We were joined by longtime political strategist and labor leader Michael Podhorzer for a Word on the Street Live conversation unpacking what last week’s election results really tell us about the state of American politics – and what it will take to pull the country out of its democratic crisis.
In a wide-ranging discussion, we explored:
- A new kind of political terrain. Between the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine elections and the Roberts Court’s rulings dismantling long-standing guardrails, we’re now, as Michael put it, in “brand new territory.”
- Democratic complacency and alienation. Michael called out the Democratic establishment, saying too many voters feel trapped between “a fascist and a Party defending the status quo.”
- Building a broader coalition. To truly win power – and wield it – Democrats need a diverse coalition of candidates who reflect the full range of the party’s voters, not a narrow ideological lane.
After saying goodbye to Michael, we turned to Israel, Palestine and the week’s news on our issues – from Jared Kushner’s visit to the region to continue implementing the 20-point plan, to Trump’s demand that Netanyahu be pardoned to the resignation of Minister Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, to visits by the Syrian and Saudi leaders, to our advocacy work demanding settler terrorists be sanctioned by the US.
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We were joined by longtime political strategist and labor leader Michael Podhorzer for a Word on the Street Live conversation unpacking what last week’s election results really tell us about the state of American politics – and what it will take to pull the country out of its democratic crisis.
In a wide-ranging discussion, we explored:
- A new kind of political terrain. Between the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine elections and the Roberts Court’s rulings dismantling long-standing guardrails, we’re now, as Michael put it, in “brand new territory.”
- Democratic complacency and alienation. Michael called out the Democratic establishment, saying too many voters feel trapped between “a fascist and a Party defending the status quo.”
- Building a broader coalition. To truly win power – and wield it – Democrats need a diverse coalition of candidates who reflect the full range of the party’s voters, not a narrow ideological lane.
After saying goodbye to Michael, we turned to Israel, Palestine and the week’s news on our issues – from Jared Kushner’s visit to the region to continue implementing the 20-point plan, to Trump’s demand that Netanyahu be pardoned to the resignation of Minister Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, to visits by the Syrian and Saudi leaders, to our advocacy work demanding settler terrorists be sanctioned by the US.
This is a Time of Jewish Reckoning, with Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
J Street Conversations
59 minutes 2 seconds
1 month ago
This is a Time of Jewish Reckoning, with Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
This week on Word on the Street Live, we stepped back from the news cycle for a different kind of conversation. With Yehuda Kurtzer of the Shalom Hartman Institute, we dove into the themes of the High Holidays – reflection, atonement, forgiveness and renewal – and how they speak to this complicated moment for the Jewish people and the State of Israel.
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Yehuda pushed us to explain ourselves, to think outside our comfort zones and to wrestle with the hardest questions about Jewish identity, Zionism and moral responsibility.
Yehuda reminded us that disagreement has always been a source of strength in Jewish life, and that imagination about what Israel could be has too often been replaced with a narrow discourse of loyalty. The most pressing challenge Israel faces, which we couldn’t agree more with, is the question of ruling over millions of Palestinians – and our job is to bring Jewish values to bear on that reality.
Our conversation circled back to humility. Our values, as Yehuda said, don’t mean anything unless they’re put into practice. For us, that means holding onto the core belief that Zionism should be about participation in a collective project – one rooted not only in nationalism, but in the moral vision that defines Judaism itself.
J Street Conversations
We were joined by longtime political strategist and labor leader Michael Podhorzer for a Word on the Street Live conversation unpacking what last week’s election results really tell us about the state of American politics – and what it will take to pull the country out of its democratic crisis.
In a wide-ranging discussion, we explored:
- A new kind of political terrain. Between the Trump Administration’s efforts to undermine elections and the Roberts Court’s rulings dismantling long-standing guardrails, we’re now, as Michael put it, in “brand new territory.”
- Democratic complacency and alienation. Michael called out the Democratic establishment, saying too many voters feel trapped between “a fascist and a Party defending the status quo.”
- Building a broader coalition. To truly win power – and wield it – Democrats need a diverse coalition of candidates who reflect the full range of the party’s voters, not a narrow ideological lane.
After saying goodbye to Michael, we turned to Israel, Palestine and the week’s news on our issues – from Jared Kushner’s visit to the region to continue implementing the 20-point plan, to Trump’s demand that Netanyahu be pardoned to the resignation of Minister Ron Dermer, one of Netanyahu’s closest confidants, to visits by the Syrian and Saudi leaders, to our advocacy work demanding settler terrorists be sanctioned by the US.
