Identity/Crisis

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...

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,...

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...

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 credenc...

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 consider...

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 cha...

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...

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...

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, ...

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 th...

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 s...

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....

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...

"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 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 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 pl...

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...

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...

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 radicali...

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 suppo...

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 i...

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, h...

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...

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 persuas...

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. Th...