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Chapter 1: Growing Up—The Prophets Without the Law
Chapter 2: Between Athens and Jerusalem
Chapter 3: Patriotism, Identity Politics, and the Jews
Chapter 5: The Miracle of Modern Israel
What is the good? How can wisdom-seeking men and women discover it? And how can knowing it help us live worthy lives?
These are the questions Professor Leon Kass has been pursuing for over half a century. Born into a secular, Yiddish-speaking home, Dr. Kass earned his medical degree and a doctorate in biochemistry before turning his attention to the world of the humanities and the wisdom of Athens. Thus began a decades-long career of teaching and public service that has taken him from the University of Chicago to the President’s Council on Bioethics, from Washington think tanks to Israel’s first liberal arts college. During this time, Professor Kass has been a prolific writer, publishing countless essays, many of which have now been gathered in his newest book, Leading a Worthy Life: Finding Meaning in Modern Times.
In this remarkable podcast, Tikvah Executive Director Eric Cohen sits down with his teacher and mentor for a wide-ranging conversation about Professor Kass’s new book as well as his life, work, and intellectual journey. They discuss the Jewish milieu of Kass’s youth, the nature of liberal learning, the wisdom of the Hebrew Bible, and the winding path Dr. Kass has followed as he moves—intellectually and spiritually—ever closer to Jerusalem.
Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble, as well as Midnight Three by Sirus Music.
This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience of pre-college students at one of Tikvah’s summer programs. Click here to learn more about our educational offerings for students and young professionals.
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- Daniel Polisar on Herzl’s “The Menorah”
- Yehoshua Pfeffer on Haredi Conservatism
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- Michael Doran on Theology, Zionism, and American Foreign Policy
- Sohrab Ahmari on Sex, Desire, and the Transgender Movement
- Yoram Hazony on the Bible’s Political Teaching
- John Podhoretz on the Best and Worst of Jewish Cinema
- Jamie Kirchick on Europe’s Coming Dark Age
- Introducing Kikar – Elliott Abrams on Hamas, Gaza, and the Case for Jewish Power
- Ruth Wisse on the Nature and Functions of Anti-Semitism
- Jeffrey Saks on Shmuel Yosef Agnon
- Samuel Goldman on Christian Zionism in America
- Martin Kramer on Ben-Gurion, Borders, and the Vote That Made Israel
- Russ Roberts on Hayek, Knowledge, and Jewish Tradition
- Yossi Klein Halevi on Moving In and Out of Extremism
- Charles Freilich on the U.S.-Israel “Special Relationship”
- Jeffrey Salkin on “Judaism Beyond Slogans”
- Erica Brown on Educating Jewish Adults
- Mark Dubowitz on the Future of the Iran Deal
- Greg Weiner on Moynihan, Israel, and the United Nations
- Daniel Polisar on Nationhood, Zionism, and the Jews
- Jon Levenson on the Danger and Opportunity of Jewish-Christian Dialogue
- Leora Batnitzky on the Legacy of Leo Strauss
- Wilfred McClay on America’s Civil Religion
- Robert Nicholson on Evangelicals, Israel, and the Jews
- Charles Small on “The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism”
- Daniel Mark on Judaism and Our Postmodern Age
- Ruth Wisse on the Perversity of Brilliance
- Daniel Troy on “The Burial Society”
- Matthew Continetti on William F. Buckley, the Conservative Movement, and Anti-Semitism
- Jonathan Sacks on Creative Minorities
- Elliott Abrams on “Dictatorships and Double Standards”
- Jay Lefkowitz on His Life in the Arena
- Michael Doran on America’s Middle East Strategy
- Gabriel Scheinmann on Bombing the Syrian Reactor
- Elliott Abrams on His Calling and Career
- Jeffrey Bloom on Faith and America’s Addiction Crisis
- Gil Student on the Journey into Orthodoxy
- Meir Soloveichik on “L’Chaim and Its Limits”
- Michael Makovsky on Churchill and the Jews
- Neil Rogachevsky on the Story Behind Oslo
- Mark Gottlieb on Jewish Education
- Mitchell Rocklin on Jewish-Christian Relations
- Liel Leibovitz on the Jewish Poetry of Leonard Cohen
- Ruth Wisse on Tevye the Dairyman
- Samuel Goldman on Religion, State, and the Jews
- Leon Kass on the Ten Commandments
- Ruth Wisse on Cynthia Ozick’s “Innovation and Redemption”
- Yossi Klein Halevi on Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s “The Iron Wall”
- Tevi Troy on the Politics of Tu B’Shvat
- Jay Lefkowitz & Mitchell Rocklin on the Jewish Vote
- Yuval Levin on the Long Way to Liberty
- Ruth Wisse on Sartre and Anti-Semitism
- Edward Rothstein on Jerusalem Syndrome at the Met
- Matthew Continetti on Irving Kristol’s Theological Politics
- Meir Soloveichik on King David
- R.R. Reno on “Faith in the Flesh”
- Arthur Herman on Why Everybody Loves Israel
- Peter Berkowitz on a Liberal Education and Its Betrayal
- Meir Soloveichik on Rembrandt, Tolkien, and the Jews
- Yoram Hazony on Nationalism and the Future of Western Freedom
- Jason Bedrick on Jewish Day Schools and School Choice
- Allan Arkush on Ahad Ha’am and “The Jewish State and Jewish Problem”
- Bret Stephens on the Legacy of 1967 and the U.S.-Israel Relationship
- Jay Lefkowitz on Social Orthodoxy
- Norman Podhoretz on Jerusalem and Jewish Particularity
- Michael Doran on Western Elites and the Middle East
- Ruth Wisse on Campus Anti-Semitism
- Meir Soloveichik on “Confrontation”
- Yuval Levin on Religious Liberty
- Elliott Abrams on American Jews and Israel
More about: • Jewish Education • Jewish Political Thought • The American Jewish Experience • The Jewish Family • Tikvah Podcasts • Zionism
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