Podcast appearances and mentions of israel diaspora

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 1 of the Z3 Podcast! In this conversation, Z3 Founding Director Amitai Fraiman speaks with Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak-Winer and Robbie Gringras about the evolving landscape of Israel education, particularly in the wake of the events of October 7, 2023. Each of them discusses the goals of Israel education, emphasizing the importance of knowing Israel in a nuanced way rather than simply fostering love for the country. Their conversation delves into the historical context of Israel education, the challenges faced by American Jews in connecting with Israel, and the need for a deeper understanding of values and relationships within the Jewish community. In the latter half of the podcast, the speakers reflect on their personal theological journeys and the implications for future education. Together, they explore the complexities of Jewish identity, the impact of recent events on perceptions of Israel, and the role of education versus advocacy in shaping these discussions. Ultimately, they call on the importance of community and nuanced, continuing conversations as our communities continue to educate and define what it means to be Jewish in relation to Israel. About our Guests: Robbie Gringras was born and bred in the Jewish community of Britain, but has been living and creating in Israel since 1996, primarily with Jewish Americans. As such his work – educational and theatrical – bridges the Israel-Diaspora connection with empathy and insight. He lives in the secular world, while his knowledge base and research specialties – especially after his many years studying in Jerusalem – are deeply religious. While Creative Director of Makom, the Israel Education Lab of the Jewish Agency, he coined the phrase: “Hugging and Wrestling with Israel”, drove the 4HQ System of Israel Education, and wrote for and ran the Makom website.As a world-renowned solo theatre performer, he is also an inspirational speaker, and a charismatic teacher. As a prolific playwright, he is also a challenging and original educator. As an experienced and committed Jewish Zionist educator, his theater creations are educational treasure chests.Rabbi Dr. Laura Novak Winer, RJE, is the Director of the Master of Educational Leadership program at the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School of Education in Los Angeles, CA. Laura teaches courses on pedagogy, classroom and organizational culture and leading change. She is a Senior Fellow at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Brandeis University. She was previously Director of Clinical Education at the HUC-JIR Rhea Hirsch School where she mentored students, coordinated fieldwork internships and taught graduate level courses in pedagogy and organizational change to students studying to become Jewish educational leaders and rabbis. Laura has worked in and with a variety of afternoon school settings and her current research focus is Israel education, particularly within the context of the supplementary school.Laura has been published in a variety of academic and online journals, is a regular contributor to Moment Magazine's “Ask the Rabbis” column, and was the editor of several curricula, including Sacred Choices: Adolescent Relationships and Sexual Ethics (2005 and 2007).Chapters00:00 Introduction to Israel Education01:56 The Goals of Israel Education12:55 Evolution of Israel Education24:13 Values and Relationships in Israel Education30:38 Theological Perspectives on Israel Education34:41 The Importance of Community in Jewish Identity41:19 Navigating the Impact of October 7th50:23 The Role of Education vs. Advocacy01:00:02 Defining Jewish Identity and Zionism

As we prepare to celebrate our freedom from slavery, has the promised land lived up to the promise of Zionism? After October 7, can Israel's internal differences be an asset rather than a liability? Moving forward, can the Israel-Diaspora relationship weather the range of emotions? Yes to all, argues Isaac Herzog, President of the State of Israel, in his recent essay in SAPIR. On March 31 we held a special conversation between SAPIR editor-in-chief Bret Stephens and the 11th President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog to discuss all this and more.

In their edited volume, Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values, Practices (Jewish Publication Society, 2025), Rabbis Adam Chalom and Jodi Kornfeld collect their movement's most important texts for the first time and answer the oft-raised question, “How can you be Jewish and celebrate Judaism if you don't believe in God?” Part 1 (“Beliefs and Ethics”) examines core positive beliefs—in human agency, social progress, ethics without supernatural authority, sources of natural transcendence, and Humanistic Jews' own authority to remake their traditional Jewish inheritance on their own terms “beyond God.” Part 2 (“Identity”) discusses how Humanistic Judaism empowers individuals to self-define as Jews, respects people's decisions to marry whom they love, and navigates the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Part 3 (“Culture”) describes how the many worlds of Jewish cultural experience—art, music, food, language, heirlooms—ground Jewishness and enable endless exploration. Part 4 (“Jewish Life”) applies humanist philosophy to lived Jewish experience: reimagined creative education (where students choose passages meaningful to them for their bar, bat, or b mitzvah [gender-neutral] celebrations), liturgy, life cycle, and holiday celebrations (where Hanukkah emphasizes the religious freedom to believe as one chooses). Interviewees: Adam Chalom is dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in suburban Chicago. Jodi Kornfeld is rabbi of Beth Chaverim Humanistic Jewish Community in suburban Chicago and past president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis. Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

In their edited volume, Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values, Practices (Jewish Publication Society, 2025), Rabbis Adam Chalom and Jodi Kornfeld collect their movement's most important texts for the first time and answer the oft-raised question, “How can you be Jewish and celebrate Judaism if you don't believe in God?” Part 1 (“Beliefs and Ethics”) examines core positive beliefs—in human agency, social progress, ethics without supernatural authority, sources of natural transcendence, and Humanistic Jews' own authority to remake their traditional Jewish inheritance on their own terms “beyond God.” Part 2 (“Identity”) discusses how Humanistic Judaism empowers individuals to self-define as Jews, respects people's decisions to marry whom they love, and navigates the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Part 3 (“Culture”) describes how the many worlds of Jewish cultural experience—art, music, food, language, heirlooms—ground Jewishness and enable endless exploration. Part 4 (“Jewish Life”) applies humanist philosophy to lived Jewish experience: reimagined creative education (where students choose passages meaningful to them for their bar, bat, or b mitzvah [gender-neutral] celebrations), liturgy, life cycle, and holiday celebrations (where Hanukkah emphasizes the religious freedom to believe as one chooses). Interviewees: Adam Chalom is dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in suburban Chicago. Jodi Kornfeld is rabbi of Beth Chaverim Humanistic Jewish Community in suburban Chicago and past president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis. Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

In their edited volume, Contemporary Humanistic Judaism: Beliefs, Values, Practices (Jewish Publication Society, 2025), Rabbis Adam Chalom and Jodi Kornfeld collect their movement's most important texts for the first time and answer the oft-raised question, “How can you be Jewish and celebrate Judaism if you don't believe in God?” Part 1 (“Beliefs and Ethics”) examines core positive beliefs—in human agency, social progress, ethics without supernatural authority, sources of natural transcendence, and Humanistic Jews' own authority to remake their traditional Jewish inheritance on their own terms “beyond God.” Part 2 (“Identity”) discusses how Humanistic Judaism empowers individuals to self-define as Jews, respects people's decisions to marry whom they love, and navigates the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Part 3 (“Culture”) describes how the many worlds of Jewish cultural experience—art, music, food, language, heirlooms—ground Jewishness and enable endless exploration. Part 4 (“Jewish Life”) applies humanist philosophy to lived Jewish experience: reimagined creative education (where students choose passages meaningful to them for their bar, bat, or b mitzvah [gender-neutral] celebrations), liturgy, life cycle, and holiday celebrations (where Hanukkah emphasizes the religious freedom to believe as one chooses). Interviewees: Adam Chalom is dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism and rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in suburban Chicago. Jodi Kornfeld is rabbi of Beth Chaverim Humanistic Jewish Community in suburban Chicago and past president of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis. Host: Schneur Zalman Newfield is an Associate Professor of Sociology and Jewish Studies at Hunter College, City University of New York, and the author of Degrees of Separation: Identity Formation While Leaving Ultra-Orthodox Judaism (Temple University Press). Visit him online at ZalmanNewfield.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

The Keren Hayesod, or United Israel Appeal, has raised over 135 million dollars around the world since October 7th. Sam Grundwerg, world chairman of Keren Hayesod, said that rising antisemitism and anti-Zionism has helped rally Diaspora communities to fund and engage more and help Israel assist the disadvantaged in the country's periphery strengthening the connection between Israel and the Diaspora. (photo: courtesy) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Michael Oren served in the IDF as a Lone Soldier in the paratroopers and then as an IDF Spokesman. He was Israel's ambassador to the United States from 2009 to 2013, where he was instrumental in fortifying the US-Israel alliance and in obtaining U.S. defense aid, especially for the Iron Dome system. After his time in Washington, Oren served as a Member of Knesset and Deputy Minister of Diplomacy in the Prime Minister's Office. He spearheaded efforts to strengthen Israel-Diaspora relations, to develop the Golan Heights, and to fight BDS. He has authored several New York Times bestsellers including Six Days of War, Ally: My Journey Across the American-Israel Divide and Power, Faith, and Fantasy and is the founder of Israel Advocacy Group. Ambassador Oren's latest writing can be found on his Substack, Clarity.

In a covert laboratory under the streets of Tel Aviv, Akiva Cohen, an Israeli scientist, clones Hitler from old samples of his DNA. Akiva wants to change the world for the good; but he is betrayed by those who want to use this new Hitler for unimaginable terror. This is the premise for Alex Sinclair's debut novel, Perfect Enemy, a thriller that takes a deep dive into Israeli society, and raises probing questions about trauma and revenge, the desire for peace, religious extremism, and the schisms of the Middle East. Sinclair is a British-Israeli educator and lecturer who has written and spoken widely on Jewish education, Israel-Diaspora relations, and Israeli politics. He spoke to KAN's Naomi Segal about the book, its resonance in the post October 7th reality, and his foray into fiction-writing. (Photo: Courtesy) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last month, we sat down with journalist and author Matti Friedman in a Jerusalem studio to talk about Leonard Cohen, the Israel-Diaspora relationship, and the turning point that was the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Selected by Vanity Fair as one of the best books of 2022, Friedman's “Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai,” explores the late poet and singer's concert tour on the front lines of the Yom Kippur War – a historic moment of introspection for the Jewish State that continues to reverberate through events we witness today.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  __ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Matti Friedman __ Show Notes: Listen: From the Black-Jewish Caucus to Shabbat and Sunday Dinners: Connecting Through Food and Allyship How to Tell Fact from Fiction About the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Live from Jerusalem: Exploring Israel and the Media with Matti Friedman Watch: Should Diaspora Jews Have a Say in Israeli Affairs?  Learn: Four Common Tough Questions on Israel 75 Years of Israel: How much do you know about the Jewish state? Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of Interview with Matti Friedman: Manya Brachear Pashman:   Matti Friedman has joined us on this podcast multiple times. Last year, he gave us an essential lesson on how to tell fact from fiction about Israel, and when AJC held its global forum in Jerusalem in 2018, he joined us for our first live recording, so I could not pass through Jerusalem without looking him up, Especially after learning that the writer behind Shtisel is adapting Matti's latest book, “Who By Fire” about the late great Leonard Cohen's time on the front lines of the Yom Kippur War. He joins us now in a studio in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem. Matti, welcome to People of the Pod. Matti Friedman:   Thank you for having me. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I take it you're a fan of Leonard Cohen, or just as a journalist you find him fascinating? Matti Friedman:   No, of course, I'm a fan of Leonard Cohen. First of all, I'm Canadian. So if you are Canadian, you really have no choice. You have to be a Leonard Cohen fan, and certainly if you're a Canadian Jew. We grew up listening to Leonard Cohen. So absolutely, I'm a big admirer of the man and his music. Manya Brachear Pashman:   What are your favorite songs? Matti Friedman:   Probably my favorite Leonard Cohen song is called “If it Be Your Will." Just a prayer that came out on a Cohen album in the 80s. But I love all the Cohen you know top 10- Suzanne and So Long Marianne, Famous Blue Raincoat and Chelsea Hotel. It's a very long list. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So I should clarify that your book is not a biography of Leonard Cohen. It's about just a few weeks of his life when he came in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, and these few weeks were a real turning point in his life, also for Israel, but we can talk about that later. But I want to know, why is it important? Why do you think it's important for Leonard Cohen fans, for Jews, particularly Israelis, to know this story about him? Matti Friedman:   I think that those few weeks in the fall of 1973, when Cohen finds himself at the front of the Yom Kippur War, those weeks are really an incredible meeting of Israel and the diaspora, maybe one of the ultimate diaspora figures, Leonard Cohen, this kind of universal poet and creature of the village, and this product of a very specific moment in North American Jewish life, when Jews are really kind of bursting out of the ghetto and entering the mainstream. And we can think of names like Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, even Phil Ochs, and people like that. And Cohen is very much part of that.  And he comes to Israel and meets, I guess the other main trend in Jewish history, in the second half of the 20th century, which is the State of Israel, and Israelis, who are not bursting into, you know, a universal culture in the United States, they're trying to create a very specific Jewish culture–in Hebrew, in this very kind of tortured scrap of the Middle East.  And the meeting of those two sides, who have a very powerful connection to each other, but don't really understand each other. It's a very interesting meeting. And the fact that it happens at this moment of acute crisis, one of the darkest moments in Israel's history, which is the Yom Kippur War, that makes it even more powerful.  So I think if we take that snapshot, from October 1973, we get something very interesting about Israel, and about the Jewish world and about this artist. And in some ways, I think those weeks really encapsulate much of Leonard Cohen's story. So it's not a biography, it doesn't trace his life from birth to death. But it gives us something very deep about the guy by looking at him at this very intense and kind of traumatic moment. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Do you also think it sheds some light on the relationship between diaspora Jews and Israel? And how has that relationship changed and evolved since the 1970s? Matti Friedman:   When Cohen embarks on this strange journey to the war, which, I mean, it's a long story, and I tell it in the book, but it starts on a Greek island or he's kind of holed up. He's in a crisis, and he's unhappy with his domestic life and he's unhappy with his creative life and he kind of needs to escape. So he gets on a ferry from the island and gets on an airplane from Athens and inserts himself into this war, by mistake, not really intending to do it. And he says in this manuscript that he writes about that time, which is unpublished until, until my own book, I published segments of it.  He says, I'm going to my myth home. That's how he describes Israel. He uses this very interesting phrase myth home. And it's hard to understand exactly what he means. But I think many Jewish listeners will understand kind of almost automatically what that means. Israel is not necessarily your home. And it's possible that you've never even been there. But you have this sense that it is your mythical home or some alternate universe where you belong. And of course, that makes the relationship very fraught. It's a lot of baggage on a relationship with a country that is, after all, a foreign country.  And Cohen lands in Israel and has a very powerful, but also very confusing time and leaves quite conflicted about it. And I think that is reflective, more generally of the experience of many Jews from the diaspora who come here with ideas about the country and then are forced to admit that those ideas have very little connection to reality. And it's one reason I think that I often meet Jews here from, you know, from North America, and they're not even fascinated by the country, but they're kind of thrown off by it, because it doesn't really function in the way they expect. It's a country in the Middle East. It's very different from Jewish life in North America. And as time goes on, those two things are increasingly disconnected from each other. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Yeah. Which is something that I think you say, Israelis say repeatedly, that lots of people have opinions about Israel and decisions that are made and how it's run. But they have no idea what life is like here, right? That's part of the disconnect. And the reason why there's so much tumult. Matti Friedman:   Yes, and runs in the other direction, too, of course. Israelis just have less and less idea of what animates Jews in the United States. So the idea that we're one people, and we should kind of automatically understand each other. That just doesn't work anymore. I think in the years after the Second World War, it might have worked better because people were more closely connected by family ties. So you'd have two brothers from Warsaw or whatever, and one would go to Rehovot, and one would go to Brooklyn, but they were brothers. And then in the next generation, you know, their children were cousins, and they kind of knew something about each other, but a few generations have gone by, and it's much more infrequent to find people who have Israeli cousins, or American cousins, you know, it might be second cousins or third cousins, but the familial connections have kind of frayed and because the communities are being formed by completely different sets of circumstances, it's much harder for Americans to understand Israelis and for Israelis to understand Americans. And we're really seeing that play out more and more in the communication or miscommunication between the two big Jewish communities here in the United States. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So this is my first trip to Israel. And many people told me that I would never be the same after this trip. Was that true for Leonard Cohen? Matti Friedman:   I think it was, I think it was a turning point in his life. Of course, I wrote a book about it. I would have to say that, even if it weren't true, but I happen to think that it is true. He comes here at a moment of a real kind of desperation, he had announced that he was retiring from music that year. So he had this string of hits, and he was a major star of the 60s and early 70s. And those really famous Cohen songs that I mentioned, most of them had already come out and he'd been playing at the biggest music festivals at the Isle of White, which was a bigger festival than Woodstock. And he was a big deal. And, and he just given up, he felt that he had hit a wall and he no longer had anything to say. And he was 39 years old. That's pretty old for a rock star. And he was in those days, of course, people are dying at 27. So he kind of thought he was washed up. And he came to Israel. And he writes in this manuscript, this very strange manuscript that he wrote, and then shelved, that he thinks that Israel is a place where he might be able to be born again, or just saying, again, he writes both of those thoughts. And in a very weird way, it happens.  So he's too sophisticated a character to tell us exactly how that happened, or to ever say that he went to Israel and was saved or changed in some way. Leonard Cohen would never give us that moment that of course, as a journalist I'm looking for but they won't give us all we can do is look at the fact that he had announced his retirement before the war, came home from this war very rattled, not at all waving the Israeli flag and singing the national anthem or anything like that, but he came back invigorated in some way.  And a few months after that war, he releases one of his best albums, which is called “New Skin for the Old Ceremony.” Which is a reference, of course, to circumcision, which is itself a kind of wink toward rebirth. And that album includes Chelsea Hotel and Lover Lover Lover and Who by Fire and he's back on the horse and he goes on to have this absolutely incredible career that lasts until he's 80 years old and beyond. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So let's talk about Lover Lover Lover, and the line of that song. You had interviewed a former soldier on the frontlines in the Yom Kippur War. He had heard Leonard Cohen sing, was very moved by that song, which was composed on an Israeli Air Force Base, I believe originally. And then the album comes out and he hears it again. And something is different. The soldier is not happy about that. Can you talk a little bit about how you confirmed that?  Matti Friedman:   Right, so I spent a lot of time trying to track down the soldiers who had seen Leonard Cohen during this very weird concert tour that he ends up giving on the Sinai front of the Yom Kippur War. And it's this series of concerts, these very small concerts, mostly for just small units of soldiers who are in the sand and suddenly Leonard Cohen shows up in a jeep and plays music for them. And it's kind of a hallucinatory scene.  And one of the soldiers told me that he will never forget the song that Cohen sang, and it was on the far side of the Suez Canal. So the Israeli army having kind of fallen back in the first week and a half of the war has crossed the Suez Canal, in the great counter attack that changes the course of the war, and now they're fighting on Egyptian territory. And one night, on that, on the far side of the canal, he meets Leonard Cohen, it's just kind of sitting on a helmet in the sand playing guitar, and he sang a song that would later become famous, but no one knew it at the time, because it had just been written. As you said, it was written for an audience of Israeli pilots at an Air Force base a few weeks before, or a few days before.  And the song's lyrics address the Israeli soldiers as brothers. That's what the soldier remembered. And he said, I'll never forget it. He called us his brothers. And that was a big deal for the Israelis, to hear an international star like Leonard Cohen, say,  I'm a member of this family, and you're my brothers. And that was a great memory. But there's no verse like that in the song Lover, Lover, Lover. And there's no reference at all that's explicit to Israeli soldiers. And the word brothers does not appear in the song. Manya Brachear Pashman: At least the one on the album, the song on the album. Matti Friedman: On the album, right. So that is the only one that was known at the time that I was writing the book. And then I kind of set it aside, I just figured that it was a strange memory that was, you know, mistaken or manufactured. And I didn't think much more about it. But I was going through Cohen's old notebooks and the Cohen archive in Los Angeles, which is where many of his documents are kept. And he had a notebook in his pocket throughout the war, and was writing down notes and writing down lyrics and writing on people's phone numbers. And in in the notebook, I found the first draft of  Lover, Lover, Lover, and this verse, which had somehow disappeared from the song and the verse is a really powerful expression of identification, not uncomplicated identification, but definitely sympathy for the Israelis who was traveling with, he was traveling with a group of Israeli musicians, he was wearing something that looked a lot like an Israeli uniform, he was asking people to call him by his Hebrew name, which was Eliezer Cohen.  So he was definitely, he had kind of gone native. And the verse, the verse goes, ‘I went down to the desert to help my brothers fight. I knew that they weren't wrong. I knew that they weren't right. But bones must stand up straight and walk and blood must move around. And men go making ugly lines across the holy ground.'  It's quite a potent verse. And it definitely places Cohen on one side of the Yom Kippur War. And when he records the song, a few months later, that verse is gone. So he obviously made a different decision about how to locate himself in the experience. And ultimately, the experience of the war kind of disappears from the Cohen story. He doesn't talk about it. Later on, he very rarely makes any explicit reference to it. The Cohen biographies mention it in passing, but don't make a big deal of it. And I think that's in part because he  always played it down.  And when that soldier Shlomi Groner, who I call the soldier, but he's going into his seventies, but you know, for me, he's a soldier. He heard that song when it came out on the radio, and he was waiting for that verse where Cohen called Israeli soldiers, his brothers and the verse was gone. And he never forgave Leonard Cohen for it, for erasing that expression of tribal solidarity.  And in fact, the years after the war, 1976, Cohen is playing the song in Paris, you can actually find this on YouTube. And he introduces the song to a French audience by saying, he admits that he wrote the song in the war in Sinai, and he says, he wrote the song for the Egyptians, and the Israelis, in that order. So he was very careful about, you know, where he placed himself, and he was a universal poet. He couldn't be on one side of a war, you couldn't be limited to any particular war, he was trying to address the human soul.  And he was aware of that contradiction, which I think is a very Jewish contradiction. Is our Judaism best expressed by tribal solidarity, or is it best expressed in some kind of universal message about the shared humanity of anyone who might be reading a Leonard Cohen poem? So that tension is very much present for him and it's present for many of us. Manya Brachear Pashman:   So he replaces the line though with watching the children, he goes down to watch the children fight. Matti Friedman:   So before he erases the whole verse, he starts fiddling with it. And we can actually see this in the notebook because we can see him crossing out words and adding words. So he has this very strong sentence that says, I went down to the desert to help my brothers fight, which suggests active participation in this war and, and then we see that he's erase that line held my brothers fight, and he's replaced it with, I went on to the desert to watch the children fight.  So now he's not helping, and it's not his brothers, he's kind of a parent at the sandbox watching some other people play in the sand. So he's taken a step back, he's taken himself out of the picture. And ultimately, that whole verse goes into the memory hold, and it only surfaces. When I found it, and I had the amazing experience of sending it to the soldier who'd heard it and didn't quite remember the words, he just remembered the word brothers. And over the years, I think he thought maybe he was mistaken, he wasn't 100% sure that he was remembering correctly and I had the opportunity to say, I found the verse, you're not crazy, here's the verse. It was quite a moment for him. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Yeah, confirmation, validation. Certainly not an expression of solidarity anymore, but I read it as an expression of critique of war, right. Your government's sending sons and daughter's off to fight you know, that kind of critique, but it changes it when you know that he erased one sentiment and replaced it with another. Matti Friedman:   Right, even finding the Yom Kippur War in the song now is very complicated, although when you know where it was written, then the song makes a lot more sense. When you think a song called Lover Lover Lover would be a love song, but it's not really if you listen to the lyrics.  He says, “The Spirit of the song may rise up true and free. May be a shield for you, a shield against the enemy”. It's a weird lyric for a love song. But if you understand that he's writing for an audience of Israeli pilots are being absolutely shredded in the first week of the Yom Kippur War, it makes sense. The words start to make sense the kind of militaristic tone of the words and even the kind of rhythmic marching quality of the melody, it starts to make more sense, if we know where it was written, I think Cohen would probably deny. Cohen never wanted to be pinned down by journalism, you know, he wasn't writing a song about the Yom Kippur War. And I don't think he'd like what I'm doing, which is trying to pin him down and tie him to specific historical circumstances. But, that's what I'm doing. And I think it's very interesting to try to locate his art in a specific set of circumstances, which are, the Yom Kippur war, this absolute dark moment for Israel, a Jewish artist who's very preoccupied with his own Judaism, and who grows up in this really kind of rich and deep Jewish tradition in Montreal, and then kind of escapes it, but can never quite escape it and doesn't really want to escape it, or does he want to escape it and, and then here he is, in this incredible Jewish moment with the Israeli Army in 1973.  And we even have a picture of him standing next to general Ariel Sharon, who is maybe the other symbolic Jew of the 20th century, right? You have Leonard Cohen, who is this universal artists, this kind of, you know, man of culture and a kind of a dissolute poet and and you have this uniform general, this kind of Jewish warrior, this kind of reborn new Jew of the Zionist imagination, and we have a photograph of them standing next to each other in the desert. I mean, it's quite an amazing moment. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Yeah. I love that you use the word hallucinatory earlier to describe the soldier coming upon Leonard Cohen in the desert, because it reminded me that it was not Leonard Cohen's first tour of sorts in Israel. He had been in Israel the year before, 1972, gave a concert in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, very different shows. Can you speak to that? Matti Friedman:   So Cohen was here a year before the war. And what's amazing is that you can actually see the concerts because there was a documentary filmmaker with him named Tony Palmer. And there's a documentary that ultimately comes out very briefly, that is shelved because Cohen hates it, and then resurfaces a couple of decades later, it's called Bird on a Wire. And it's worth seeing. And you can see the concert in Tel Aviv. And then the concert in Jerusalem the next day, which are the end of this problematic European tour, which kind of goes awry, as far as Cohen is concerned.  In Tel Aviv, they have to stop a concert in the middle because there's a riot in the audience and for kind of strange technical reason, which was that the arena in Tel Aviv had decided to keep the audience really far away from the stage and people tried to get close to Leonard Cohen and Cohen wanted them to come closer to the stage because they were absurdly far from the musicians and they tried to move closer but the security guards wouldn't let them and they start, you know, people start fighting, and Cohen's begging them to calm down.  And you can see this in the, in the documentary and then ultimately he leaves the stage, he says, you know, it's just not I can't perform like this, and he and the whole band just walk off the stage, and you get the impression that this country is on the brink of total chaos, like it's a place that's out of control. And then the next day, he's in Jerusalem for the last concert of this tour. And the concert also goes awry. But this time, it's Cohen's fault. And he is onstage, and you can see that he can't focus, like he just can't put it together. And in the documentary, you can see that he took acid before the show. So it might have had something to do with that. But also, it's just the fact that he's in Jerusalem. And for him, that's a big deal. And he just can't treat it like a normal place. It's not a normal concert. So there's, there's so much riding on it, that it's too much for him, and he just stops playing in the middle of a concert. And he starts talking to the audience about the Kabbalah. And it's an amazing speech, it's totally off the cuff.  It's not something that he prepared, but he starts to explain that, in the Kabbalistic tradition, in order for God to be seated on his throne, Adam and Eve need to face each other, or the man and the woman need to face each other in order for the divine presence to be enthroned. And he says, my male and female sides aren't facing each other, so I can't get off the ground. And it's a terrible thing to have happen in Jerusalem. That's what he says. And then he leaves, he says, I'm gonna give you your money back, and he leaves. And instead of rioting, which is what you'd expect them to do, or getting really angry, or leaving, the audience starts to sing, “Haveinu Shalom Alechem,” that song from summer camp that everyone knows, I think they just assume that he would know it.  And in the documentary, you see him in the dressing room trying to kind of get himself together. And hears the audience singing, a couple thousand young Israelis singing the song out in the auditorium, and he goes back out on stage and kind of just beams at that. He just kind of can't believe it, and just smiling out at them. They're entertaining him, but he's on the stage. And they're singing to him, and then the band comes back on. And they give this incredible show that ends with everyone crying. You see Cohen's crying and the band's crying and he says later that the only time that something like that had ever happened to him before was in Montreal when he was playing a show for an audience that included his family. So there was a lot going on for Cohen in Israel, it wasn't a normal place. It wasn't just a regular gig. And that's all present in his brain when he comes back the following year for the war. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Makes that weird decision to get on the ferry, and come to Israel make a little more sense. I had tickets to see Leonard Cohen in 2013. He was in Chicago, and Pope Benedict the 16th decided to resign. And as the religion reporter, I had to give up those tickets and go to Rome on assignment. And I really regret that because he died in 2016. I never got the chance to see him live. Did you ever get the chance to see him live?  Matti Friedman:   I wonder if we should add that to the long list of, you know, Jewish claims against Catholicism, but I guess we can let it slide. I never got to see him. And I regret it to this day, of course, when he came to Israel in 2009 for this great concert that ended up being his last concert here. I had twins who were barely a year old. And I was kind of dysfunctional and hadn't slept in a long time. And I just couldn't get my act together to go. And that's when I got the idea for this book for the first time. And I said, well, you know, just catch him the next time he comes. You know, the guy was in his late 70s. There wasn't gonna be a next time. So it was a real lapse of judgment, which I regret of course. Manya Brachear Pashman:   I do wonder if I should have gone to Rome for that unprecedented moment in history to cover that, kind wish I had been at the show. So you do think that the Jerusalem show played a role in him returning to Israel when it was under attack? Matti Friedman:   Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, he had this very again, complicated, powerful, not entirely positive experience in Israel. And he'd also met a woman here. And that also became clear when I was researching the book that there was, there was a relationship that began when he was here in 1972, and continued. He had a few contacts here, and it wasn't a completely foreign place. And he had some memory of it and some memory of it being a very powerful experience. But when he came in ‘73, he wasn't coming to play. So he didn't come with his guitar. He didn't bring any instruments. He didn't come with anyone. He came by himself. So there is no band. There's no crew, there's no PR people. He understands that there's some kind of crisis facing the Jewish people and he needs to be here.  Manya Brachear Pashman:   I interviewed Mishy Harman yesterday about the Declaration of Independence, the series that [the I`srael Story podcast] are doing, and he calls it one of Israel's last moments of consensus. We are at a very historic moment right now. How much did this kind of centrifugal force of the Yom Kippur War, where everybody was kind of scattered to different directions, very different ways of soul searching, very Cohen-esque. How much of that has to do with where Israel is now, 50 years later? Matti Friedman:   That's a great question. The Yom Kippur war is this moment of crisis that changes the country and the country is a different place after the Yom Kippur War. So until 73, it's that old Israel where the leadership is very clear. It's the labor Zionist leadership. It's the founders of the country, Ben Gurion and Golda Meir, and the people who kind of willed this country into existence against long odds and won this incredible victory in the 1967 War. And then it's all shattered by this catastrophe in 1973. And even though Israel wins the war and the end, it's a victory that feels a lot like a defeat, and 2600 soldiers are killed in three weeks in a country of barely 3 million people and many more wounded and the whole country is kind of shocked. And it takes a few years for things to play out. But basically, the old Israeli consensus is shattered. And within a few years within the war, the Likud wins an election victory for the first time. And it's a direct result of, of a loss of faith and leadership after the Yom Kippur War. That's 1977.  And then you have all kinds of different voices that emerge in Israel. So you have, you know, you have Likud. You have the voice of Israelis, who came from the Arab world who didn't share the background of, you know, Eastern Europe and Yiddish and who had a different kind of Judaism and a different kind of Zionism and they begin to express themselves in a more forceful way and you have Israelis who are demanding peace now. You know, on the left, and you have a settlement movement, the religious settlement movement really kind of becomes empowered and emboldened after the Yom Kippur War after the labor Zionist leadership loses its confidence and that's when you really start seeing movements like Gush Emunim pop up in the West Bank with this messianic script and so, so the the fracturing of that that consensus really happens in wake of Yom Kippur war and you can kind of see it in in the music, which is an interesting way of looking at it because the music until 73 had really been this folk music that still maybe the only place that still sees it as Israeli music might be American Jewish summer camp, where it kind of retains its, its, its hold and yeah, that those great old songs that were sung around the campfire and the songs of early Israel and that was very much the music that dominated the airwaves. After the Yom Kippur War, it's different, the singers start expressing themselves a lot less in the collective we and much more in using the word I and talking about their own soul and you hear a lot more about God after 73 than you did before. And the country really becomes a much more heterogeneous place and a much more difficult place, I think, to run and with that consensus, you're talking about the Declaration of Independence. And that series, by the way, Israel Story, which I highly recommend, it's a wonderful series about an incredible document, which we still should be proud of, and which we should pay much more attention to than we do. But when do we have consensus, when we're under incredible pressure from the outside. The Declaration of Independence is signed, you know, as we face the threat of invasion by fighter armies.  So that's basically what it takes to get the Jews to sit down and agree with each other. And, you know, there are these years of crisis and poverty after the 48 war into the 60s. And that kind of keeps the consensus more or less in place, and then it fractures. And we're in a country where it's much easier to be many different things, you know, you can be ultra-Orthodox, and you can be Mizrachi, and you can be gay, and you can be all kinds of things that you couldn't really be here in the 60s.  But at the same time, the consensus is so fractured, that we can barely, you know, form a coherent political system that works to solve the problems of the public. And we're really saying that in a very dramatic and disturbing way in the dysfunction, in the Knesset and in our political system, which is, you know, has become so extreme.  The political system is simply incapable of a constructive role in the society and has moved from solving the problems of the society to creating problems for a society that probably doesn't have that many problems. And it's all a reflection of this kind of fracturing of the consensus and this disagreement on what it means to be Israeli what the meaning of the state is, once you don't have those labor Zionists saying, you know, we are a part of a global proletarian revolution, and the kibbutz is at the center of our national ethos. Okay, we don't have that. But then what is this place? And if you grab 10 Israelis on the street outside the studio, they'll give you 10 different answers. And increasingly, the answers are, are at odds with each other, and Israelis are at odds with each other. And the government instead of trying to ease those divisions, is exacerbating them for political gain. So you're right, this is a very important and I think, very dark moment for the society. Manya Brachear Pashman:   And do you trace it back to that kind of individualistic approach that Cohen brought with him, and that the war, not that he introduced it to Israel, and it's all his fault, that the war, and its very dark outcome, dark victory, if you will, produced? Matti Friedman:   I don't want to be too deterministic about it. But definitely, that is the moment of fracture. The old labor Zionist leadership would have faded anyway. And just looking at the world, that kind of ethos, and that ideology is kind of gone everywhere, not just in Israel. But definitely the moment that does it here is that war, and we're very much in post-1973 Israel.  Which in some ways is good, again, a more pluralistic society is good. And I'm happy that many identities that were kind of in the basement before ‘73 are out of the basement. But we have not managed to find a replacement for that old unifying ideology. And we're really feeling it right now. Manya Brachear Pashman:   Thank you so much, Matti, for joining us. Matti Friedman:   Thank you very, very much. That was great.

Since his election by the Knesset in 2021, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has used his position as a platform to try to mend the social fabric of the Jewish state. At AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv, Herzog sat down with AJC CEO Ted Deutch to discuss key issues, including judicial reform, Israel-Diaspora relations, and the importance of the Abraham Accords. Herzog ends his discussion with an important message for today's youth.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  

As an initiative of President Isaac Herzog, the aim of Kol Ha'am is to create a “Jewish Davos” – a collaborative forum for Jewish representatives from around the world to engage in complex and sensitive discussions regarding the future of the Jewish people.

Is funding from Jews in the Diaspora problematic? If so, when and in what context? Should there be limits on financial support and what they should be? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi talk through the role of money and the culture of support in Israel-Diaspora relations.

Welcome to What Matters Now, a new weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. Wednesday night on primetime news, Israeli President Isaac Herzog presented his long-awaited "People's Framework," a platform meant to be the basis for working toward a compromise on the judicial overhaul. A few hours later, the platform was rejected by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and judicial overhaul legislation continues apace. This week on What Matters Now, we learn how the new legislation could affect issues of religion and state. We hear from attorney and Reform Rabbi Uri Regev, the head of Hiddush: For Religious Freedom and Democracy, which describes itself as "a non-denominational, non-partisan Israel-Diaspora partnership uniting people across political and religious spectrums." Before founding Hiddush 12 years ago, Regev served as president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a global umbrella organization of the Progressive, Reform, Liberal and Reconstructionist movements, and was the founding chair and executive director and legal counsel of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC). Prophetically, back in 2015, Regev told The Times of Israel -- after facing off and winning a Supreme Court case against the future MK Simcha Rothman, the author of much of the judicial overhaul --  “it starts and ends with people fighting for the Declaration of Independence.” This week, we hear What Matters Now to religious rights activist Uri Regev. What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts. Image: Attorney and Reform Rabbi Uri Regev (far right), head of Hiddush: For Religious Freedom and Equality, in the Israeli Supreme Court. (Courtesy)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Religions reporter Judah Ari Gross and environmental correspondent Sue Surkes join host Jessica Steinberg for today's podcast. Gross discusses matters of concern to Jewish diaspora and Israeli candidates, including the Western Wall, in a panel ahead of next week's elections. Surkes looks at Israel's plans for COP27, beginning November 6 in Sharm el sheikh in Egypt, including the official delegation and pavilion, hundreds of local NGOs and presentation of climate tech companies. Gross talks about the delicate situation Chabad Lubavitch is finding itself navigating in Russia, including a recent accusation of the Hasidic sect as a "supremicist cult" by a top security official. Surkes explains the concept of green taxonomy, the categorization process of what kinds of business activities can be considered 'green' or climate-friendly investments. Discussed articles include: For a brief moment, frayed Israel-Diaspora ties take center stage in election debate Israel's big delegation to COP27 hoping to make connections, help climate with tech Ministry drafts plans to recruit finance, business sectors to fight climate change Russian chief rabbi protests as top official describes Chabad as a supremacist cult Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: Illustrative: Russian Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar, a Chabad emissary, with congregants at an unfinished synagogue in Sevatopol, Crimea, July 14, 2014. (Cnaan Liphshiz/JTA)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Shainline is the Interactive Media Researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University, and his research focuses on Israeli security assessments and the implications of technological change on18th and 19th century IR theory. In this episode, Dr. Shainline discusses renderings of Israelis in popular media, and how inhabiting these depictions affects Israel-Diaspora relations.

In this week's episode, Abe leads the Three Jews in a tribute to the recently passed A. B. Yehoshua, one of Israel's greatest novelists - and a controversial contributor to the Israel-Diaspora debate. And speaking of controversy... Gabi lets us all know where he stands in the 'gender' culture war (as if we didn't know) with a full-throated recommendation of Matt Walsh's documentary "What is a Woman". Meanwhile Paul's discussion of Israel's dysfunctional politics somehow leads into an argument about primaries in the United States... go figure! And as usual, there's badinage aplenty. Follow (and argue with) us on Twitter - @3Jews4Opinions @abesilbe @Brahmski @pauldgross Articles referred to can be found here: Meretz activists protest outside rebel MK's home, call for her resignation Yesha leader faces rebellion for backing coalition bill crucial to settlers A.B. Yehoshua, Politically Engaged Israeli Writer, Dies at 85 Courage & ‘What Is A Woman?' Transgenderism And The Therapeutic Attitude

In this week's episode, Tel Aviv-based journalist and Israel Policy Forum Policy Advisor Neri Zilber speaks with Knesset Member Prof. Yossi Shain of the Yisrael Beitenu party about many of today's pressing issues, including Israel's Ukraine policy, refugees and the Law of Return, and Israel-Diaspora relations, as well as his new book, The Israeli Century: How the Zionist Revolution Changed History and Reinvented Judaism, and what it was like leaving academia for the bruising world of Israeli politics.Support the show (https://ipf.li/3jzyDg5)

Lahav and Yaakov sit with The Jerusalem Post's new Jewish World Analyst Zvika Klein and discuss the divide between Israel and the Diaspora and the crisis brewing in Ukraine for the Jewish community. They also talk about in-house politics and international diplomacy as well as Herzog's upcoming visit to Turkey. Our podcast is available on Google Play, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Doug Pagitt spends some time with Rabbi Or Rose of Hebrew College talking about how his Jewish faith compels him to work toward the common good.   Rabbi, writer and social activist, Or Rose is the founding director of the Center for Global Judaism at Boston's Hebrew College, which provides educational programming and resources on issues of contemporary Jewish spirituality, Israel-Diaspora relations, religious pluralism and environmental responsibility.   Doug Pagitt is the Executive Director and one of the founders of Vote Common Good. He is also a pastor, author, and social activist.  @pagitt   The Common Good Podcast is produced and edited by Daniel Deitrich. @danieldeitrich Our theme music is composed by Ben Grace. @bengracemusic   votecommongood.com votecommongood.com/podcast facebook.com/votecommongood twitter.com/votecommon

As Israel passes its first state budget in 3½ years, we celebrate the stability brought about by its unusual and wondrous coalition. What can we learn from this moment about Jewish notions of normalcy, gratitude, and a collective psyche steeped in historic anxiety? Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi and Elana Stein Hain examine the Jewish mindset around stability, what it says about our place in the world, and how it affects the Israel-Diaspora relationship.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Today's panel comprises editor David Horovitz and health reporter Natahn Jeffay, alongside host Amanda Borschel-Dan. Diaspora Minister Nachman Shai vowed in his first days of office that he would strengthen Diaspora-Israel relations. Horovitz met with him last week and reports on steps taken, those on the horizon, and those that are sadly not planned at all. Israel is facing an increasing surge of serious COVID cases. Could another lockdown be on the horizon? At the same time, there is increased scrutiny over which politicians are -- or are not -- participating in the Knesset's COVID cabinet. Jeffay expounds on two new studies -- one regarding a precision medication for COVID and the other dispelling myths regarding fertility and the COVID vaccine. Discussed articles include: Minister: Reviving Western Wall compromise is on cabinet agenda, backed by PM Enough of the legal gymnastics: Why Israel should let its gold medalist marry Uncertainty and confusion as 250,000 ultra-Orthodox kids return to school Like Lapid, Liberman also not attending coronavirus cabinet meetings Lapid vows he'll now attend coronavirus cabinet meetings ‘as often as possible' 88 patients, 0 intubated: Israeli ‘precision' COVID drug wrapping up early trial Israeli MD analyzes billions of sperm, finds COVID vaccines don't harm fertility Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. FILE IMAGE: Minister Naftali Bennett unveils a temporary platform built for pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in August 2013. (Ezra Landau/Flash90) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joining us for a second time on People of Pod is Nachman Shai, Israel's Minister of Diaspora Affairs, to discuss his new role and his critical work supporting Jews around the world, including a recent visit to Surfside, Florida, following the tragic collapse of Champlain Towers South.  Then, stick around for a special tribute from colleagues and friends to our longtime co-host Seffi Kogen, including Congressman Ted Deutch (D-FL) and AJC CEO David Harris, as Seffi ends his tenure at AJC. ____ Episode Lineup  (0:40) Nachman Shai (24:00) Seffi Kogen (27:26) Manya Brachear Pashman (28:55) Special guests including Ted Deutch and David Harris ____ Fill out our audience survey here Check out Nachman Shai's first appearance on People of the Pod

This week, the Israeli Supreme Court handed down a ruling on conversions conducted by non-Orthodox rabbis. We hear from AJC's Director of Contemporary Jewish Life Laura Shaw Frank, a leading thinker on this important issue, about how this decision will affect the Israel-Diaspora relationship. Then, in celebration of International Women's Day, Director of AJC's Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights Felice Gaer reflects on what it means to see the world and human rights through women's eyes.  _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Laura Shaw Frank (17:10) Felice Gaer  (19:38) Manya Brachear Pashman (23:34) Seffi Kogen ___ Episode Transcription 

Allison Kaplan Sommer (Haaretz), Jacob Kornbluh (Jewish Insider), and Tabby Refael (30 Years After) discuss the impact of the 2020 U.S. presidential election on the Israel-Diaspora relationship.Support the show (http://support.israelpolicyforum.org/donate)

Prisoner of Zion, human-rights activist, member of Knesset, chairman of the Jewish Agency. Lecturer, author, inspiration to millions. In his 72 years on earth, Natan Sharansky has lived several lifetimes. And in his latest book, Never Alone: Prison, Politics, and My People, he partners with the historian Gil Troy to reflect on the lessons he has learned throughout a life that’s taken him from the Gulag to the halls of Israel’s parliament. In this podcast, Gil Troy joins Jonathan Silver for a conversation about his partnership with Sharansky, the Israel-Diaspora relationship, the Sovietization of American culture, and much more. Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

JJ Sussman is the International Director of Gesher, and organization that builds a cohesive Israeli society and a more united Jewish people by embracing the vibrancy, diversity, and shared heritage of the Jewish people. Prior to joining Gesher, JJ worked in the Israeli hi-tech sector at firms and companies including Jerusalem Global, SanDisk, Israel Seed Partners, M-Systems, and others. Listen as we talk about his important work and the impact of the pandemic on the non-profit, as well as the for-profit sector. Aaron Katsman is a licensed financial professional both in the U.S. and Israel. Call 02-624-0995 for a consultation on how to handle U.S. brokerage accounts from Israel. This video is for education purposes only and is not intended to give investment, legal or tax advice. Securities offered through Portfolio Resources Group Inc. Member FINRA, SIPC, MSRB, FSI. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not of Portfolio Resources Group Inc., or its affiliates. Neither PRG nor its affiliates give tax or legal advice.

Ambassador Michael Oren is Mark’s very special guest on today’s episode. In addition to serving as Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael has also served as a Member of Knesset and as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. He is the author of several of the most important works of history and diplomacy of our generation, has taught at many major universities, and has been named one of the ‘Ten Most Influential Jews in the World’ by The Jerusalem Post. Today, Michael and Mark will be discussing Numbers 32:6, the canonical biblical story of Israel-Diaspora relations. Beginning with Michael’s analysis of the selected passage and the many layers and lessons within it, they then move on to look at the relevance this passage holds both politically and socially these days, as well as the importance of unity. Michael also shares some lessons he has learned about the Jewish people and mankind in general during his illustrious career. Clearly passionate about today’s topic, Michael and Mark bring this passage to life, explore its modern day equivalents, and demonstrate the truly timeless impact of the Torah. Episode Highlights: Michael’s analysis of the selected passage and the many lessons it offers The impact of this passage upon the political reality of the Middle East today Israeli discouragement with American Jews during The Iran Nuclear Deal The modern day equivalent of the compromise reached in Numbers 32 What Michael has learned about the Jewish people and mankind in general Quotes: “Chapter 32:6 becomes a primer on relations between Israel and the Diaspora, on the nature of Jewish peoplehood, of the later Talmudic notion of all of Israel is responsible for one another.” “It’s also one of the first, I’d say, poignant examples of Jewish guilt.” “Without Jewish unity, there’s a price to be paid.” “There is an expectation…that the Diaspora will stand by us.” “Moses wanted a strategic…depth to what would become the Jewish State.” “We are this immeasurably creative, strong, unified people.” Numbers 32:6 Moses replied to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Are your brothers to go to war while you stay here? https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.32.6?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en Links: The Rabbi’s Husband homepage: http://therabbishusband.com/ Mark’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/markgerson?lang=en The Night Archer: https://www.simonandschuster.ca/books/The-Night-Archer/Michael-Oren/9781642935783

Protests have erupted across the United States following the killing of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis. Lonnie G. Bunch III, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Founding Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and AJC Project Interchange alumnus, joins us for a comprehensive discussion on race relations and Black-Jewish cooperation in the United States. Then, we’re joined by Isaac 'Bougie' Herzog, Chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, to discuss Israel-Diaspora relations - where we are, how we got here, and the future we must build together.

Dr. Steven Bayme, AJC’s Director of Contemporary Jewish Life, recently returned from a fact-finding mission in Israel. He sat down with us to share what he learned on his trip and to discuss the current state of Israel-Diaspora relations. Then on “The Battle for Balfour,” we are joined by Benjy Rogers, AJC Associate Director for Policy and Middle East Initiatives, to discuss the latest political developments in Israel ahead of the September 17 national election.

Religious pluralism has been a sticking point in Israel-Diaspora relations. Disagreements over the status of the Kotel, recognizing non-Orthodox rabbis, and the status of converts are constantly in play. What is the current status of these issues? What are the threats and opportunities moving forward?Orly Erez-Likhovski, Director of the Legal Department for the Israel Religious Action Center, holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Tel Aviv University. After interning in the Supreme Court, she got a master’s degree in law at Columbia University in New York, with a focus on Human Rights law. Orly is a member of the Bar Association in Israel and New York. Orly has served as an attorney at IRAC since 2004, and as Director of the Legal Department since 2014. In this position, Orly has brought about significant legal achievements such as making gender segregation on public transportation illegal, ending the Orthodox monopoly on state-funded salaries to rabbis, and receiving state funding for the construction of non-Orthodox synagogues.

1 IAF jets strike targets near Damascus overnight Israeli Air-Force fighters reportedly struck multiple Iranian, Hezbollah, and Syrian targets near Damascus Monday morning killing 11 ‘pro-regime  and Iranian fighters'. 2 IAF Jets strike targets near Damascus overnight Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Ram Shmueli, former head of Israeli Air Force intelligence in the ILTV studio speaking about the air strikes in Syria last night. 3. Israel & Chad officially renew diplomatic ties Chad President Deby and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu officially announced the resumption of diplomatic ties between the two nations 4. Two IDF soldiers injured near Joseph's tomb Two IDF soldiers were lightly injured Monday morning, while escorting Jewish worshippers to the area of Joseph's tomb in Nablus. PA will now refuse us-financial aid Palestinian officials have informed the United States that the PA will now refuse to accept American security aid-funding Issam Akel reportedly released to us-custody Palestinian-American citizen, Issam Akel, has finally been released from PA custody. NY Times invokes MLK Jr. to bash Israel New York Times Writer, Michelle Alexander… Used King's legacy to justify attacks against the Jewish State. 8 Canadian Prime Minister blasts BDS movement Trudeau blasted the Boycott, Divestment And Sanctions Movement against Israel as Anti-Semitic 9 The Jewish World ILTV'S Lidar Gravé-Lazi hosts new program on Israel-Diaspora affairs 10. Ramon Int'l Airport ready for takeoff The new Ramon international airport in Eilat has finally officially been inaugurated. No more dried fruits on Tu-Bishvat The ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is trying to change the traditional dried fruit for Tu'Bishvat with the country's own home-grown fresh produce. 12. Hebrew word Of The day: L'hahmri | להמריא= to takeoff Learn a new Hebrew word every day.  Today's word is ‘Lehamri'... meaning to take off. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode of the Haaretz Weekly podcast, host Simon Spungin is joined by Debra Nussbaum Cohen and Allison Kaplan Sommer for a wide-ranging discussion with a theme: disunity. Whether it's Jewish anti-occupation groups in the United States, opposition parties on both sides of the political divide in Israel or the Women's March, unity is hard to come by. How is Israel's election being played out in America? Are Jewish groups in the U.S. being energized by the influx of fresh faces on Capitol Hill? Have we gone beyond the point of maximum intersectionality? And who will be the Israeli Rashida Tlaib after the April 9th Knesset election?

How should the Israeli government approach the Diaspora? What voice should the Diaspora have on affairs in Israel? How should governments address antisemitism? Support the show (https://www.ngo-monitor.org/donate/)

Evil Hamas rockets are coming down from the sky on Israel, but the Jewish people are dreaming of Jacob's ladder connecting between heaven and earth. Rav Mike Feuer joins Rabbi Yishai to walk with the Forefather Jacob on his adventures, dreams, family life and strife, and the birth of the Tribes of Israel. Then, Rabbi Daniel Korobkin, Senior Rabbi at Beth Avraham Yoseph of Toronto Congregation ("The BAYT") join Yishai to talk about Pittsburgh and the Israel-Diaspora divide.

CSP: Korazim - Israel -Diaspora Relations: Changing Narratives                

On this super-packed show: Rabbi Mike Feuer joins Rabbi Yishai on "Spiritual Cafe" to discuss Jewish rights, or lack-thereof, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem as well as Israel-Diaspora relations as seen through the Torah portion. Then, Yishai interviews terror survivor Hadass Mizrachi whose husband was murdered before her eyes - how does she raise her kids with joy? Finally, Yishai sits down with Joe Sabag, US Director of the Israel Allies Foundation to discuss the monumental shift in the Republican platform and how to fight BDS with good laws and policies.

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Obligation in Exile: The Jewish Diaspora, Israel and Critique (Edinburgh University Press, 2015), Ilan Baron, Lecturer in International Political Theory in the School of Government and International Affairs and Co-Director of the Centre for the Study of Jewish Culture, Society and Politics at Durham University, explores the transnational political obligation of Diaspora Jewry to have a relationship with Israel, including one of critique. The book, featuring Baron’s interviews about the Israel-Diaspora relationship with key figures and community leaders in North America, the UK, and Israel, combines empirical work with political theory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Throughout July and August, Israel was attacked not just by a barrage of Hamas rockets, but also by the international media. In his latest podcast, AJC’s Dr. Steven Bayme reflects on the significance of Israel-Diaspora relations at times of crisis. Dr. Bayme is Director of AJC's Contemporary Jewish Life Department and Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations.

Mark Finkelstein and I talked Iran, Rouhani specifically, Netanyahu, Syria, the Peace Process and Israel-Diaspora relations with one of the Jerusalem Post's leading columnists.

Gabriel Strenger ist klinischer Psychologe und Lehrbeauftragte an der Hebrew University, Jerusalem. Mit Radio tachles spricht der Denker und Autor über das Judentum im Allgemeinen und Israel in…