Identity/Crisis

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.