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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

53:19

Staying Human in the Age of AI — with David Zvi...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/04/07

This episode was originally released on October 13, 2025At 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 religious and ethical dilemmas AI poses for Jewish life — from sermons written by bots to the erosion of

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54:07

A Hollywood Midrash: The Making of The Prince of Egypt

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/03/31

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 DreamWorks film as both cultural artifact and sacred text. They unpack the film's interpretive choices — from

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45:01

What Do We Owe the Stranger? — with Seyla Benhabib

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/03/24

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 immigrants, asylum seekers, and other vulnerable people, they examine what happens when states retreat

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44:49

The Zionist Paratroopers and the Meaning of Heroism —...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/03/17

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 become national legend, why Jewish heroism became so central to Zionist self-understanding, and what gets

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53:29

Teaching Jewish History in America — with Natalia...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/03/10

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 education, Jewish identity, and the place of Jews in American history, they consider why richer

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47:38

Purim and Diaspora Power— with Barbara Spectre

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/03/03

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 cultural endurance. Drawing on Barbara’s decades of work with emerging European Jewish communities,

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30:48

On Not Standing Idly By

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/02/24

When immigration policies turn violent and inhumane, how dowe 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 rally in Washington, DC. Through her experience at the protest and interviews with the organizers

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62:26

The Haredi Draft Crisis — with Yehoshua Pfeffer

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/02/17

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 than an institution: it’s a crucible of Israeli identity. Together they explore the fears driving

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47:51

Pathways to Hope in Israel – with Ayalan Dahan and...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/02/10

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 civicwork of showing up and how young Israeli activists can draw on hope in the face of political, religious, and communal divides. They explore how a generation builds trust and solidarity and what it means to organize not just against

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20:18

America Betrays the Stranger

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/02/03

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 reflectson 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 clearly under assault. He then turns the lens toward Israel—asking what it means for Jews in both

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49:23

Antizionism and the American Left’s Jewish Problem —...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/01/27

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 would mean to respond with clarity without collapsing every critique of Israel into the same

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44:26

A Yiddish Renaissance: Language, Memory, and Modern...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/01/20

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 generations, and why so many Jews are using it to seek connections to their roots in a moment of renewed

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50:32

Power, Liberalism, and Moral Responsibility — with...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/01/13

What does it mean to defend liberal democracy in a world shaped by power, domination, and moral compromise? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Washington Post columnist and author of The Case for American Power, Shadi Hamid, about whether liberal societies can wield power without betraying their own ideals. From Trump’s approach to Venezuela to the war in Gaza, their conversation asks whether restraint, morality, and democratic purpose can guide power in a fractured

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51:22

Reporting on Antisemitism When No One Wants to Listen...

Identity/Crisis ·

2026/01/06

Who pays the price for identifying antisemitism?In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with journalist and Canadaland host Jesse Brown about his recent series What Is Happening Here and his decision to investigate the rise of anti-Zionism and antisemitism in Canada. Together, they examine why media and political institutions have struggled to respond and what it costs to name these realities publicly. We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom

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46:03

Live at Vilna Shul: Harvard, Leadership, and Free...

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/12/30

Why have universities become flashpoints for broader cultural and political battles and what can higher education do to repair a fractured public sphere? In a conversation recorded live at the Vilna Shul in Boston, Yehuda Kurtzer and Harvard president Alan Garber reflect on leadership in a moment of crisis—exploring free speech and protest, institutional neutrality, and the rise of antisemitism on campus. As a university president and a Jew, Garber shares what worries him about the current moment,

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50:41

How Americans Reshaped Israeli Judaism — with Adam...

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/12/23

How do ideas travel—and what happens when they cross borders? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with author and historian Adam Ferziger to explore how liberal and moderate forms of Judaism, forged in North America, took root in Israel and helped shape a distinctly Israeli religious center. Drawing on Ferziger's new book Agents of Change, the conversation examines education, power, backlash, and belonging—and asks what it really means for Jewish ideas to be “imported,”

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59:24

Christmastime for the Jews (Re-Release)

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/12/16

This episode was originally released on December 24, 2024The relegation of Hanukkah merchandise to a tiny corner of the grocery aisle can cause Jews to feel excluded or marginalized by the Christmas holiday season. But the impact of Jews on the history and culture of secularized Christmas is deeper than you might think. In this exciting Yuletide episode of Identity/Crisis, host Yehuda Kurtzer and American composer and music commentator Rob Kapilow sit down at the keyboard to better understand

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55:00

Can the Jewish Big Tent Hold After October 7? with...

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/12/09

What does it take to rebuild Jewish community after two years of trauma and division? On this special episode of Identity/Crisis, Senior Editor Claire Sufrin turns the tables and interviews Yehuda Kurtzer about his article in the newest issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, where he unpacks why communities need clearer values and a renewed ethic of care to move beyond crisis. Their conversation offers us a roadmap for belonging, boundaries, and rebuilding connection after October 7.We're

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52:55

What Broke the Black–Jewish Alliance? with Terrence...

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/12/02

What does it take for Black–Jewish partnerships to flourish in a moment of rising fear, political polarization, and mutual misunderstanding? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and scholar Terrence Johnson discuss the stories we carry — about vulnerability, power, Israel, America, and identity — and why they often fail to translate across racial lines. Together, they explore how demythologizing each other and leaning into deeper, more intimate conversations might reshape the future of

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49:08

Covenant, Compromise, Sacrifice, and Kindness...

Identity/Crisis ·

2025/11/25

This episode was originally released on Tuesday, November 26th, 2024This political moment may cause American Jews to ask: “Where have we seen this before?” In this episode recorded live in NYC, Yehuda Kurtzer challenges the impulse to reach backwards for old frameworks to describe our current situation, and instead offers a vision for a new era in American-Jewish politics – one shaped by a culture of compromise and defined by an embrace of kindness. We're grateful to the Charles H

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292 results

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