Beyond the Holocaust: Rethinking How to Teach about Jews - with Rachel Fish & Dara Horn

In this special episode of Boundless Insights, guest host Dr. Rachel Fish speaks with award-winning author and scholar Dr. Dara Horn about the shortcomings of Holocaust education. Too often, it emphasizes universal moral lessons while overlooking Jews themselves and disregarding Jewish life before and after the Holocaust. They explore the concept of the “null curriculum”—the lessons schools leave out—and reveal how a narrow focus on the Holocaust can mislead students into seeing Jews solely as historical or symbolic victims rather than as a thriving, evolving people. Dara also unpacks the “big lie,” the false accusation that portrays Jews as a collective threat to society, and underscores the urgent need to teach a broader, richer view of Jewish history and culture to challenge these dangerous misconceptions.

Guest Bio

Dara Horn is an award-winning author, including People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present and the novels Eternal Life and The World to Come. Named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists, she has won three National Jewish Book Awards, and her work has been recognized as a New York Times Notable Books and translated into 13 languages. Her essays have appeared in leading outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal. A Harvard-trained scholar of Yiddish and Hebrew, she has taught at institutions like Sarah Lawrence and Harvard, and lectures internationally. Dara is also the founder of Mosaic Persuasion, a nonprofit dedicated to educating the American public about Jewish civilization.

More from Dara Horn
Dara Horn's website: darahorn.com
One Little Goat by Dara Horn
Why the Most Educated People in America Fall for Anti-Semitic Lies in The Atlantic by Dara Horn
Is Holocaust Education Making Anti-Semitism Worse in The Atlantic by Dara Horn
People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn