This has been a momentous week in American politics and, whether you cheer or mourn the results of the 2026 midterm elections, the Jewish people find themselves in a different America than they were in last week. In difficult times, there is no one better to strengthen Jewish spines than Ruth Wisse, longtime professor of Yiddish literature at Harvard, and, for the last many years, a senior distinguished fellow at Tikvah. It was earlier this year, in March, that she delivered the National Endowment for the Humanities' distinguished Jefferson Lecture.
Professor Wisse recently sat down at the Altneu synagogue in New York City with Caroline Bryk, the co-director of Tikvah's Jewish Parents Forum. They discussed grievance and gratitude, the transmission of Jewish confidence, the relationship of Jews and America, and what Professor Wisse would have us read.
