AMNA NAWAZ: From drafting Iraq's Constitution,## to testifying in the 2019 impeachment# inquiry into former President Donald Trump,## Harvard Law Professor Noah Feldman has dived# deep into the intersection of power and ethics.

In his latest work, Feldman turns that focus# on his own Jewish faith to understand identity,## politics and culture, even in the# midst of Israel's war in Gaza.

I recently spoke with Feldman about# his new book, "To Be a Jew Today."

Noah Feldman, welcome back to the# "NewsHour."

Thank you so much for joining us.

NOAH FELDMAN, Author, "To Be a Jew# Today: A New Guide to God, Israel,## AMNA NAWAZ: So, when asking the central question# of your bo.. you ask if there's one unifying# Jewish theological world view.

And you write this -- quote -- "I want to suggest# it's possible to characterize Jewishness in the## way the Bible explains the meaning of the name# Israel, to strive, struggle and contend with God."

Tell us more about what that struggle means.

NOAH FELDMAN: You know, that passage comes# from the moment when the character Jacob## wrestles all night with a figure who is very# shadowy -- it might be an angel, it might be## God himself -- and somehow survives it, and he# gets rewarded by being given the name Israel.

But that name is not an unmitigated# blessing.

It suggests not that everything## is going to be great all the time, but# that he's capable of struggling with the## hardest things.

And I think that's really# characteristic of what it is to be Jewish.

AMNA NAWAZ: Much of your book is in search# of these unifying views, the things that tie## Jews together.

But, at the same time as we speak# here, we are seeing real division among American## Jews in particular over Israel's war in Gaza# in response to the Hamas October 7 attacks.

What does that division say to you about Jewish# identity, or identities, more accurately, today?

NOAH FELDMAN: I think it says two things.

The first is that, over the last 30 or 40 years,# Israel has become really central to the identity## and thought world of almost all American Jews,# even for Jews who are very critical of Israel,## and even in some cases to the point of# rejecting Israel altogether.

They still## have to define -- they find that they have# to define in some relationship to Israel.

And that wasn't always the case.

The other thing,# though, is that there is something that unifies## different Jews who have different perspectives# on Israel.

And that is that a lot of Jews in## the United States today, especially Jews who# identify as progressive in their politics and## in their Jewishness, really believe deep in their# hearts that to be Jewish is to embrace the ideal## of social justice, to embrace the prophetic# ideal of pursuing the right and the good.

And in some cases, they might# even think that the whole idea## of Israel is incompatible with social# justice and equality for Palestinians.

And so their unifying religious belief in God# as a God of social justice or in a spirit of## social justice leads those different Jews# to different conclusions about Israel.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know, at the same time,# even before October 7, we were seeing## rising antisemitism globally.

In a recent piece# for "TIME," you examined what you call really the## persistence of antisemitism, a more complicated,# subtle form, as you describe it today.

You write: "Antisemitism's capacity# to keep its familiar character,## while also channeling new fears, is what confers# its stunning capacity to reinvent itself."

What does that mean?

What form# does antisemitism take today?

NOAH FELDMAN: What I mean is that# antisemitism has always grown out## of a given society's preoccupations,# fears and concerns at a given moment.

So, if you were living in the 1800s and the big# struggle was the struggle between capitalism and## communism, and everyone was very worried about# that, antisemites either depicted Judaism as## the most capitalist or the most communist,# depending on which one they didn't like.

And they were projecting their concerns and fears# on to Jews, and in an antisemitic way.

Today,## a lot of our preoccupations, especially among# people to the left -- and there are important## things to care a lot about -- are about# oppression, systemic racism, imperialism,## colonialism.

These are very important# issues that deserve serious scrutiny.

But, sometimes, unconsciously, we# might find ourselves projecting## those worries onto Jews generally, and then# depicting Jews in general as oppressors,## or as white supremacists,# or as settler colonialists.

And although there are forms of those kinds of# arguments that could be made without any conscious## antisemitism, I was trying to argue in that piece# that, sometimes, those unconscious traditions of## projecting the worst thing you can think of onto# the Jews can inflect and shape our thinking.

And they make us forget that Jews today are# just 75 years, a little bit more than that,## past the Holocaust, in which Jews were# murdered and oppressed, and that, before## that, Jews were themselves subject to systemic# oppression for centuries, for millennia, really.

And so, although that doesn't make# it impossible to criticize Jews or## to criticize Israel without being antisemitic,# you should be able to do that, at the same time,## it's worth taking a deep breath and# introspecting and asking yourself,## are my criticisms fully free of# those older kinds of prejudices?

AMNA NAWAZ: There are moments in the# book when you speak very plainly and## very directly to your readers.

There's# one element that resonated with me,## in particular, when you talk about the idea# of being a -- quote, unquote -- "bad Jew."

And you wrote -- quote -- "It makes me sad when,## often, in a rueful, gentle, self-mockery,# Jewish friends of mine say to themselves,## 'I'm a bad Jew.'

They aren't.

You aren't.

There# are so many ways to be Jewish," you write.

Why was that important for you to stress?

NOAH FELDMAN: You know, it was so important to me,## Amna, to make the point that there# is no such thing as a bad Jew.

I think the reason is that, in the# whole great tradition of Jewish thought,## you can sin and you can do something# that's wrong and you can be punished## for it or called to account for it, but# you're never treated as though you're## not a Jew anymore or as though you have# crossed the line into being a bad Jew.

You could be a bad person for doing bad things,# but you can't really be a bad Jew, per se.

And so when people say -- and they're usually kind# of joking around -- oh, I'm such a bad Jew because## I didn't do this or I didn't do that, I want to# say to them, as long as you're striving, as long## as you're trying to figure out what makes you# a Jew, as long as you have love for other Jews,## love for the spiritual and the divine, even if# you don't believe in it, then you're being a## good Jew.

You're doing just fine.

And you're just# exercising some irony and some self-recognition.

And, in that sense, you're being as Jewish as# you could possibly be, because you're -- you're## just casting a skeptical eye on yourself# and being a little bit funny about it.

AMNA NAWAZ: The author is Noah Feldman.# The book is called "To Be a Jew Today:## A New Guide to God, Israel,# and the Jewish People."

Thank you so much for joining us.

Really# such a pleasure to speak with you.

NOAH FELDMAN: Thank you for having me,# Amna.

I really appreciate your questions.