Identity/Crisis

What 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.

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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.

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What is at stake when Holocaust memory fades—or worse, loses its relevance?

 This week on Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Anita Friedman —

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In this episode of Arc: The Podcast, Mark Oppenheimer sits down with Yehuda Kurtzer to discuss the aesthetics of yarmulkas, the crisis facing clergy-members, and how the war in Israel is changing American Jewry.

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What happens when the words we pray clash with the values we hold? Just in time for the High Holidays, this week on Identity/Crisis Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Ethan Tucker, president of Hadar and co-author of Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law, about what it means to pray ancient words in a world shaped by present fears and political tensions and how we can navigate the frameworks of tradition and modern egalitarian commitments.

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Does Benjamin Netanyahu need Hamas — and even this war —for political survival?  This week on Identity/Crisis, following Israel’s puzzling strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar, Yehuda Kurtzer and Michael Koplow, Chief Policy

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What does it mean to reclaim the Jewish story in an era of shame, assimilation, and contested narratives? On this episode of Identity/Crisis, host Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with author Sarah Hurwitz about her new book, As a Jew, her journey from superficial Jewish identity to deeper engagement with Jewish tradition, and why knowledge and countercultural courage may be key to Jewish continuity today.

You can listen to more from Sarah Hurwitz on Ark Media's Call Me Back podcast HERE

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Who gets to decide someone’s Jewish status, and what happens when that status comes into conflict with someone’s identity? This week on Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Christine Hayes, Sterling Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at Yale and Hartman Senior Fellow for a provocative conversation about intermarriage, Jewish adjacency, and the boundaries of community and belonging.

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This episode was originally released on April 1, 2025

The future of American Judaism is uncertain, some even might say at risk. In this special episode, recorded live at the Jewish Funders Network Conference in Nashville, Yehuda Kurtzer, Franklin Foer, and Sarah Hurwitz engage in a dynamic discussion about what ails American Judaism, why we fear change, and what we want to strengthen and preserve for the future. 

You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more. 

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