Identity/Crisis

Latest Episodes:

On Screaming - and Other Radical Ways of Showing Up Sep 21, 2023

Show notes

In response to the current political moment in Israel, the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America hosted a day-long virtual Teach-In on September 20. This episode is a recording of Yehuda Kurtzer's opening session, where he challenges us to expand our understanding of what Jewish tradition teaches us about how we can respond in times of crisis. In addition to protest, he suggests that blowing shofar, teaching, and fasting are all rituals that transform and mobilize us as individuals and as a community.

A source sheet accompanying this session can be found here.

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The Art of the Sermon Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

With Rosh Hashana right around the corner, Yehuda Kurtzer sat down with Rabbi David Wolpe, the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, to discuss the art of writing a rabbi's sermon. As they explore the ingredients of a great rabbinical speech, they touch on the writing process, the often blurry division of a rabbi’s public and private life, and the role of politics at the pulpit. Together, they get to the very heart of what it means both to have a rabbi and to be a rabbi.

Mentioned in this episode:

https://www.restorativefaith.org/post/departure-why-i-left-the-church

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Five Years of Reporting on the Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooting Sep 06, 2023

Show notes

The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in October 2018 was the deadliest attack on Jewish people in American history. For Adam Reinherz, award-winning journalist and senior staff writer at the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, it was also something much more personal. In the years since the attack, Adam has reported on everything—from the tragedy to its fallout to the shooter's recent death sentence—across dozens of articles, for the sake of both his Jewish community and the larger world. In this week's episode, Adam and Yehuda Kurtzer discuss what it means to approach a story that holds both particular and universal resonance.

A list of Adam's articles on the shooting can be found here.

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The Jewish Establishment and Its Critics Aug 29, 2023

Show notes

"The Jewish establishment" evokes images of a small group of insiders with some combination of power, affluence, and influence. This isn't necessarily wrong, but the power and purpose of that establishment has shifted significantly since its height in the middle of the 20th century, and it also exists in relationship to its critics.

Eric Fingerhut has been a member of many "establishments." He was a congressman for Ohio 19th district, CEO of Hillel International, and is now the CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). In conversation with Yehuda Kurtzer, he shares his perspectives on the power and limits of representing North American Jewish communities, particularly during times of political crisis; the systems of democracy within his own organization; and where he sees hope for the Jewish future in both North America and Israel.

Yehuda Kurtzer’s article “The Establishment Has No Clothes ”

The Only Woman in the Room (Re-Release) Aug 22, 2023

Show notes

A highly competent bureaucrat who conceived the modern Israeli economy, a bungler who mismanaged the Yom Kippur War, or "the only man in the Israeli cabinet:" these are only a few of the many images of Golda Meir that remain etched in Israeli national consciousness. But who was Golda Meir, and how might her story shed light on enduring political and social questions facing the state of Israel? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Pnina Lahav, Professor of Law Emerita at Boston University, about her recently published feminist biography of Golda Meir, The Only Woman in the Room: Golda Meir and Her Path to Power (Book | Audiobook). They discuss Golda Meir's political career and the conflicts that shaped it, exploring the complexities of gender, rhetoric, compromise, and power.

This episode originally aired on April 18th, 2023.

Variations on the Shema Aug 15, 2023

Show notes

This is a recorded reading from the author of an essay published in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, a publication of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.

In this essay, “Variations on the Shema,” Sam Fleischacker meditates on Judaism’s central prayer and statement of faith. Seen through Sam’s eyes, the Shema becomes the thread that guides a Jew from childhood to adulthood and from place to place. He argues that by seeing the Shema in all the ways that our tradition asks us to look at it, from the Haggadah to our farthest travels, we can bring diversity and richness to one of our most familiar rituals, and thereby our lives.

Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas is a print and digital award-winning journal promoting informed conversations and thoughtful disagreement about issues that matter to the Jewish community. Our Fall issue on the theme of Danger and Safety will be out in just a few weeks. Find it at sourcesjournal.org, where you can read all of our articles for free and also subscribe to our beautiful printed edition.

Clergy at the Courthouse (Re-Release) Aug 08, 2023

Show notes

Should religious commitments motivate political activism? How might we show up for abortion rights not only as Americans, but as Jews? Rori Picker Neiss, Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis and a Rabbinic Fellow of the David Hartman Center, is a leader in the fight against abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation in Missouri. She joins host Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the role of religion in shaping our political and moral choices, the place of clergy in social movements, and how faith might build bridges across the aisle.

This episode originally aired on February 14th, 2023.

Fear, Fury, and the Struggle for Equal Rights in Israel Aug 01, 2023

Show notes

We’re bringing you something new this week. We invite you to listen to an audio version of an article that appeared in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, a publication of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.

In this article, “Fear, Fury, and the Struggle for Equal Rights in Israel,” Leah Solomon writes about the role that emotions play in Israeli culture and politics, and argues that we must move beyond fear in order to bring a resolution to the conflict. Leah is the Chief Education Officer at Encounter, an organization that educates Jewish leaders about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Zion's Roads are in Mourning Jul 26, 2023

Show notes

After months of civil unrest in Israel, the first bill from the governing coalition's judicial reform proposal was officially passed on Monday. Recording together in Jerusalem, Matti Friedman and Yehuda Kurtzer break down and analyze recent events, including the political appointments and identity politics that led to this moment, the anti-reform protesters' incredibly wide coalition, the radicalization of the Israeli Right, Netanyahu’s role, the stories that Americans are telling themselves, and more.

Matti Friedman's previous Identity/Crisis episode: Leonard Cohen's Military Mystery Tour

Introducing: Perfect Jewish Parents Jul 25, 2023

Show notes

Raising kids Jewishly adds a layer of responsibility and opportunity to all of the other demands of parenting as parents navigate a wide set of choices about everything from the songs they play during holidays to how they talk to their kids about the Holocaust and antisemitism. For many parents, these aren't just responsibilities; they're a Jewish practice in and of themselves as they aim to support their children in inheriting and contributing to Jewish tradition. To explore these ideas, the Shalom Hartman Institute is launching Perfect Jewish Parents, a new show about the joys and oys of raising children Jewishly.

In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Joshua Ladon and Masua Sagiv, hosts of the Shalom Hartman Institute's newest podcast, Perfect Jewish Parents, to discuss what inspired this new show about the joys and oys of raising children Jewishly.

Subscribe to Perfect Jewish Parents:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/perfect-jewish-parents/id1697155774

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PYvt8HynHfVfcFomTdx4N?si=da0f58c11c564797

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