For Heaven’s Sake – "The Season of Reckoning"

Date: September 22, 2025
Hosts: Donniel Hartman & Yossi Klein Halevi
Presented by: Shalom Hartman Institute & Ark Media

Overview

This episode, titled "The Season of Reckoning," explores the imperative of moral self-examination within the Jewish community during a tumultuous time in Israel—both as the war in Gaza shifts and as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur approach. Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi probe the responsibilities, difficulties, and virtues of honest internal reckoning, especially in the face of criticism, trauma, and political polarization. The central question: How do Jews committed to Israel remain reflective and true to their moral core during crisis, without stifling critical conversation or succumbing to external pressures?

Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Why "The Season of Reckoning"?

• The episode is set on the eve of Rosh Hashanah/Yom Kippur—traditionally a period for introspection, confession, and change (teshuva).
• It also coincides with shifting dynamics in the Gaza war, raising urgent questions about collective and individual morality.

"To be human is to reflect on who you are and who you want to be, and to never assume that who you are is who you ought to be." – Donniel (04:11)

• Israel is facing ongoing trauma—recent terror attacks, loss of soldiers, and high emotional and moral stakes for all sides.

2. What Does Moral Reckoning Look Like During War?

• Donniel asks Yossi how self and collective reckoning is possible amid fear, trauma, and emotional turmoil.

"How do we do moral reflection? How do we talk about who we ought to be in a time when we know it’s so difficult—war, trauma, fear, anger, vengeance?" – Donniel (04:55)

• Yossi emphasizes the personal nature of this process, but insists it is vital for Israel's moral credibility—with its citizens, Diaspora, and before God.

"Our strength depends on our moral credibility...In order to do self reckoning, you have to be able to take a deep breath...Sometimes I literally feel like I can't breathe. I feel like I'm underwater." – Yossi (05:26)

• Yossi sees such reckoning as spiritually protective: "When the Jewish people undergo a process of asking itself difficult questions, we don’t harm ourselves, but we invite divine protection." (07:25)

3. The Risks and Pain of Critique

• Donniel notes that anyone engaging in reckoning is accused of disloyalty by "loyalists" or feels their actions are used by Israel's critics (08:06).

"No matter what you’ve done in the past, just doesn’t matter. That’s all erased. What have you done for me lately?" – Donniel (09:53)

• Yossi describes his struggle with self-censorship while writing about Israel's moral challenges, feeling the weight of public criticism, and the journey toward honest self-expression. His wife, Sara, tells him: "I need a more morally self-confident voice." (10:23)

"What I did was not drag in all the arguments in defense of Israel, but simply to write about why this is hard to do and just to acknowledge what we’re up against." – Yossi (11:29)

4. On Criticizing Israel: Mothers and Mother-in-Laws

• Anecdotes about Donniel’s father and Rabbi Riskin highlight the ongoing debate about how criticism should be voiced: with love, knowledge, or balance.

“By all means, criticize us, but criticize us like a mother and not a mother-in-law.” – Donniel recalling his father (13:07)

• Donniel worries about conditionality and "policing" criticism, fearing that too many boundaries squeeze out the "troubled committed" Jews—those who love Israel but are deeply reflective and sometimes uneasy (17:33, 18:48).

5. Moral Conversation Amid Hostility—Who Gets a Voice?

• Both hosts reject the idea that antisemites or external critics should have veto power over internal Jewish moral conversations.

“We can't grant veto power to our enemies over the quality of our inner life, the Jewish people's inner conversation. We need to insist on the autonomy of our moral conversation.” – Yossi (19:12)

• For Donniel, making space for the "troubled committed" within the Zionist and Jewish discourse is not only a right but necessary for communal viability.

"I'm worried that there isn't space to breathe for the troubled committed...We in the Jewish community, we have to fight not for loyalty, but for the souls and for the space of a Jewish conversation that looks to Israel, loves Israel, and asks, who should we be?" – Donniel (18:48 & 30:40)

6. Commitment: Conditional or Unconditional?

• Yossi shares his personal story of moving to Israel during the Lebanon War as an act of unconditional love and commitment, urging others not to show up "only when it makes you feel good" (21:04, 22:02).

• Donniel distinguishes between “testing” love (dating) and living it (marriage), suggesting that decades of Diaspora commitment should exempt Jews from loyalty tests (25:00).

• The debate emerges: is "troubled commitment" stable, or does it inevitably slide into disengagement? Tablet Magazine’s editor is cited as arguing that lingering trouble leads to leaving—Donniel rejects this.

7. Boundaries of Conversation and Community

• Yossi acknowledges that on both extremes—those who see “no moral problems” or those who have “already reached their conclusions”—he has no interlocutors (31:34).

“I’m looking for Jews who share my anguish...the anguish of knowing we are not up to par in relation to our own moral standards. Those are the Jewish partners I'm looking for.” – Yossi (32:08)

• Donniel's "rabbinate" is for those who are both troubled and still committed—those who have not fully detached, who are still "working through," not those who are untroubled or ideologically set against the conversation (29:22–30:30).

Notable Quotes

• "To be human is to reflect on who you are and who you want to be, and to never assume that who you are is who you ought to be." – Donniel (04:11)
• "Our strength depends on our moral credibility." – Yossi (05:26 & reiterated 19:12)
• "We need to insist on the autonomy of our moral conversation, regardless of the hyenas around us." – Yossi (19:12)
• "We in the Jewish community, we have to fight not for loyalty, but for the souls and for the space of a Jewish conversation that looks to Israel, loves Israel, and asks, who should we be?" – Donniel (30:40)
• "The troubled committed—those are the people that I speak to." – Donniel (30:49)
• "It is the troubled committed who are most at risk of being squeezed out of the community if we keep testing or policing boundaries." – Donniel (18:48–19:38)
• "There really are two groups of Jews with whom I don’t have a shared language...those who know all the answers—on the right and on the far left. And I’m looking for Jews who share my anguish." – Yossi (31:34)

Important Timestamps

• 03:40–07:00 – Framing the “season of reckoning”; effect of trauma; traditional vs. world events.
• 09:53–10:50 – The pain of public critique and external silencing.
• 11:29–13:07 – Modeling honest critique, mothers vs. mothers-in-law analogy.
• 18:48–19:38 – Dangers of stifling the “troubled committed” and shrinking the community.
• 19:12 – "We can't grant veto power to our enemies over...our Jewish moral conversation."
• 21:04–24:27 – The meaning of unconditional commitment and personal narratives.
• 25:00–27:24 – Loyalty tests vs. lived commitment.
• 29:22–30:40 – Boundaries and the “rabbinate for the troubled committed.”
• 31:34–33:11 – Final reflections: Exclusion of those certain in their judgments.

Tone & Style

The conversation is deeply intellectual, often personal, and layered with both warmth and debate. The hosts are respectful, candid, and at times gently humorous, never losing sight of the gravity of the issues at hand. They alternate between the philosophical, spiritual, and pragmatic in discussing communal Jewish life.

Memorable Moments

• Anecdotes about mothers, mothers-in-law, and marriage analogies lighten the tone while probing the depth of commitment (13:07, 25:08).
• Yossi’s confession about "not being able to breathe" under criticism, and Sara’s editorial advice: "I need a more morally self-confident voice." (10:23)
• Donniel’s typologies (troubled/untroubled, committed/uncommitted) offer a map for Jewish engagement under pressure (25:35).
• Rejection of external vetoes on internal conversations stands out as a central rallying call (19:12, 19:38).

Final Thoughts

• Yossi: Seeks conversation partners who share complex anguish—not simplistic certainties—about both Israel’s fate and moral standing.
• Donniel: Warns that overemphasis on loyalty or purity will leave too many Jews outside the communal tent; calls for "almost unmitigated reckoning" to keep Zionism broad and honest.

"My bracha to the Jewish people is that we should be troubled, committed. Whether it’s unquestionably committed or questionably committed, but...without being troubled, that’s when the conversation stops." – Donniel (34:20)