Identity/Crisis

Shuly Rubin Schwartz (JTS) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on her new role as Chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the integrative learning that happens there. Together they discuss the ideals of the institution, the challenges of leading in a polarized era, and the value of history as context for profound and long-lasting learning.

Elana Stein Hain (Shalom Hartman Institute) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to introduce Hartman's newest curricular offering, Foundations for a Thoughtful Judaism, a sophisticated yet accessible introduction to Jewish thought for educators and students of all backgrounds. Featured here is an episode of the companion podcast, Conversations for a Thoughtful Judaism, where Hartman scholars Sara Labaton and Tomer Persico speak about the role of Jewish practice in their lives. Learn more at shalomhartman.org/foundations

Shaul Magid (Dartmouth College) and Pamela Nadell (American University) join Yehuda Kurtzer to take a broad view of the academic field of Jewish Studies: its origins, its uneasy relationship with the community and philanthropy that enable it, and its problematics.

Eitan Hersh (Tufts University) recently published two sociological papers on antisemitism and sentiment about Israel in America's young adults. He joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss what the data says, the pitfalls of analyzing communal problems with anecdotal evidence, and the way individuals can actually effect political change. Referenced in this episode: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/01/political-hobbyists-are-ruining-politics/605212/

Yehuda Kurtzer and David Koffman (York University) chart out the unique questions that face Canadian Jews as citizens of a binational, bilingual, self-described settler state, and the way those questions inform their communal Zionism, continuity, and scholarship.

Joel Braunold (S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace) joins Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about peace-making in the Middle East: its preconditions, the person-to-person work that might enable it, and the uncomfortable truth that "peace" might mean - for everyone - " to agree to lose non-violently."

Yona Shem-Tov and Leah Solomon of Encounter join Yehuda Kurtzer to talk about what Israeli and American Jews aren't seeing, what is simple and what is complicated about the ongoing conflict, and how to listen and speak more courageously.

In this episode, Ethan Tucker (Hadar Institute) joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on American Zionism’s long-term development and generational differences in the response to this moment of crisis. What are they grounded in? What has changed? And, what is the way forward for the American Jewish community? 

Hannah Dreyfus is a freelance reporter with an unusual but essential beat: reporting allegations of sexual misconduct in Jewish organizations. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Dreyfus about her recent story on a former senior rabbi at Central Synagogue and the process of reporting out allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior in Jewish communal settings.

In the wake of the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, Hartman Research Fellows Ginna Green (political strategist and writer) and Rivka Press Schwartz (SAR) join host Yehuda Kurtzer to reflect on the impact of the moment and to take a broader view at the American Jewish community's relationship to white supremacy and policing.