Recent Webcast

Toward a New Civic Holiness? Ultra-Orthodoxy in the Post-Corona Era
with Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer
Sunday, May 24, 2020 | 11:00 AM EDT

The COVID-19 crisis has turned the world upside down: national economies around the world seem headed for far-reaching unemployment and possible depression; the free flow of people and commerce between nations has been radically curtailed; medical and educational systems are under great strain or not functioning at all; and all the problems of the world that challenged us before this crisis have not magically gone away. What are the key issues that American leaders should be thinking about on the world stage? How will the current economic and social crisis affect the world’s most dangerous and unstable nation-states? Will regimes fall—or fall into tyrannical or terrorist hands? How will the balance of power among the great nations—America, China, Russia—shift? And amid this crisis, what opportunities might exist, if any, to advance democratic freedom around the globe and to develop new forms of technological and social innovation?

No one has written about this issue with more insight, nuance, and wisdom than Tikvah’s own Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer. In an essay for Tzarich Iyun, Tikvah’s journal of haredi thought, Rabbi Pfeffer recently explored the principles and ideas that have been behind the haredi response to the virus and takes a hard look at the societal vulnerabilities this crisis has exposed. He’ll join us for a special Sunday edition of Tikvah Live, to discuss the latest developments in how the haredi world has reacted to the coronavirus.


Previous Webcasts

Tell Me How This Ends: The COVID Pandemic and Its Geopolitical Implications
with Gen. (Ret) David Petraeus
Monday, May 18, 2020 | 7:30 PM EDT

The COVID-19 crisis has turned the world upside down: national economies around the world seem headed for far-reaching unemployment and possible depression; the free flow of people and commerce between nations has been radically curtailed; medical and educational systems are under great strain or not functioning at all; and all the problems of the world that challenged us before this crisis have not magically gone away. What are the key issues that American leaders should be thinking about on the world stage? How will the current economic and social crisis affect the world’s most dangerous and unstable nation-states? Will regimes fall—or fall into tyrannical or terrorist hands? How will the balance of power among the great nations—America, China, Russia—shift? And amid this crisis, what opportunities might exist, if any, to advance democratic freedom around the globe and to develop new forms of technological and social innovation?

Join us for a conversation with General David Petraeus, former Commander of U.S. Central Command and former Director of the CIA, as we assess the fault lines, threats, and opportunities of the current moment and beyond. General Petraeus will be interviewed by Vance Serchuk, Executive Director of the KKR Global Institute and former senior advisor to Senator Joe Lieberman.


Is Liberal Democracy Strong? Can Liberal Education Show the Way?
with Peter Berkowitz
Tuesday, May 12, 2020 | 7:30 PM EDT

America now finds itself in a moment of national crisis unlike any we have faced in decades. What are the unique strengths of American liberal democracy in facing the political, economic, and social challenges ahead? What can we learn from the American past? And why is the renewal of liberal education so essential to the long-term flourishing of the American regime? In this “Tikvah Live” conversation, Dr. Peter Berkowitz will offer his reflections on the virtues and vulnerabilities of liberal societies in times of crisis and the need to re-think how we educate American citizens and statesman.

Dr. Berkowitz has taught in Tikvah’s educational programs, written penetrating essays in Mosaic and the Jewish Review of Books, and was a featured speaker at the Jewish Leadership Conference’s 2018 Conference on Jews and Conservatism. He is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution and currently serves as Director of the Policy Planning Staff in the Office of the Secretary in the State Department.


The Dark Side of Holocaust Education
with Professor Ruth Wisse
Thursday, May 7, 2020 | 7:30 PM EDT

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and educational programs like “Facing History” were intended to act as a deterrent against anti-Jewish aggression: “Never Again.” Was this a realistic expectation? Was retelling the Nazi annihilation of one-third of the Jewish people expected to inspire confidence in the Jews or in Judaism? With anti-Semitism on the rise—and with Jewish identity and commitment among many diaspora Jews in decline—we need to ask whether the emphasis on Holocaust education bears any responsibility. And with so much Holocaust education now focused on treating every form of national pride or particularism as the seed of hatred—all in the name of liberal pluralism—we need to ask: Has Holocaust education been turned against the Jews?

In Part II of our series, Professor Ruth Wisse, recently retired from Harvard and now a distinguished senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund, will continue to diagnose the state of Jewish politics in the modern age.

“The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews” lecture series is generously sponsored by Zach Fasman and Andrea Udoff.


The Strengths of Israel: A Civilizational Assessment
with Dr. Ran Baratz
Monday, April 27, 2020 | 4:00 PM EDT

David Ben-Gurion once famously said: “In Israel, in order to be a realist you must believe in miracles.” For the past 72 years, Israel has not only survived against all odds as the Jewish nation-state; it has flourished beyond any reasonable expectation. Beyond the miraculous, what mix of great leaders, strong convictions, and wise strategies enabled this historic feat? In honor of Israeli Independence Day, Dr. Ran Baratz—founding editor of Mida, prominent Israeli writer and teacher, and former close aide to Prime Minister Netanyahu—will present some of Israel’s defining features and achievements. He will explore how and why, in spite of so many challenges, enemies, and obstacles, Israel has become one of the happiest and most successful countries in the world.


The Jewish Meaning of Egypt: From Moses to Jabotinsky
with Dr. Micah Goodman
Recorded Monday, April 6, 2020 | 12:00 PM EDT | 7:00 PM IDT

The liberation of the Jewish people from Egypt is the foundational moral, philosophical, and political story of the Jewish nation—and especially so as we prepare for Pesach. In this “Tikvah Live” lecture, Israeli intellectual and best-selling author Micah Goodman asks: What does “Egypt” symbolize in the moral and political imagination of the Jewish people? How has the meaning of Egypt evolved from the Hebrew Bible to the age of exile to modern Zionist thinkers and leaders like Ze’ev Jabotinsky? And what is our greater danger today: the tyrannical return of Egypts re-born, or the possibility of allowing the spirit of Egypt to corrupt the Jewish nation?

Download the source sheet here.


Can Liberals Confront Anti-Semitism?
with Professor Ruth Wisse
Recorded Tuesday, March 31, 2020 | 7:30 PM EDT

For centuries, Jews have put their faith in liberal ideas of progress, toleration, and secular democracy. But what if this liberal faith has failed? Ruth Wisse, recently retired from Harvard and now a distinguished senior fellow at the Tikvah Fund, will diagnose the state of Jewish politics in the modern age.

We invite you to join us for “The Liberal Betrayal of the Jews,” a new series of lectures generously sponsored by Zach Fasman and Andrea Udoff. In our opening session, Prof. Wisse examines the extent to which anti-Jewish politics are currently gaining strength among certain political and cultural groups in the United States.


The New Arab Bloc and the Future of Israeli Sovereignty
with Caroline Glick
Recorded Monday, March 23, 2020 | 12:00 PM EDT | 18:00 IST

Two things seem clear from the recent series of elections in Israel: the anti-Zionist Joint Arab List has become a major voting bloc and the Israeli left is ready to accomodate their rise. How did the Arab political parties become political kingmakers in the Zionist state? Why does the Israeli Left seem so ready to accept this? What is driving these monumental changes in Israeli politics? In this special “Tikvah Live” lecture, Israeli commentator and intellectual Caroline Glick looks back at the history and looks ahead to how these two new phenomena could change the political landscape of the Jewish state.