Yair Furstenberg, a Professor of Talmud at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, joins Yehuda Kurtzer, a thought leader on Jewish tradition and mortality. They delve into profound themes of death and martyrdom, particularly in light of recent violence. The discussion weaves through Jewish rituals, exploring how they help navigate grief and seek meaning during the High Holidays. They also reflect on the complexities of communal mourning and the evolution of martyrdom language within tradition, highlighting the balance between hope and despair.

November is rapidly approaching, and with it the end of the tumultuous U.S. presidential election cycle. In this week's episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Aaron Dorfman, Founder and Executive Director of A More Perfect Union: The Jewish Partnership for Democracy, about his efforts to mobilize the American Jewish community to strengthen U.S. democracy, what’s at stake in this election, and how American Jews are uniquely positioned to contribute to—and benefit from—a healthy democracy.You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

At a time when society feels more divided than ever, Yair Zivan, diplomatic advisor to Yair Lapid and author of the new book, The Centre Must Hold, is advocating for centrism. On this week’s episode, Yair chats with guest host and Shalom Hartman Institute Vice President Justus Baird about topics ranging from the politics around hostage deals to the American two-party divide and shares his vision for a viable path forward.  You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.   JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS  

The recovery of the bodies of six hostages over the weekend, including Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l, brought with it a fresh round of mourning in the ongoing collective grief for Israelis and Jews around the world since October 7. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer explores the personal, political, and ethical questions that emerge during this painful and uncertain moment.You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

This episode was originally released on January 16, 2024.The relationship of many Jews to top tier American universities has recently undergone a transformation from an aspiration to study at an ivy league institution to a desire to join more hospitable campuses. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Mark Oppenheimer to examine the longstanding and evolving relationship between Jews and American universities as well as antisemitism, civil discourse, and belonging on campus.Gatecrashers, a Tablet podcast hosted by Mark OppenheimerYou can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

With the fall academic semester just around the corner, guest host Claire Sufrin, Editor of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, shares two of the winning essays from the first student writing contest in the summer issue, Jewish on Campus.In the first essay, Princeton University senior Stephen Bartell rejects the claim that the Israel-Hamas War can only be understood in black-and-white terms in his piece, Celebrating Simultaneous Truths.In the second essay, Lilah Peck, a junior at UCLA, unpacks what it means to live in a pluralistic Jewish housing co-op on campus in Building a Bayit: Holding the Particular and Personal with the Universal and Communal. Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas is an award-winning print and digital journal published by the Shalom Hartman Institute that promotes informed conversations and thoughtful disagreement about issues that matter to the Jewish community. Find more at sourcesjournal.org, where you can read the complete Summer 2024 issue and subscribe to the beautiful print edition. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

This year on Tisha b’Av—the ninth of the Jewish month of Av—we’re bringing you an episode from our podcast TEXTing featuring Hartman fellows Elana Stein Hain and Leora Batnitzky:Living through crisis propels us to reflect on historical crises and consider the consequences of our behavior on future generations. As Tisha B’av approaches, Elana and Leora study a text from Jeremiah (Yirmiyahu) chapter 32 about how we process cataclysmic events and imagine a future beyond them.You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

This episode was originally released on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.The whole world is watching Israel’s next moves in Gaza, particularly on the amplified information battleground of social media where images of civilian suffering and desolation abound. What is the ethical calculus at play for the IDF in continuing to conduct this war?In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks to writer and philosopher Rabbi Shlomo Brody about the conflicting moral imperatives at play in Israel’s war with Hamas, social media during the fog of war, and where the Israeli perspective diverges from that of Jews in North America.Mentioned in this episode:·     Shlomo Brody’s recent book, Ethics of Our Fighters·     And his WSJ op-ed, Rescue Israeli Hostages, but at What Cost?You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

This episode was originally released on May 28th, 2024.October 7th and its unfolding aftermath have triggered a seismic shift in Jewish communal life.In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Mimi Kravetz, Chief Impact and Growth Officer for the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), to talk about JFNA’s recent surveys on Jewish community engagement, vulnerability, and solidarity with Israel in the United States and Canada, and what Jewish institutions can do to adapt to these changes.Referenced in this episode:·     ‘The Surge,’ ‘The Core’ and more: What you need to know about the explosion of interest in Jewish life by Mimi Kravetz, Sarah Eismann, David Manchester – eJewish Philanthropy·     Data by Air Kelman – Sources JournalYou can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS 

With elections top of mind for Jews in the U.S, Israel, and around the world, growing threats to liberalism and the rise of religious fundamentalism, populism, and identitarianism pose the question – are we going back in time? This week on Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and Tomer Persico discuss the current challenges to liberalism as a Jewish value and why its survival may be the only path forward for a moral future.Read Tomer Persico’s article HEREYou can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS