Rosner's Domain

Shmuel Rosner chats with Catherine Wolff about her book: "Beyond: How Humankind Thinks About Heaven." Catherine Wolff is a writer, editor, and former director of The Arrupe Center for Community Based Learning at Santa Clara University.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Sarah Ifft Decker discuss her book: "Jewish Women in the Medieval World: : 500–1500 CE (Seminar Studies)".   Sarah Ifft Decker is an Assistant Professor of History at Rhodes College.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Ben-Tsiyon Klibansky discuss his book: The Golden Age of the Lithuanian Yeshivas.   Ben-Tsiyon Klibansky is a lecturer at Efrata College in Jerusalem. A native of Lithuania, a senior electronics engineer, and formerly an innovative technology–intensive projects manager, he is an editor and researcher in the history of the Lithuanian Jewry.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and  Maren Niehoff  talk about her book: "Philo of Alexandria: An Intellectual Biography".   Maren R. Niehoff is Max Cooper Professor of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University, and member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and guest Ohad Leslau discuss his new hebrew book about Operation Defensive Shield.   Ohad Leslau is a researcher in the history department -IDF. He published books on the South Lebanon security belt, the relationship between politicians and the intelligence community.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Jeffrey Bloom and Rabbi Gil Student speak with Shmuel Rosner about their new book: "Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith". Rabbi Gil Student is the Editor of  TorahMusings.com. He writes frequently in Jewish newspapers and magazines, serving as a regular contributor to Jewish Action, The Jewish Link of New Jersey, The Jewish Echo, and The Vues.   Rabbi Student serves as Director of the Halacha Commission of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America, on the Editorial Board of the Orthodox Union's Jewish Action magazine, and as the magazine's Book Editor.   Jeffrey Bloom is a graduate of the University of Chicago. After collage, he studied in a number of orthodox yeshivot in Israel and now lives with his wife in New Jersey.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner chats with Avivah Zornberg about her upcoming book: "The Hidden Order of Intimacy."   Avivah Zornberg is a Scottish contemporary Torah scholar and author.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Carolina Lopez - Ruiz discuss her new book: Phoenicians and the Making of the Mediterranean.   Carolina López-Ruiz is Professor of Classics at The Ohio State University. Her work focuses on cross-cultural interactions in the ancient Mediterranean world.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Jonathan Feiner discuss his book: "Mindfulness: A Jewish Approach."   Dr. Jonathan Feiner is the clinical director of Rockland CBT, a psychology practice group specializing in mood and anxiety disorders. In addition to his work as a clinical psychologist, he has taught courses and provided workshops on topics related to Judaism, psychology, and mindfulness in academic and community settings.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Prof. Abraham Sion discuss his book: "To Whom Was The Promised Land Promised?: Some Fundamental Truths About The Arab-Israeli Conflict".   Abraham A. Sion is Professor Emeritus at Ariel University where for over a decade he chaired the Center for Law and Mass Media.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Ori Z. Soltes discuss his book: "Growing up Jewish in India."   Ori Z. Soltes teaches at Georgetown University across a range of disciplines, from theology and art history to philosophy and political history.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner chats with Leah and Menachem Gottesman about their book: "Not at Risk: Education as a Work of Heart."   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Julian E. Zelizer discuss his latest book: "Abraham Joshua Heschel: A Life of Radical Amazement."   Julian Emanuel Zelizer is a professor of political history and an author in the United States at Princeton University. Zelizer has authored or co-authored several books about American political history; his focuses of study are the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century.      Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner chats with Hal Taussig and Brandon Scott about their latest book: "After Jesus Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries of Jesus Movements"   Hal Taussig is Visiting Professor of New Testament at Union Theological Seminary in New York and co-pastor at Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church and the author and co-author of numerous works, including 'Jesus Before God', 'Re-imagining Life Together in America' and 'Jesus and Wisdom's Feast'.   Bernard Brandon Scott is the author and editor of many books, including The Real Paul: Recovering His Radical Challenge and The Trouble with Resurrection. A charter member of the Jesus Seminar, he is chair of Westar's newly established Christianity Seminar. He served as chair of the Bible in Ancient and Modern Media Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, as well as a member of several SBL Seminars including the Parable Seminar and Historical Jesus Seminar.     Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Andrew Lawler discuss his latest book: "Under Jerusalem: The buried history of the world`s most contested city".   Andrew Lawert is author of the bestselling The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke, and the acclaimed Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, National Geographic, and Smithsonian. He is a contributing writer for Science and a contributing editor for Archaeology. Lawler's work has appeared several times in The Best of Science and Nature Writing.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Harry Freedman discuss his latest book "Leonard Cohen: The Mystical Roots of Genius".    Harry Freedman is a British author who writes on history, religion and culture.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Eliezer Tauber discuss his book: "The Massacre That Never Was: The Myth of Deir Yassin and the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem."   Eliezer Tauber is the Director of the Menachem Begin Institute for the Study of Underground and Resistance Movements.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Yossi Shain discuss his controversial new book: "The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism" .   Yossi Shain is currently a member of the Knesset for Yisrael Beiteinu. He is also the Romulo Betancourt Professor of Political Science at Tel Aviv University where he also serves as Head of TAU's School of Political Science, Government and International Affairs.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Maya Sarfaty discuss her new film "love it was not", out now in select cinemas. In this astonishing but true story, a Nazi officer falls in love with a Jewish concentration camp prisoner, a taboo romance with decades-long repercussions.   Maya Sarfaty is a film director from Tel Aviv.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Mark Oppenheimer discuss his book - "Squirrel Hill: The Tree of Life Synagogue Shooting and the Soul of a Neighborhood."   Mark Oppenheimer is a freelance writer. He is a staff writer for the Christian Century and has written for many publications, including Harper's, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Yale Review and more.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Peter Fritzsche discuss his book: "Hitler's First Hundred Days: When Germans Embraced the Third Reich."   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and David Sorkin discuss his book: "Jewish Emancipation: A History Across Five Centuries."   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and James Traub discuss his book: "Judah Benjamin: Counselor to the Confederacy (Jewish Lives)."   James Traub (born 1954) is an American journalist. He is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he has worked since 1998. From 1994 to 1997, he was a staff writer for The New Yorker.[ He has also written for The New York Review of Books, The Atlantic Monthly, National Review and Foreign Affairs. He is a senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University and also teaches at the university.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Sarah Stroumsa discuss her book, Maimonides in His World: Portrait of a Mediterranean Thinker (Jews, Christians, and Muslims from the Ancient to the Modern World) out now in Hebrew, by magnes publication. Sarah Stroumsa is the Alice and Jack Ormut Professor Emerita of Arabic Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Guest Andrew Pessin discuss campus cancel culture and his latest book: "Nevergreen", now out on amazon.   Andrew Pessin is Professor of Philosophy at Connecticut College and Campus Bureau Editor for The Algemeiner.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Donald M.Lewis discuss his book: "A Short History of Christian Zionism: From the Reformation to the Twenty-First Century" (available to purchase on amazon).   Don Lewis is an alumnus of Regent College who went on to do doctoral work at Oxford University before coming back to Regent as a faculty member. Don Lewis is a specialist in the history of evangelicalism in the Victorian era and has written and published extensively in this area.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Rabbi Joseph Meszler discuss his book: "Readings from Tractate Rosh HaShanah in the Babylonian Talmud: A Personal Journey through the Holiday."   Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler is the spiritual leader of Temple Sinai in Sharon, MA. He is a congregational rabbi, an educator, a progressive Zionist, and a human rights activist.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Shaul Magid discuss Magid's latest book: "Meir Kahane: The Public Life and Political Thought of an American Jewish Radical Hardcover."   Shaul Magid is the Distinguished Fellow in Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College. From 2004-2018 he was a professor of religious studies and the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Chair of Jewish Studies in Modern Judaism at Indiana University as well as a senior research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Uri Zvi Shachar discuss his latest book: A Pious Belligerence Dialogical Warfare and the Rhetoric of Righteousness in the Crusading Near East (available to preorder). Uri Zvi Shachar is Associate Professor in the Department of General History at Ben-Gurion University. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Andrew Porwancher discuss his book: "The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton" (available to pre order).   Andrew Porwancher is a Wick Carey associate professor at the University of Oklahoma and is serving as the Ernest May Fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Joel Kotkin discuss Kotkin's latest article for Tablet magazine, his book and more.    Joel Kotkin is the presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University and executive director of the Urban Reform Institute.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Noam Gidron discuss how the differences between the Israeli and American political systems effect political and social polarization.   Noam Gidron is a senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science and the Joint Program in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. My research interests lie at the intersection of political behavior, political sociology and political economy.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner, Michael Caspe and Nathaniel Deutsch discuss their book: "A Fortress in Brooklyn: Race, Real Estate, and the Making of Hasidic Williamsburg."   Nathaniel Deutsch is professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Among his books are The Maiden of Ludmir: A Jewish Holy Woman and Her World and The Jewish Dark Continent: Life and Death in the Russian Pale of Settlement, for which he received a Guggenheim Fellowship. Michael Casper received his Ph.D. in history from UCLA and has contributed to American Jewish History and the New York Review of Books.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner continues the deep dive into Israel's new government, this time with the help of Professor Ofer Kenig.   Prof. Ofer Kenig is a senior lecturer at the Ashkelon Academic College and a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. His areas of research include comparative politics, political parties, leadership and candidate selection and Israeli politics. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and journalist Tal Shalev discuss Israel's new government. Tal Shalev is chief political correspondent for the leading Israeli web portal Walla News. She has also worked as a news editor for the Israeli daily Haaretz and the international television network i24 News. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

A special episode for Israeli book week. Shmuel Rosner and Adam Kirsch discuss two of Kirsch's books: "The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature" and "The Blessing and the Curse: The Jewish People and Their Books in the Twentieth Century".   Adam Kirsch is an American poet and literary critic. He is on the seminar faculty of Columbia University's Center for American Studies, and has taught at YIVO.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Sergio Della Pergola discuss the latest Pew research results. Sergio Della Pergola is an Italian-Israeli demographer and statistician. He is a professor and demographic expert, specifically in demography and statistics related to the Jewish population. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

In this episode, Shmuel Rosner and Dr. Shlomo Fischer discuss the 2020 Pew reports and its implications for the Jewish community in the United States.  Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Israel’s policy toward Gaza is fraught with dilemmas, says Brig. General (Res.) Michael Herzog. Its policy is based on containment and its current goal is to communicate a clear message that Hamas miscalculated when it opened fire on Israeli cities. Whether the Biden administration is going to give Israel the time to deliver such a message, only time will tell. In today's podcast, Herzog argues that, up until now, no one presented a viable and practical plan that could alter the situation in Gaza. The Palestinian Authority is too weak to control Gaza, Israel does not wish to control it, and a chaos without any control would not be better than Hamas rule. Under such conditions, Israel has little choice but to try and deter Hamas from launching attacks on Israel, by making sure that such attacks result in Hamas losing more than it is gaining. International pressure makes such a goal a complicated one to achieve. Herzog is a former IDF senior officer. He rose through the military ranks to become head of the IDF’s strategic planning division, then moved to hold senior positions in the office of Israel’s Minister of Defense, under four ministers and was the Chief of Staff to Minister Ehud Barak. He is currently a fellow at the Washington Institute and the Jewish People Policy Institute. Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Hanan Amiur discuss his controversial book.   Hanan Amiur is a speech writer and a founding member of the website perspective - דף בית פרספקטיבה.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Daniel Levin discuss Levin's new book, "Proof of Life: Twenty Days on the Hunt for a Missing Person in the Middle East".   Daniel Levin has worked with think tanks on novel constitutional models and on anti corruption and political reform initiatives. Over the past ten years, he has helped monarchies as they consider ways to increase the democratic legitimization of their monarchic systems. Daniel Levin is currently a member of the board of the Liechtenstein Foundation for State Governance.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Ryan P. Burge discuss his latest book, "The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going".   Dr. Burge (PhD, Southern Illinois University) teaches at Eastern Illinois University in a variety of areas, including American institutions, political behavior, and research methods. My research focuses largely on the intersection between religiosity and political behavior (especially in the American context.)    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Einat Nathan discuss her bestselling book, now out in english, "My Everything: The Parent I Want to Be, The Children I Hope to Raise".   Einat Nathan is a parenting expert, public speaker and bestselling author, certified by the Adler Institute and the Ministry of Education for Parental Instruction and Group Instruction. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Tel Aviv University.   Her book ("Haimsheli" in Hebrew, published by top publisher Kinneret Zmora Bitan), was the national bestseller of the year across all categories (2018) and is still a steady-seller. It has sold more than 60,000 copies so far.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Gadi Taub discuss Gadi's latest book: "Global Elites and National Citizens: The Attack of the Upper Classes on Israel's Democracy", now out in Hebrew. Gadi Taub  is an Israeli historian, author, screenwriter and political commentator. He is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Public Policy and the Department of Communications at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Taub is also an internationally noticed voice in the discourse on Zionism.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Gayil Talshir discuss the 2021 Israeli election results and the reasons why they might signal the end of Benjamin Netanyahu's era.    Gayil Talshir is a senior lecturer in political science at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with expertise in democratic theory, the party system, and civil society. Talshir earned a D.Phil. from the University of Oxford.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Rabbi Ilay Ofran discuss his new book, "The torah: A Psychic Turn." It is available in Hebrew.   Rabbi Ilay Ofran is the Rav of Kvutzat Yavneh, and founder and joint head of Mechinat Ruach Hassadeh, a pre-military Jewish academy for boys, located in Kibbutz Beerot Yitzhak.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner chats with Dr Rabbi Wayne Allen about his upcoming book: "Thinking about Good and Evil: Jewish Views from Antiquity to Modernity" - out in May.   After being graduated from New York University with a B.A. in philosophy and Phi Beta Kappa, Rabbi Allen attended the Jewish Theological Seminary of America where he earned a Masters degree in Rabbinics and went on to receive rabbinic ordination. He has served as a congregational rabbi for almost 34 years, taking on postings in New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Natan Slifkin discuss his latest book, "Rationalism vs. Mysticism: Schisms in Traditional Jewish Thought."   Natan Slifkin, popularly known as the "Zoo Rabbi", is a British-born Israeli Orthodox rabbi and director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History in Beit Shemesh, Israel. He is best known for his interest in zoology, science and for his books on these topics, which are controversial to a small number of Haredi Jews.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Marc Rosenstein discuss his latest book, "Contested Utopia: Jewish Dreams and Israeli Realities," out soon. Marc Rosenstein is the Director Emeritus of the Israel Rabbinical Program at HUC-JIR's Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem. He grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, and received a BA in biochemistry from Harvard College. He was ordained by HUC-JIR in 1975 and received an MA in Jewish History from Hebrew University in Jerusalem in the same year; later, he earned a PhD from the Hebrew University as a Mandel Jerusalem Fellow.    Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and guest Gershom Gorenberg discuss his latest book, "War of Shadows: Codebreakers, Spies, and the Secret Struggle to Drive the Nazis from the Middle East."   Gershom Gorenberg is an American-born Israeli journalist, and blogger, specializing in Middle Eastern politics and the interaction of religion and politics. He is currently a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, a monthly American political magazine.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.

Shmuel Rosner and Leon Kass discuss Kass's latest book: "Founding God’s Nation: Reading Exodus".   Leon R. Kass, M.D., Ph.D., is the Addie Clark Harding Professor Emeritus in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of Chicago and the Madden-Jewett Scholar Emeritus at the American Enterprise Institute.   Follow Shmuel Rosner on Twitter.