February 2021 is both Black History Month and the month during which Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim. So it’s a month during which both the Black and Jewish communities in America will reflect on a past marked both by deep pain and injustice, and courage in the face of oppression. What can we teach each other about this process? And what can we, together, teach America? This week, Rabbi Lamm speaks with Van Lathan of The Ringer and the Higher Learning podcast about all of this and more in a fun, fascinating, raw and powerful conversation.

Topic Index:

3:11 - What divides and unites the Jewish and Black communities in America?

11:36 - Bringing authentic culture out into the mainstream.

14:33 - No other cultural tradition is as born and made in America as Black American culture.

19:00 - What can Jewish culture do for America?

23:17 - If you want the wildest, blockbuster stories you’ve ever heard. Read the Bible.

26:26 - Is it even possible to tell the American story as a whole in a way that both faces up to our sins and evils and also brings us together around a common American purpose and destiny? Van thinks so, but it’s hard!

36:13 - Van explains why idol worship is a major problem in American society, and how we need to find a way to fight it.

43:40 - One of the most radical innovations in the Bible is: heroes are and always will be imperfect!

49:01 - ›Is there any way for us to bring a sense of objective virtue into our most powerful public institutions in America, whether the market, the state, or pop culture? Van argues that it’s possible, but we need to redefine everything our culture assumes about right and wrong.