E265 - The Zionist Paratroopers and the Meaning of Heroism — with Matti Friedman

What do our narratives of heroism do for the Jewish people—and what do they hide?

On this episode of Identity/Crisis, Yehuda Kurtzer sits down with journalist and author Matti Friedman to discuss his new book, Out of the Sky: a story about the Zionist paratroopers sent into Europe during World War II. Together they explore the uneasy relationship between myth and history: how failed missions become national legend, why Jewish heroism became so central to Zionist self-understanding, and what gets lost when real people are turned into symbols.

 

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