Identity/Crisis

122
Judaism #15

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.JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Recent Episodes
  • A Jewish Paradigm for Caring for the Sick – with Sara Labaton
    May 6, 2025 – 42:13
  • Naomi Shemer’s Soundtrack of Israel at 77 - with Moti Zeira
    Apr 29, 2025 – 56:16
  • The Politics of Holocaust Memory in Israel – with Dani Dayan
    Apr 22, 2025 – 42:00
  • Announcement: Passover Hiatus
    Apr 16, 2025 – 00:13
  • How is this Seder Different from Other Seders?—with Dara Horn
    Apr 8, 2025 – 54:57
  • Live at JFN: What Ails American Judaism? - with Franklin Foer and Sarah Hurwitz
    Apr 1, 2025 – 42:44
  • Sources: Morality in Times of Fear – with Donniel Hartman
    Mar 25, 2025 – 43:25
  • How Do You Raise a Jewish Adult? - with Stephanie Ives
    Mar 18, 2025 – 56:12
  • Announcement: Purim Hiatus
    Mar 11, 2025 – 00:45
  • A Critique of American Judaism with Joshua Leifer
    Mar 4, 2025 – 52:29
  • Persuasive Leadership in Divisive Times
    Feb 25, 2025 – 48:10
  • On Being Palestinian in Israel Today
    Feb 18, 2025 – 56:44
  • The Red Cross: Mission Over Moral Red Lines
    Feb 11, 2025 – 50:53
  • Educating in the Shadow of Grief
    Feb 4, 2025 – 44:03
  • Ghosts of a Holy War
    Jan 28, 2025 – 52:21
  • Presidents and Kings
    Jan 21, 2025 – 53:19
  • Liberal Democracy as a Matter of National Security
    Jan 7, 2025 – 44:06
  • Yehuda Kurtzer on Grappling with History and Memory
    Dec 31, 2024 – 50:34
  • Christmastime for the Jews
    Dec 24, 2024 – 59:33
  • Sources: On Jewish Leadership
    Dec 10, 2024 – 55:13
  • Covenant, Compromise, Sacrifice, and Kindness
    Nov 26, 2024 – 47:56
  • A Counterculture of Kindness
    Nov 12, 2024 – 26:31
  • Rabbinic Identities/Rabbinic Crises –Spheres of Belonging
    Nov 5, 2024 – 43:41
  • Rabbinic Identities/Rabbinic Crises – A Good Fit
    Oct 29, 2024 – 46:14
  • Rabbinic Identities/ Rabbinic Crises – The Private and the Public
    Oct 22, 2024 – 45:16
  • A Nation That Still Can't Sleep
    Oct 7, 2024 – 48:07
  • Who by Martyrdom?
    Oct 1, 2024 – 49:46
  • A More Perfect Union
    Sep 24, 2024 – 52:53
  • The Centre Must Hold
    Sep 17, 2024 – 42:27
  • Hersh Goldberg-Polin, z”l
    Sep 4, 2024 – 33:42
  • Pride and Prejudice at Elite Universities (Re-Release)
    Aug 27, 2024 – 47:14
  • Sources: Two Students Speak
    Aug 20, 2024 – 27:54
  • TEXTing: A Foundation for Hope
    Aug 13, 2024 – 37:31
  • All Eyes on Rafah (Re-Release)
    Aug 5, 2024 – 58:01
  • Measuring the Crisis (Re-Release)
    Jul 30, 2024 – 51:18
  • The Roots, Values, and Crises of Liberalism
    Jul 23, 2024 – 44:07
  • Our Golden Age
    Jul 16, 2024 – 48:54
  • The Rise and Fall of Jamaal Bowman
    Jul 9, 2024 – 52:18
  • Disaster from the North
    Jul 2, 2024 – 53:05
  • Meeting the Moment: A Sources Interview
    Jun 25, 2024 – 47:03
  • Reflections on the Israeli Left (Re-Release)
    Jun 18, 2024 – 54:41
  • Stewarding Torah
    Jun 11, 2024 – 56:01
  • All Eyes on Rafah
    Jun 4, 2024 – 57:08
  • Measuring the Crisis
    May 28, 2024 – 50:31
  • The Kurtzer Family’s Legacy of Service
    May 21, 2024 – 40:28
  • Two Teens and their Fearless Interventions
    May 14, 2024 – 47:33
  • The Role of Hillel on Campus
    May 1, 2024 – 54:36
  • Enacting Redemption
    Apr 16, 2024 – 49:09
  • Echoes of History at the National Library of Israel
    Apr 9, 2024 – 42:35
  • Alone, Adjacent, and Among
    Apr 2, 2024 – 46:04
Recent Reviews
  • MarylandTransplant
    Progressive, pluralistic Zionism
    I wish I had found this podcast sooner! The topics are great and incredibly timely. The host is so thoughtful and does a great job to ground all discussions in shared humanity of all people and also deep love of Israel. His guests are wonderful.
  • loonydood555
    Moving and inspiring
    Listening to such thoughtful rabbis reflect on their rabbinate, passion for Jewish learning and people was so powerful and inspiring and moderated so beautifully and sensitively by Yehuda.
  • chicago-ema
    Meaningful conversation and reflections
    Timely, relevant and makes me think.
  • DJSMD24
    Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Z”l
    What a meaningful episode. Yehuda ties together his own son leaving for a year in Israel, and Hersh‘s death. It’s about the challenges that committed Jewish parents have in this moment who balance transmitting a love for Israel and understandable fears For our kids safety. And, it addresses the generational divide between what we are concerned about and what our kids are focused on. This one really spoke to me.
  • Whaaat?
    Very brave genocide apologia.
    Very brave genocide apologia. 26,000 Gazans are dead and the territory is destroyed, but yes, the more important thing for humanity is the feelings of American Ivy Leaguers.
  • Mollyemichelle
    The Battle for Liberal Values on Campus
    This is the first episode I’ve listened to of this show, and wow - THANK YOU! I found it it after listening to For Heaven’s Sake which I enjoy a lot. There are so many topics in this episode that I resonate with, and have not known how to articulate. As an American woman in my late 30’s who attended a liberal California University, I could not relate more to the issues you bring up here about liberal education, politics, identity. So much has come to the surface since the war started and I know for myself it has felt isolating. I always considered myself liberal and now have been questioning everything I know, from groups I associated with to friends I had. Thank you all for covering this topic in this period. I hope others found it as useful as I did!
  • LKayKas
    Thank you…
    For this important podcast.
  • MRCMiami
    Very thoughtful
    I’ve only recently started listening and I find the pieces fresh and very thought provoking. I love “For Heaven’s Sake”, and Hartman has hit it out of the field again. Well done to Yehuda and his entire team.
  • Rap her
    Pretty good podcast but…
    Listening to the anti Zionism and Berkeley podcast today I was struck by the general ineffectual response to the issue on campus. Yes, you can have a symposium/course on Zionism and Israel. Who will you reach and how many? Or, you can work to have the university adapt the UN definition of antisemitism. Having that as a foundation, you can defund/prevent any campus group that is antisemitic/racist. It’s called nipping in the bud at its source instead of trying to shoot down all the chaff in the air. What I heard is a typical left response to a serious problem on college campuses. The other problem with this episode was there were no students interviewed, only faculty! Who spends more time on campus and are directly affected by this antisemitism? Crazy!!
  • Meli Solomon
    Engaging and smart
    Identity/Crisis delves deep into the complexity of Jewish life and identity. Each episode explores an aspect and does so with smart and engaging conversation.
  • NDCARMI
    The Oral Torah of today
    An opportunity to be a witness of the best Chavrutah discussions
  • jfo_in_dc
    The smartest
    If this isn’t the smartest podcast on contemporary Jewish life, I can’t imagine what is. Yehuda walks his pluralistic talk, inviting dialogue and debate from all corners, while readily disclosing and dissecting his own views with an intellectual honesty that few are capable of in public. Much to admire in the podcast, the sponsoring organization and the leader of both.
  • The Thinking Marketer
    It’s become very good
    Yehuda Kurtzer makes the show very interesting by asking excellent questions and occasionally stepping out of the Hartman view of the world. If anyone besides Yehuda hosts I skip the episode.
  • fuggget about it
    Honest and Thoughtful
    I really appreciate the honest and thoughtful conversation, particularly in the episode about the occupation. It’s very hard to find perspective sometimes, given the polarization of most media on this issue and I am grateful for this dialogue.
  • Caroline86431
    Great podcast!
    Yehuda and various scholars discuss a wide variety of current concerns in the Jewish community. Interesting and important content. Nice variety of guests.
  • Dani.Dog
    Thoughtful Conversations
    Yehuda and occasional guest hosts ask big questions facing the Jewish community. The discussion is always nuanced, thought provoking, and approached with care. It’s a delight to listen to and to hear from the interesting people brought on as guests.
  • סאם שיקגו
    Wonderful pod - please fix sound quality
    Inaudible sometimes. Please fix the mics or mastering. Really not listenable sometimes and the content is too good to miss due to audio difficulties
  • Shimon ben Hannah
    It’s amazing
    There is nothing to listen to yet and it’s still the GREATEST PODCAST OF ALL TIME
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