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Prof. Sarah Hammerschlag Explores the Meaning of Jewish Identity in The Point
December 9, 2025
In a new essay for The Point, Sarah Hammerschlag, John Nuveen Professor of Religion and Literature, Philosophy of Religions, and History of Judaism at the University of Chicago Divinity School, offers a frank and searching examination of Jewish identity in the wake of the conflict in Gaza. In “Signs of Election,” Hammerschlag reflects on how contemporary Jewish self-understanding has been shaped by two powerful and often uneasy “pillars” of post-WWII Judaism: Zionism and the Holocaust.
The essay grapples with the complex ways these historical and political forces continue to structure Jewish belonging, solidarity, and vulnerability. Hammerschlag considers how they also generate tension, both internally and in broader public discourse, while raising more profound questions about what it means to inhabit a tradition that makes claims beyond personal belief or choice.
“‘Being-Jewish’ becomes, for me, a condition from which I cannot flee,” she writes, inviting readers to contemplate the demands, responsibilities, and ambiguities that accompany inherited identity in a moment of global crisis.
Read the full essay at The Point:
https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/signs-of-election/
https://thepointmag.com/examined-life/signs-of-election/