Identity/Crisis

Latest Episodes:

Toratah: The Regendered Bible Feb 13, 2024

Show notes

What do we learn from reversing the genders of Biblical characters and reworking the text to center on the feminine? With their ambitious project Toratah – the Regendered Bible, Yael Kanarek and Tamar Biala seek to find out. They offer a matriarchal structure, female characters, and feminine divinity that contrasts with a sacred text that has been dominated by masculinity and male characters for millennia. Yael and Tamar join Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the process of regendering the Torah and the new and unexpected perspectives that Toratah reveals through transformative language.

Read texts from Toratah and learn more about the project HERE.

Get tickets to attend the Songs of Toratah: Album Release Concert HERE.

You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.

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Israeli Rabbis Rise to this Moment Feb 06, 2024

Show notes

As Israeli society grapples with the aftermath of October 7th, Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is among the religious leaders rising to the challenge of providing spiritual, pastoral, and psychosocial support to evacuees, wounded soldiers, families of hostages, and others affected by the trauma of the attacks and the war. In this week's episode, she joins Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss her recent experiences and personal insights as a rabbi navigating communal grief, maintaining a spiritual position towards peace, and digging into the Jewish tradition for answers.

Tamar’s rabbinic work was highlighted on NPR’s Morning Edition.

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Introducing: TEXTing with Elana Stein Hain Jan 30, 2024

Show notes

This week, Identity/Crisis is excited to share the first episode of Hartman’s newest podcast: TEXTing with Elana Stein Hain. On each episode Elana delves deeply into the issues of our day through the lens of classical Jewish texts, in conversation with Hartman scholars Christine Hayes, Yonah Hain, or Leora Batnitzky.

In this first episode of TEXTing, Elana and Christine turn to the Talmud in tractate Hagigah to address the shock, disbelief, alienation, and despair Jews around the world are experiencing in the wake of October 7 and throughout the subsequent Israel-Hamas War.

We are grateful to the Walder Charitable Fund and Micah Philanthropies for their generous support of TEXTing.

This episode is also sponsored by Erica Schacter Schwartz

Episode Source Sheet

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Who Are the Jews — And Who Can We Become? Jan 23, 2024

Show notes

Jews around the world hold deep moral commitments that are often in conflict. In the face of this kind of communal division, how can we foster a coherent sense of peoplehood? Is there an overarching narrative that deepens and enriches Jewish life while connecting Jews across oceans and ideological differences? Donniel Hartman tackles these existential questions of Jewish peoplehood in his newest book, Who Are the Jews — And Who Can We Become? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer and Donniel discuss the book and the core issues it explores, ultimately addressing what it means - and what it takes - to be a Jewish people today.

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Link to purchase the book

Pride and Prejudice at Elite Universities Jan 16, 2024

Show notes

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 Oppenheimer

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The Evolution of Human Rights Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

How do we address the devastating intersection of legitimate war and human rights catastrophe? Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Yehudah Mirsky, professor, author, and former special advisor to the US State Department Human Rights Bureau, for a master class on the trajectory, impact, and underlying values of the human rights discourse. They explore what shapes our understanding and assumptions of human rights and where liberal, universalist ideals overlap with Zionism, Jewishness, and Jewish values on the world stage today.

Mentioned in this episode:

Hannah Arendt: The Rights of Man, the Political Community, Judgment and Recognition | SpringerLink By Hannah Arendt

Human rights died in Gaza - UnHerd by Yehudah Mirsky

Believe Israeli Women - Identity/Crisis | Podcast on Spotify

#51: Genocide, Antisemitism, and the Nomenclature of Hatred - Identity/Crisis | Podcast on Spotify

(PDF) The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History by Samuel Moyn (researchgate.net)

(PDF) Durkheim's 'Individualism and the Intellectuals | steven lukes - Academia.edu

Why Hamas Killers Invoked God’s Name, Not the Liberation of Palestine - Israel News - Haaretz.com by Anshel Pfeffer (behind a paywall)

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Identity/Crisis Wrapped Dec 26, 2023

Show notes

During this tumultuous and difficult year, what have we learned about how we relate to Judaism, the Jewish people, Israel, and the world? In this final episode of 2023, Yehuda Kurtzer uses selections from Identity/Crisis episodes over the past year to guide us through key moments and ideas. Beginning with concerns over Israel’s democracy, he explores what characterizes North American Judaism before delving into the devastation of October 7 and the subsequent war, ultimately reflecting on the lessons we have learned.

Previous episodes of Identity/Crisis mentioned in this episode:

Tehila Friedman, Hole in the Center of Israeli Society | January 17, 2023

Rana Fahoum, Envisioning Shared Society | January 10, 2023

Mishael Zion, How to Run a Seder | April 4, 2023

Matti Friedman, Zion’s Roads are in Mourning |July 27, 2023

Rachel Isaacs, Small Town American Judaism |June 19, 2023

Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, From Kharkiv to New York | February 27, 2023

Hannah Lebovitz, Lessons on Housing insecurity | September 27, 2023

Eliot Cosgrove, The Case for Commandments | May 9, 2023

Rabbi David Wolpe, The Art of the Sermon | September 12, 2023

Various voices, A Nation That Can’t Sleep | October 11, 2023

Shira Berkowitz, When Jews Show Up | November 28, 2023

Eric Fingerhut, The Jewish Establishment and Its Critics | August 29, 2023

Gali Cooks, The Jewish Leadership Pipeline Problem | July 17, 2023

Tal Becker, Fighting a Just War |November 14, 2023

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Believe Israeli Women Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

Today’s episode involves discussion of sexual assault and other violent themes connected to the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7. Listener discretion is advised.

In the aftermath of Hamas’s heinous televised attack, Cochav Elkayam-Levy, law professor and expert on international law, human rights, and feminist theory, became the Chair of Israel’s Civil Commission on October 7 Crimes by Hamas Against Women and Children. One week after meeting with White House officials, she spoke with Yehuda Kurtzer about her work to compile a comprehensive accounting of gender-based violence committed by Hamas and the heartbreaking struggle for recognition that she is facing in the international arena.

Cochav Elkayam-Levy speaking before the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

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Unpacking the Meaning of Hanukkah Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

How did Hanukkah transform from a story about a military conquest and temple rededication into the festival of lights that we celebrate today? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer studies texts about Hanukkah with Joshua Kulp, senior scholar at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem and scholar of ancient Judaism. They argue about the meaning of Hanukkah as they explore the rabbinic relationship with militarism as well as historical and religious interpretations of the events connected to the Hanukkah story.

Source sheet coming soon.

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The Battle for Liberal Values on Campus Dec 05, 2023

Show notes

Across the United States, students are rallying and advocating for their perspectives about the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Campus conversations and environments are becoming increasingly hostile with many Jewish students reporting feeling unsafe. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Mijal Bitton, research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and Rosh Kehilla (communal leader) and co-founder of the Downtown Minyan in New York City to probe the term ‘safety’ and how it interacts with the discomfort that a diverse, liberal education should engender. They ask: when is discomfort productive, when is it unproductive, and when does it cross the line to dangerous? They consider the purpose of universities as well as if and how Jews can continue to exist within, and even improve, systems that don’t see us.

Mijal Bitton’s Speech at the March on Washington
Mijal Bitton’s Speech at a rally at NYU
Yascha Mounk, mentioned by Mijal Bitton
Mijal Bitton’s article in opposition to the Women’s March, 2019
Avishai Margalit On Compromise and On Rotten Compromises
Harper’s letter on justice and open debate
Letter in response to Harper’s letter
Message from Northwestern’s President Schill to Senior Leadership
University of Chicago’s approach to free speech - The Kalven Report (1967)
University of Chicago’s “Statement,” October 9, 2023
Letter signed by 500 Columbia professors

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