What’s Next: Higher Education for Jews: David Wolpe, Talia Khan, and Steven Pinker

18Forty Podcast

18Forty

Religion & Spirituality, Judaism

4.6 • 638 Ratings

🗓️ 9 January 2024

⏱️ 98 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of the 18Forty Podcast, we talk to Harvard Divinity School visiting scholar Rabbi David Wolpe, MIT PhD student Talia Khan, and Harvard professor Steven Pinker about the new reality for Jews in higher education.

Since Simchas Torah, the hostile discourse regarding Israel has become something that no Jewish student can ignore. Jewish families have been asking: Is it even worth it to send our sons and daughters to these colleges? In this episode we discuss:

Is it better for Jews to change the system from within, or without?
What has changed about the Jewish experience at American colleges since Oct. 7?
What is the way forward regarding free speech and Jewish rights on campus?

Tune in to hear a conversation about how we might work toward a reimagined and refocused higher education.

Interview with David Wolpe begins at 4:27.
Interview with Talia Khan begins at 29:30.
Interview with Steven Pinker begins at 1:05:12.

Named The Most Influential Rabbi in America by Newsweek and one of the 50 Most Influential Jews in the World by The Jerusalem Post, David Wolpe is a visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School and the Max Webb Rabbi Emeritus of Sinai Temple, a Conservative shul in Los Angeles. Rabbi Wolpe previously taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Hunter College, and UCLA. He is the author of eight books, including the national bestseller Making Loss Matter: Creating Meaning in Difficult Times. His new book is titled David, the Divided Heart.

Talia Khan is an MIT graduate student in mechanical engineering, the president of the MIT Israel Alliance, and a Fulbright Brazil alumna.

Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. He conducts research on language, cognition, and social relations, writes for publications such as the New York Times, Time and The Atlantic, and is the author of twelve books, including The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, The Blank Slate, The Stuff of Thought, The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Sense of Style, Enlightenment Now, and Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters.

References:

“On the Hatred of Jews” by David J. Wolpe

Israel: An Echo of Eternity by Abraham Joshua Heschel

O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre

“When Calls for Jewish Genocide Can Cost a University Its Government Funding” by Michael A. Helfand

“A five-point plan to save Harvard from itself” by Steven Pinker

The Coddling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt

The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott

The Constitution of Knowledge by Jonathan Rauch

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi friends, a few months ago we advertised the birth of a new community in Israel.
0:05.4	Eden Bait Shemesh, a community tailored made for all those of us in need of a five-year plan,
0:12.7	and let's face it, we are living in a time when every single one of us should be drafting the five-year plan for our futures in Israel.
0:20.5	Our own listeners from within the 1840 community have purchased in Eden, an opportunity which
0:26.4	they will longingly watch unfold into a reality, a shul, and a community.
0:32.1	I am so proud that the leaders behind Aden are none other than Rabbi Benny and Khani Krohn. I know them personally because they are the rabbi and Rebitten of my own
0:42.4	personal community and they are the ones leading this new development community. And I know for my own life that
0:49.6	their stewardship, their leadership is you know this is going to be a welcoming, joyous, incredible
0:55.7	community where everyone is going to be able to feel comfortable and build a home.
1:00.2	On June 29th, Eden will be hosting a webinar to speak in detail about the vision for this project.
1:07.6	In order to register, please click the link below or email info at
1:12.7	Edenbateschemish.com to find out more. Once again, that's info at Edenbateshemesh.com
1:20.2	to find out more. Hi, friends, and welcome to the 1840 podcast where each month we explore different topic balancing modern sensibilities with traditional
1:45.1	sensitivities to give you new approaches to timeless Jewish ideas. I'm your host, David Bischephkin,
1:50.7	and this month we're continuing our exploration of the war in Israel, and we are asking,
1:55.2	what's next? This podcast is part of a larger exploration of those big, juicy Jewish ideas.
2:01.2	So be sure to check out 1840.org where you can also find videos, articles, recommended readings, and weekly emails.
2:07.8	We've been asking the question, what is next?
2:10.8	As the world, and specifically the Jews' place in the world, our place in the world, seems to have been reordered since October 7th.
2:18.3	And aside from asking what's next for Jewish communities in Israel, we are asking what is next?
2:24.1	For Jews in higher education, there is a long history of Jews being second-class citizen,
2:29.8	being marginalized in higher education. And for the past few decades, it seems to have been going really
	...

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