Brandeis Magazine

By Hannah Van Sickle

As a Brandeis undergrad from Jerusalem, Natan Odenheimer ’15 wrote pieces for American and Israeli newspapers from his Ziv Quad suite. Soon after graduation — and the publication of his first novel, written in Hebrew — he decided to return to Israel.

“I felt like if I really wanted to be a journalist, I should pursue my passion in the place I care about the most,” says Odenheimer, one of three recipients of Brandeis’ 2024 BOLD Rising Star Award, which recognizes graduates of the last decade who are already making significant contributions to their fields.

So far, Odenheimer’s career has run the gamut from investigative reporting, to documentary filmmaking, to founding a local digital newspaper, The State of Jerusalem. He’s currently a freelance reporter at The New York Times’ Jerusalem bureau, where his main beat has shifted from reporting on Israeli politics to covering the Israel-Hamas War. In May, he was part of the New York Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting for their coverage of the Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s response.

“Maintaining a line of inquiry that is uncompromising, while trying to understand the truth and the human stories behind the big events, is integral to understanding the most important stories of this war,” he says.

Odenheimer, who double majored in philosophy, and Islamic and Middle Eastern studies, credits Brandeis with teaching him how to think and instilling the importance of digging deep.

“Studying with professors, some of whom were educated or born and raised in the Middle East, taught me how the country where I was born and raised is an important part — but not necessarily the center — of the story of the region,” he says.

A recent master class taught by Bob Woodward, one of the two journalists who broke and reported on the Watergate scandal for The Washington Post, offered him another invaluable nugget.

“Journalists shouldn’t think too much about the impact of their stories,” Odenheimer says. “Not that we shouldn’t hope our stories will have impact, but creating a specific impact should not be the motivating factor.”

His take on the characteristics that distinguish adequate writers from great writers? Patience, and the ability to take another stab and rewrite, he says — both of which he learned as an undergrad.

“Brandeis shaped my moral compass by giving me space to find my own tools to tackle the dilemmas I’m interested in,” he says.

“People mistakenly think the profession is about talent — and that’s one part of the puzzle — but it’s not enough just to have a good story idea,” says Odenheimer. “Journalism requires working hard and building trust.”

And journalism is a critically important endeavor, he says. “It’s one of the backbones of any democratic society.”