Episode 85: How knowing your story makes you invincible, with Noam Weissman

Ask Haviv Anything

Haviv Rettig Gur

History

4.9 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 31 January 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In these strange times, it is easier than ever for a Jew to learn -- and easier than ever to remain ignorant. We sit down with Dr. Noam Weissman, executive vice president of the educational nonprofit OpenDor Media, to tackle a looming crisis: a generation of Jews who no longer know their own story. From Harvard Law students paralyzed by campus slogans to the staggering reality that 62% of Jewish day school students cannot define Zionism, this episode exposes the "malpractice" of outdated advocacy and offers a better blueprint for the future. What would a better Israel education look like? Haviv and Noam explore how history and identity can transform a vulnerable community into an invincible one—shifting the next generation from passive spectators in the stands to active players in the Jewish game.

This episode is sponsored by Max and Susan Reichenthal in honor of Friends of the IDF (FIDF), which works to ensure that the soldiers of the IDF have the support they need during their service. Max and Susan asked to dedicate the episode to the IDF soldiers who put their lives on the line to protect the people of Israel.

We thank them for their continued support.

If you like what we do here, please join our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live.

If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠.

Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to a new episode of Ask Haviv Anything.
0:07.9	Today we're going to dive into what I think is probably one of the most important issues
0:11.7	facing Jews at this moment.
0:13.7	And it's not necessarily an issue that everybody is putting at the front of the agenda,
0:17.9	at the top of the agenda, but I certainly have over the last two years. It's the question of teaching the next generation of Jews, their story, who they are,
0:24.8	where they come from, and where therefore they are going, and what's happening to them. And to do that
0:29.9	in a time of great confusion and great fear and great anxiety is really, really important.
0:34.7	Dr. Noam Weissman is here with me and we're going to dive into it
0:38.8	in just a moment. This, I think, over the long term, this is going to be the question on which
0:45.2	the American Jewish future depends, on which diaspora Jewish future generally depends. Before I
0:50.0	introduce Noam and his amazing, amazing work and his amazing project, I just want to tell you really quick, we have a sponsors today who have sponsored multiple episodes. We're extremely grateful. Max and Susan Reichenthal have sponsored this episode in honor and dedicated to friends of the IDF, the FIDF, an organization that works to ensure that the soldiers
1:12.0	of the IDF are supported while they serve in all the different ways that they need to be
1:16.2	supported while they serve. Thank you so much to Max and Susan for that support. I also want to
1:21.6	invite everyone to join our Patreon. If you want to ask the questions that guide the podcast,
1:26.3	what questions we tackle, where we go with this podcast, the Patreon is the place to do it.
1:33.2	We have a great discussion forum over there where people bring in tons of resources, talk about issues of the day.
1:38.5	I'm there. My wife, Ached is there. It's an interesting place to be. And we have a monthly live stream where I answer all your questions.
1:45.9	Join us at patreon.com slash ask-haliv anything.
1:49.3	I hope to see you there.
1:51.4	Let me introduce our guest, Dr. Noam Weissman.
1:55.0	Dr. Weissman, or as I know him, Noam, I'm just bragging there, Noam, is an educator with a microphone.
2:03.9	He is, that is a great definition in as much as we can define ourselves.
	...

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