Today, as Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim, they’ll also study the book of Esther, named for the young queen whose Jewish identity was unknown to her husband—Persia's king—and his court. The book of Esther tells the story of how she and her cousin Mordechai outwitted the king's second-in-command, the vizier Haman, who sought to destroy the Persian Jews. Beloved among children and adults, the story has also been read by some as a manual for Jewish political survival in the Diaspora. Ronna Burger of Tulane University, a professor of philosophy, also sees in Esther a commentary on the sources of human success: do humans accomplish their aims through sheer luck, divine help, or careful decision-making? In conversation with Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver, she walks through Esther, demonstrating how each of these elements—chance, providence, and prudence—emerge from the biblical text.

Reihan Salam, the fifth president of the Manhattan Institute, delves into New York City's tumultuous journey from crime-ridden chaos to revitalization, thanks to innovative policies. He discusses the alarming resurgence of urban decay and anti-Semitic violence, urging a revival of urban conservatism. The conversation touches on the need for young leaders who merge tradition with modern challenges, the crucial link between housing supply and community health, and the struggles of school choice in union-dominated areas. Salam's insights illuminate the path toward restoring civic order.

Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism & Policy, dives into the complexities of Palestinian nationalism. He reflects on the decline of traditional leadership and the surprising opportunities that arise from recent conflicts. Mansour argues for a reimagining of identity, prioritizing individual rights over collective narratives. He critiques how historical narratives and groups like Hamas shape Palestinian experiences, advocating for new leadership that prioritizes the well-being of everyday Palestinians.

David Bashevkin, the Director of Education for NCSY and an expert on modern Orthodoxy, dives into the transformation of American Orthodox Judaism. He discusses how contemporary issues like wellness culture influence spiritual dynamics. Bashevkin explores the evolving identities within Orthodox communities, the balance between tradition and modernity, and the quest for authentic religious experiences among younger generations. He also touches on the complex relationship with Zionism and the deep questions regarding Israel's future.

On February 8, 2025, three hostages ascended from the dungeons of Hamas and returned to freedom in Israel: Eli Sharabi, age fifty-two; Or Levy, age thirty-four; and Ohad Ben Ami, age fifty-six. They had been held captive for sixteen months. When the three men were first seen, and their images instantly projected onto social media and news sites and television sets across the world, many viewers had a similar reaction. They were so gaunt, so emaciated, so frail, that they reminded Israeli government ministers, news analysts, even the president of the United States, of Holocaust survivors. Survivors of the Nazi war against the Jews were, upon their liberation in 1945, indeed often starved and skeletal, and when we think of the women and men who endured the miserable slavery of the concentration camps, we think of their suffering. There are vanishingly few survivors of the Shoah still alive with us now some 80 years after the camps were liberated. And of course we who are their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren have an obligation to redeem their suffering with life, with holiness, and with strength. Even so, alongside and among the suffering victims, the prisoners, the Jews who were oppressed by the Nazis and their collaborators, there were countless examples of Jewish resistance, of Jewish heroism and courage that tell a very different story about the Shoah. Today’s podcast traces the life and defiant wartime story of Joseph Scheinmann, born in Munich in 1915, who fled with his family to France in 1933, where he was assigned a new identity and a new name. From that moment on, Joseph—now Andre—would work to undermine, sabotage, subvert, surveil, and debilitate the Nazis. Andre, the name he kept even after the war, the name he used to build a life in America, is the grandfather of Gabriel Scheinmann, a foreign-policy analyst and the executive director of the Alexander Hamilton Society. He joins the podcast alongside Diana Mara Henry, the author of a new book about Gabriel’s grandfather, I am Andre: German Jew, French Resistance Fighter, British Spy, based on Andre’s own recollections and memoir. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Cynthia Ozick, a legendary essayist and novelist known for her incisive works on Jewish fiction, delves into the complexities of faith and identity. The discussion centers around the 1263 Disputation of Barcelona, exploring what drives individuals like Pablo Christiani, a former Jew turned Dominican friar, to betray their roots. Ozick examines themes of cultural identity, the struggles between belief systems, and the psychological impact of historical persecution on personal narratives. It's a profound exploration of transformation and resilience.

On January 15, Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary cease-fire. About 30 Israeli hostages would be released, each one in exchange for some 30 to 50 convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons. Of course, this is a controversial arrangement that sets a terrible precedent to incentivize future hostage-taking. At the same time, imagine if your mother or father or daughter or friend were among the hostages. Then you wouldn’t really care about that future risk when confronted with the chance to return your own loved one to safety. As many have said, it is a very bad deal, and it is easy to understand why Israelis would support it, even in full knowledge of the risk. There have by now been many discussions and analyses of this deal and what it means. I recently hosted one of those discussions with the former U.S. ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, and the former American special representative for Iran, Elliott Abrams. Today’s conversation is meant to be a little different. It takes a broader, more capacious historical view of how Israel has dealt with this tragic dilemma over the last five decades. Israel for many years has insisted that it would not negotiate with terrorists. It said that when planes full of Israeli hostages were taken in the late 1960s and it has developed a reputation for this tough-minded, hard-headed position. At the same time, it has always negotiated with terrorists, starting with the planes full of hostages taken in the late 1960s. In this its rhetorical position and its actions have always been at odds and remain so today. That’s the messiness of practical, prudential judgment in a democracy when the lives of citizens are at stake. To understand this history, and unpack the dilemma at its heart, Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver is joined by the Israeli journalist Amit Segal, who can be seen on Israel’s Channel 12 and whose work can be read in the pages of Yedioth Ahronoth.

Ross Douthat occupies one of the most fascinating roles in the religious life of the American public. He is a serious Christian, a devout Catholic, a learned student of American religious history, and a perspicacious observer of the spiritual drives that are an inescapable aspect of the human condition. But what makes his role so fascinating is that he is also an opinion columnist at the New York Times. And readers of the New York Times tend to be considerably less religious, and if religious, then considerably less traditional in their religious habits and beliefs, than Douthat. So there are times when he stands on the fault line between two different epistemological universes, called on to explain the world of faith to progressive America. In a couple of weeks he will publish Believe, a new book that takes notice of the longing for spiritual transcendence among non-religious Americans, people who look to exercise regimens, or astrology, or claims of extraterrestrial life to engage in a kind of spiritual play. To them, Believe has an arresting argument, which is that in light of what we now know about the universe, the claims of religion—not of occult and supernatural paganism but traditional, monotheistic religion—are a great deal more persuasive. Believe is a form of contemporary, monotheistic apologetics. Earlier this week, Mosaic’s editor Jonathan Silver hosted Ross Douthat together with Rabbi Meir Soloveichik for a keynote discussion at the Redstone Leadership Forum. Rabbi Soloveichik is the leader of Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, and the director of the Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought at Yeshiva University. The Redstone Leadership Forum is Tikvah’s flagship gathering of some 100 student delegates from our college chapters at over 30 campuses. This week, we bring you the recording from that live event.

Michael Doran, a historian and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, dives into the complexities of Jimmy Carter's presidency and his impact on U.S.-Israel relations. Doran critiques the Camp David Accords, questioning how much credit Carter deserves compared to Sadat and Kissinger. He discusses the dual perspectives on Israel's role as an asset or liability in American foreign policy, and examines the contrasting diplomatic styles of Carter and Kissinger in addressing the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Brad Wilcox, a sociologist and author, dives into the alarming rise of single, childless adults in America. He discusses how this demographic shift affects familial structures and societal well-being. The conversation highlights the emotional challenges of family-centric holidays for the kinless and contrasts religious and secular marital dynamics. Wilcox emphasizes the importance of strong family bonds and the cultural ramifications of prioritizing career over family life, urging a return to commitments that foster community and fulfillment.