What does it mean to care for the sick—not just medically, but morally and spiritually? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer invites Sara Labaton, Director of Teaching and Learning at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, to share her essay, Permission and Obligation: A Jewish Paradigm for Care, from the Spring issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas. Drawing from personal experience and Jewish texts, Sara explores the complexities of caregiving and examines the role o...
May 06, 2025•42 min•Ep. 223
What does it mean to keep singing when the world is broken? In this special Yom Ha’atzmaut episode of Identity/Crisis, host Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Moti Zeira — biographer of legendary Israeli musician Naomi Shemer and a leading voice in Israeli cultural renewal — to explore how music carries the weight of memory, protest, and hope. You can listen to our playlist of songs by Naomi Shemer HERE You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST F...
Apr 29, 2025•56 min•Ep. 225
Who gets to tell the stories of the past, and what influence do they have on the story of the present and the future? This week marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust. In advance of Yom HaShoah, host Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Dani Dayan, Chairman of Yad Vashem, to discuss the ways in which memory is political, how reflections of the past implicate the present, and the future of holocaust remembrance when there are no more living survivors to share their stories. You can now s...
Apr 22, 2025•42 min•Ep. 222
Identity/Crisis will be taking a break this week and will return the Tuesday after Passover.
Apr 16, 2025•13 sec•Ep. 223
Take a great story from the past, add an obligation to live that story as though you’re in it, multiply by the complexities of your closest relationships, add wine, subtract food, and you have a seder – good luck. This week on Identity/Crisis, host Yehuda Kurtzer and Dara Horn, author of One Little Goat: A Passover Catastrophe, get us ready for Passover with a robust conversation on monotheism as a stand against tyranny, scapegoats, and what Horn sees as the overriding and abiding message of the...
Apr 08, 2025•55 min
The future of American Judaism is uncertain, some might even say at risk. In this special episode, recorded live at the Jewish Funders Network Conference in Nashville, Yehuda Kurtzer, Franklin Foer, and Sarah Hurwitz engage in a dynamic discussion about what ails American Judaism, why we fear change, and what we want to strengthen and preserve for the future. This live Identity/Crisis episode was made possible by Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies and the Jim Joseph F...
Apr 01, 2025•43 min•Ep. 220
During times of war, when fear and self-preservation are front of mind, how do we make room for ethics? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, guest host Claire Sufrin, editor of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, sits down with Donniel Hartman, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute, to discuss the importance of morality in the Jewish tradition and how ethics should inform our choices. Keep an eye out for Donniel Hartman’s article in the Spring 2025 issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas ...
Mar 25, 2025•43 min•Ep. 219
How do you prepare your children for becoming citizens of the Jewish people? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, recorded just ahead of their third child’s bat mitzvah, host Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by his wife and hevruta Stephanie Ives to discuss the ways you can and can’t transmit your approach to Judaism to your children. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Mar 18, 2025•56 min•Ep. 218
Identity/Crisis will be taking a break this week and will return the Tuesday after Purim.
Mar 11, 2025•45 sec
During an increasingly sensitive time for American Jews, how can we critically examine our own communities in ways that don’t feel disloyal? On this episode of Identity/Crisis recorded in front of a live audience, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Joshua Leifer, author of Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life, who wrestled with this question while critiquing communities to which he feels deeply loyal. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis....
Mar 04, 2025•52 min
What does it mean to lead the American Jewish community during this divisive moment? This week on Identity/Crisis, Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the challenges of leading effectively and persuasively in the face of antisemitism, deep partisan divides, and a society focused on social media-driven discourse. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Feb 25, 2025•48 min
During wartime, it is especially hard to see the humanity in others. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Hartman Kogod Research Center fellow and Land for All co-director Rula Hardal about the challenges of building a shared society between Israeli Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel. They discuss how to transform the discourse into one of political imagination for a better future for everyone between the river and the sea. You can now sponsor an episode of Identit...
Feb 18, 2025•57 min•Ep. 215
Throughout the Israel-Hamas War, many have shunned the idea of neutrality. For the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), neutrality is one of the most essential tools for humanitarian aid. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with ICRC legal advisor, Noa Schreuer to discuss the pragmatic applications of neutrality and the challenges the ICRC faces during times of conflict. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMA...
Feb 11, 2025•51 min•Ep. 214
Aner Shapira z"l, Hersh Goldberg-Polin z"l, Ariel Reich z"l, Shahar Friedman z"l, Dvir Barzani z"l, Ben Zussman z"l, Oriya Ayimalk Goshen z"l, Almkan Tarfe z"l, Rabbi Avi Goldberg z"l, Yuval Shoham z"l, Yinon Fleishman z"l. These names, of men lost in the last 15 months of war, are known to many – but for Jeremy Stavisky, longtime educator and former principal at Himmelfarb High School in Jerusalem, they were his students, his colleagues, and in the case of Yinon Fleishman, his son-in-law. This ...
Feb 04, 2025•44 min•Ep. 213
What do we gain and what do we lose when we attribute so much to one specific moment – like the October 7 attack in 2023, or the 1929 Hebron massacre? In a fascinating and difficult conversation about her new book, Ghosts of a Holy War: The 1929 Massacre in Palestine That Ignited the Arab-Israeli Conflict, guest Yardena Schwartz and host Yehuda Kurtzer discuss the roots of the century long conflict, their implications today and how they shape the future of the region. This episode of Identity/Cr...
Jan 28, 2025•52 min•Ep. 212
As we enter the first year of a new yet familiar U.S. presidency, American Jews are reflecting on their relationship with governance and power structures as individuals and as a collective. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Jonathan Sarna, professor of American Jewish History and Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University. They discuss the historical relationship of Jews to people in power and explore how history can guide us throug...
Jan 21, 2025•53 min•Ep. 211
With right-wing ultranationalism on the rise in Israel, how can the left reclaim a language of safety and morality? Yair Golan, leader of the Israel Democratic Party, has some ideas. This week he joins host Yehuda Kurtzer for a surprisingly frank discussion of the complicated (or in Golan’s view, not so complicated) challenges facing Israeli society and its leaders.. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Jan 07, 2025•44 min•Ep. 210
How do the books we read shape our memories? To close out the year, we’re bringing you a special episode from The Five Books Podcast, a new podcast that celebrates the role of books in our lives, featuring Yehuda Kurtzer. Each week on The Five Books, host Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen speaks with a Jewish author about the books that have shaped them, shifted their perspective, or guided their journey. They delve deep into conversations about growing up, books as cultural touchstones, and what it means t...
Dec 31, 2024•51 min•Ep. 209
The relegation of Hanukkah merchandise to a tiny corner of the grocery aisle can cause Jews to feel excluded or marginalized by the Christmas holiday season. But the impact of Jews on the history and culture of secularized Christmas is deeper than you might think. In this exciting new Yuletide episode of Identity/Crisis, host Yehuda Kurtzer and American composer and music commentator Rob Kapilow sit down at the keyboard to better understand the relationship between Jews and Christmas through the...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 208
In times of turmoil, Jewish communities rely heavily on their leaders for guidance. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, guest host Claire Sufrin, editor of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, sits down with Rabbi Elka Abrahamson to discuss her article in the new Fall/Winter 2024 issue about how Jewish leaders are rising to the challenge of this moment and guiding their communities through turbulent times. Read Elka Abrahamson’s article in the Fall/Winter 2024 issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewis...
Dec 10, 2024•55 min•Ep. 207
This political moment may cause American Jews to ask: “Where have we seen this before?” In this episode recorded live in NYC, Yehuda Kurtzer challenges the impulse to reach backwards for old frameworks to describe our current situation, and instead offers a vision for a new era in American-Jewish politics – one shaped by a culture of compromise and defined by an embrace of kindness. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN ...
Nov 26, 2024•48 min•Ep. 206
Donald Trump’s presidential comeback has many fearful for the future of American democracy. As with most recent election cycles, last week’s process was mired in a discourse of absolute and incompatible truths, creating conflicts in local communities that many are struggling to reconcile. Yehuda Kurtzer approached six Hartman faculty, fellows, and staff with the question: What should be the agenda for the American Jewish community in working to repair our democracy in the wake of these elections...
Nov 12, 2024•27 min•Ep. 205
In addition to their responsibilities as leaders and shapers of local Jewish communities, rabbis are responsible for leading the Jewish people forward into the future. The weight of this work is heavy, but the number of people who choose the rabbinic profession is dwindling. In the third and final episode of Rabbinic Identities/Rabbinic Crises, our guests discuss the boundaries of the Jewish tent, the importance of interfaith relationship-building, and the future of the rabbinic profession. You ...
Nov 05, 2024•44 min•Ep. 204
North American Jews are seeking different types of belonging, marked by a steady decline in synagogue membership over the last several decades. What are people searching for in their Jewish communal lives, and how are rabbis adjusting their work to accommodate these new communal needs? In this second episode of Rabbinic Identities/Rabbinic Crises, our guests discuss the considerations in finding the perfect shidduch between a rabbi and a community, and how they approach drawing the boundaries th...
Oct 29, 2024•46 min•Ep. 203
For rabbis, the line between the personal and the professional is not always clear cut. As leaders of communities, they are in the public eye and trusted as models of Jewish living, while also living in and among the community. In this first episode of Rabbinic Identities/Rabbinic Crises, Yehuda Kurtzer explores our guests’ paths to the rabbinate and the challenges and blessings of working in and leading a community as both a professional and a private individual. You can now sponsor an episode ...
Oct 22, 2024•45 min•Ep. 202
In the hours following October 7, 2023, Yehuda Kurtzer reached out to friends and colleagues in Israel, both expressing his concern and support and asking them to share their personal experiences following Hamas’ deadly attack. He gathered their responses in A Nation That Can’t Sleep, released on October 11. This year, Yehuda reconnected with those same friends and colleagues, inviting them to reflect on the unimaginable year that has since passed. Their interwoven stories reveal the profound st...
Oct 07, 2024•48 min•Ep. 201
As we gather in synagogues across the world for Rosh Hashana this week, we confront human mortality with the fresh memory of so much violent death since October 7, and the threat of more to come. This week Yehuda Kurtzer spoke with Yair Furstenberg, Professor of Talmud at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, about how Jewish tradition can help us confront death’s senselessness. You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS...
Oct 01, 2024•50 min•Ep. 198
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 no...
Sep 24, 2024•53 min•Ep. 199
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 mor...
Sep 17, 2024•42 min•Ep. 198
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
Sep 04, 2024•34 min•Ep. 197
