Isaac Mansell discussed the origins of the journal, the history of Jewish journals at Harvard, what motivated The YARID's creation as something distinct from what came before, and how The YARID relates to other yaridim throughout Jewish history.

Miriam Goldberger interviewed President Garber about his Jewish identity and the university. President Garber emphasised the importance that Judaism assigns to argument and suggested that disagreement in the academic setting is part of how we get to truth. He said that the purpose of the college is to teach students how to ask the right questions and that this task is field-agnostic. He mentioned his favorite piece of Torah, “The best physicians go to Gehinnom,” as a call to avoid egocentrism. He also described how he thinks that young Jews’ identity as Jews will become more grounded in religious practice. Read The Crimson’s coverage here.

Avi Burstein moderated a panel of contributors including Maya Rosen, Alma Bielenberg, Carolyn Bernstein, Nathan Kahana, and Judah Hain. They discussed their pieces, how their views were shaped by their circumstances, and what motivated them to write for The YARID.

Azaria Sussman moderated a conversation about how the flourishing and safety of Jews are affected by the structure of government. Maya Rosen, who just spent a year in China as a Schwarzman scholar, discussed how the authoritarian government's control of the public perception of Jews in China makes the position of Jews fragile. Prof. Marglin discussed the way that different countries in the Middle East and North Africa memorialize or erase the Jewish communities that used to live in their countries.

Daniel Pesin, our interviews editor, led a conversation between Judah Hain and Prof. Abraham Socher on the meaning of Jewish intellectualism. Prof. Socher shared a statement on the importance of “little magazines” and the amount of work involved in creating a journal. The conversation then moved to consider the implications of Hain’s argument in “The Danger of Jewish Self-Defense.”

Dr. Deborah Barer led a shiur using a source sheet that brought YARID submissions into conversation with other Jewish and philosophical texts. The shiur focused on the ways that flourishing and defending are in tension and what kinds of ideas and practices can help ensure the flourishing of the Jewish people. Read the source sheet for the shiur here.

Abel Bellows gave a closing address. He argued that all the symposium's attendees were part of a messy, loud, creative, exuberant yarid — an essential part of bringing the texts published in The YARID to life. The texts of The YARID are now available for anyone to consider and to place in conversation with other texts. The most incredible part of creating a journal is watching it enter the Jewish tradition.