Identity/Crisis Teaching Jewish History in America — with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela
Mar 10, 2026
Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, historian of education and modern Jewish life, discusses teaching Jewish history in a polarized moment. She explores the historian’s public role and the importance of richer storytelling. The conversation centers on education, Jewish identity, and how deeper narratives can shape public understanding.
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How Conspiracy Theories Turn Personal Grievances Into Mass Threats
- Conspiracy theories rest on two fallacies: conflating correlation with causation and attributing wrongdoing to an entire group.
- Yehuda Kurtzer uses Haman's argument in the Megillah to show how a personal grievance becomes a society-shaping conspiracy.
Two Truths And A Lie That Made Jews Dangerous
- Haman's rhetoric mixes two truths and one lie to make Jewish difference appear sinister: diaspora and distinct law are true, the claim Jews don't obey the king is the lie.
- Kurtzer highlights how that lie transforms familiarity into suspicion and justifies exclusion or violence.
Root Canal Moments That Reawaken Jewish Identity
- Natalia Mehlman Petrzela shares European 'root canal' stories of reclaimed Jewish identity, like a woman discovering her Levi surname at the dentist.
- These small, personal discoveries often lead to synagogue involvement and activism at Paideia.