Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel

Van Leer Institute Series on Ideas with Renee Garfinkel

episodes

The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute cultivates innovative interdisciplinary research into publicly-significant questions, reflecting our commitment to a just, open society, well-integrated in the region.

The Failed Concepts That Brought Israel to October 7

November 5, 2024

The Failed Concepts That Brought Israel to October 7

Shany Mor
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

The essay "The Failed Concepts That Brought Israel to October 7" (Mosaic Magazine) by Shany Mor, dated October 7, 2024, examines the intellectual and …

Judaism is About Love: A Discussion with Shai Held

October 11, 2024

Judaism is About Love

Shai Held
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

A dramatic misinterpretation of the Jewish tradition has shaped the history of the West: Christianity is the religion of love, and Judaism the religio…

Seth J. Frantzman, "The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza" (Wicked Son, 2024)

September 18, 2024

The October 7 War

Seth J. Frantzman
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

A harrowing account on the frontlines of the war between Israel and Hamas, The October 7 War: Israel's Battle for Security in Gaza (Wicked Son, 2024) …

Marilynne Robinson, "Reading Genesis" (FSG, 2024)

September 12, 2024

Reading Genesis

Marilynne Robinson
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

For generations, the book of Genesis has been treated by scholars as a collection of documents by various hands, expressing different factional intere…

Yaacob Dweck, "Dissident Rabbi: The Life of Jacob Sasportas" (Princeton UP, 2019)

September 8, 2024

Dissident Rabbi

Yaacob Dweck
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

In 1665, Sabbetai Zevi, a self-proclaimed Messiah with a mass following throughout the Ottoman Empire and Europe, announced that the redemption of the…

Cary Nelson, "Hate Speech and Academic Freedom: The Antisemitic Assault on Basic Principles" (Academic Studies Press, 2024)

September 4, 2024

Hate Speech and Academic Freedom

Cary Nelson
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Completed shortly before Hamas carried out its barbaric October massacre, Cary Nelson's Hate Speech and Academic Freedom: The Antisemitic Assault on B…

Jay Garfinkel, "Kohelet's Cocktail: Beyond the Pursuit of Happiness" (Illuminated Press, 2024)

August 27, 2024

Kohelet's Cocktail

Jay Garfinkel
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Dive into the timeless wisdom of Ecclesiastes in Jay Garfinkel's groundbreaking work, Kohelet's Cocktail: Beyond the Pursuit of Happiness (Illuminated…

Samuel C. Heilman and Mucahit Bilici, "Following Similar Paths: What American Jews and Muslims Can Learn from One Another" (U California Press, 2024)

August 9, 2024

Following Similar Paths

Samuel C. Heilman and Mucahit Bilici
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Two academics, one Jewish and one Muslim, come together to show how much their faiths have in common—particularly in America. This book provides a…

Eyal Regev, "The Temple in Early Christianity: Experiencing the Sacred" (Yale UP, 2019)

August 7, 2024

The Temple in Early Christianity

Eyal Regev
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Eyal Regev's The Temple in Early Christianity: Experiencing the Sacred (Yale UP, 2019) is he first scholarly work to trace the Temple throughout the e…

Judith Lewis Herman, "Truth and Repair: How Trauma Survivors Envision Justice" (Basic Books, 2023)

June 7, 2024

Truth and Repair

Judith Lewis Herman
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Judith Herman is renowned for her groundbreaking work with survivors of trauma, including sexual trauma. Her earlier books include Trauma and Recover…

Thomas Sparr, "German Jerusalem: The Remarkable Life of a German-Jewish Neighbourhood in the Holy City" (Haus Publishers, 2021)

June 4, 2024

German Jerusalem

Thomas Sparr
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

In the 1920s, before the establishment of the state of Israel, a group of German Jews settled in a garden city on the outskirts of Jerusalem. During…

Carl Zimmer, "Life's Edge: The Search For What it Means to be Alive" (Dutton, 2022)

May 10, 2024

Life's Edge

Carl Zimmer
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the appl…

David Tal, "The Making of an Alliance: The Origins and Development of the US-Israel Relationship" (Cambridge UP, 2022)

May 8, 2024

The Making of an Alliance

David Tal
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Laying the foundation for an understanding of US-Israeli relations, this lively and accessible book provides critical background on the origins and de…

Seth D. Kaplan, "Fragile Neighborhoods: Repairing American Society, One Zip Code at a Time" (Little, Brown Spark, 2023)

April 14, 2024

Fragile Neighborhoods

Seth D. Kaplan
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

The neighborhoods we live in impact our lives in so many ways: they determine who we know, what resources and opportunities we have access to, the qua…

Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" (1951): A Discussion with Jay Garfinkel

April 10, 2024

Eric Hoffer's "The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements" (1951)

Eric Hoffer
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

A stevedore on the San Francisco docks in the 1940s, who eventually taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Eric Hoffer wrote philosophi…

Brothers and Sisters for Israel (“Achim Baneshek”): A Conversation with Ronen Koehler

April 1, 2024

Brothers and Sisters for Israel (“Achim Baneshek”)

Ronen Koehler
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

How does an organization change in an instant, shift its focus and mission in response to a new reality? One volunteer organization did just that. I…

Kenneth Miller, "Mapping the Darkness: The Visionary Scientists Who Unlocked the Mysteries of Sleep" (Hachette Books, 2023)

March 8, 2024

Mapping the Darkness

Kenneth Miller
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

Why do we sleep? How can we improve our sleep? A century ago, sleep was considered a state of nothingness—even a primitive habit that we could learn …

Paul Scharre, "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence" (Norton, 2023)

February 24, 2024

Four Battlegrounds

Paul Scharre
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

An award-winning defense expert tells the story of today’s great power rivalry―the struggle to control artificial intelligence. A new industrial re…

Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg, "Verified: How to Think Straight, Get Duped Less, and Make Better Decisions about What to Believe Online" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

February 10, 2024

Verified

Mike Caulfield and Sam Wineburg
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

An indispensable guide for telling fact from fiction on the internet—often in less than 30 seconds. The internet brings information to our fingertips…

John Horgan, "Terrorist Minds: The Psychology of Violent Extremism from Al-Qaeda to the Far Right" (Columbia UP, 2023)

February 8, 2024

Terrorist Minds

John Horgan
Hosted by Renee Garfinkel

What makes a person want to become a terrorist? Who becomes involved in terrorism, and why? In what ways does participating in violent extremism chang…