All We Have Standing Between Us

Throughout the 2010s, political polarization fueled antisemitic conspiracy theories and helped bring violent white supremacist rhetoric into the mainstream. The 2017 Unite the Right rally, attacks on the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, and the 2018 Tree of Life synagogue shooting heightened fears and concerns within Jewish communities. This episode traces the history and forces that contributed to the shooting — the deadliest act of antisemitism in American history — and examines how Jews responded in its aftermath. Featuring Pamela Nadell and Gavriel Rosenfeld, and hosted by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum. Episode Image: Sign at the entrance to the Squirrel Hill neighborhood near the Tree of Life Synagogue after a mass shooting in Pittsburg, PA. October 27, 2018, Vincent Pugliese/EPA-EFE. All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.

On September 11, 2001, New Yorkers on their morning commutes were stunned as a commercial jet flew into one of the towers of the World Trade Center. Morning television shows immediately switched their coverage to the towers, and seventeen minutes later, a second plane hit as millions around the world watched. News of additional deliberate crashes at the Pentagon in Virginia, and a field in Pennsylvania, soon emerged. This week's episode tells the story from the perspective of Steve Israel, a former Representative from New York who served in Congress from 2001 until 2017. Featuring additional commentary from Gavriel Rosenfeld, President of the Center for Jewish History, and hosted by Gemma R. Birnbaum, Executive Director of the American Jewish Historical Society. Episode Image: September 11th commemoration ceremony, September 9, 2016. Courtesy of Representative Steve Israel. All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.

The Women's Liberation movement demanded a fundamental rethinking of gender, family, and social life. Jews were prominent on both sides of the debate, and many Jewish women were among the movement's leading theorists and thinkers. Others, especially neoconservatives, became its sharpest critics, arguing that second-wave feminism threatened traditional social norms. Delve into the lives and politics of Betty Friedan, Midge Decter, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Bella Abzug. Featuring Ronnie Grinberg and Daniel Schwartz, and hosted by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum. Episode Image: Members of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) traveled to Washington D.C., on Tuesday, September 26, 1978 to join in a rally on behalf of the Equal Rights Amendment Extension Bill. National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) I-469. All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.

In the summer of 1964, college students from the northern United States bused down to Mississippi to help Black activists with a voter registration drive known as "Freedom Summer." The drive was meant to combat entrenched voter suppression practices, a hallmark of Jim Crow segregation found throughout the American south. On June 21, 1964, young volunteers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner arrived in Mississippi. Chaney, who was Black, and Andrew and Michael, who were Jewish, encountered law enforcement and pulled over, allegedly for speeding. Their arrest and later release from the jail was the last time they were seen alive. While many Jewish Americans were already active allies in the Civil Rights Movement, many saw the murders as a clear directive to continue to fight for social justice, and threw their support and activism behind ending voter suppression in the South. Featuring Andrew Sperling and Britt Tevis, and hosted by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum. Episode Image: American Jewish Congress member holding sign at Montgomery March, 1965. Records of the American Jewish Congress I-77 All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.

Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Americans struggled against the devastating realities of the Great Depression. Hoping to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and desperation, Jews embraced Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his promise of a "New Deal." The advent of World War II brought the Depression to an end, but sparked global fascism and antisemitism at an unprecedented scale. Over 550,000 Jews joined the Armed Forces in an effort to defeat Nazism abroad and earn the respect of their fellow Americans at home. In the aftermath of the war, dormant tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union resurfaced. Featuring Deborah Dash Moore and Tony Michels, and hosted by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum. Episode Image: "A Reminder to the Youth of America on Flag Day!" From the Jewish War Veterans, American Jewish Historical Society, I-52. All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.