At the recent Am Olam conference held by the newspaper Makor Rishon, Donniel Hartman discussed his views on contemporary Judaism and Jewish peoplehood.

At a session co-sponsored by the Shalom Hartman Institute, he spoke with Elchanan Nir, editor of Makor Rishon’s “Shabbat” supplement, about the interview he gave to that magazine the week before.

In the video above, Hartman presents the challenges and opportunities of “assimilation” — especially through interfaith marriage — and the challenges to Israelis of understanding the North American context. He argues, for example, the rate of interfaith marriage in North America is not a catastrophe, but should rather be considered an opportunity akin to the Israeli Law of Return.