Identity/Crisis

Are religious liberty and liberal democracy a natural match or are they destined to be in conflict?

As the Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments about religious liberty, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with legal scholar Michael Avi Helfand to discuss current cases affecting Jewish religious freedoms. In Grand v. University Heights the Court will consider whether local officials can stop an Orthodox Jew from hosting a minyan in his home. And, in a case from Colorado, religious schools contend that accepting public funds for universal Pre-K should not require them to surrender their religious autonomy. Together, they explore the growing tension between freedom of religion and fears of
religious dominance and how that’s testing the constitutional
limits of state power.

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Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:

High school seniors: learn more about and apply to our Hevruta
Gap-Year Program!

What does it mean to plant seeds for a future you may never see?

Following the death of Gloria Steinem, Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with Judith Rosenbaum, educator, historian, and CEO of the Jewish Women's Archive, to reflect on Steinem’s legacy, the power of feminism, and the long arc of social change. Together, they explore how Jewish women helped shape the feminist movement, how feminism transformed Jewish life, and why movements must balance urgency with patience. As a new generation inherits this work, they talk about what it takes to sustain
change, resist backlash, and build a future beyond one's own lifetime.



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Learn about the scholars and the work of our Kogod Research Center.

What might happen if, instead of demanding certainty, we allowed ourselves to "pretend" belief and see where the journey leads?

Ahead of the High Holidays, Yehuda Kurtzer welcomes Rabbi Noa Kushner, founder of The Kitchen, a synagogue and institute in San Francisco, and the author of Pretend That You Believe: How To Enter Religion, to explore what faith means in a skeptical age. Through a conversation about holiness, awe, humility, and religious imagination, they challenge the consumer mindset that often influences contemporary
spirituality.

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In the face of rising antisemitism, what does courage look like?

Yehuda Kurtzer speaks with author Dara Horn about her new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living, and the intense experiences that led her to write it. Together, they examine antisemitism on college campuses, the limits of Holocaust education, the meaning of Jewish peoplehood, and the challenge of distinguishing legitimate criticism of Israel from hate movements that seek to exclude Jews from public life. At the heart of their conversation is a question about what this moment demands: more knowledge, or the courage to speak out and act.

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Register for The Road to the Israeli Elections on September 8.

What does today’s Jewish literature tell us about this moment?



Identity/Crisis is excited to present a special audio version of a conversation that first appeared in print in the Summer 2026 issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas. It’s moderated by Tali Rosenblatt-Cohen, host of the podcast The Five Books, with guests Naomi Firestone-Teeter, CEO of Jewish Book Council and Lauren Wein, Vice President and Editorial Director of Avid Reader Press at Simon & Schuster. They address the introspection and urgency driving Jewish writers to navigate questions of identity, trauma, Zionism, and community in the years since October 7. From Philip Roth to Taffy Brodesser-Akner, they discuss what Jewish books reveal about the ever-changing American Jewish experience. Claire Sufrin, editor of Sources and Hartman’s Director of Research and Publication, introduces and frames this episode.



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College students, apply now for the 2026 Edward Fein Winter Student Seminar!