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PODCAST

Identity/Crisis

Shalom Hartman Institute

In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis creates better conversations about the issues facing contemporary Jewish life. Host Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, talks with leading thinkers to unpack current events affecting Jewish communities in North America, Israel, and around the world, revealing the core Jewish values underlying the issues that matter most to you. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

religion & spirituality judaism

All Episodes

60:31

Zion's Roads are in Mourning

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/07/26

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

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50:43

Introducing: Perfect Jewish Parents

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/07/25

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

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60:20

The Jewish Leadership Pipeline Problem

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/07/18

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

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62:51

A Celebration of Leadership at the Shalom Hartman...

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/07/11

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

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85:33

From Liberal Jewish Thought to Liberal Jewish Action

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/07/04

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

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70:44

The Lost Art of Persuasion

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/06/27

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

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52:39

Small Town American Judaism

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/06/20

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

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54:39

Kreplach and Collard Greens

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/06/13

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

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38:05

Free Speech and Anti-Zionism at CUNY Law

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/06/06

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

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54:20

Wet Hot American (Jewish) Summer

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/05/23

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 &

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49:53

A God Just Like Us

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/05/16

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

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47:03

The Case for Commandments

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/05/09

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

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65:30

(Re-)Imagining Israel with MK Merav Michaeli

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/05/02

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

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51:57

Next Generation Jews

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/04/25

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

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43:15

The Only Woman in the Room

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/04/18

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,

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30:43

Jewish Inside Baseball

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/04/11

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

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49:44

How to Run a Seder

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/04/03

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

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53:58

Six Stories About the Protests in Israel

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/03/27

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

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47:47

More Dollars, Fewer Moonshots (Re-Release)

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/03/22

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,

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76:40

American Judaism, the Chain Novel

Identity/Crisis ·

2023/03/15

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,

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