Identity/Crisis

Can Zionism survive a crisis of its own making? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Zachary Truboff, director of the Institute for Agunah Research and Education at the International Beit Din, to discuss the moral and political questions facing Israel after October 7. As Israelis grapple with war, trauma, and the responsibilities of power, they explore whether Zionism...

Money shapes who can access Jewish life—and who gets left out. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with sociologist Ilana Horwitz about the overlooked reality of a quarter of American Jews living in economic vulnerability, challenging the persistent myth of universal Jewish affluence. Drawing on Horwitz’s research, they explore how class and financial instability intersect wi...

This episode of Identity/Crisis was originally released on Tuesday, March 10, 2026 What does it mean to tell Jewish stories in a moment of political polarization and distortion? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela to examine the role of the historian in public life: not to offer talking points or easy analogies, but to deepen public un...

In a polarized age, how do we raise young Jews who can think deeply—and listen across disagreement?   In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with principal of SAR High School Jonathan Kroll about his recent commencement address to SAR’s graduating class of 2026, where he challenged students to embrace a “revolution of moderation,” and integrate conviction with openness. Together,...

With the marketplace of ideas outpacing our ability to discern truth, who still cares about keeping up with journalistic standards?   In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with journalist Abigail Pogrebin to explore how media, authority, and public conversation are changing as traditional standards of journalism dissolve and algorithms shape what we see and believe. They tur...

As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, what foundational elements of the American Jewish story do we need to reframe? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States with journalist and author Nicholas Lemann. Together they explore the long arc of American Jewish life—from the promise of belonging and dual identity...

What does a clash between a Catholic Vice President and the Pope reveal about authority, war, and theological responsibility?    In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with renowned Princeton University Professor Robert George to unpack what's happening at the intersection of Catholic faith and American political power. From six Catholic Supreme Court justices to the growing...

This episode was originally released on Tuesday, May 20, 2025.   This episode is in honor of Abe Foxman, z”l   What does moral courage look like in an age of rising antisemitism and political polarization? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by longtime ADL leader and Holocaust survivor Abe Foxman for a raw, intergenerational conversation about fear, leadership, and the da...

Are Trump, Netanyahu, and Iran acting like rational players—or are we misreading the logic of this war entirely? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Chief Policy Officer at the Israel Policy Forum, Michael Koplow to assess a volatile and uncertain moment in U.S.–Iran–Israel relations. Amid a fragile ceasefire, they explore conflicting logics and interests driving Amer...

When a mystical tradition meant for an elite few becomes a popular spiritual practice — what is gained and what is lost? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, guest host Deborah Barer is joined by scholar of Kabbalah Daniel Matt for a conversation about the Omer and the modern turn toward mindfulness and self‑improvement. Tracing the journey of the Zohar from esoteric text to widely accessible guide...

As the United States approaches its 250th anniversary, what does this moment reveal about the future of the American- Jewish experiment?  In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by The Atlantic’s editor‑in‑chief Jeffrey Goldberg for a conversation about American-Jewish power, flourishing, and fear. Reflecting on the unprecedented success of Jewish life in the United States — a...

What does it mean to inherit Europe’s Jewish past while living through antisemitism’s unsettling return in the present? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with historian and author Flora Cassen to explore the differences between European and American Jewish life, the promises and limits of Holocaust memory, and the ways antisemitism resurfaces across political and cultura...

For many modern Jews, prayer raises more questions than answers. In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on Hartman’s latest limited podcast series Thoughts & Prayers, and explores some of the central questions facing modern Jewish spiritual life: What does prayer do? Is it about God, or about other people? What happens when prayer becomes entangled with politics, identity, and belonging?   Drawi...

This episode was originally released on October 13, 2025   At a time of unprecedented leaps in technology and ethical questions about artificial intelligence, one scholar seeks answers from an unlikely source — ancient Jewish wisdom. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with technology guru, Hartman scholar, and founding Identity/Crisis Producer David Zvi Kalman about the relig...

Can a Hollywood blockbuster be the most important piece of Passover liturgy produced in a generation?   On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Rabbi Professor Burt Visotzky, Appelman Professor Emeritus of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a lead consultant to the makers of The Prince of Egypt. Together they examine the 1998 DreamWo...

What happens when liberal democracies stop seeing dignity as a universal right and begin treating it as something reserved for insiders? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with political philosopher Seyla Benhabib to explore the moral, political, and philosophical stakes of migration, borders, and belonging in America today. Against the backdrop of rising cruelty toward i...

What do our narratives of heroism do for the Jewish people—and what do they hide? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with journalist and author Matti Friedman to discuss his new book, Out of the Sky: a story about the Zionist paratroopers sent into Europe during World War II. Together they explore the uneasy relationship between myth and history: how failed missions becom...

What does it mean to tell Jewish stories in a moment of political polarization and distortion? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by historian Natalia Mehlman Petrzela to examine the role of the historian in public life: not to offer talking points or easy analogies, but to deepen public understanding in a time of simplification and certainty. Through a conversation about...

In the Megillah, Jewish safety depends on proximity to power — passing, hiding, and selectively revealing, and all the fraught calculations that come with minority life. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Barbara Spectre, founding director of Paideia: The European Institute for Jewish Studies, to explore the story of Purim  through a lens of existential uncertainty and...

When immigration policies turn violent and inhumane, how do we decide when to show up, who we stand beside, and what we’re willing to risk when the stakes feel both immediate and overwhelming?   This week, Identity/Crisis follows that moral question out of the beit midrash and into the street. Yehuda Kurtzer passes the mic to Identity/Crisis producer, Tessa Zitter as she attends a Jews against ICE...

The question of Haredi military service in Israel has always been about more than the army, and the war has made that unmistakable.   On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Yehoshua Pfeffer, a rabbi and public thinker working on questions of Haredi citizenship, work, and service, to unpack why the draft debate has become so volatile since October 7, and why the IDF is more...

Hope isn’t optimism—it’s the stubborn decision to keep building even when you can’t see the outcome. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with alumni of Hartman’s Hazon leadership program Ayala Dahan and Yonathan Machlis to talk about the civic work of showing up and how young Israeli activists can draw on hope in the face of political, religious, and communal divides. They...

What happens when Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” is no longer read as a civic creed, but as a provocation about who belongs—and what a democracy owes the vulnerable? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America, the present state violence being carried out in Minneapolis, and the uneasy silence of Jewish institutions when civil rights are...

Antizionism has become a badge of belonging—and a tool of exclusion. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Shaul Kelner, professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology at Vanderbilt University, about how anti-Zionism operates not only as an argument but as a movement culture—shaping who belongs on the American left and what counts as “moral.” Together, they explore what it woul...

Did Yiddish ever really die? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Rukhl Schaechter, editor of the Yiddish Forverts, to explore the surprising renaissance of the Yiddish language—from new dictionaries and online media to Duolingo learners and Hasidic vernacular. Together they discuss what is drawing people back to the language, how Yiddish carries culture across generat...