What happens when Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus” is no longer read as a civic creed, but as a provocation about who belongs—and what a democracy owes the vulnerable? In this episode, Yehuda Kurtzer reflects on what he perceives as the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America, the present state violence being carried out in Minneapolis, and the uneasy silence of Jewish institutions when civil rights are clearly under assault. He then turns his lens toward Israel—asking what it means for Jews in both democracies to draw the line not between “us” and “them,” but between cruelty and compassion. Learn more here and join our mailing list for more Hartman ideas. Subscribe to Identity/Crisis on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you receive your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related