Ep. 212: Why people still love dead Jews

About this episode

The episode discusses the complexities of Jewish identity and antisemitism with insights from Dara Horn's work.

Jews shouldn’t have to choose between fighting antisemitism and bolstering Jewish identity. According to JNS editor-in-chief, the assertion of New York Times columnist Bret Stephens that the Jewish community should stop doing the former and concentrate on the latter is a false choice. They need, he says, to continue to do both, though, admittedly the critique of Jew-hatred is often badly executed. He’s joined in this week’s episode of Think Twice by Dara Horn, author of the highly influential 2021 book, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present and the recently published Passover-themed graphic novel One Little Goat. Horn is the founder and president of The Tell Institute, which is devoted to educating the public about Jewish civilization. She says the lessons of her previous book still apply in the post-Oct. 7 era. She argues that “people tell stories about dead Jews that make them feel good about themselves” and “living Jews have to erase themselves in order for those stories to be told.” But after Oct. 7, it’s clear that it's actually simpler than that. “The message of people who love dead Jews, which unfortunately has only been confirmed in the past two years, is…

People in this episode

Host: Jonathan Tobin

Guest: Dara Horn

Topics covered

• antisemitism
• Jewish identity
• cultural critique
• Jewish civilization
• storytelling
• power dynamics

Keywords

• antisemitism
• Jewish identity
• Dara Horn
• New York Times
• cultural critique
• Jewish civilization
• storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times, The Tell Institute

Books & works: People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present, One Little Goat

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