Notes from the 2025 Tikvah Jewish Leadership Conference
Last month, more than 1,000 people gathered in New York City to attend Tikvah’s eighth annual Jewish leadership conference. The conference featured some of the leading journalists, politicians, and thought leaders in the country, including Ruth Wisse, Elliot Abrams, Walter Russell Mead, Liel Lebowitz, and Elise Stefanik. The final session was a panel discussion with Dan Senor, Bari Weiss, and Ben Shapiro.
I was privileged to be part of the audience – and the conference was a rousing success. Two things stood out for me.
First, it was gratifying and inspiring to be together with 1,000-plus like-minded individuals who feel the same way as I do about Israel and the future of the Jewish people. In an age when many of our former friends have turned against us, and Jew hatred has run rampant, I was encouraged to see so many people – including many non-Jews – come out to show their support for our cause.
Second, while Tikvah certainly leans more conservative politically, I was happy to hear many of the speakers take a more moderate approach, calling out Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes for their antisemitic remarks and far-right positions while taking on positions that in some ways were more mainstream.
The highlight of the day was the panel discussion with Senor, Weiss, and Shapiro, each of whom articulated thoughtful remarks about building Jewish institutions and defending truth.
Shapiro outlined the nature of the rift within the conservative party, differentiating the classic version that believes in meritocracy, freedom, and virtue with the new version. “The new version focuses on the white man being victimized,” said Shapiro. “It believes that the system must be torn down, that it’s not your fault, and that you have no responsibility to fix it.”
Weiss believes that there are bad people everywhere, and that it’s not a choice between right and left. “We have antisemites on both sides,” said Weiss. “Antisemites are anti-American.” Weiss criticized the far-right extremists in the conservative party, saying that they preach the politics of resentment rather than the politics of individual responsibility.
Senor agreed that there are some bad people on the right, but said that they have not yet become mainstream, as opposed to the left, where he felt that they had already become mainstream.
Why are so many young people attracted to nihilism? Shapiro said, “It’s because they are immersed in social media and the online ecosystem. It gives them a victimology to buy into.”
What can Judaism teach us about the global problems we are facing today? Shapiro said, “Judaism values hard work, not easy answers.” Weiss said that there is no better recipe for leading a meaningful life than Judaism, which is why so many people recommitted themselves to their faith after October 7th. She also felt that we must speak to more Americans who are committed to the same beliefs we have and build stronger alliances.
In terms of the Israel-America relationship, Senor said, “The single most important thing for Israel to do is to act from a position of strength. Israel is not asking America for manpower. It is asking them to be allowed to do what it must do … and have their back.”
Weiss was asked why she took the job at CBS. “I’m not going in as a lowly editor,” said Weiss. “I’m joining as a leader. I have the passionate backing of the people who are behind CBS. Founding The Free Press will still be the ultimate accomplishment for me … the culture, the freedom, the speed you can move. It’s great. However, now we are in a precarious moment, and I can take my values and ethos about honest journalism and apply it to a large media organization that reaches tens of millions of people. I now have the opportunity to speak to people who believe in liberty, freedom, and individual responsibility and help them understand what is really going on in the world.”
What has been Weiss’s strategy for success? “To be honest, I have been lucky,” said Weiss. “Sometimes telling people the truth feels like trying to force spinach down a kid’s throat. Building trust in the mainstream press is not easy, but it’s mainly about who is in the room. It’s having people in the center-left and center-right having conversations with each other. And it’s telling people the facts, story by story, decision by decision.”
Senor distinguished between October 8th Jews, who got a wakeup call about antisemitism, and October 2025 Jews, who finally breathed a sigh of relief once the last living hostages came home. Said Senor, “Now our job is to raise Jewish kids. That’s how you generate Jewish continuity. Put them in Jewish bubbles during their formative years. Only 5% of non-Orthodox kids attend Jewish day schools. That must change.”
Weiss agreed with Senor and offered the Jewish community a challenge: “How do we make the cost of attending Jewish day schools the same as Catholic schools?”
As to some of the biggest challenges the Jewish community faces, Senor is most worried about the effort to normalize the split between Jewish life and Zionism. Weiss is concerned with our relationship with other Americans. Said Weiss, “We have done a bad job in explaining Judaism to others. We must emphasize the fact that our connection to Israel is part of our history as a people and a civilization.”
Senor summed up the discussion nicely. “Judaism is a way of life,” said Senor. “You don’t pick that up from reading a book. You pick that up from experience. Then, when you read books about it, it will confirm your experience. We need to teach children the upside of Judaism, not the negatives. Have a Shabbat dinner. Bless the children. Experience the joys of Jewish ritual. Show the importance of community at times of need. That’s the recipe for success.”
