a desire to join more hospitable campuses. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Mark Oppenheimer to examine the longstanding and evolving relationship between Jews and American universities as well as antisemitism, civil discourse, and belonging on campus.  

Gatecrashers, a Tablet podcast hosted by Mark Oppenheimer 

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How do we address the devastating intersection of legitimate war and human rights catastrophe? Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Yehudah Mirsky, professor, author, and former special advisor to the US State Department Human Rights Bureau, for a master class on the trajectory, impact, and underlying values of the human rights discourse. They explore what shapes our understanding and assumptions of human rights and where liberal, universalist ideals overlap with Zionism, Jewishness, and Jewish values on the world stage today.   

Mentioned in this episode:  

Hannah Arendt: The Rights of Man, the Political Community, Judgment and Recognition | SpringerLink By Hannah Arendt  

Human rights died in Gaza - UnHerd  by Yehudah Mirsky 

Believe Israeli Women - Identity/Crisis | Podcast on Spotify 

#51: Genocide, Antisemitism, and the Nomenclature of Hatred - Identity/Crisis | Podcast on Spotify 

 (PDF) The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History by Samuel Moyn (researchgate.net) 

(PDF) Durkheim's 'Individualism and the Intellectuals | steven lukes - Academia.edu 

 Why Hamas Killers Invoked God’s Name, Not the Liberation of Palestine - Israel News - Haaretz.com by Anshel Pfeffer (behind a paywall) 

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During this tumultuous and difficult year, what have we learned about how we relate to Judaism, the Jewish people, Israel, and the world? In this final episode of 2023, Yehuda Kurtzer uses selections from Identity/Crisis episodes over the past year to guide us through key moments and ideas. Beginning with concerns over Israel’s democracy, he explores what characterizes North American Judaism before delving into the devastation of October 7 and the subsequent war, ultimately reflecting on the lessons we have learned.  

Previous episodes of Identity/Crisis mentioned in this episode: 

Tehila Friedman, Hole in the Center of Israeli Society | January 17, 2023 

Rana Fahoum, Envisioning Shared Society | January 10, 2023 

Mishael Zion, How to Run a Seder | April 4, 2023 

Matti Friedman, Zion’s Roads are in Mourning |July 27, 2023 

Rachel Isaacs, Small Town American Judaism |June 19, 2023 

Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, From Kharkiv to New York | February 27, 2023 

Hannah Lebovitz, Lessons on Housing insecurity | September 27, 2023 

Eliot Cosgrove, The Case for Commandments | May 9, 2023 

Rabbi David Wolpe, The Art of the Sermon | September 12, 2023 

Various voices, A Nation That Can’t Sleep | October 11, 2023 

Shira Berkowitz, When Jews Show Up | November 28, 2023 

Eric Fingerhut, The Jewish Establishment and Its Critics | August 29, 2023 

Gali Cooks, The Jewish Leadership Pipeline Problem | July 17, 2023 

Tal Becker, Fighting a Just War |November 14, 2023 

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Today’s episode involves discussion of sexual assault and other violent themes connected to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Listener discretion is advised.  

In the aftermath of Hamas’s heinous televised attack, Cochav Elkayam-Levy, law professor and expert on international law, human rights, and feminist theory, became the Chair of Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children. One week after meeting with White House officials, she spoke with Yehuda Kurtzer about her work to compile a comprehensive accounting of gender-based violence committed by Hamas and the heartbreaking struggle for recognition that she is facing in the international arena. 

Cochav Elkayam-Levy speaking before the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.  

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How did Hanukkah transform from a story about a military conquest and temple rededication into the festival of lights that we celebrate today? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer studies texts about Hanukkah with Joshua Kulp, senior scholar at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and scholar of ancient Judaism. They argue about the meaning of Hanukkah as they explore the rabbinic relationship with militarism as well as historical and religious interpretations of the events connected to the Hanukkah story. 

Source sheet coming soon. 

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Across the United States, students are rallying and advocating for their perspectives about the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Campus conversations and environments are becoming increasingly hostile with many Jewish students reporting feeling unsafe. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Mijal Bitton, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) and co-founder of the Downtown Minyan in New York City to probe the term ‘safety’ and how it interacts with the discomfort that a diverse, liberal education should engender. They ask: when is discomfort productive, when is it unproductive, and when does it cross the line to dangerous? They consider the purpose of universities as well as if and how Jews can continue to exist within, and even improve, systems that don’t see us. 

• Mijal Bitton’s Speech at the March on Washington 
• Mijal Bitton’s Speech at a rally at NYU 
• Yascha Mounk, mentioned by Mijal Bitton 
• Mijal Bitton’s article in opposition to the Women’s March, 2019 
• Avishai Margalit On Compromise and On Rotten Compromises  
• Harper’s letter on justice and open debate 
• Letter in response to Harper’s letter  
• Message from Northwestern’s President Schill to Senior Leadership 
• University of Chicago’s approach to free speech - The Kalven Report (1967) 
• University of Chicago’s “Statement,” October 9, 2023 
• Letter signed by 500 Columbia professors 

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What does it mean for 290,000 Jews from all over North America to show up on the National Mall? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on the significance of the historic gathering in Washington, DC on November 14. Punctuated by recordings of fellow demonstrators and colleagues, he recounts his experiences at the rally, explores what it means to show up, and considers how this gathering might be remembered. 

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The international community is alight with debate over the morality of Israel’s war against Hamas. This week, Yehuda Kurtzer consults Tal Becker, Senior Fellow at the Hartman Institute, Legal Adviser of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and a veteran member of Israeli peace negotiation teams, about the ethics of Israel’s current operation in Gaza. They explore just war theory through legal, philosophical and Jewish frameworks and analyze the actions of the IDF and Hamas accordingly.

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For over a month, Hamas has held 240 hostages from 33 different countries, among them women, children, infants, teenagers, and seniors. This week, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, the parents of 23-year-old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, spent time with Yehuda Kurtzer talking about their son and their plight as parents of a hostage. In this conversation, they describe their efforts beseeching global leaders, the frustrations of indifference, the politics of fighting a war with hostages, and what we can all do to help bring Hersh and the rest of the hostages home. 

Follow the Instagram account @bringthemhomenow 

Follow the Instagram account @bringhershhome 

Spend one minute a day trying to bring the hostages home: oneminaday.com 

Watch Rachel Goldberg speak at the United Nations 

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Organizations and individuals throughout the world are responding to the October 7th massacre by Hamas, and Israel’s military response, in sharp and vociferous contrast with one another. While one camp mourns the atrocities by Hamas and pools resources to aid the IDF, the other rallies to decry the suffering of Palestinian civilians caught in the war’s crossfire. Few voices, it seems, give credence to both tragedies at once. 

This week, Yehuda Kurtzer and Mickey Gitzin, Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel, consider how it’s possible to hold complexity during this time of intense polarization and the ways the political left in Israel differs starkly from progressivism globally. They explore the conflicting visions for the future of the region, the balance of criticism and solidarity, the state of shared society between Israelis and Palestinians, and the role of activists and NGOs like the New Israel Fund. 

Mentioned in this episode: 

• Learn more about the New Israel Fund here. 
• In July 2021, Ben & Jerry’s bid its parent company not to sell its ice cream in the occupied territories. 
• Listen to our episode with Haviv Gur about the violence in the West Bank perpetrated by hilltop youth.

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In this recording of a live zoom conversation on Wednesday, October 25, Chanan Weissman, director of the SAPIR Institute, and Yehuda Kurtzer discuss Yehuda's recent trip to Israel, which he likens to visiting a shiva house. Yehuda describes the deep trauma facing both Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora as this war develops on the ground and on our screens. Finally, they discuss the ethical considerations of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, and how liberal North American Jews may be struggling to reconcile priorities of justice and compassion with commitments to solidarity and peoplehood. 

This conversation was originally hosted by the SAPIR Institute as part of their ongoing series of live conversations about this critical moment in Jewish history. To read or watch more from the Sapir Journal, visit sapirjournal.org. 

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The events of the past few weeks and war in Israel will be a defining, even identity-shaping, moment for a generation of young Jews. In this week's episode, Yehuda Kurtzer chats with several young Jewish students from the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Hevruta Gap-Year program, an experience for Israeli and North American students to live and learn together. They share the ways the war has already changed their outlooks - from a conviction about future army roles to fear about arriving on college campuses, and they consider their obligations to one another as Jews. Despite all that is changing, they point us toward their own sources for hope.

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Ten days into a brutal new reality, much of Israeli society has picked itself up from the shock of the initial attacks and quickly mobilized toward helping the war effort, from donating medical supplies to housing refugees whose homes were destroyed. In this week’s episode Yehuda Kurtzer speaks to Effie Shoham, professor of Medieval Jewish History at Ben Gurion University and leader of the recent protest movement in Jerusalem, Shomrim Al Habayit Hamishutaf. Since the start of the war, Shomrim Al Habayit’s communication platform for organizing mass protests against the judicial reform instantly pivoted to support the Israeli people, exemplifying civic resilience and ingenuity. Yehuda and Effie discuss the political strategy of civil organizing, how NGO’s and the government are working to meet the needs of the public, and how North American Jews can best support Israel in this moment.

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Saturday, October 7 was the deadliest day in Jewish history since the Holocaust as a result of the brutal attack by Hamas terrorists. Israel has been at war since. Over the last few days, Jews all over the world have reached out to friends and family in Israel via WhatsApp to check-in. In this week's episode, Yehuda Kurtzer collected voice messages from seven friends and colleagues in Israel that offer a window into their experiences and capture their perspectives on this unprecedented moment of uncertainty, pain, loss, and resilience.

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On Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Hebrew calendar, Israeli Jews in Tel Aviv clashed about what it means for Judaism to manifest in the public square, tensions that relate directly to recent political battles over the character of the Jewish State. Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Yossi Klein Halevi and Masua Sagiv to process these events and interrogate their emotional reactions to the protests, the integrity of Jewish prayer, the perils of partisanship, and what it means to be consistent in one's commitment to democracy. 

Street fights over prayer offer liberal Israelis a chance to define a Judaism they can believe in by Masua Sagiv

The state of our brokenness by Yossi Klein Halevi

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Dwelling in temporary booths during the holiday of Sukkot reminds us of the Israelites wandering after their exodus from Egypt and inspires us to consider the vulnerability of housing insecurity. As we look towards a week of sitting in our own booths, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Hannah Lebovits, assistant professor of Public Affairs and Planning at the University of Texas, Arlington. Together they discuss some of the structures that prevent society from fully addressing housing insecurity, how we might approach solutions, and how Judaism can inform our perspective towards our unhoused neighbors. 

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In response to the current political moment in Israel, the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America hosted a day-long virtual Teach-In on September 20. This episode is a recording of Yehuda Kurtzer's opening session, where he challenges us to expand our understanding of what Jewish tradition teaches us about how we can respond in times of crisis. In addition to protest, he suggests that blowing shofar, teaching, and fasting are all rituals that transform and mobilize us as individuals and as a community.

A source sheet accompanying this session can be found here.

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With Rosh Hashana right around the corner, Yehuda Kurtzer sat down with Rabbi David Wolpe, the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, to discuss the art of writing a rabbi's sermon. As they explore the ingredients of a great rabbinical speech, they touch on the writing process, the often blurry division of a rabbi’s public and private life, and the role of politics at the pulpit. Together, they get to the very heart of what it means both to have a rabbi and to be a rabbi.

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.restorativefaith.org/post/departure-why-i-left-the-church

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The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October 2018 was the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. For Adam Reinherz, award-winning journalist and senior staff writer at the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, it was also something much more personal. In the years since the attack, Adam has reported on everything—from the tragedy to its fallout to the shooter's recent death sentence—across dozens of articles, for the sake of both his Jewish community and the larger world. In this week's episode, Adam and Yehuda Kurtzer discuss what it means to approach a story that holds both particular and universal resonance.

A list of Adam's articles on the shooting can be found here.

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"The Jewish establishment" evokes images of a small group of insiders with some combination of power, affluence, and influence. This isn't necessarily wrong, but the power and purpose of that establishment has shifted significantly since its height in the middle of the 20th century, and it also exists in relationship to its critics.

Eric Fingerhut has been a member of many "establishments." He was a congressman for Ohio 19th district, CEO of Hillel International, and is now the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). In conversation with Yehuda Kurtzer, he shares his perspectives on the power and limits of representing North American Jewish communities, particularly during times of political crisis; the systems of democracy within his own organization; and where he sees hope for the Jewish future in both North America and Israel.

Yehuda Kurtzer’s article “The Establishment Has No Clothes” 

A highly competent bureaucrat who conceived the modern Israeli economy, a bungler who mismanaged the Yom Kippur War, or "the only man in the Israeli cabinet:" these are only a few of the many images of Golda Meir that remain etched in Israeli national consciousness. But who was Golda Meir, and how might her story shed light on enduring political and social questions facing the state of Israel? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Pnina Lahav, Professor of Law Emerita at Boston University, about her recently published feminist biography of Golda Meir, The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power (Book | Audiobook). They discuss Golda Meir's political career and the conflicts that shaped it, exploring the complexities of gender, rhetoric, compromise, and power.

This episode originally aired on April 18th, 2023.

This is a recorded reading from the author of an essay published in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, a publication of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.

In this essay, “Variations on the Shema,” Sam Fleischacker meditates on Judaism’s central prayer and statement of faith. Seen through Sam’s eyes, the Shema becomes the thread that guides a Jew from childhood to adulthood and from place to place. He argues that by seeing the Shema in all the ways that our tradition asks us to look at it, from the Haggadah to our farthest travels, we can bring diversity and richness to one of our most familiar rituals, and thereby our lives.

Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas is a print and digital award-winning journal promoting informed conversations and thoughtful disagreement about issues that matter to the Jewish community. Our Fall issue on the theme of Danger and Safety will be out in just a few weeks. Find it at sourcesjournal.org, where you can read all of our articles for free and also subscribe to our beautiful printed edition.

Should religious commitments motivate political activism? How might we show up for abortion rights not only as Americans, but as Jews? Rori Picker Neiss, Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis and a Rabbinic Fellow of the David Hartman Center, is a leader in the fight against abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation in Missouri. She joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the role of religion in shaping our political and moral choices, the place of clergy in social movements, and how faith might build bridges across the aisle.

This episode originally aired on February 14th, 2023.

We’re bringing you something new this week. We invite you to listen to an audio version of an article that appeared in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, a publication of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.

In this article, “Fear, Fury, and the Struggle for Equal Rights in Israel,” Leah Solomon writes about the role that emotions play in Israeli culture and politics, and argues that we must move beyond fear in order to bring a resolution to the conflict. Leah is the Chief Education Officer at Encounter, an organization that educates Jewish leaders about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas is a print and digital award-winning journal promoting informed conversations and thoughtful disagreement about issues that matter to the Jewish community. Our Fall issue on the theme of Danger and Safety will be out in just a few weeks. Find it at sourcesjournal.org, where you can read all of our articles for free and also subscribe to our beautiful printed edition. 

After months of civil unrest in Israel, the first bill from the governing coalition's judicial reform proposal was officially passed on Monday. Recording together in Jerusalem, Matti Friedman and Yehuda Kurtzer break down and analyze recent events, including the political appointments and identity politics that led to this moment, the anti-reform protesters' incredibly wide coalition, the radicalization of the Israeli Right, Netanyahu’s role, the stories that Americans are telling themselves, and more.

Matti Friedman's previous Identity/Crisis episode: Leonard Cohen's Military Mystery Tour

Raising kids Jewishly adds a layer of responsibility and opportunity to all of the other demands of parenting as parents navigate a wide set of choices about everything from the songs they play during holidays to how they talk to their kids about the Holocaust and antisemitism. For many parents, these aren't just responsibilities; they're a Jewish practice in and of themselves as they aim to support their children in inheriting and contributing to Jewish tradition. To explore these ideas, the Shalom Hartman Institute is launching Perfect Jewish Parents, a new show about the joys and oys of raising children Jewishly.

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Joshua Ladon and Masua Sagiv, hosts of the Shalom Hartman Institute's newest podcast, Perfect Jewish Parents, to discuss what inspired this new show about the joys and oys of raising children Jewishly.

Subscribe to Perfect Jewish Parents:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perfect-jewish-parents/id1697155774

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PYvt8HynHfVfcFomTdx4N?si=da0f58c11c564797

Concern over Jewish leadership continuity is as old as the Bible, and yet every generation feels the problem differently. Today, fewer young Jews are choosing to work in Jewish spaces, which will eventually result in a smaller pool of potential leaders. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Gali Cooks, founding president and CEO of Leading Edge, a nonprofit that helps Jewish organizations improve their workplace cultures. Together they explore how to make Jewish organizations not just thoughtful contributors to Jewish life, but also compelling places to work, ensuring that both those who benefit from Jewish spaces and those who work to maintain those spaces continue to stay engaged.

Leadership and Change in the Land of the Lost, article referenced by Yehuda in the episode.

A few weeks ago, Yehuda Kurtzer was named president of the Shalom Hartman Institute alongside Donniel Hartman. In this conversation recorded live at the Institute in Jerusalem before 125 rabbis from across North America and Israel, Yehuda and Donniel sat side-by-side for the first time as presidents. In a deeply personal and moving conversation, they discuss what they've learned from each other, how their aspirations of Jewish life and peoplehood shape their work and that of the Institute in Israel and North America, and their vision for the role the Institute can play in the world.

Political ideas are often steeped in religious values. In some communities, political action may even be seen as a religious responsibility. In this episode, adapted from a conversation recorded before a live audience during our annual Community Leadership Program at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, guest host Elana Stein Hain (Rosh Beit Midrash at Hartman) spoke with Orly Erez-Likhovski (Director of the Israel Religious Action Center) and Rabbi Rick Jacobs (President of the Union for Reform Judaism) about how liberal values translate into political action, both for Jews in Israel and in North America. As representatives of the Reform movement in Israel and North America, Orly and Rick share their experiences working across denominations and continents to shape Israeli policy and unify Jewish communities.  

A commitment to a liberal ethos necessitates a commitment to speaking with “the other”, especially about matters we hold most dear. In this edited recording of the Edward Bronfman Memorial Lecture, delivered in front of a live audience during our annual Community Leadership Program at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Yehuda Kurtzer and Yossi Klein Halevi discuss the “lost art” of persuasion: How do we stand by our unique values while also practicing pluralism? What would happen if we valued humble, peaceful society over passionate, loud ideas? How can we examine ourselves, within and without, to become better people?

For further viewing:

Should Diaspora Jews Have a Say in Israeli Affairs? [YouTube]

The Last Time Democracy Almost Died [The New Yorker]

There have always been Jews in small American towns, and their communities look different from larger, more urban Jewish communities in important ways. In this episode, host Yehuda Kurtzer dives into the intricacies of small town American Jewish life with Rachel Isaacs, the rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation of Waterville, Maine, and director of Colby College’s Center for Small Town Jewish Life. They discuss what constitutes community in a place with few Jews, lessons born of necessity about how we practice pluralism, and the sense of communal collaboration that small town communities are more likely to engender.

We are what we eat—or, at least, what we eat can serve as a window into who we are, reflecting the places and practices that have shaped us. Food can even be a kind of text: a kitchen table tells a story, contains layers of hidden meanings, and opens fresh possibilities for new ways of thinking, living and relating to one another. In this episode, host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by African-American Jewish writer and culinary historian Michael Twitty for a conversation about his new book Koshersoul and its connection to belonging, identity, and food. They discuss the rootedness and transience that have shaped both Black and Jewish diasporic culture, the ways in which overlapping and intersecting identities can challenge and sharpen our understandings of ourselves, and how Black and Jewish experiences in this country might shed light on the meaning of America. And, of course, they swap recipes.

How should we respond to speech that challenges our core commitments, beliefs, and even identities? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer unpacks recent events surrounding this year's City University of New York (CUNY) Law School Commencement, during which commencement speaker Fatima Mohammed denounced the State of Israel and Zionists and commended CUNY for protecting her fellow students' right to "speak out against Israeli settler colonialism." The events leading up to the speech, as well as the response to it both from the Law School and in the media, offer a gloomy prognosis for the future of discourse around Israel and Palestine. But what might it look like, he asks, to seek out real conversations with those who disagree with us—and do so vociferously—on the very issues that matter most to us?

Referred to in this episode:

CUNY School of Law Commencement Speech 2023

Statement from the Board of Trustees and Chancellor of CUNY

Every summer, thousands of American Jewish teenagers leave their homes to spend weeks making trouble and memories in what might be their favorite place in the world: summer camp. But Jewish camp isn't just fun, games and reenactments of Aliya Bet; it's a place for Jewish kids to learn about history, ritual and belonging, an opportunity for teens to understand themselves as part of the Jewish story. In this episode, host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Sandra Fox, Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew & Judaic Studies at NYU and author of The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America, for a conversation about summer camp and its role in the formation of American Jewish identity. In a conversation that ranges from Color War to hookup culture to Yiddish immersion, they explore the ways in which Jewish camping has always been, and continues to be, a site for the negotiation of the American Jewish community's hopes and anxieties about its future.

The Talmud is a messy, playful, and undeniably human text. It's also the bedrock of the genre that the Jewish people call Torah. In honor of the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, the day in the Jewish calendar celebrating divine revelation, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Benay Lappe, President and Rosh Yeshiva of SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva, to learn Torah and to talk about what it means to learn Torah. They ask: what would happen if we thought about Torah as the inheritance not of an elite and pious few, but of all Jews, especially those on the margins? How does Torah invite us to participate in a conversation, across time and space, with the Jewish people? And how might we hear God's voice through the study of Talmud? Together, Yehuda and Benay study three Rabbinic texts, each of which imagines God as a little bit human, a little bit frail, and very much invested in a relationship with human beings.

A source sheet accompanying this episode can be found here.

For the majority of American Jews today, commitment to halakha (Jewish law) is not the engine that drives religious life. Instead, most American Jews see their lived Judaism as the product of their own choices, which may or may not have anything to do with Jewish law. In this episode, Elliot Cosgrove, rabbi of the Conservative congregation of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City, joins host Yehuda Kurtzer for a conversation about his recent article in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, which argues that liberal Jewish institutions have not properly responded to this reality. Together, they discuss what it might mean to make the case for mitzvot (commandments) within a framework of an autonomous, choice-driven Judaism.

Israel celebrated its 75th birthday in the midst of one of the biggest crises of democracy that the country has ever experienced and one of the most energetic protest movements in its history. In this episode, recorded live at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan on Yom Ha'atzmaut, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Knesset member Merav Michaeli, the head of the Israeli Labor Party. They engage in a conversation about the current moment in Israel, the ethics of political compromise, and the past and future of the Israeli left. Can liberals reclaim the language and narratives of Zionist thought and history that have been co-opted by the far right? What is the role of American Jews in bringing about an Israel we can be proud of? And is there something in the air in Israel these recent weeks that might hint toward an affirmative vision for Israeli liberal democracy?

American Jews have a long tradition of being anxious about the next generation of American Jews. Are they sufficiently engaged in Jewish communal life? How are they forming opinions about Zionism and Israel? Are they successfully maintaining tradition (whatever that means)? And what does all that mean for what American Judaism might look like in 20, 30, or 50 years from now?

In this episode, host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Sofia, Daniel, and Rivka—three high school students who are currently participating in the Hartman Teen Fellowship—for a conversation about Jewish identity and the American Jewish future. They discuss what Jewish learning means to them, how Jewish institutions can better address the challenges facing teenagers, and their dreams for American Jewish life.

Now accepting applications to the 2023-2024 Hartman Teen Fellowship, open to Jewish high schoolers entering grades 10-12 in the fall.

A highly competent bureaucrat who conceived the modern Israeli economy, a bungler who mismanaged the Yom Kippur War, or "the only man in the Israeli cabinet:" these are only a few of the many images of Golda Meir that remain etched in Israeli national consciousness. But who was Golda Meir, and how might her story shed light on enduring political and social questions facing the state of Israel? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Pnina Lahav, Professor of Law Emerita at Boston University, about her recently published feminist biography of Golda Meir, The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power (Book | Audiobook). They discuss Golda Meir's political career and the conflicts that shaped it, exploring the complexities of gender, rhetoric, compromise, and power.

It's Passover, a time for new beginnings--and that's especially true for baseball fans, who celebrated this year's Opening Day just a week before the holiday began. In this episode, host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Ira Berkow, Pulitzer Prize-winning sports writer, to reminisce about formative moments in the history of Jewish baseball and to explore the meaning of baseball for American Jews. Whether through Hank Greenberg's "home runs against Hitler" or Sandy Koufax's famous decision to sit out a World Series game on Yom Kippur, American Jews have looked to baseball as a means of understanding their place in this country. What can a bat and a ball tell us about identity, sacrifice, and belonging?

Is the Passover Seder the right place for a political debate? Who is the target audience when your guests are generations apart? What kind of book is the Haggadah, anyway? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Hartman faculty member Mishael Zion, Director of the Mandel Leadership Institute’s Program for Leadership in Israeli Jewish Culture and co-author of two haggadot, to discuss what is perhaps the most famous and widely practiced Jewish ritual: the Passover seder. They reminisce about their old family traditions, swap strategies for managing Seder stress, and think out loud about the pedagogy of Passover.

Mishael's Freedom Hagaddah can be found online here.

Ever since Israel's current government proposed a judicial overhaul that would render the Israeli Supreme Court powerless to strike down legislation, protesters have been flooding the streets. The current moment in Israel is one of tremendous anxiety and fear for the future of Israeli democracy, but it is also a moment of reckoning and of hope, as Israelis are showing up en masse to stand up for their visions of what Israel could be. In this episode, recorded in front of a live virtual audience earlier today, Monday, March 27th, Yehuda Kurtzer unpacks several different stories that are contributing to this moment in Israeli public life, and explores what the legislation and the protests might mean for the future of the Jewish people.

Organized philanthropy has become the most powerful force in American Jewish communal life. As the culture of philanthropy has transformed, so has the allocation of power in the community. In an episode originally released in May 2022, Felicia Herman, Chief Operating Officer of Maimonides Fund, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss how the history of charitable giving has changed since the creation of the State of Israel, shifts in the Jewish institutional landscape with the rise of family foundations, and whether the Federation system retains its power and impact today.

This episode originally aired on May 17th, 2022.

We are all inevitably shaped by the "dusty old books" of the Jewish past: our institutions, ideas and identities are built on the thought and work of our intellectual forbearers, even when we ultimately repudiate their teachings. Host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by David Ellenson, Chancellor Emeritus of Hebrew Union College and professor emeritus at Brandeis University, to discuss three key figures who were instrumental in the making of American Judaism as we know it today: Abraham Joshua Heschel, Mordecai Kaplan, and Joseph B. Soloveitchik. They examine what these three iconic rabbis stood for, and try to understand how their legacies have shaped American Judaism as we live it.

The Purim story is one in which the Jewish people take responsibility for their own destiny. While the story ends in triumph it also involved a great deal of violence inflicted by the Jews upon their enemies. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer explores the meaning of the Purim story and its relevance for our present political moment, asking what it would look like take seriously the responsibility that comes with Jewish power and agency.

Mentioned in this episode: After Kibiye, an essay by Yeshayahu Leibowitz (http://www.leibowitz.co.il/leibarticles.asp?id=85)

The Jewish tradition is full of exhortations to look after the vulnerable—to open up our pocketbooks, our hearts and even our homes to those in need—as well as stories of our own vulnerability, when we were dependent on the generosity and heroism of others. What might it look like to take those exhortations, and those stories, seriously? Last week, Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, Executive Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, wrote an article in Tablet about opening up her home this past year to a family of Ukrainian refugees. She joins Yehuda Kurtzer to explore that experience and what it can tell us about obligation, about dignity, and about the meaning of Jewish history.

How wary should American Jews be of "airing our dirty laundry in public?" Should they resist subjecting other Jews to public scrutiny out of concern that it will lead to caricatures and stereotypes of Jewish communities—or is it our responsibility to bring our concerns to light in the hope that accountability will motivate much-needed societal change? Lani Santo is the CEO of Footsteps, an organization providing educational, vocational, and social support to people who have left or want to leave the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. She joins host Yehuda Kurtzer for a conversation about recent public discourse around Hasidic education and about how we, as Jews, can and ought to hold one another accountable in the public square.

Should religious commitments motivate political activism? How might we show up for abortion rights not only as Americans, but as Jews? Rori Picker Neiss, Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis and a Rabbinic Fellow of the David Hartman Center, is a leader in the fight against abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation in Missouri. She joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the role of religion in shaping our political and moral choices, the place of clergy in social movements, and how faith might build bridges across the aisle.

American Jews are learning about Israel through television shows like Fauda and Shtisel—but what happens when an American Jew takes center stage? Aleeza Chanowitz, Chanshi creator, writer, and star, joins guest host Shayna Weiss (Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University) and Yehuda Kurtzer to speak with about the American Jewish experience in Israel and the interweaving of fact and fiction, biography and story. Chanshi, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival—a first for an Israeli TV series—tells the story of an Orthodox Jewish woman who moves from Brooklyn to Israel to claim her agency outside her conservative religious community.

Shalom Hartman Institute founder Rabbi Prof. David Hartman z”l was a leading thinker among philosophers of contemporary Judaism and an internationally renowned Jewish author. In honor of his tenth yahrzeit (Sunday, 30 Shevat 5773 – February 10, 2013) , we are releasing this archival recording of a 1995 lecture he delivered at the Lion of Judah conference which was followed by a speech from then First Lady Hillary Clinton.

In the last few months, a new AI called ChatGPT has emerged and is already upending education at all levels. How will ChatGPT impact Jewish education and Jewish learning? Identity/Crisis guest host David Zvi Kalman, Director of New Media and Scholar in Residence speaks with Sara Wolkenfeld, Rabbinic Fellow of the David Hartman Center and Chief Learning Officer at Sefaria about what these technologies mean for Jewish learning, how we think about the sacredness of texts, and where we go from here.

You can David Zvi's recent blog post about AI here.

Is it possible for centrist and moderate Israelis, those who believe in a Jewish democratic state, to stand together? Tehila Friedman is a Research Fellow at Shalom Hartman Institute, the host of a new Hebrew-language podcast about Israeli Jewish identity, and a program director for Shaharit, a think tank promoting a new social covenant in Israel. She joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss how to build societal infrastructure that allows us to manage our differences without breaking into pieces.

Tehila's show, Bemedinat HaYehudim, can be found here.

Can the acceptance of multiple identities and conflicting narratives paradoxically propel us toward a vision for a shared society? Rana Fahoum, a Palestinian and an Israeli citizen and the recently appointed Director of Hartman's new Center for Shared Society, joins Yehuda Kurtzer for an inspiring and honest conversation. They discuss the unique interconnections between Palestinian Israelis, Jewish Israelis, and American Jews as well as Hartman's role in building a shared society.

The new Israeli government coalition, which aligns with ultra-Orthodox and right-wing extremist parties, is poised to affect major changes on Israeli society, including limiting the Law of Return, delegitimizing non-Orthodox Judaism, and limiting LGBTQ rights. These moves are disturbing on their face, and they also threaten to further alienate Israel from Jews in North America. Will the government's policies undermine Jewish peoplehood within and beyond its borders? Tani Frank, director of the Hartman Institute's Center for Judaism and State Policy, joins Yehuda Kurtzer for a discussion about the place of liberal values and liberal Judaism in Israel and ways that we can affect change in this political environment.

Host Yehuda Kurtzer convenes a panel of guests to discuss the past and present of American Jewish religious music, from Mordechai Ben David to Nissim Black to Debbie Friedman. Featuring Dovid Bashevkin (1840 Podcast), Yardaena Osband (Talking Talmud Podcast), Miri Miller (SHI NA), and Shira Hanau (JTA).

Episode playlist: https://spoti.fi/3vLFbMQ

Other Songs Discussed:

Im Hashem Lo Yivneh Bayis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckVYO9oI8vc

Lmaancha with Ben Shapiro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-Km7RfBEs

This episode originally aired on March 22nd, 2021.

What is the responsibility of Jewish leaders to address mental health in the Jewish community? Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Yael Kornfeld, campus social worker at Hunter College Hillel and a Jewish professional on the frontline of the mental health crisis, about the Jewish imperative to support people who are struggling to be safe and sane, and what those struggles look like in the current social media-internet-pandemic landscape.

Resources: Jewish Mental Health Resources at the Blue Dove Foundation

We hope that Hartman has become an intellectual and spiritual home for you to make sense of the present moment. Help us put Jewish ideas into action. Every dollar you contribute will be matched 100%, up to $100,000 this December. Support our work today.

What happens when one grapples with their Jewish identity? How does this impact their relationship with self, family, and community? Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Naomi Seidman, professor, author, and Hartman Fellow to discuss Heretic in the House, a new limited podcast series from the Hartman Institute that explores various ways that those who have left Orthodox Jewish communities see themselves and what their journeys can reflect about belonging, otherness and communal relationships. In the episode, Yehuda and Naomi unpack why so many Jews—not just those who have gone "Off the Derekh"—struggle with the notion of a static Jewish identity and how making choices about how to live Jewishly impacts one's idea of self and relationships with others.

Heretic in the House: https://www.hartman.org/heretic

How do you democratize the study of Torah? Lehrhaus, a Jewish tavern meets beit midrash in Boston is reimagining what Jewish learning could be. Co-founders Charlie Schwartz and Joshua Foer join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss their hope to redefine public Jewish communal space, what a life of Torah could look like, and the significance of hevruta study in defining Jewish identity.

For many American Jews, Thanksgiving is another high holiday. We celebrate our obligations of citizenship and show appreciation for all that America has granted. Perhaps, in turn, our tradition may have lessons to teach America. Could the Jewish model of interpreting our stories for the present, and our conceptions of memory, gratitude, and redemption, heal our divided country?

In this special episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on the Jewish significance of Thanksgiving.

This episode originally aired on November 23rd, 2021.

The Jewish media landscape has evolved significantly over the last few years, and has in many ways become more fragmented. In this episode, Laura E. Adkins, (Opinion Editor of the Forward) and Ari Hoffman, (Assistant Editor of the New York Sun) join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss what happens when the mission of a publication changes and how Jewish media can continue to serve as a public square for communal discourse.

Last week, Israel returned Netanyahu to power as part of a right wing coalition that will include Itamar Ben Gvir, a racist politician who was the subject of last week's episode. This week, Americans seem poised to return at least one chamber of Congress to the Republican party.

In this episode, recorded on Election Day as Americans headed to the polls, Yehuda Kurtzer and Donniel Hartman discuss the crucial importance of Jewish and liberal democratic ideals in both societies, how to continue talking across difference as polarization increases, standing up for what is right even when it is not popular, and the role of the Shalom Hartman Institute itself in this crucial moment.

Itamar Ben Gvir is the leader of an extreme right wing Israeli political party, who in the past has supported Israel settler violence against Palestinians and advocated for the forced expulsion of "disloyal" Arab citizens of Israel. In this week's election, Ben Gvir's party is projected to win the third largest bloc of seats, which would represent a major victory for his ideology and turn him into an important political player. Netanyahu has signaled that he would sit with Ben Gvir in a future coalition.

The normalization of Ben Gvir's ideologies has been a major topic of conversation throughout the campaign. In this episode, Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the reasons for Ben Gvir's success.

Why do Jews call one another (and themselves) "bad Jews?" What does it mean to be "not Jewish enough?" Emily Tamkin, US Senior Editor at the New Statesman and author of Bad Jews joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the problematic idea of a "good Jew," what it means to be Jewish amidst the current political and existential turmoil, Bernie Madoff and tropes about Jews and money, and being on the outside.

Additional reading:

Is Jewish Continuity Sexist? On Jewish Values and Female Bodies by

Mijal Bitton

https://www.sourcesjournal.org/articles/is-jewish-continuity-sexist

U. C. Berkeley Law School recently made headlines when several of its student groups pledged not to invite "speakers that have expressed and continue to hold views in support of Zionism, the Apartheid state of Israel on the occupation of Palestine." Ethan Katz, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at U.C. Berkeley, and Masua Sagiv, Koret Visiting Assistant Professor of Jewish and Israel Studies at U.C. Berkeley join host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss their experiences on campus, the national Jewish media's response, and what we can learn from these moments of Jewish vulnerability.

How do the songs we sing as part of the High Holiday liturgy reflect the diversity of the Jewish people? Na'ama Applbaum, Jerusalem-based prayer leader and educator, and Marc Baker, President & CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies Boston, join Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on the sanctity of communal singing and the meaning of being a prayer leader during the holidays.

What have the last few weeks been like for British Jews living through royal change and royal loss? The Jewish community of the United Kingdom pivoted with speed and sincerity in rewriting the prayer for the Queen quickly to celebrate and honor their new sovereign, King Charles III. Joseph Dweck, Senior Rabbi of the S&P Sephardi Community of the United Kingdom, President of The Council of Christians and Jews, and an Ecclesiastical Authority to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss building Jewish community while remaining in relationship with the monarchy.

In this high holiday season of introspection, host Yehuda Kurtzer is
joined by Rabbi Josh Feigelson, President & CEO of the Institute for
Jewish Spirituality, and author of the new book "Eternal Questions," to
discuss how we find meaning and purpose in our lives, the language of
repentance and atonement, and to break down what a Jewish mindfulness
practice can really look like.

On Friday, SCOTUS issued an order by Justice Sonia Sotomayor that allows Yeshiva University in New York to refuse to recognize an LGBTQ club for students. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Miryam Kabakov, Executive Director and Co-founder of Eshel, and award-winning writer and Rabbi, Steve Greenberg, discuss the case and the unfolding process through which conservative religious communities, such as Orthodox Judaism, define the norms of that community.

What counts as Jewish food? Does it count if a Jew makes it? Is kosher food Jewish Food? Shannon Sarna is the editor of the popular Jewish food website, The Nosher, and author of The Modern Jewish Baker and her new book Modern Jewish Comfort Food. She joins Yehuda Kurtzer for a conversation about the ways Jewish food connects us to those around us, to our personal pasts, to our heritage, and allow us to access other Jewish communities and legacies.

Yehuda Kurtzer and David Koffman (York University) chart out the unique questions that face Canadian Jews as citizens of a binational, bilingual, self-described settler state, and the way those questions inform their communal Zionism, continuity, and scholarship.

This episode originally aired on June 14th, 2021.

Where does song end and prayer begin? Joey Weisenberg, founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute and author of The Torah of Music and Building Singing Communities joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the spiritual role of music in Jewish communal life, what creating has been like in a time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to share some music that will uplift and inspire you.

Music included in this episode is listed below and at this Spotify playlist.
• Yonati (Song of Songs, 2:14)
• Gam Ki Eilech
• Shokhein Ad
• Ya’aleh Koneinu
• Lincoln’s Nigun / Yamin U’smol (Kabbalat Shabbat)
• L’eila (Kaddish)

It can be purchased through Rising Song Records.

This episode originally aired on April 5th, 2022.

Something to nosh on as we go inside the world of Jewish food influencers. Kosher food influencers can often create a platform where niche religious content has an appeal beyond its immediate circle. Has social media brought Jewish food to the mainstream? Shayna Weiss, Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University returns to Identity/Crisis to explore the overlap of eating and social identity, kosher food culture and the power of Jewish food influencers with host, Yehuda Kurtzer.

This episode originally aired on May 3rd, 2022.

You can listen to Shayna Weiss's previous Identity/Crisis appearance in Ep. 10: "The Hasidim of Netflix and the Israelis of HBO".

Anti-Palestinian violence committed by disaffected young Israelis increased by 50% in 2021. Why do the IDF, the police, and society turn a blind eye towards these Jewish terrorists? Who is responsible for prosecuting their crimes? Haviv Rettig Gur, Senior Analyst for The Times of Israel, sat down with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the violence perpetrated by the Hilltop Youth, the politics around holding them accountable, and how internal divisions in Israeli society create an environment in which this behavior can proliferate.

This episode originally aired on Feburary 15th, 2022.

Miriam Anzovin is a millennial TikToker who is transforming Talmud study for the social media age. Her “hot takes” on Daf Yomi, where a person learns one page of Talmud every day, have drawn viral attention from supporters and critics alike. She joins David Zvi Kalman, a Hartman Scholar in Residence and Director of New Media, and Yehuda Kurtzer, to discuss the future and accessibility of Torah study, the whirlwind of going viral on social media, and sh*tposting on the Torah – literally.

This episode originally aired on February 8th, 2022.

Israel is experiencing a non-Orthodox religious renaissance that is redefining Judaism and secularism in Israel. Rabbi Noga Brenner Samia, Executive Director of Hillel Israel and alumna of Hartman's Beit Midrash for Israeli rabbis, speaks with Yehuda Kurtzer about what sparked this new brand of liberal Judaism, the role of religion in the public sphere in a diverse religious ecosystem, how to negotiate the balance between the Jewish and democratic character of the state, and what it means to be a "secular rabbi?"

Thomas R. Nides, United States Ambassador to Israel, joins Yehuda Kurtzer for this special Identity/Crisis to discuss the hopes and expectations from the Biden administration's trip to Israel, how this administration views the deteriorated relationship between the US government and the Palestinian leadership, and what the long term plans are for the embassy's residence in Jerusalem.

In an environment in which simple narratives prevail, what does it mean to tell Israel’s subtle and complicated stories? Why are these kinds of stories in particular so powerful? Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Matti Friedman about his new book, Who By Fire, about Leonard Cohen’s little-known concert tour to the front lines of the Yom Kippur War, and how the stories we tell define our relationships with one another.

What is Israel’s responsibility to other nations experiencing crisis or injustice? How does Israel balance its domestic and global agendas on the international stage? Dyonna Ginsburg, OLAM CEO joins Yehuda Kurtzer live from Jerusalem on this episode of Identity/Crisis.

Those who succeeded in shaping how we read our texts are among the most powerful Jews in our history. Max Strassfeld, author and assistant professor in Religious Studies and Classics at the University of Arizona, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss their new book, which offers a way of rethinking human gender and sexuality in Jewish sources and pokes holes in trans-phobic interpretations.

Trans Talmud: Androgynes and Eunuchs in Rabbinic Literature by Max Strassfeld can be purchased with the discount code 21W2240 https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520382053/trans-talmud

Jews in America are deeply affected by gun violence, sometimes as direct and specific targets and sometimes as other Americans who find themselves victims in the wrong place at the wrong time. Author Jay Michaelson, a regular contributor to New York, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss, gun control, the Second Amendment and what it means for American Jews to participate in a political culture that cannot seem to make its citizens safe.

The revelation at Sinai unites the two big stories of the Jewish people: becoming a people and becoming a people wedded to God. It also sets the stage for a conversation about the difference between revelation as a personal and as a communal experience and allows us to ask about the difference between revelation as a historical and theological event. Rabbi, poet, scholar, blogger, and podcaster Zohar Atkins joins Yehuda Kurtzer for a Shavuot discussion that will open your mind and spirit.

On both the right and the left, Israel increasingly plays a disproportionate role in American politics, exceeding its geopolitical importance. How does this shift impact American policy toward Israel? Michael Koplow, Chief Policy Officer at Israel Policy Forum, returns to discuss AIPAC, the impact of the Trump presidency, Shireen Abu Akleh (the Al Jazeera reporter recently killed in Jenin) and the reality of a Two-State solution with host Yehuda Kurtzer.

Organized philanthropy has become the most powerful force in American Jewish communal life. As the culture of philanthropy has transformed, so has the allocation of power in the community. Felicia Herman, Chief Operating Officer of Maimonides Fund, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss how the history of charitable giving has changed since the creation of the State of Israel, shifts in the Jewish institutional landscape with the rise of family foundations, and whether the power and impact of the Federation system remains today.

Last week’s leaked Supreme Court majority opinion draft which would overturn Roe v Wade, portends a seismic shift in abortion legislation. Six months ago, Michal Raucher, assistant professor of Jewish studies at Rutgers and an expert in Judaism and gender, joined Yehuda Kurtzer, to discuss how we should and shouldn't conduct the abortion debate as Jews, with an eye, not just to the American conversation, but also looking at reproductive rights and reproductive justice. We're proud of that episode. It's timely, and we're bringing it back today to help you think about the big Jewish ideas around this important issue.

Something to nosh on as we go inside the world of Jewish food influencers. Kosher food influencers can often create a platform where niche religious content has an appeal beyond its immediate circle. Has social media brought Jewish food to the mainstream? Shayna Weiss, Associate Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University returns to Identity/Crisis to explore the overlap of eating and social identity, kosher food culture and the power of Jewish food influencers with host, Yehuda Kurtzer.

At the Episcopal Church’s 80th General Convention, resolutions criticizing Israeli policy were proposed that use the language of apartheid. Daniel Joslyn-Siemiatkoski, Duncalf-Villavoso Professor of Church History at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas, spoke with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss antisemitism in the church, how Israel has been politicized in Christian discourse, and Christian reconciliation work in the second half of the 20th century.

There's deep instability in the field of rabbinic education. Fewer rabbis are being trained, and as a result Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) recently decided to shutter the rabbinic program at one of its four campuses. Andrew Rehfeld, President of HUC-JIR, talks with host Yehuda Kutzer about the future of educating Jewish clergy, civil discourse, and the politicization of Jewish Liberalism.

As we approach our third pandemic Passover, how has Jewish communal life fared? Rabbi Barry Dov Katz (Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, NY), Tilly Shemer (Hillel at University of Michigan), and Stephanie Ives (Beit Rabban Day School) reunite one year later with host Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on another year of life in the pandemic -- its personal toll, how COVID-19 has impacted their institutions, their leadership, and their mindset about the future.

Where does song end and prayer begin? Joey Weisenberg, founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute and author of The Torah of Music and Building Singing Communities joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the spiritual role of music in Jewish communal life, what creating has been like in a time of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to share some music that will uplift and inspire you.

Music included in this episode is listed below and at this Spotify playlist.
• Yonati (Song of Songs, 2:14)
• Gam Ki Eilech
• Shokhein Ad
• Ya’aleh Koneinu
• Lincoln’s Nigun / Yamin U’smol (Kabbalat Shabbat)
• L’eila (Kaddish)

It can be purchased through Rising Song Records.

What does it mean to be a Jew in the United States military? Phil Lieberman, an Orthodox rabbi, professor of Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt, and a decorated, active-duty military chaplain, talks with Yehuda Kurtzer about how success as a Jewish navy chaplain is not always measured by the size of community but in educating others about Jewish life. Ronit Stahl, author and associate professor at UC Berkeley, frames the larger historical context of Jews in the armed services normalizing Judaism as an American religion.

Two scholars who see the world quite differently offer a deep yet playful read of the Book of Esther. Speaking this week with Dovid Bashevkin, the Director of Education for NCSY, Yehuda Kurtzer proposes seven philosophical, literary, theological, political, and moral theses on the megillah to enrich your Purim conversations – or start new ones.

“Never again” and “never forget” are not just slogans of Holocaust remembrance; they are a Jewish clarion call of civic responsibility. Paul Shapiro, Director of International Affairs at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss what it means to put these phrases into action today, Putin’s distortion of the Holocaust as a justification for Russian aggression, the effort of the Ukrainian government to educate its population about the Holocaust, and the construction and near destruction of the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial.

As events rapidly unfold in Ukraine, the Jewish community around the world is mobilizing in support of nearly 200,000 Jews who call it home. Roman Shmulenson, Executive Director of the Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations (COJECO) and Nancy Kaufman, consultant and former CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the prism of identities, the historic pains of Ukrainian nationalism and antisemitism, and ways to support Russian-speaking Jews in times of peace and in times of crisis.

Anti-Palestinian violence committed by disaffected young Israelis increased by 50% in 2021. Why do the IDF, the police, and society turn a blind eye towards these Jewish terrorists? Who is responsible for prosecuting their crimes?

Haviv Rettig Gur, Senior Analyst for The Times of Israel, sat down with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the violence perpetrated by the Hilltop Youth, the politics around holding them accountable, and how internal divisions in Israeli society create an environment in which this behavior can proliferate.

Miriam Anzovin is a millennial TikToker who is transforming Talmud study for the social media age. Her “hot takes” on Daf Yomi, where a person learns one page of Talmud every day, have drawn viral attention from supporters and critics alike. She joins David Zvi Kalman, a Hartman Scholar in Residence and Director of New Media, and Yehuda Kurtzer, to discuss the future and accessibility of Torah study, the whirlwind of going viral on social media, and sh*tposting on the Torah – literally.

How did a small contingent of Hasidic families establish a thriving, insular enclave with a powerful local government?

Authors Nomi Stolzenberg and David Myers join Yehuda Kurtzer to chronicle how the upstate New York town of Kiryas Joel created a world apart by using the very instruments of political and legal power that are uniquely American. They explore religious, social, and economic norms, delve into the roots of Satmar Hasidism, and uncover the American dream in the unlikeliest of places.

Norman Lamm was a rabbi and the longtime leader of Yeshiva University who championed the idea that Orthodox Jews could maintain their faith while engaging with modern society. Our special guest host, Elana Stein Hain, is joined by Avi Helfand, a Hartman Senior Fellow, Shlomo Zuckier, a David Hartman Center Fellow and a Research Fellow at the Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion, and Tova Warburg Sinensky, a member of the Frisch School faculty and Rabbi Lamm’s granddaughter, to discuss the life of Rabbi Lamm, the value of secular learning in a religious Jewish context, and how to actualize his legacy today.

We have never had the national reckoning that we need over the August 2017 events in Charlottesville, and this week’s synagogue hostage crisis in Colleyville, TX, reminds us that more than four years later, Jews are still unsafe.

In this episode, Hartman Senior Fellow and The Atlantic contributor James Loeffler, who spent a month chronicling the civil trial against Charlottesville’s white supremacist organizers, speaks with Yehuda Kurtzer about what the trial of white supremacists means for the Jews, strategies to fight antisemitism, the recent events in Colleyville, and the American Jewish relationship with the justice system.  

Read James Loeffler’s recent article in The Atlantic, Charlottesville Was Only a Preview.

Jews have a significant interest in the world of ideas and playing a role in them.  In this episode Yehuda Kurtzer chats with Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize winning conservative journalist, Editor of the Sapir Journal and op-ed columnist for The New York Times op-ed columnist, about the power of ideas to spark change. They examine topics in the US public discourse: meritocracy, wokeness, cancel culture, and antisemitism.

This episode covers sexual abuse and suicide. Listener discretion advised.

Chaim Walder, an Israeli rabbi, author of literature for children, and one of the most trusted voices on child psychology in the Haredi community, committed suicide in December after widely publicized child abuse and rape allegations came to light. Despite these allegations, leaders of the Haredi community came to his defense to discredit and silence his accusers.  

Nechumi Yaffe, an expert on the ultra-Orthodox, joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the impact of the Walder crisis, the Haredi community’s distinct reactions to sexual abuse, and the ways in which power seeks to maintain power.

In the wake of recent Antisemitic comments by Zahra Billoo and CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Imam Abdullah Antepli (Duke University, Co-Director of Hartman’s Muslim Leadership Initiative) offers the Jewish community words of consolation and a path to build more honest and resilient relationships between Jews and Muslims in America.

In a frank conversation with Yehuda Kurtzer, Imam Antepli shares a unique perspective on the impact of political partisanship on religious communities, moral leadership, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the critical importance of interfaith dialogue in creating a more just world.

Yehuda's recent article on the subject for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency can be read here.

The role of the Rebbetzin in Jewish life has always been significant. But what happens when the rabbi’s spouse is a successful professional with a career? What implicit and explicit expectations persist, and how are they influenced by gender? How is the synagogue community affected? What does this mean for the rabbi’s family and the community’s relationship with it?

Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt and Maital Friedman, two accomplished, professional women married to rabbis (one Orthodox and one Conservative), open up to Yehuda Kurtzer with intimate reflections on their experiences on this complex, evolving role.

Chabad impacts every aspect of the Jewish ecosystem. It actively competes in the marketplace of Jewish ideas and identities, and pushes Judaism into the American public square and onto local street corners; it is a force on college campuses; and is leading Jewish conversations on social media.

How is Chabad driving the future of Judaism in America? Mordechai Lightstone (Chabad.org) joins Yehuda Kurtzer for a look into the Chabad mindset in this moment.

How do Jewish identity and Israel identity manifest on campus both inside and outside the classroom? Academia today is increasingly rooted in activism, not just inquiry. Students are defineing a new 21st century Jewish identity, but many self-censor because the Israel-Palestine conflict is uncomfortable. And many Jewish studies faculty feel pressured to avoid conversations around this topic to protect their academic credentials. Is this the trend of where we're headed in the future? Hartman Fellow Dr. Sara Yael Hirschhorn (Northwestern University) discusses these trends with Yehuda Kurtzer in this week’s Identity/Crisis podcast.

For many American Jews, Thanksgiving is another high holiday. We celebrate our obligations of citizenship and show appreciation for all that America has granted. Perhaps, in turn, our tradition may have lessons to teach America. Could the Jewish model of interpreting our stories for the present, and our conceptions of memory, gratitude, and redemption, heal our divided country?

In this special episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on the Jewish significance of Thanksgiving.

How do we help people see democratic values as endemic to Judaism?How do we make Jewish values an integral part of Zionist governance?

At the intersection between Judaism and politics, author Mikhael Manekin (Alliance for Israel's Future) and Yehuda Kurtzer debate a virtue ethics for Judaism in a time of power.

The Jewish community is being pulled apart by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both the left and the right are driving the debate to extremes, pushing the majority of Jews in the center to disengage. Yehuda Kurtzer and Dov Waxman, (UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies) examine this shift and ask if the positions of the new Jewish left are still compatible with liberal Zionism.

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the highest-profile legal challenge to Texas' new abortion law this week, Yehuda Kurtzer and Michal Raucher (Rutgers University) examine the Jewish communal conversation around abortion. Jews have historically been both pro-natalist and pro-choice. And that's not an obvious combination. How does this dichotomy manifest in attitudes, social policy, and legislation around issues of abortion in the U.S. and Israel? 

In mid-October, the OU officially rejected certification of Impossible Pork, causing a flurry of contention from kosher-keeping consumers. What does it mean for rabbis to declare a product of 100% kosher ingredients treif based on name and taste alone?

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with our very own producer, David Zvi Kalman, to explore the origins of this rationale and discuss the ethical factors that weave through Jewish dietary law as the climate crisis careens us toward an uncertain future of sustainable protein.

David’s opinion piece on the subject can be found here.

In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Donniel Hartman about how Israeli society and the occupation are testing Zionist ideals.

Donniel Hartman's essay in Sources can be found here: https://www.sourcesjournal.org/articles/liberal-zionism-and-the-troubled-committed

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer chats with Hartman senior fellow Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College) about his new book Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical which offers an intellectual history of American Judaism and its political challenges – liberalism, race, communism, Zionism, radicalism – the poles through which American Jews have traveled in the past 60 years. Can the story of a radical thinker and controversial politician shed light on the Jewish experience in the US and, later, in Israel?

Links:

Meir Kahane debating Yitz Greenberg: https://archive.org/details/RabbiKahaneDebatesProf.Greenberg360p

Meir Kahane debating Alan Dershowitz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ykrwmaKrLg

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer spoke with Rabbi Annie Lewis and Rabbi Yosef Goldman of Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg, Maryland, about the experience of becoming the rabbis of a new congregation during a pandemic, adapting to limitations on communal singing, and trying to find time to appreciate services while also leading them.

In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Nachman Shai, Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs, on a range of topics, including differences between Israeli and American historical consciousness, why Israel's relationship with Diaspora Jews remains important, whether Zionism allows for Diaspora to be valuable, and the possible return of a compromise around the use of the Western Wall.

Links: Has Israel Let You Down?: https://www.jta.org/2021/09/01/opinion/has-israel-let-you-down-its-minister-of-diaspora-affairs-wants-to-talk-about-it

Looking back at the momentous month of September, 2001, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks to writer and public speaker Wajahat Ali about the impact of 9/11 on the American Muslim community, and to Ron Kampeas (JTA) about the lasting impact of the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa and the anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric that came to dominate it.

Wajahat's article: https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/09/how-9-11-destroyed-the-muslim-model-minority-myth.html
Ron's article: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/the-first-durban-conference-devolved-into-a-festival-of-hate-679119
Special thanks to Tali Cohen for editorial support on this episode.

Dara Horn, author of 6 novels, many essays, and the forthcoming non-fiction book People Love Dead Jews, speaks to Yehuda Kurtzer about the nature of the phenomenon of Jewish heritage site tourism in countries where Jews no longer live, who we write about when we write about Jewish history, and why she wrote this book now, after 20 years of refusing to center antisemitism in her work.

Rabbis Jessica Lott (Northwestern Hillel) and Charlie Schwartz (Center for Jewish and Israel Education at Hillel International) join Hartman's Director of Campus Initiatives, Danielle Kranjec, to shed light on what has changed in the last, disrupted year of college education. They discuss how generational shifts do and don't inform conversations about Israel, how geography and demographics impact pluralism, and how big the tent is–or should be–on campus.

Internationally acclaimed Israeli science fiction author Lavie Tidhar joins guest host David Zvi Kalman to discuss the relative dearth of Jews in space, the state of the science fiction genre outside of the US, and his recent and upcoming works including the Tel Aviv-set novel Central Station.

Hartman Director of Faculty Elana Stein Hain and Scholar-in-Residence Mijal Bitton discuss the Pew 2020 study, and the conversations Jews are - and aren't - having about it. What about our conversations have changed since the last major survey in 2013, and what's at stake when we guide our communities by the numbers?

This conversation was recorded as part of Hartman's summer of learning and is being released here in an edited version.

Shuly Rubin Schwartz (JTS) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on her new role as Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the integrative learning that happens there. Together they discuss the ideals of the institution, the challenges of leading in a polarized era, and the value of history as context for profound and long-lasting learning.

Elana Stein Hain (Shalom Hartman Institute) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to introduce Hartman's newest curricular offering, Foundations for a Thoughtful Judaism, a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to Jewish thought for educators and students of all backgrounds. Featured here is an episode of the companion podcast, Conversations for a Thoughtful Judaism, where Hartman scholars Sara Labaton and Tomer Persico speak about the role of Jewish practice in their lives.

Learn more at shalomhartman.org/foundations

Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College) and Pamela Nadell (American University) join Yehuda Kurtzer to take a broad view of the academic field of Jewish Studies: its origins, its uneasy relationship with the community and philanthropy that enable it, and its problematics.

Eitan Hersh (Tufts University) recently published two sociological papers on antisemitism and sentiment about Israel in America's young adults. He joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss what the data says, the pitfalls of analyzing communal problems with anecdotal evidence, and the way individuals can actually effect political change.

Referenced in this episode: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/political-hobbyists-are-ruining-politics/605212/

Yehuda Kurtzer and David Koffman (York University) chart out the unique questions that face Canadian Jews as citizens of a binational, bilingual, self-described settler state, and the way those questions inform their communal Zionism, continuity, and scholarship.

Joel Braunold (S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about peace-making in the Middle East: its preconditions, the person-to-person work that might enable it, and the uncomfortable truth that "peace" might mean - for everyone - " to agree to lose non-violently."

Yona Shem-Tov and Leah Solomon of Encounter join Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about what Israeli and American Jews aren't seeing, what is simple and what is complicated about the ongoing conflict, and how to listen and speak more courageously.

In this episode, Ethan Tucker (Hadar Institute) joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on American Zionism’s long-term development and generational differences in the response to this moment of crisis. What are they grounded in? What has changed? And, what is the way forward for the American Jewish community? 

Hannah Dreyfus is a freelance reporter with an unusual but essential beat: reporting allegations of sexual misconduct in Jewish organizations. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Dreyfus about her recent story on a former senior rabbi at Central Synagogue and the process of reporting out allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior in Jewish communal settings.

In the wake of the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, Hartman Research Fellows Ginna Green (political strategist and writer) and Rivka Press Schwartz (SAR) join host Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on the impact of the moment and to take a broader view at the American Jewish community's relationship to white supremacy and policing.

Bernie Madoff died in prison last week. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Felix Salmon (Axios, Slate Money) and Ben Sales (JTA) about his crimes and victims, and with Alicia Jo Rabins about her recent film, A Kaddish for Bernie Madoff.

Shayna Weiss (Brandeis University) and Joe Schwartz (Asif) join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss Israeli music for this special Yom Ha'atzmaut episode, charting the 20th century greats, the journey of Mizrahi artists from margins to mainstream, and the great piyyut revival in popular music. 

James Loeffler joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the development of the term "genocide," and the nuances of three newly-articulated, potentially competing, definitions of antisemitism. 

IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism: https://www.state.gov/defining-anti-semitism/

The Nexus Document: https://israelandantisemitism.com/the-nexus-document/

The Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism: https://jerusalemdeclaration.org/

Host Yehuda Kurtzer convenes a panel of guests to discuss the past and present of American Jewish religious music, from Mordechai Ben David to Nissim Black to Debbie Friedman. Featuring Dovid Bashevkin (1840 Podcast), Yardaena Osband (Talking Talmud Podcast), Miri Miller (SHI NA), and Shira Hanau (JTA).

Episode playlist: https://spoti.fi/3vLFbMQ

Other Songs Discussed:
Im Hashem Lo Yivneh Bayis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckVYO9oI8vc
Lmaancha with Ben Shapiro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-Km7RfBEs

Guest host David Zvi Kalman asks Meredith Lewis (PJ Library) about how PJ Library works, how the organization is responding to criticism, and what the future of Jewish children's literature might look like.

Felicia Herman (Natan Fund, Jewish Commmunity Response and Impact Fund), Hindy Poupko (UJA Federation of New York), and Andres Spokoiny (Jewish Funders Network) join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the lessons of 2008, the role of Jewish philanthropy in the pandemic, and why we haven't seen the dire institutional turbulence many predicted one year ago.

Yehuda Kurtzer gathers Rabbi Barry Dov Katz (Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale), Tilly Shemer (Hillel at University of Michigan), and Stephanie Ives (Beit Rabban Day School) to look back at one year of the pandemic: how COVID has impacted their institutions and changed their leadership in ways both temporary and permanent.

During the Truth, Difference, and Loyalty interfaith symposium, Ross Douthat (The New York Times) joined Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the role of faith in presidential politics, the possibility of political but not partisan religion, and what if anything remains at the religious center of America.

Stacy Burdett joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to dig deep into the IHRA definition of antisemitism she helped craft, which is currently causing waves in the American Jewish community - what it is, what it isn't, and where it came from. 

Rachel B. Gross (San Francisco State University) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss her new book, Beyond the Synagogue: Jewish Nostalgia as Religious Practice, and its central argument: that foodways, children's literature, and Jewish nostalgia represent a defining feature of American Jewish religion today - and that that's not a bad thing. 

ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss Jewish perspectives on the emerging Biden administration, what was “good for the Jews” and what was “bad for the Jews” about the Trump administration, and most importantly, how American Jews can strengthen the precious “software” of the American government.

Journalists Isabel Kershner (The New York Times) and Ben Sales (JTA) join host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the successes and failures to date of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Israel, Palestine, and the global Haredi community. 

Articles mentioned in this episode: I attended an Orthodox anti-vaccine rally. Here’s what I saw. by Ben Sales in the Jewish Telagraphic Agency

Netanyahu's Two Israels by Yossi Klein Halevi the Times of Israel

Identity/Crisis is produced by the Shalom Hartman Institute in association with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Host Yehuda Kurtzer and Yoni Appelbaum (The Atlantic) come together the morning after a mob breached the US Capitol for a conversation on the roots of the chaos of January 6, 2021, the youthfulness and fragility of American multiracial democracy, and the core idea of America that we can return to and build upon.  

You can find a link to Yoni Applebaum's December 2019 essay, "How America Ends," here.

Shalom Hartman Institute Research Fellow Micah Goodman joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss Israeli secularism's renewed engagement with Jewish tradition, the different dynamics of change in Israel and the diaspora, and his new book, The Wondering Jew. 

Congressman-Elect Jamaal Bowman joins host and constituent Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss his campaign against 30-year incumbent Eliot Engel, the values he brings to the 117th Congress, and his message to the diverse communities he represents in the Bronx and Westchester County. 

Host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Muslim Leadership Initiative alumnae Inas Younis  and Rabia Chaudry to discuss Muslim-Jewish relations during and after the Trump presidency, the nature of the Israel-Palestine conflict's impact on American interfaith cooperation, and the risks and rewards of speaking across difference.

Referenced in this episode: Muslims Not Only Survived, We Thrived by Zaid Jilani - https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/muslims-survived-and-thrived

Guest host David Zvi Kalman (Shalom Hartman Institute) and Dovid Lichtenstein (The Lightstone Group, Headlines) discuss podcasting, politics, the pandemic, and halacha in the modern world. 

Hartman Fellow in Residence Mijal Bitton speaks to Yehuda Kurtzer about diverse American Jews, politics, and the goals and problematics of the project of diversity. 

Mijal's article can be found here: https://www.jta.org/2020/11/19/opinion/many-jews-of-color-and-diverse-jews-are-politically-conservative-and-many-voted-for-trump

Lila Corwin Berman (Temple University) joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the ways in which America has shaped philanthropy, and the ways in which philanthropy has shaped the American Jewish community, over the last thirty years. 

This episode was recorded live as part of the Judaism, Citizenship, and Democracy symposium hosted by the Hartman Institute from October 19-30, 2020. 

Host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Daniel Kurtzer (Princeton), a former US Ambassador to Egypt and Israel and longtime American negotiator in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. They remember Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, and reflect on the humanity and necessity of the peace process.

Identity/Crisis is partnering with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. A full transcript of this episode can be found at: 

In the liminal space between the US election and the declaration of a result, Yehuda Kurtzer and Shalom Hartman Institute Director of Faculty Elana Stein Hain discuss the right relationship between religion and politics, the necessity and limits of political pluralism, and what Torah they're learning for this moment. 

On the eve of the 2020 US election, Yehuda Kurtzer talks about the future of America, Judaism, and American Judaism with Dahlia, Leah, and Tyler - three teenage alumni of Hartman's Fellowship for Emerging Jewish Thought Leaders from around the country.

Featuring Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic) and Yehuda Kurtzer (Hartman)

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/trumps-collaborators/612250/

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/

 In episode #30 of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Arielle Angel and Jacob Plitman of Jewish Currents about the history and future of Jewish progressive movements and the relationship between liberalism and Jewish tradition.

Articles referenced in the episode:

• https://jewishcurrents.org/justice-you-shall-pursue/
• https://jewishcurrents.org/a-pickle-shaped-void/

In episode #29 of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with Rabbi Sharon Brous (IKAR) and Rabbi Elie Kaunfer (Hadar) about whether and how one should pray for the welfare of a government and president to which one is opposed.

Mentioned in the episode:

- Jewish Prayers for the United States Government: A Study in the Liturgy of Politics and the Politics of Liturgy by Jonathan Sarna (https://bit.ly/2Idue2f)

- Identity/Crisis #7: https://www.hartman.org.il/identity-crisis-7-no-mosque-no-church-no-shul-now-what/

Malka Simkovitch (Catholic Theological Union) and Zev Eleff (Hebrew Theological College) join host Yehuda Kurtzer to explore the history and present of the relationship between Jews and Catholics through the lens of the Supreme Court and their respective communal roles in American politics. 

Hartman Senior Fellow and Senior Editor at Slate Dahlia Lithwick joins Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about the Jewish life and legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, z"l. Find Dahlia's piece for the Jewish Women's Archive here.

Featuring Jill Stauffer (Associate Professor of Peace, Justice, and Human Rights; Haverford College) and Aaron Koller (Professor of Near Eastern Studies; Yeshiva University).

Featuring Abby Pogrebin and Yehuda Kurtzer.

For more on the Still Small Voice Series, see: https://forward.com/tag/still-small-voice/

This week's guests are Sheila Katz (National Council of Jewish Women) and Shira Berkovits (Sacred Spaces). The episode was guest-hosted by Sarah Mulhern (Shalom Hartman Institute).

Featuring Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic) and Yehuda Kurtzer (Hartman)

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/trumps-collaborators/612250/

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/09/coronavirus-american-failure/614191/

To watch classes from All Together Now, go to summer.hartman.org.il

Featuring Yehuda Kurtzer, Rachel Jacoby-Rosenfield, Lauren Berkun, Justus Baird, and Justin Pines.

To watch classes from All Together Now, go to summer.hartman.org.il

Featuring Rivka Press Schwartz (SAR / Hartman), Anshel Pfeffer (Haaretz), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Hartman).

Mentioned in this episode:

Yehuda Kurtzer, "Memory Malpractice:" https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/belief/articles/memory-malpractice-beinart

Anshel Pfeffer, "Peter Beinart's One State Solution Sounds So Perfect It's Practically Utopian:" https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/.premium-peter-beinart-s-one-state-solution-sounds-so-perfect-it-s-practically-utopian-1.8983601

Featuring Benay Lappe (Svara), Arielle Korman (Ammud), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Hartman)

Featuring Julie Cooper (Tel Aviv University) Shaul Magid (Shalom Hartman Institute / Dartmouth University), Daniel Kurtzer (School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University), Sara Hirschhorn (Northwestern University), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Shalom Hartman Institute).

To purchase The New Jewish Canon: https://www.amazon.com/New-Jewish-Canon-Emunot-Philosophy/dp/1644693607

Featuring Ruth Balinsky Friedman (Ohev Sholom), Carrie Bornstein (Mayyim Hayyim), Rachel Rosenthal (JTS), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Shalom Hartman Institute)

To register for Hartman's summer programming, go to https://www.hartman.org.il/

This episode features Jodi Rudoren (Forward), Philissa Cramer (JTA), and Yehuda Kurtzer.

This episode features Tamara Cofman Wittes (Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution), Michael Koplow (Israel Policy Forum), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Shalom Hartman Institute).

Featuring Ginna Green, Isaiah Rothstein, and Yehuda Kurtzer.

Mentioned in this episode:

- Danielle S. Allen, "Our Declaration": https://www.amazon.com/Our-Declaration-Reading-Independence-Equality-ebook/dp/B00FPT5KYW

- ‘Believe us’: Black Jews respond to the George Floyd protests, in their own words: https://www.jta.org/2020/05/31/united-states/believe-us-black-jews-respond-to-the-george-floyd-protests-in-their-own-words

Mentioned in today's episode:

https://www.ted.com/talks/joshua_foer_feats_of_memory_anyone_can_do?language=en

Sukkah City
https://forward.com/articles/132454/forward-50-2010/

Moonwalking
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301277/moonwalking-with-einstein-by-joshua-foer/

For more information on all of Hartman's digital summer programming, go to bit.ly/HartmanSummer

A conversation between Rabbi Rick Jacobs (Union for Reform Judaism), Rabbi Jacob Blumenthal (Rabbinical Assembly / United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Shalom Hartman Institute).

Register now for "The Revelation Will Be Digitized" on May 27, a virtual conversation about the future of online Jewish education. Joshua Ladon, Hartman’s Director of West Coast Education, will host Miriam Heller-Stern (HUC-JIR), Daniel Septimus (Sefaria), and Lisa Colton (Darim Online) to explore the questions that emerge for Jewish education in an era of COVID and Zoom. Register at https://updates.hartman.org.il/shavuot-2020.php

Featuring write and journalist Elissa Strauss and Aliza Kline of OneTable.

Mentioned in this episode: https://onetable.org/soloshabbat

Featuring Joseph Cedar (HBO's Our Boys, Footnote), Naomi Seidman (University of Toronto), and Shayna Weiss (Brandeis).

Mentioned in this episode:

Naomi's review of Netflix's Unorthodox: https://bit.ly/2YIryQv

Shayna's review of One of Us: https://bit.ly/3ba9Vf7

Article on the growth of Israeli TV in America: https://bit.ly/2zhsuRa

Featuring Tomer Persico, Sigalit Ur, and Yehuda Kurtzer.

Featuring Rabbi Ethan Tucker (Hadar), Stephanie Ives (Beit Rabban Day School), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Hartman).

Mentioned in this episode:

Shalom Hartman Institute's online iEngage class: http://static.hartman.org.il/dev/uploads/2020/03/iEngage5-_Online-learning-flyer-0320_final.pdf?mc_cid=a64a52da4b&mc_eid=18e469e147&mc_cid=a090cea215&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d

Featuring Rev. Laura Everett (Massachusetts Council of Churches), Maggie Siddiqi (Center for American Progress), and Yehuda Kurtzer (Shalom Hartman Institute).

Mentioned in this episode: https://religionnews.com/2020/04/09/a-holy-week-disrupted-by-death-answered-by-an-honest-easter/

https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/17/opinions/coronavirus-faith-leaders-showing-the-way/index.html

Mentioned in this episode:

Joan Nathan cookbooks: https://amzn.to/39JoGon

Story about Todos the Roman: https://bit.ly/2yBfAND

This episode features Yehuda Kurtzer of Shalom Hartman, David Rosenn of the Hebrew Free Loan Society, and Joanna Samuels of the Manny Cantor Center.

Texts and articles discussed in this episode:

Dahlia Lithwick in Slate: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-will-supercharge-american-inequality/608419/

Derek Thompson in the Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/coronavirus-will-supercharge-american-inequality/608419/

Talmud Ketubot 67b: https://www.sefaria.org/Ketubot.67b.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

Identity/Crisis is a production of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Music by SoCalled.

For the first segment, we discussed these articles in eJewishPhilanthropy:

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/courageous-leadership-now-an-urgent-agenda-for-the-jewish-community-and-its-institutions/

https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/major-jewish-organizations-form-emergency-pandemic-coalition/

The pieces discussed in the second segment were:

Identity/Crisis is a production of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Music by SoCalled.

The story about Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai mentioned in the first segment can be found here: https://www.sefaria.org/Shabbat.33b.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

The sermon of Rabbi Nissim of Gerona can be found here: http://static.hartman.org.il/dev/uploads/2020/03/Derashot-HaRan-11.pdf

Identity/Crisis is a production of the Shalom Hartman Institute.

Music by SoCalled.

The responsum referred to in this episode is Tzitz Eliezer, Vol. 20, §19. An audio recording of the translation can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/u16hsy6uk0r92oh/AAApC39Pi0IuA-XC2fCji-gTa/Recording%202020.03.12/Tzitz%20Eliezer/ZOOM0009?dl=0&preview=ZOOM0009_Tr2.WAV&subfolder_nav_tracking=1

Identity/Crisis is a production of the Shalom Hartman Institute. Music by SoCalled.

Links from this episode:

Michael Walzer: https://www.resetdoc.org/story/citizenship-pluralism-and-political-action/

Mishnah Bava Batra 1:5: https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Bava_Batra.1.5?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en