Recordings

Former Human Rights Watch senior editor Danielle Haas sits down with SAPIR Editor-in-Chief Bret Stephens to discuss her recent essay, “The Human-Rights Establishment,” which chronicles years of behind-the-scenes experience and presents deep-seated concerns that human rights NGOs have become “increasingly hijacked by politics and dominated by groupthink.”

The rapid ascent of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and other technologies requires Jewish leaders to understand the dramatic effects these innovations will have on Jewish life and faith. Are we ready for this technological Jewish future? SAPIR Institute Director Chanan Weissman hosted a conversation with Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter of Yeshiva University and Dr. David Zvi Kalman of the Shalom Hartman Institute on what Jewish communal, philanthropic, and religious leaders must do to prepare for this new digital age.

SAPIR Institute Director Chanan Weissman hosted a conversation about the future of synagogue leadership in a time of disruption with Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City and Rabbi Rachel Isaacs of the Center for Small Town Jewish Life in Maine. They explored the shock of the October 7 attacks, the long-term structural changes brought on by the Covid pandemic, and their visions for the synagogue in a digital age.

Sapir Institute Director Chanan Weissman was joined by Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute, and Zvika Krieger, former director of responsible innovation at Meta, for a conversation about their recent essays in Sapir’s Technology issue. They explored how the virality of unsubstantiated information on social media is impacting perspectives on the Israel-Hamas war.

The Hamas attack of October 7 was widely viewed within Israel as a paradigm-shifting moment. One month later, how does Israel’s military brass and political leadership view its strategic objectives? What will the long-term impact of this war be on Israel’s future — and on its relationship with the United States? Margaret Hoover, host of Firing Line with Margaret Hoover on PBS, interviewed Bret Stephens about his recent trip to Israel.

Sapir Institute Director Chanan Weissman was joined by Einat Wilf, former member of the Israeli Knesset for the Labor Party, and Michael Koplow, chief policy officer of the Israel Policy Forum (IPF). They discussed the short- and long-term impacts and implications of the October 7 attacks on Israeli and American conceptions of Zionism.

Sapir Institute Director Chanan Weissman was joined by Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School and the Max Webb Emeritus Rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, and Dr. Mijal Bitton, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and rosh kehillah at the Downtown Minyan in New York City. They discuss their recent Sapir essays — Wolpe’s “Wisdom in the Face of Destruction” and Bitton’s “That Pain You’re Feeling is Peoplehood“ — and delve into how Jewish tradition conceptualizes the responsibilities of the Jewish collective in a time of war.

Sapir Institute Director Chanan Weissman interviewed Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, and Joel Rubin, a longtime leader in progressive foreign policy and Jewish communities about “The Israel–Hamas War and the Future of American Progressive Coalitions.” They discussed the challenges and complexities of navigating progressive communities and coalitions in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of October 7.

Chanan Weissman, director of the Sapir Institute, and Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute, discuss Yehuda’s recent trip to Israel, the deep trauma facing Israelis and Jews in the Diaspora, and the ethical considerations of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas.