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In a frenzied media cycle, Identity/Crisis creates better conversations about the issues facing contemporary Jewish life. Host Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, talks with leading thinkers to unpack current events affecting Jewish communities in North America, Israel, and around the world, revealing the core Jewish values underlying the issues that matter most to you.
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When immigration policies turn violent and inhumane, how do
we decide when to show up, who we stand beside, and what we’re willing to risk when the stakes feel both immediate and overwhelming?
This week, Identity/Crisis follows that moral question out of the beit midrash and into the street. Yehuda Kurtzer passes the mic to Identity/Crisis producer, Tessa Zitter as she attends a Jews against ICE rally in Washington, DC. Through her experience at the protest and interviews with the organizers and attendees, including Executive Director of T’ruah Jill Jacobs, former NYC Comptroller Brad Lander, and Hartman colleague Annie Beyer-Chafets, she explores what it means to bring Jewish moral language into the public square.
For more on the day of learning: In the Face of Cruelty, Jewish Responsibilities to Neighbors and Strangers, click here.
To listen to America Betrays the Stranger, click here.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
The question of Haredi military service in Israel has always been about more than the army, and the war has made that unmistakable.
On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer is joined by Yehoshua Pfeffer, a rabbi and public thinker working on questions of Haredi citizenship, work, and service, to unpack why the draft debate has become so volatile since October 7, and why the IDF is more than an institution: it’s a crucible of Israeli identity. Together they explore the fears driving Haredi resistance to the draft, the anger and exhaustion felt across Israeli society, and whether change can happen through trust and politics rather than coercion—before the bonds of kinship and shared fate wear too thin to hold.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
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Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Listen to our recent episode “America Betrays the Stranger.”
Hope isn’t optimism—it’s the stubborn decision to keep building even when you can’t see the outcome. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with alumni of Hartman’s Hazon leadership program Ayala Dahan and Yonathan Machlis to talk about the civic
work of showing up and how young Israeli activists can draw on hope in the face of political, religious, and communal divides. They explore how a generation builds trust and solidarity and what it means to organize not just against what’s broken, but toward a better society.
To learn more about Pathways to Hope, click HERE.
To learn more about the Hazon Leadership Initiative, click HERE.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Register for this summer’s Community Leadership Program or Rabbinic
Torah Seminar.
Educators, apply now to the Wellspring Summit for Educators!
What happens when Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” is no longer read as a civic creed, but as a provocation about who belongs—and what a democracy owes the vulnerable? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects
on the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America, the present state violence being carried out in Minneapolis, and the uneasy silence of Jewish institutions when civil rights are clearly under assault. He then turns the lens toward Israel—asking what it means for Jews in both democracies to draw the line not between “us” and “them,” but between cruelty and compassion.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
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Antizionism has become a badge of belonging—and a tool of exclusion. On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Shaul Kelner, professor of Jewish Studies and Sociology at Vanderbilt University, about how anti-Zionism operates not only as an argument but as a movement culture—shaping who belongs on the American left and what counts as “moral.” Together, they explore what it would mean to respond with clarity without collapsing every critique of Israel into the same category.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Read Shaul Kelner’s article “American Antizionism” and subscribe to Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas.
Learn more about Rabbanut North America, our three-year rabbinic ordination program, and the newest cohort!
Did Yiddish ever really die?
On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Rukhl Schaechter, editor of the Yiddish Forverts, to explore the surprising renaissance of the Yiddish language—from new dictionaries and online media to Duolingo learners and Hasidic vernacular. Together they discuss what is drawing people back to the language, how Yiddish carries culture across generations, and why so many Jews are using it to seek connections to their roots in a moment of renewed searching.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
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What does it mean to defend liberal democracy in a world shaped by power, domination, and moral compromise? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Washington Post columnist and author of The Case for American Power, Shadi Hamid, about whether liberal societies can wield power without betraying their own ideals. From Trump’s approach to Venezuela to the war in Gaza, their conversation asks whether restraint, morality, and democratic purpose can guide power in a fractured political moment.
You can find Shadi's book, The Case for American Power, HERE
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Listen to young Israeli changemakers from our Hazon program on
the Canadian Jewish News's North Star podcast.
Who pays the price for identifying antisemitism?
In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with journalist and Canadaland host Jesse Brown about his recent series What Is Happening Here and his decision to investigate the rise of anti-Zionism and antisemitism in Canada. Together, they examine why media and political institutions have struggled to respond and what it costs to name these realities publicly.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
If you read our journal Sources, complete our reader survey by January 15.
Learn more about the Kogod Research Center, whose scholars develop the ideas of the Hartman Institute.
Why have universities become flashpoints for broader cultural and political battles and what can higher education do to repair a fractured public sphere?
In a conversation recorded live at the Vilna Shul in Boston, Yehuda Kurtzer and Harvard president Alan Garber reflect on leadership in a moment of crisis—exploring free speech and protest, institutional neutrality, and the rise of antisemitism on campus. As a university president and a Jew, Garber shares what worries him about the current moment, what gives him hope, and what it will take for universities—and the country—to move forward.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Learn more about and apply to the Hevruta Gap-Year Program.
Learn more about and register for our 2026 Rabbinic Torah Seminar.
How do ideas travel—and what happens when they cross borders? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with author and historian Adam Ferziger to explore how liberal and moderate forms of Judaism, forged in North America, took root in Israel and helped shape a distinctly Israeli religious center. Drawing on Ferziger's new book Agents of Change, the conversation examines education, power, backlash, and belonging—and asks what it really means for Jewish ideas to be “imported,” translated, and transformed in a sovereign Jewish society.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
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 December 24, 2024
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 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 holiday music that Jewish composers have contributed to the canon.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
What does it take to rebuild Jewish community after two years of trauma and division? On this special episode of Identity/Crisis, Senior Editor Claire Sufrin turns the tables and interviews Yehuda Kurtzer about his article in the newest issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas, where he unpacks why communities need clearer values and a renewed ethic of care to move beyond crisis. Their conversation offers us a roadmap for belonging, boundaries, and rebuilding connection after October 7.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
Read Our Fragile Tents: Community, Consent, and Care in Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas. Check out the Fall/Winter 2025 issue and subscribe to our print edition.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
What does it take for Black–Jewish partnerships to flourish in a moment of rising fear, political polarization, and mutual misunderstanding? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and scholar Terrence Johnson discuss the stories we carry — about vulnerability, power, Israel, America, and identity — and why they often fail to translate across racial lines. Together, they explore how demythologizing each other and leaning into deeper, more intimate conversations might reshape the future of Black–Jewish relations.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
Listen to the recording of the SAPIR debate HERE
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Join Pathways to Hope and meet young Israeli changemakers.
Learn more about positions available at Hartman North America.
If you read Sources, complete a brief reader survey.
This episode was originally released on Tuesday, November 26th, 2024
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.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Why are conspiracy theories about Jews surging in the American mainstream — and why are so many young Americans embracing them? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and Yair Rosenberg, staff writer at The Atlantic, unpack how Tucker Carlson’s platforming of
Nick Fuentes reveals a broader ecosystem of digital extremism and populist politics that increasingly places Jews at the center of national discontent.
We are grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:
Register for Tomer Persico’s book talk in NYC on December 9.
Watch the recording of the Hevruta Gap-Year Program Open House.
What’s next for Israel’s democracy after years of polarization, war, and political stagnation? In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer talks
with Tani Frank, Director of the Center for Judaism and State Policy at
the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, about Israel’s rapidly changing
political landscape ahead of the 2026 elections. They discuss Benjamin
Netanyahu’s enduring power, the rise of a possible “Zionist alliance,” and the growing demand for political accountability and unity after October 7.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
Subscribe to our new podcast Thoughts & Prayers here
Learn more about Hartman’s Winter Leadership Seminar here
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Thirty years after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks
with Yossi Beilin, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, about the
night that changed Israel forever. Together they revisit Rabin’s legacy, the
rise of extremism that followed, and ask: what will it take to revive the hope
of peace?
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
Learn more about Hartman’s Hevruta Gap-Year Program HERE
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
1What does Zohran Mamdani’s rise reveal about the shifting power, politics, and identity of New York City’s Jews?
As New York stands on the verge of electing its first anti-Zionist mayor, on Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer and political strategist Howard Wolfson explore what happens when the Jewish community, who once defined New York’s political center of gravity, finds itself on the outside looking in.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
Last week on the Jewish Broadcasting Network, Shalom Hartman Institute presidents Yehuda Kurtzer and Donniel Hartman joined journalist Abigail Pogrebin for a live conversation reflecting on this pivotal moment: the immense Israeli public effort to bring the hostages home, the roles of Trump and Netanyahu in current and future politics, and the dueling priorities of Israeli and American Jews. As the ceasefire went into effect and all remaining living hostages and some of the fallen returned to Israel, Yehuda and Donniel celebrated with cautious optimism and offered a hopeful vision for reconstructing Jewish life.
We're grateful to the Charles H. Revson Foundation for supporting the Shalom Hartman Institute's digital work, including Identity/Crisis.
At a time of unprecedented leaps in technology and ethical questions about artificial intelligence, one scholar seeks answers from an unlikely source — ancient Jewish wisdom.
In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer talks with technology guru, Hartman scholar, and founding Identity/Crisis Producer David Zvi Kalman about the religious and ethical dilemmas AI poses for Jewish life — from sermons written by bots to the erosion of truth and authority. This thoughtful conversation is for anyone wondering whether Judaism can move fast enough to meet technology’s challenges while preserving the core Jewish value of human dignity.
You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS
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