Identity/Crisis

After the single largest attack on Israeli civilians in its history, Israeli music has taken on the complicated, often conflicting feelings of the country itself. This week, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Lior Zaltzman, deputy managing editor of Kveller, about how Israeli music has been used to express the emotions of the country throughout history, and the ways it has changed since October 7. A playlist of the songs discussed in this episode can be found at the link below. 

Episode Playlist 

Ruach Halochamot Tenatzeach (youtube) 

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Unlike past wars, the war in Gaza has been surrounded by so much media noise that even talking about it can feel paralyzing. As death counts rise, fear and anger breeds, and the endless news cycle drones on. In this week’s episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on his 3 trips to Israel since the start of the war, the changes he’s witnessed in Israeli society, and how he is cutting through all the noise.

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The months since October 7th have brought tremendous grief, loss, uncertainty, and fear to North American Jewish communities. Jewish community leaders are working tirelessly to support their communities through these trying times. In early February, alumni of The Wexner Foundation’s fellowships for Jewish professional leadership gathered at their annual conference. This week’s guest host, Maital Friedman, spoke with seven of these leaders about the challenges they’re facing, the questions they’re asking, and how they are forging a path forward.  

Guests featured on this episode:

Ilana Aisen, CEO of JPro

Jacob Feinspan, Executive Director of Jews United for Justice

Erica Frankel, Executive Director of the Office of Innovation and co-founder of Kehillat Harlem

Rachael Fried, Executive Director of JQY (Jewish Queer Youth)

Dalit Horn, Executive Director of the Vilna Shul

Daniel Olson, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Research at the National Ramah Commission

Adam Weisberg, Executive Director of Urban Adamah

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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. 

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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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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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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 

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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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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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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