Ask Haviv Anything – Episode 85

How Knowing Your Story Makes You Invincible, with Noam Weissman
Host: Haviv Rettig Gur
Guest: Dr. Noam Weissman
Date: January 31, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode tackles what host Haviv Rettig Gur calls “one of the most important issues facing Jews at this moment”—the challenge of teaching the next generation of Jews their own story, history, and identity, especially amidst rising confusion, fear, and antisemitism. Dr. Noam Weissman, Executive Vice President of OpenDor Media (parent company of Unpacked), joins to discuss the evolution (and failings) of Jewish and Israel education in America, the profound impact of historical literacy on identity, and practical solutions for reinvigorating Jewish self-understanding in the age of TikTok and campus hostility.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Problem: Jewish Historical Illiteracy and Its Consequences

• Main concern: American Jews, including the highly educated, often lack basic knowledge of Jewish and Israeli history, impacting their ability to respond to contemporary antisemitism and anti-Zionist attacks.
• Anecdote from Harvard Law (06:00): Haviv recounts a Jewish student, deeply anxious not simply from external hostility (“Zionism is colonialism” shouted at him) but from his inability to answer the accusation, illustrating a dangerous fragility of identity.
  • Quote:
    "What hurts is that I don't know the answer... They were saying to him, Zionism is colonialism... and this kid didn't know whether Zionism really is evil or not." – Haviv (08:00)
  • After a crash course in the non-colonial refugee origins of Israel, the student’s response:
    "Holy shit, I'm invincible." – Harvard student (09:25)
• Insight: Confidence in one’s Jewish identity and history is empowering—knowledge “makes you invincible.”

2. Measuring the Crisis: Shocking Survey Data

• Statistical Highlights:
  • Only 42% of American Jews ages 18–40 can define Zionism (11:30).
  • In Jewish day schools, 62% of students couldn’t define Zionism.
  • Many Jewish students couldn’t identify Gaza on a map, even after October 7 (13:00).
  • Only 5,000 non-Orthodox Jewish high schoolers attend Jewish schools in the entire U.S. (17:00).
• Summary: There’s a stark gap between communal investment in education and widespread Jewish ignorance—even within expensive, elite Jewish institutions.

3. The Evolution of Jewish and Israel Education

• Historical Context (15:00–22:00):
  • Jewish education in America started as a denominational necessity, with early curricula focusing on Talmud, Bible, law, and Hebrew or Yiddish.
  • By the mid-20th century: The day school world became largely Orthodox.
  • Zionist Education vs. Israel Education:
    • Zionist Education (1950s–80s): Culturally immersive, focused on Hebrew, pioneering spirit.
    • 1990s–2000s: Shifted to advocacy (Hasbara), teaching how to defend Israel with talking points rather than fostering genuine understanding.
  • Second Intifada & Birthright (early 2000s): Surge in “Israel advocacy” organizations, but this did not address identity-level engagement.
  • Current Trend (2010s onward): Movement from “advocacy” to “capital-E Education”—teaching Israel as part of personal and communal Jewish identity, exploring complexities rather than just defending talking points (24:00).

4. Facing the Flaws and Encouraging Complexity

• Host’s skepticism: Haviv describes his surprise at students claiming “I was always taught Israel was perfect,” suggesting Israeli kids have always grown up critiquing their country (25:45).
• Noam’s correction:
  • Many American institutions, until recently, did indeed avoid nuance in their Israel curriculum: "I think you're factually wrong about that... It was a very unique school that was willing to actually explore the story of Israel as opposed to defend the story of Israel." – Noam (26:50)
  • Moving from Hasbara to genuine education is essential; students need frameworks and space for complexity, not Amazon-primed talking points.

5. The Mirror vs. The Window Analogy

• Bolded ‘E’ Israel Education (29:00):
  • Israel as a Mirror: You see Israel’s flaws and its beauty reflected in your own identity—a source of belonging, not blind boosterism.
  • Israel Studies (the “Window”): Academic, detached analysis, often the approach at universities.
  • Schools that succeed with this approach do so either by striking “while the iron is hot” (octane following a crisis) or “while the iron is cold” (embedding history into year-round curriculum regardless of headlines).

6. Rootlessness and Attrition

• Without anchoring in historical narrative and identity, Jewish youth disengage, leading to identity loss “quietly… through uncertainty.” (32:30)
• “If you know your story, you are invincible.” (54:25)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On knowing your story:

• “If you know your story, like when I know my story... If Israel does bad things, it doesn’t do anything to my goosebumps with complexity, because I know my story and I’m part of my family and I view them as my family... It’s my story, it’s my people, it’s my family. And sometimes my family does weird things and bad things, but they’re still my family.”
  – Noam (54:30)

On the educational challenge:

• “Rootlessness leads to disengagement, and disengagement leads to attrition. And this is how identity erodes quietly, not through hostility alone, but through uncertainty.”
  – Noam (32:00)

On shifting the paradigm:

• “We have to stop Amazoning Judaism and Amazoning Jewish and Israel education. It's not snap of a finger. Here's the response. You actually have to explore now these issues.”
  – Noam (27:18)

On the limitations of advocacy:

• “It is malpractice to do Israel advocacy hasbara in an educational setting now. And when people are behaving well, they know that you can’t do Israel advocacy and Hasbara anymore. They know you have to do serious education, good, bad and ugly and how you see yourself in it.”
  – Noam (49:10)

The ‘Players vs. Fans’ story:
– “The players can't leave in the middle of the game... There are players and there are fans. The fans can leave when they like. But the players can’t do that. It’s their job to stay and try to win until the game is over.”
– Lubavitcher Rebbe, quoted by Noam (55:52)
Moral: Be a player, not a spectator, in the “game” of Jewish history.

Solutions & Practical Approaches

Where Does Change Happen?

1. Jewish Day Schools
   • Dramatically expand and centralize historical/Jewish identity curricula (38:59).
2. Sleepaway Camps
   • Use immersive, communal settings for deep, joyous, identity-rooted Jewish storytelling and learning—not just sports and fun (41:00).
3. Youth Groups
   • Move beyond entertainment guests—commit to meaningful educational programming.
4. Digital Content
   • Most crucial for “the biggest group”—the 50%+ of US Jewish kids who aren’t in day schools, camps, or groups.
   • Leverage platforms like Unpacked for scalable, engaging, values-rich content (43:00).

“If it’s possible to teach all young Jews their story, it’s not anything other than necessary. If it’s possible, it’s our responsibility.” – Noam (44:00)

Empowering the Institutions

• Federations, funders, defense organizations:
  • Stop “dipping toes in”—commit at the scale of adversaries (Qatar’s $1B+ effort to shape Middle East narrative).
  • Partner, coordinate, and massively scale up (“20x Unpacked”).
  • Prioritize honesty, transparency, and “goosebumps with complexity” (the blend of pride and critical engagement).

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Anecdote: Harvard Law Student & Invincibility: 06:00–10:00
• Statistical Reality: Definitional Gaps in Zionism: 11:00–14:00
• History of Jewish/Israel Education in America: 15:00–22:00
• Defining Zionist vs. Israel Education: 19:50–23:00
• Failures of Hasbara-Only Model: 23:00–25:00, 27:00–29:00
• Contemporary Approaches (“Capital E” Education): 29:00–32:00
• The Problem Beyond Day Schools: 34:00–39:00
• How to Reach the Unaffiliated: 41:00–44:30
• Scaling Solutions and Institutional Responsibility: 47:40–50:00
• Closing Parable (Players vs. Fans): 55:50–58:00

Conclusion

The episode is a clarion call for a new Jewish American educational paradigm—one that replaces superficial, defensive “Hasbara” with a deep dive into history, complexity, and honest identity-building. Both alarming and hopeful, it insists that the resources and methods already exist to make American Jews “invincible” through knowledge. The challenge: scale up, unify, and treat Jewish historical literacy as both an existential need and a joyful, empowering mission.

Final Note
As Noam puts it:
"If you know your story, you are invincible. Nobody could do anything to you." (54:25)
And:
"Be in the game. We need education. We need to know our history. We need to know our story... and we have to bear our story, which is to actually live it." (56:30)

Recommendation:
Check out Unpacked for accessible, engaging content—and urge institutions to 20x such efforts.
“You’re not just telling history. You’re playing in the game.”