4: Israel and American Jews

Today's disagreement is about the relationship between Israel and American Jews. To have this conversation, we’ve brought together two prominent American Rabbis with two very different perspectives on the current conflict.

The Guests

Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt founded Congregation B’Nai Tzedek in Potomac, Maryland in 1988 and is the Senior Rabbi there. He is the Chair of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition and has previously served as the President of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America, and the Director of Israel Policy and Advocacy at the Rabbinical Assembly.

Rabbi Matthew Soffer is the Senior Rabbi at Judea Reform Congregation in Durham, North Carolina. Previously, Rabbi Soffer served at Temple Israel in Boston, where he led the nationally influential Riverway Project and Ohel Tzedek, the synagogue’s social justice wing.

Today we ask a wide range of questions relating to the war in Gaza and Zionism more broadly:

• Is the war in Gaza a just war?
• How does one balance the particularism of Jewish peoplehood with the universalism of Jewish teaching?
• How should advocates of Israel be publicly speaking about Palestinian suffering?
• Can Israel defeat Hamas? If so, at what cost?

Two quick notes:

1. This is the first of what will hopefully be many conversations on Israel/Palestine and the broader conflict. Our goal is to give voice to a wide variety of stakeholders and perspectives.
2. Disagreements are live and feral and unpredictable. In my conversation with the Rabbis, there are times where I cross over into being more of a participant than a host. This happened organically. It’s not our core model. But it’s honest and real. And it’s representative of many of the conversations that are taking place right now.

Show Notes

• General atmosphere in Israel [05:09]
• Feelings of moral confusion vs moral clarity [06:44]
• What is the cost of defeating Hamas? [08:35]
• Jewish ultra-nationalists in Israeli government [15:41]
• Acknowledging the suffering of Palestinians [21:54]
• What does “defeating Hamas” mean? [28:42]
• Ratio of civilian to combatant deaths [30:42]
• Jewish concept of tikkun olam [32:43]
• Do American Jews need Israel? [40:32]
• Netanyahu’s impact on Jewish peoplehood [42:46]
• Does Israel fill a spiritual vacuum for American Jews [46:16]
• Anti-Zionist Jews [51:44]
• Steelmanning [53:20]

If you have any recommendations for other guests on the topic of Israel/Palestine/Gaza (or any recommendations for any other topics/guests) please reach out to producer Greg Woodward at greg@thedisagreement.com.

Questions or comments about this episode? Email us at podcast@thedisagreement.com or find us on X and Instagram @thedisagreementhq. Subscribe to our newsletter: https://thedisagreement.substack.com/