Identity/Crisis

What happens when citizenship and identity point in different
directions?



In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Rana Fahoum,
Vice President of the Shalom Hartman Institute and Director of Hartman’s Center for Shared Society, to examine the complexities of citizenship in Israel. Drawing on personal history, they reflect on belonging, collective rights, and the challenges of building Israel’s future for all its citizens.



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 our Wellspring programming for young Jews and the professionals who serve them.

How should North American Jewish communities balance security, vibrant communal life, and moral purpose?

Recorded live in Jerusalem during the Shalom Hartman Institute's Community Leadership Program, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Barry Finestone, President and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation, to explore the future of North American Jewish life. Together, they examine the challenges of antisemitism, Jewish education, philanthropy, leadership, and the future of Jewish thriving, and ask what it means not only to survive but also excel as a community.



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 here how Siach helps young Jews grapple with big questions.

Can Music Heal a Divided Society?

Recorded live at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, Yehuda
Kurtzer sits down with Israeli artist, activist, and Hadag Nahash frontman
Shaanan Streett for a wide-ranging conversation about hip-hop, dissent,
patriotism, and the role of artists in times of crisis. Through songs and
stories, Streett reflects on the judicial reform protests, October 7, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and the power of music to build empathy across divides.

You can now sponsor an episode of Identity/Crisis. Click HERE to learn more.
JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS

Can Zionism survive a crisis of its own making?

In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with Zachary Truboff, director of the Institute for Agunah Research and Education at the International Beit Din, to discuss the moral and political questions facing Israel after October 7. As Israelis grapple with war, trauma, and the responsibilities of power, they explore whether Zionism has adequately reckoned with its own vulnerabilities, assumptions, and failures. Their conversation examines the tension between victimhood and agency, the demands of collective responsibility, and what it would mean for Zionism to undergo a process of teshuvah of its own.

 

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:

 

Watch our summer live streams HERE

Money shapes who can access Jewish life—and who gets left out. In this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with sociologist Ilana Horwitz about the overlooked reality of a quarter of American Jews living in economic vulnerability, challenging the persistent myth of universal Jewish affluence. Drawing on Horwitz’s research, they explore how class and financial instability intersect with Jewish education, communal participation, and belonging.

 

This episode is sponsored in honor of Robert Kogod’s 95th birthday by his loving family.

 

Read Ilana Horwitz’s article on affordability and Jewish education in Sources.

 

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:

 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive alerts about special livestreamed programming from Jerusalem.