Derek Penslar and Noah Feldman Discuss Jewish Identity at HLS Event

History professor Derek J. Penslar and Harvard Law School Professor Noah R. Feldman ’92 discussed Jewish identity at Harvard and shifting discourse on Israel over the past year in an event on Tuesday marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Penslar, who serves as director of the Center of Jewish Studies, opened the discussion with a history of antisemitism, stating that American Jews are “feeling more vulnerable than at any time since the Second World War.”

The “majority” of American Jews, Penslar said, “are feeling fearful, angry, and betrayed.”

Penslar was appointed by Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 to co-chair the presidential task force on combating antisemitism, a decision that received backlash from critics including former University President Lawrence H. Summers and billionaire donor Bill A. Ackman ’88 over allegations that Penslar had downplayed antisemitism on campus.

Penslar considered stepping down from the taskforce, but stayed on after receiving support from scholars of Jewish studies, colleagues, and former students.

During the event, Penslar discussed how some Jewish Americans who identify as progressive felt betrayed by fellow progressives after Hamas’ attack on Israel.

“The language of betrayal has been used most visibly by the Jewish left,” Penslar said, as “people who they thought had been their erstwhile allies were now rationalizing or even justifying the Hamas massacre.”

While Penslar acknowledged that Harvard has come under intense scrutiny over the past year, antisemitism on campus was not unique to the University.

“Harvard — it may shock this audience to know — is not the only university in the United States,” he said. “Nor is Harvard — it might shock the New York Times and other media to know — is not the only university that’s experienced serious problems over the last year, involving demonstrations, disruptions, and so forth.”

“For Harvard alumni who went to university here in the 1970s, 80s, 90s — they don’t recognize Harvard today,” Penslar added. “So we have this phenomenon of alumni of Harvard and other universities, who feel betrayed, they feel that the university they went to no longer exists.”

Feldman also reflected on the intense emotions surrounding discussions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“I want to begin by acknowledging the intensity of the emotions that surround the topic, no matter what perspective one approaches it from,” Feldman said. “And then I also will always add, really, a prayer to all of you to take all of our comments and our discussion in a spirit of humility.”

Feldman, who is the director of the HLS Program on Jewish and Israeli Law, co-chaired the faculty-led “Institutional Voice” working group that advised that the University and its leadership should not take official positions on controversial public policy issues.

Feldman highlighted the unexpected reaction on college campuses to the Oct. 7 attacks, noting that instead of an expected condemnation of terrorism, many students on college campuses, including Harvard, framed the events in a way that claimed Israel was responsible.

“What emerged on U.S. campuses was not what the mainstream American Jewish community would have expected to have happened, which would have been a broad, sort of post 9/11-style, condemnation with a terrorist attack of this scale,” Feldman said. “Instead, what emerged was something almost 180 degrees the opposite.”

Feldman also discussed how American Jewish organizations have largely focused their response to recent events around the issue of antisemitism on college campuses.

Feldman said responses from these organizations were “symptomatic of a pretty sophisticated expressed realization that political opinion in the United States on questions like Israel is heavily shaped by elite political judgments.”

“Universities are one of the places where elite political judgment is formed,” he added.

During the event, Feldman also discussed the influence of the American Jewish community in U.S. elections, particularly in relation to Washington’s ongoing support for Israel.

“A core political accomplishment of the American Jewish community in its Zionism has been ensuring that the American political system’s support for Israel remains strong, regardless of which party is in power,” Feldman said.

“Donald Trump is not helping from the perspective of the American Jewish community, as he is making the case that support for Israel should be a partisan issue," he added.

Feldman also pointed out that U.S. President Joe Biden's initial strong support for Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks could play a significant role in Kamala Harris's support in key battleground states, such as Michigan due to the high population of Arab-American voters.

As the event ended, Feldman said that the one topic he could not discuss was potential solutions to the issues he raised, citing the uncertainty in the future developments of the war in the Middle East.

“So if you say, ‘Wait, Feldman described the problem, but he didn’t describe its resolution, you are correct,” he said.

“I’m going to stop there because we are in medias res,” Feldman added, pointing to ongoing geopolitical developments in Gaza and Lebanon.

—Staff writer S. Mac Healey can be reached at mac.healey@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @MacHealey.

—Staff writer Saketh Sundar can be reached at saketh.sundar@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @saketh_sundar.