Identity/Crisis

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.

For more than three decades, the Bronfman Fellowship has been a crucial incubator of pluralistic thought among future Jewish leaders. As American Judaism and media have changed, however, the work of engendering pluralistic communities has become much more difficult. In this episode Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Becky Voorwinde, the Executive Director of the Bronfman Fellowships about how the program has tried to adapt to these challenges.

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.htmlRon's article: https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/the-first-durban-conference-devolved-into-a-festival-of-hate-679119Special 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."