In These Times with Rabbi Ammi Hirsch
Every other week, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch hosts intellectually honest conversations unpacking current events through the lens of Jewish wisdom.
Unbound by politics and untethered by party lines, Ammi and his expert guests discuss everything from race and antisemitism to all the other issues that keep you up at night. Recorded from New York’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a historic Reform congregation deeply rooted in liberalism, support for Israel and social justice.
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Beatrice Weber
After she left her turbulent arranged marriage of more than 20 years, her ultra-Orthodox community shunned her. Now Beatrice Weber is fighting to place her youngest son in a yeshiva that teaches more than 90 minutes of math and English a day — and for the right of all New York's Hasidic children to receive a basic education.
Meet Your Host
Rabbi Ammi Hirsch is the senior rabbi of Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. With a fiery voice, a listening heart and a brilliant mind, Rabbi Hirsch articulates a clear vision for the survival and success of American Judaism while tending compassionately to the needs of his growing congregation. In 2018, The Jerusalem Post named him among “The 50 Most Influential Jews of the Year” and City & State praised him as “the borough’s most influential voice” for Manhattan’s more than 300,000 Jews. Prior to his arrival at Stephen Wise, he served for 12 years as executive director of the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA), the Israel arm of the North American Reform movement. An accomplished teacher, author and public speaker, he is also a trained lawyer and a veteran of the Israel Defense Forces.
About Stephen Wise Free Synagogue
A vibrant Reform congregation on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Stephen Wise Free Synagogue has served as a catalyst for progressive Jewish thought, committed social action in the local community and beyond, and support for Israel for more than 110 years.
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Recent Episodes
After she left her turbulent arranged marriage of more than 20 years, her ultra-Orthodox community shunned her. Now Beatrice Weber is fighting to place her youngest son in a yeshiva that teaches more than 90 minutes of math and English a day — and for the right of all New York's Hasidic children to receive a basic education.
Since arriving in Israel as a teenager, journalist Matti Friedman has spent his life and career trying to make sense of the Jewish state — and why it receives such outsized coverage.
A successful businessman, a generous philanthropist and one of the Jewish world's most important leaders, Ronald S. Lauder wasn't involved in Jewish life until his experience as ambassador to post-war Austria changed him.
In a special episode just ahead of the expected announcement of Israel's most far-right governing coalition in history, Times of Israel's founding editor David Horovitz unpacks the elections and their potential consequences for Israel and its relationship with American Jews.
Feminist icon Letty Cottin Pogrebin discusses her new book "Shanda," delving into the secrets and feelings of shame that defined her Jewish upbringing, celebrating the strides women have made, and framing the fight for the future of reproductive rights.
Does it feel like everything you read in the news is somehow slanted? Newsweek's Batya Ungar-Sargon presents her carefully researched history of American journalism and where she believes it started to go seriously wrong.
There are some people who'd have you believe it's impossible to support liberal causes and be a Zionist. But as founder and executive director of Zioness, Amanda Berman is fighting as hard as she can to reclaim progressive spaces for Jews.
Being Jewish has always been complicated. Listen as Rabbi Ammi Hirsch and Shalom Hartman Institute’s “Identity/Crisis” podcast host Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer examine how the success of assimilation has made negotiating our modern Jewish identities more complex.
Julia Jassey didn’t set out to lead the charge against antisemitism on college campuses, but a brush with casual Jew-hatred her freshman year changed the course of her life.
An eloquent advocate for peace and coexistence, Yossi Klein Halevi didn't start out that way. Hear how this former militant Jewish extremist is reaching across the divide to model a new kind of conversation between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians.
What happens when universities prioritize the pursuit of social justice theories over the search for truth? Hear from scholar/warrior Dr. Rachel Fish, who has spent her career studying the decline of critical thought on American campuses and empowering students and faculty to fight against the pressure to conform.
What would make a wildly successful entrepreneur switch gears and devote himself entirely to battling antisemitism? Hear how Jonathan Greenblatt went from Starbucks and the West Wing to the helm of the world’s leading anti-hate organization — the Anti-Defamation League — during these most challenging times for Jews in America.
Eve Barlow was living her dream as one of the world's top music journalists when one simple tweet in support of Israel turned her world upside-down. Hear Eve's inspiring story of courage in the face of overwhelming hate — and learn how you can fight antisemitism and anti-Zionism online.
He sought passage to Israel and he paid the price: nine years of hard labor in a Soviet prison. But the gulag only hardened his resolve. Hear Natan Sharansky's legendary story of Jewish resistance and his take on Russia's war against Ukraine.
He was born in Cairo and raised in a traditional Arab Muslim family. But by the age of 11, Hussein Aboubakr Mansour became radicalized and aspired to jihadism. Hear the unusual story of one man’s journey from innocence to hate to political prisoner and ultimately, to life in America and steadfast support for Israel.
Every other week, Rabbi Ammi Hirsch hosts intellectually honest conversations unpacking current events through the lens of Jewish wisdom. Unbound by politics and untethered by party lines, Ammi and his expert guests discuss everything from race and antisemitism to all the other issues that keep you up at night. Recorded from New York’s Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, a historic Reform congregation deeply rooted in liberalism, support for Israel and social justice.
