In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar is joined by Ilan Goldenberg, Senior Vice President and Chief Policy Officer at J Street. Goldenberg served in both the Obama and Biden administrations and has a profound understanding of Israel, the Middle East, and the American Jewish community. His perspective is shaped not just by his years in policy, but by a personal biography that bridges worlds.

Born in Jerusalem to American parents, Ilan moved to New Jersey at the age of eight. He grew up straddling identities — fluent in Hebrew, versed in Arabic, and deeply rooted in both American and Israeli life.

In the Obama administration, Ilan advised on Middle East policy from the Pentagon to the State Department, working on issues ranging from Iran’s nuclear program to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. He served as chief of staff to the U.S. Special Envoy under Secretary Kerry. In the Biden era, he continued shaping U.S. policy as special advise Biden, Harris, and the Middle East: Behind the Scenes with Ilan Goldenbergr to Vice President Kamala Harris on Middle East defense and technology, and later as national director for Jewish Outreach in Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.

With his unique background and wealth of experience, he offers insight into some of the most urgent debates shaping U.S.-Israel relations, the future of American diplomacy in the region, and the evolving role of the Jewish community in American politics.

If you’d like to be in touch with us, contact: jewishcrossroadspod@gmail.com

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In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar sits down with Rabbi Sara Hurwitz — trailblazer, teacher, and one of the most courageous voices reshaping the boundaries of modern Orthodoxy. From a young age, Rabbi Hurwitz felt called to public service in the world of Torah, but there was no roadmap for a woman to walk this path. In 2009, her ordination by Rabbi Avi Weiss and Rabbi Daniel Sperber marked a historic and controversial turning point, igniting debate across the Orthodox world. Yet Rabbi Hurwitz’s story is not one of confrontation, but of transformation.

As the co-founder and president of Yeshivat Maharat — the first Orthodox institution to ordain women as rabbis, she has been named one of the 50 most influential Jews by The Forward and one of Newsweek’s 50 most influential rabbis. Rabbi Hurwitz speaks with Tamar about breaking barriers, leading with conviction, what it’s been like for visibly Orthodox Jews post-October 7, and building a future where every voice in the Torah world can be heard.

If you’d like to be in touch with us, contact: jewishcrossroadspod@gmail.com

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In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar speaks with Dr. Mijal Bitton — scholar, spiritual leader, and one of the clearest voices to cut through the fog of antisemitism after October 7. In the wake of atrocity, as places that once stood for justice went silent, Dr. Bitton stood up. Her words — fierce, unsparing, heartbroken — echoed across a shaken Jewish world. This conversation explores what it means to fight for Jewish dignity in an era of erasure — to call out hatred without flinching. It is a discussion of faith, identity, memory, and what it means to lead when the cost of silence is too high. But Dr. Bitton’s power doesn’t spring only from moral courage. It comes from depth. As a Latina Sephardic Orthodox woman, as a scholar of American Jewish life, and as a leader rooted in both tradition and the city streets of contemporary America, she offers a lens unlike any other.

If you’d like to be in touch with us, contact: jewishcrossroadspod@gmail.com

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