TEXTing

This week, TEXTing IRL is excited to share Hartman’s podcast, Future Tense [https://www.hartman.org.il/program/future-tense-podcast/], where rising Jewish leaders drive conversations with scholars from the Shalom Hartman Institute on the most pressing issues facing their generation.   Many young Jews are taught that they have a responsibility to publicly represent the Jewish people—an expectation that can feel especially heavy during the formative years of personal growth and identity development. In this episode of Future Tense, Elana Stein Hain joins hosts Anna Weiss, Sami Jinich, and Yadid Orlow to explore how to balance the challenges of representation with their own personal development as well as the benefits and challenges of connecting beyond the Jewish community.     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/]

Two years after October 7, Jews around the world mark Simchat Torah, finishing and beginning again the reading of the Torah, and thinking about our stories, both ancient and present. How do we tell our stories in a world and to a world that doesn’t seem to want to hear them? On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, study the writings of Rav Soloveitchik, uncovering how the ability to be heard when telling one’s story makes one free, and how listening with empathy and humility allows one to tell the truest and most compelling stories. We are grateful to the Walder Charitable Fund and Micah Philanthropies for their generous support of TEXTing. Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-7-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEc0OhOO6nfsNKu6jeRkEmeeEfEDfGVL]⁠. 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/]

Democracy promises to guarantee freedom and equality for all, yet Jews seem to be increasingly vulnerable in America today. How should Jews respond when they feel democracy is not showing up for them? On this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Slate Senior Editor Dahlia Lithwick turn to Rabbi Moses Feinstein’s 1984 letter on voting and Rabbi Lauren Holtzblatt’s eulogy for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to probe the relationship between Jews and American democracy, especially in moments when the promise of democracy feels unfulfilled or even threatened. We are grateful to Micah Philanthropies and to the Walder Charitable Fund for their generous support of TEXTing.   Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-6-Source-Sheet.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEc0OhOO6nfsNKu6jeRkEmeeEfEDfGVL]⁠. 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/]

Nearly two years after October 7 and more than 700 days of war, many Jews enter this High Holiday season with trepidation, facing what feels like an increasingly hostile world. In this episode of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and OLAM CEO Dyonna Ginsburg turn to Rav Kook’s “Fourfold Song” to explore how Jews can navigate competing commitments of caring for their own communities and for the wider world. We are grateful to Micah Philanthropies and to the Walder Charitable Fund for their generous support of TEXTing.   Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TEXTing-IRL-Ep-5-Source-Sheet-1.pdf] Watch the video version of this episode ⁠here. [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNEc0OhOO6nfsNKu6jeRkEmeeEfEDfGVL] Read here [https://bit.ly/46hXrRd] OLAM’s research on Jewish practitioners of humanitarian aid. 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/]

Over a quarter of American Jews identifty as Republican, and nearly a third voted for Donald Trump in 2024. Whether this is an expression of their conservative values, their concern for Israel, or some combination of the two, Jews on the right now face a dilemma with the Trump administration and its trespasses on democracy. In the fourth episode of this special series of TEXTing IRL, Elana Stein Hain and Mark Gottlieb, Chief Education Officer at Tikvah, look to Talmudic and other sources on navigating the tension of conflicting commandments to unpack immigration reform, antisemitism, and the cognitive dissonance Jewish conservatives are experiencing during Trump’s second term. We are grateful to the Walder Charitable Fund and Micah Philanthropies for their generous support of TEXTing. ⁠ [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/TEXTing-IRL-Episode-4-Source-Sheet.pdf] Episode Source Sheet [https://www.hartman.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/TEXTing-IRL-Episode-4-Source-Sheet.pdf] 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/]