Recordings

Economic vulnerability affects 1 in 4 American Jews, but it doesn’t affect all of them equally, writes Tulane University sociologist Ilana Horwitz in her recent SAPIR article, “Poverty and Jewish Community.” The difference between a life of temporary hardship and one of permanent poverty may, in some circumstances, boil down to whether a person or family is embedded deeply in Jewish life. Why is that the case? What does this finding reveal about the invisible safety net of Jewish belonging? And what are the practical interventions at our disposal to help alleviate financial strain?

Horwitz joined Managing Editor Phil Getz for an in-depth discussion about poverty and the American Jewish community.

American Jewry has long thrived in a society built on institutions. But today, we live in an anti-establishment age, where subtlety fuels suspicion and open displays of power are seemingly valued for their authenticity. In this environment, should America’s Jews think and act like a state, as Jordan Chandler Hirsch argues in his essay “The Need for a Jewish Sovereign Wealth Fund”? Or is this proposed cure an abandonment of the features that have long defined American exceptionalism — and the Jewish experience within it, as Roger Zakheim argues in response?

Hirsch and Zakheim joined Bret Stephens for a thought-provoking conversation on the future of the American Jewish community in an anti-institutional era.

Of Israel’s many achievements since October 7, none perhaps was as unforeseen as the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reaching an all-time high two years since the start of the war. While this reflected the resilience and dynamism of the start-up nation, there are troubling signs ahead for Israel’s economy: the high cost of war; stagnant economic sectors; bureaucratic malaise; high population growth; and more. Can Israel make the adjustments and double its GDP over ten years? Can Jews in the Diaspora help it get there?

Israeli venture capitalist Michael Eisenberg joined SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens for a conversation about what it will take for Israel to become a trillion-dollar economy.

The assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 30 years ago, in November 1995, marked a major turning point in the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Now, three decades later, the likelihood of a safe and secure Israel coexisting alongside an independent Palestinian state appears increasingly more remote.

Despite growing international pressure, Israeli support for a two state-solution continues to drop while skepticism that peace is achievable continues to grow. In the shadow of the October 7th attacks and a two-year long war in Gaza, is lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians possible? Is there a realistic future for the two-state solution?

On November 17, SAPIR hosted a debate on this question on the plenary stage of the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly in Washington, D.C., with Israeli journalist Tamar Ish-Shalom, Israel Policy Forum chief policy officer Michael Koplow, and Commentary editor John Podhoretz.

Why does the stereotype about Jews and money endure? Is Judaism a contractual or covenantal religion? Is Jewish life today too expensive? Should the cost of Jewish education be offset by philanthropic giving or public funding? 

Join Bret Stephens and Rabbi David Wolpe for a wide-ranging SAPIR Conversation on these questions and more, which are featured in the newly released issue of the journal on Money.

Amid a troubling resurgence of antisemitism, Princeton scholar Robert P. George declared in his most recent SAPIR essay that “any attempt to deny or undermine God’s unique and mysterious bond with the Jewish people … is antithetical to Christianity.” At a moment when the concept of Jewish chosenness is increasingly uncomfortable to discuss, how should we approach it with honesty and integrity — especially across lines of faith? George recently joined SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens for a virtual conversation.

What does the process of conversion — joining the Jewish people— reveal about the meaning of chosenness? In his recent essay for SAPIR, Rabbi Adam Mintz ⁠writes⁠ that “we, Jews by birth and Jews by choice, are all destined for the same story.” Similarly, Rabbi Noa Kushner ⁠writes⁠ that “it is possible that to be chosen is not only a designation at birth or conversion.” They recently joined Rabbi David Wolpe for a conversation.

“For many of its secular pioneers,” writes former Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren in his most recent SAPIR ⁠essay⁠, “Zionism was a revolt against chosenness. It was an attempt to become a nation like every other.” Today, especially after October 7, many Israelis are reevaluating this very notion and wondering: is the Jewish state chosen, and if so, for what purpose?

Ambassador Oren joined SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens for a searching discussion on Israel’s identity and destiny in a post-October 7 world. This SAPIR Conversation was recorded live on Monday, September 8th. 

Today marks a new chapter as we re-launch the podcast, SAPIR Conversations, with even more discussions and double the hosting power. Moving forward, Rabbi David Wolpe – scholar-in-residence at the Maimonides Fund, Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi of Sinai Temple, prolific author, writer, and longtime SAPIR contributor – will join Bret Stephens as co-host of SAPIR Conversations. Bret will continue to host live virtual conversations with SAPIR authors. Rabbi Wolpe will bring on different voices beyond the pages of SAPIR to explore some of the most pressing issues affecting the Jewish people.

In today’s episode, Stephens and Wolpe tackle the issue of Chosenness. How was the concept perceived throughout Jewish history and how is it interpreted in Jewish liturgy? Is chosenness a status or a calling? Does it create burdens or standards? And how how Bret Stephens respond to non-Jewish friends when asked for his understanding of chosenness?