From Victimhood to Power: 10/7 as the Rupture in Our Story – with Yossi Klein Halevi

As we approach the third anniversary of the October 7th massacre, Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath sits down with thought leader Yossi Klein Halevi of the Shalom Hartman Institute for a profound conversation about what it means to be a survivor people and how that identity is changing. 

Yossi describes October 7th as a point of rupture in the Jewish story, a moment that returned Jews to a mindset of victimhood even as the Jewish people now possess something generations of Jews did not: power. The result is this tension between self-defense and morality, or being a "Purim Jew" and a "Pesach Jew." The tension is particularly palpable for educators trying to help young people make sense of Jewish identity and Israel in an increasingly polarized world.

Together, their conversation poses a series of important questions for educators: How can we move beyond a singular narrative of Jewish powerlessness without losing sight of the history that shaped us? And how can educators provide grounding and guidance as young people navigate this profoundly transformed moment in Jewish life? 

Learn more about The Jewish Education Project at jewishedproject.org

This episode was produced by Miranda Lapides and Dina Nusnbaum. The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. 

This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media. 

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