On Wednesday, September 9, the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program and the Zahava and Moshael J. Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought welcomed The New York Times bestselling author Dara Horn to Stern College to celebrate the launch of her new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living, which was reviewed earlier this summer by Straus Center Deputy Director Rabbi Dr. Stuart Halpern for The Wall Street Journal. The book launch consisted of a conversation between Dr. Shaina Trapedo, Resident Scholar at the Straus Center and Director of the S. Daniel Abraham Program, and Dr. Horn, followed by a Q&A session and book signings for students. Dr. Horn is the award-winning author of eight books, a three-time recipient of the National Jewish Book Award, and her nonfiction work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Smithsonian, Tablet, and The Jewish Review of Books, among others. She has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, was a distinguished Visiting Scholar at the Straus Center, and held the Gerald Weinstock Visiting Professorship in Jewish Studies at Harvard University. 

In speaking about The Final Solution, Dr. Horn explained that her idea for the book came from what she experienced on tour for People Love Dead Jews, her award-winning essay collection from 2021, which uncovers little-known pockets of Jewish history and shines a light on the contemporary hypocrisies that allow antisemitism to flourish. “It was like a floodgate opened when I wrote that book,” Dr. Horn said, “because, suddenly...it felt like every Jew in America was coming to me with their horror stories.” As her book tour for People Love Dead Jews progressed, Dr. Horn met an increasing number of American Jews who shared their experiences with antisemitism, ranging from offensive and hurtful to “horrible crimes,” remarkable still in a pre-Oct. 7 America.

Individuals from all over the country wrote to her, and their ever-present refrain was one deceptively simple question: “Can you do anything to help?” As Dr. Horn recalled, “It was just piling up, all these stories that I’m carrying around with me.” It was then that the concept and the title of The Final Solution came to her: a nonfiction book tackling the lies and myths that have carried antisemitism into our present moment, centered around the argument that there is more befuddled ignorance than outright hatred—and ignorance, luckily, can be fought with education.

Dr. Horn identified a significant gap in American Holocaust education, which she describes as a “null curriculum” that erases present Jewish civilization. In her work at The Tell Institute, a new non-profit devoted to educating the broader American public about Jewish civilization, she has analyzed how current curricula often treat Jews solely as victims of history rather than an active, continuous people with a living story. This lack of knowledge leaves students susceptible to modern antisemitic tropes on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The Tell Institute was founded to address this by providing short, focused lessons on Jewish history and the Jewish people’s exceptional role as an anti-tyrannical movement. As Straus Scholar Eliora Gissinger reflected (SCW ‘28), “I am privileged to intern for The Tell Institute, and Dara Horn’s words tonight served as a powerful reinforcement of the organization’s driving mission: to educate about and combat antisemitism, because the hostility we encounter often stems from ignorance.”

The discussion then transitioned into practical ways to confront contemporary anti-Zionism and systemic hatred against Jews. Addressing the nature of antisemitism, Dr. Horn explained that it is often driven by what she calls “the big lie,” the destructive myth that Jews are destroying whatever a specific culture values most. Drawing on her experience speaking at universities across America, facing hecklers and protesters, she suggested using curiosity instead of defensive arguments when encountering hostility from colleagues or peers. “All of you are very well-prepared to be part of the solution,” she encouraged the students. “You are equipped in a way that most American Jews are not.” Dr. Horn explained how Yeshiva University students, most of whom grew up within religiously observant families and went through the Jewish day school system, have been lucky to live their Jewish identity, to understand what it means to be Jewish in an authentic and enduring way. That upbringing gives them a foundation of Jewish knowledge that most Americans, Jewish or not, simply never receive. It is this very foundation that The Tell Institute is trying to build from scratch for the public at large.

As Straus Scholar Serach Soloveichik (SCW ‘29) remarked, “What makes Dr. Horn so effective, and what she emphasized so profoundly in her conversation with Dr. Trapedo, is her inclination to actively respond to the problems the Jewish people face today, beyond just calling out those issues. She fights ignorance with information. The central feature of her educational methods is portraying Jewish life and learning as the exceptional tradition that it is. We should all be encouraged to similarly celebrate Jewish civilization and spread its truth.”

Following the conversation, students had the opportunity to ask Dr. Horn questions directly before lining up for a book signing, bringing a personal close to an evening that traced the throughline of her work, emphasizing that the fight against antisemitism is, at its core, a fight to ensure that the deeper story of the Jewish people is actually being told.