The Golden Calf, Institutional Crisis, and the Making of a Mob — with Franklin Foer

Have We Seen This Before? How Jews Misunderstand the Present Through the Past – with Yehuda Kurtzer

Please take 5 minutes to fill out the TEXTing IRL survey [https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TEXting_Survey]!   It’s Jewish memory season, and this week’s parasha, Parashat Emor, focuses on the Jewish holidays that we celebrate today as a recollection of events in our past. But what happens when Jewish memory starts to feel like destiny, and what does it mean for our sense of agency when history seems inevitable? On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Hartman Institute President Yehuda Kurtzer examine the power and dangers of historical analogy and the ethical responsibility that comes with reading today’s events through yesterday’s stories. This conversation asks how Jewish memory can inform moral choice without foreclosing it, and how to hold uncertainty without giving up responsibility. Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-21-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/@TEXTing-IRL]⁠. You can now sponsor an episode of TEXTing. Click HERE [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4719134] to learn more.  JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS [https://www.hartman.org.il/newsletter/]

Jewish Responses to Poverty: Charity, Loans, and Prevention — with David Rosenn

What does it mean to help someone without taking away their dignity, and is it harder — and holier — to give a loan rather than a gift? On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain speaks with Rabbi David Rosenn, President and CEO of the Hebrew Free Loan Society, about Jewish ideas of dignity, episodic poverty, and prevention. They interrogate the Torah’s fixation on interest-free lending and why Jewish tradition insists on seeing the whole person in moments of financial crisis. A provocative and important conversation that begs the question: when (and when isn’t) charity the most ethical form of Jewish giving? EPISODE SOURCE SHEET [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-20-Source-Sheet.pdf] More from this episode: Hebrew Free Loan Society [https://hfls.org/] Ogen in Israel [https://www.ogen.org/en] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/@TEXTing-IRL]⁠. You can now sponsor an episode of TEXTing. Click HERE [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4719134]to learn more.  JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS [https://www.hartman.org.il/newsletter/]

We Were Strangers Too: Passover, Immigrants, and Human Rights – with Noah Gottschalk

On Passover, Jews celebrate freedom, but for many this year, the normalization of cruelty toward immigrants in America casts a shadow over that celebration. On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain speaks with Noah Gottschalk, Chief External Relations Officer at HIAS, about why the Haggadah teaches that the Egyptians first chose cruelty through demonization rather than labor oppression, and what our texts call on us to do in response. Together they explore how fear and dehumanization of immigrants echo ancient patterns and how Jewish values compel us to recognize and defend human dignity today. Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-19-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/@TEXTing-IRL]⁠. You can now sponsor an episode of TEXTing. Click HERE [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4719134] to learn more.  JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS [https://www.hartman.org.il/newsletter/]

Vayikra: Living with Sacrifice and Closeness in the Shadow of War — with David Dishon

When war erupts again and again, how do Israeli families and communities live with constant loss? In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Hartman research fellow David Dishon turn to the book of Vayikra and to David’s experience as a bereaved grandparent of a soldier killed in the Israel-Hamas War. Together, they examine how sacrifice shapes grief by transforming loss into enduring presence, and offer a framework for spiritual resilience. Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-18-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/@TEXTing-IRL]⁠. You can now sponsor an episode of TEXTing. Click HERE [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4719134] to learn more.  JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS [https://www.hartman.org.il/newsletter/]

The Golden Calf, Institutional Crisis, and the Making of a Mob — with Franklin Foer

What turns a crowd into a mob, and what does the Torah teach us about moments when communities unravel? In Parashat Ki Tisa, the Israelites form a mob and build the Golden Calf in Moses’s absence. On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and The Atlantic staff writer Franklin Foer unpack how fear, identity, belonging, and fragile institutions shape collective behavior. Drawing on social theory, campus encampments, and the contrasting leadership models of Moses and Aaron, they consider what keeps communities grounded, what pushes them toward rupture, and why those dynamics feel especially urgent today. Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-17-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/@TEXTing-IRL]⁠. You can now sponsor an episode of TEXTing. Click HERE [https://hartman.tfaforms.net/4719134] to learn more.  JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST FOR MORE HARTMAN IDEAS [https://www.hartman.org.il/newsletter/]