Podcasts about jewishness

Jesus wasn't a Christian. He was a Jew. That truth alone is enough to unravel centuries of misunderstanding - and stir up the spiritual resistance of our age. In this powerful episode, Scott Volk shares his deeply personal journey from being an "ignorant Jewish pastor" to leading a global ministry that blesses both Jews and Arabs in the name of Yeshua.  With passion and clarity, Scott dismantles replacement theology, calls the Church to awaken from its apathy, and reminds us that Israel holds the key to God's redemptive plan for the world. From heartfelt humor to prophetic fire, this is more than theology. It's a wake-up call for the Church to embrace the Jewishness of Jesus, God's eternal promises, and the unity He desires among all people. Key Takeaways Jesus was never a Christian. He was, is, and always will be Jewish - and understanding that reshapes everything. The Church is missing a crucial piece. Without Israel, we don't just miss context - we miss God's plan. Ignorance isn't innocence. Even well-meaning pastors can miss the heart of God without revelation. God chose the weak - not the worthy. Israel isn't superior. It's chosen to showcase God's glory. Anti-Zionism often masks anti-Semitism. Scott draws a straight line from Haman to Hamas. We need a four-fold response: Pray. Provoke. Proclaim. Provide. This is how the Church blesses Israel biblically. Revival hinges on Israel. Romans 11 calls the salvation of the Jewish people “life from the dead.” True unity doesn't erase ethnicity. It celebrates the One who redeems every tribe, tongue, and nation. God gets the glory - not Israel, not America, not us. Humility is the only posture for this moment. Chapter Markers 00:00 – Meet Scott Volk: joy, fire, and a Jewish heart 01:36 – Media vs. the Bible: how your lens changes everything 04:57 – One new man: the mystery of Israel and the nations 08:40 – Jesus: the Torah-observant Jew who never stopped being Jewish 13:32 – “Jesus Was Not a Christian”: why this phrase gets people fired up 15:23 – God's promises to Abraham - and why they still matter 17:50 – Biblical priority, not ethnic superiority 20:50 – God chooses the barren, broken, and unlikely 21:51 – 77 times: “Then they will know that I am the Lord” 24:45 – Israel's need to cry out: blessed is He who comes 28:35 – From ignorance to awakening: Scott's personal journey 33:08 – Together for Israel: how it began with underprivileged kids 36:14 – Why revival is tied to Israel's return to Yeshua 39:09 – If you don't get Israel, you don't get the Bible 40:03 – Free Palestine Christians and the corruption of governments 43:51 – Scott's 4 biblical calls to action: Pray, Provoke, Proclaim, Provide 47:00 – Rahab vs. Edom: two gentile responses, two legacies 52:48 – Don't get lost in the headlines - focus on the return of the King 54:28 – Final charge: come low, exalt Jesus, love Israel, embrace the nations Want to go deeper? Let this episode be your first step, not your last. Explore more at thejewishroad.com Follow Scott on Instagram: @scottyvolk Support the work at Together for Israel Subscribe to Scott's weekly podcast: Portions: A TFI Podcast This is the story of God's faithfulness to Israel - and His invitation to the nations to join in.

Dave and Milt welcome two top-shelf Billy Joelologists: Scott Eckstein and Russ Flicker. We crack open the emotional songbook that is the HBO Max doc And So It Goes—a title that screams “quiet devastation,” like only Billy can. We're not just talking about Uptown Girl and Glass Houses. We go deep: the musical shapeshifting, the very Jewish energy, the marriages that aged like milk, the loyal bandmates that got canned, and the critics who never really got him (but oh, how we do). You'll hear memories of epic Billy concerts, emotional gut-punch lyrics, underloved deep cuts, and hot takes on everything from “tonic and gin” to “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant” being the Bohemian Rhapsody of Long Island. It's a love letter. It's a roast. It's a nuanced nosedive into the joy, the ache, and the genius of one of pop music's most fascinating contradictions: a guy who made stadiums weep and critics wince. Come for the legacy, stay for the therapy session. Topics 00:00 –

Talking about Australia, Zionism, and Jewishness through history with Russell Walter, YouTuber and writer on many different topics including this extremely interesting and fact-filled piece on Herzl and the history of Jews who wanted to escape the typical “Yid” path.The Carousel is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thecarousel.substack.com/subscribe

GroveCast Episode 0087: Pastor Raphael Giglio: The Hebrew Roots of Our Faith : 1.The Jewishness of JesusPlease invite others to listen.This message was given by Pastor Raphael Giglio in the Tabernacle at Ocean Grove, New Jersey on the morning of Monday, June 23, 2025. The Topics this week are all about “The Hebrew Roots of Our Faith” and this first message is “1. The Jewishness of Jesus". Length: 48 Minutes.The topics for this week are as follows:The Hebrew Roots of Our FaithThe Jewishness of JesusThe Jewishness of the Apostles and the Early ChurchThe Promised Land of IsraelJew & Gentile - Gospel ExpansionRomans 9-11, Who is Israel“Grafted In”These may also be seen on YouTube as is the case with all Bible Hour messages. We invite you to join us live in Ocean Grove (or online) and also invite others to join us. You can listen to and watch this and other messages at oceangrove.org/watch.Pastor Raphael Giglio is lead Pastor of the North Shore Fellowship Church in Hazlet, NJ. http://northshorenj.org/ Pastor Raphael has pastored other churches in New Jersey and Nashville TN. He is also a trustee of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association and leads other services at Ocean Grove. See the oceangrove.org website for more information. Note: upcoming events can be found at www.oceangrove.org - come join us!This podcast is provided by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, a non-profit. We invite you to visit oceangrove.org to find more information about our organization including how to take part in our many programs and how to support the organization.Copyright 2025 Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association.

Dame Maureen Lipman reflects on her career on stage, in film and on our TV screens. From Shakespeare to Coronation Street, from her role as Beattie in the iconic BT ads to sitting on stage alone in Rose, Lipman's versatility as an actress has spanned decades in the limelight. A household name, she discusses laughter, marriage, motherhood, Jewishness, childhood and ambition. With vignettes and anecdotes from a life surrounded by acting royalty, this is a rare insight into one of Britain's leading actresses of her generation. 

In a time when Jewish trauma is being weaponized and used to justify the Israeli genocide against Palestinians, the book An Anti-Zionist Path to Embodied Jewish Healing: Somatic Practices to Heal Historical Wounds, Unlearn Oppression, and Create a Liberated World to Come presents a liberatory model for Jewish healing firmly rooted in Jewish spiritual values. In this book based conversation the panel  discusses the intersection of healing and activism that can make our organizing movements more healing and our healing more political to strengthen our collective work for a free Palestine and a Jewishness beyond Zionism. Over the last year and a half, many of us activists and organizers have felt hopeless, despairing, and angry that we have not been able to stop this genocidal violence being carried out in our names. Sometimes we take these feelings out on each other by being overly critical and unkind, which leads to fractures inside our movements. At this time of rising fascism when the Trump administration is exploiting the fractures on the Left to create division, we can incorporate body-based healing to strengthen our collective power that moves us closer to a liberated world and a free Palestine. Wendy Elisheva Somerson (Wes) is a queer non-binary, disabled, cat- loving Ashkenazi Jewish somatic healer, writer, activist, and visual artist residing on Duwamish and Coast Salish land. One of the founders of the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, they have been active in Palestinian solidarity work for more than two decades. As a politicized healer, Wes works at the intersection of personal and collective healing with individuals, groups, and organizations. They are the creator and facilitator of Ruach, an ongoing anti-Zionist, body-based Jewish healing group. Cecilie Surasky is the Director of Communications and Narrative at the Othering & Belonging Institute (OBI) at UC Berkeley, a global research and advocacy organization focused on understanding the structures of exclusion and building a world where all people belong. Cecilie's career spans decades of mobilizing politically marginalized communities, and she's proud of her role in building a co-liberation movement as the founding communications and later deputy director of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). She draws from her own family's journey with traumatic grief, belonging and resilience. Penny Rosenwasser, Ph.D., is a lifelong heartfelt rabble-rouser for justice. A queer/lesbian white Jewish intersectional feminist, Penny is author of the award-winning Hope into Practice, Jewish women choosing justice despite our fears. She was a founding Board member and early leader of Jewish Voice for Peace, co-teaches an Antisemitism/Anti-Arabism class with a Palestinian colleague at City College of San Francisco, and serves on the Advisory Council of the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. An educator, public speaker, fundraiser and  facilitator, Penny organized events for the Middle East Children's Alliance for 32 years and is a racial justice leader at Kehilla synagogue.           The post An Anti-Zionist Path to Embodied Jewish Healing: A conversation about the intersection of healing and activism with Wendy Elisheva Somerson (Wes), Cecilie Surasky, and Penny Rosenwaswer appeared first on KPFA.

You may find yourself wanting to learn more about Jesus. In this episode we begin the journey of understanding the Jewishness of Jesus that we may have forgotten about.

How did Russian Jews wind up migrating to Galveston, Texas in the early 1900s? How did the image of America as melting pot come into existence? How did a family memoir evolve into a forgotten history of Zionism? Find out during my conversation with Rachel Cockerell about her amazing new book, MELTING POINT: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land (FSG)! We talk about the tightrope walk of composing a history solely out of primary sources and why she eschewed the author's voice for this book, her grudging acceptance of Robert Caro's maxim to Turn Every Page, and how her perspective on Jewishness changed over the course of writing the book. We get into the once-titanic literary figure of Israel Zangwill and how he gave it up to find a homeland for the world's Jews, how Zangwill invented the notion of the melting pot and whether he truly believed in assimilationism, the inspiration of George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo on Melting Point, and how Rachel got over the notion that the past was just a lead-up to now. We also discuss her next book on Halley's Comet and whether she'll stick with her primary sources-mode in future books, how her family reacted to seeing their stories (& contradictions) on the page, how a 90-year-old distant relative stole the show, and a lot more. Follow Rachel on Instagram and Bluesky • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Stripe, Patreon, or Paypal, and subscribe to our e-newsletter

Two Zionist Jews discuss: "Until Israeli politics can radically reorient itself, it's time to construct a vision of Jewishness that's independent of the state that pretends to act on our behalf. It's time for Jews to reclaim the moral mantle of our ancestors. For the Palestinians, but also for the future of the Jewish people, it's time for Jews to abandon Israel." https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Josh Szeps is the host of the podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps.

Two Zionist Jews discuss: "Until Israeli politics can radically reorient itself, it's time to construct a vision of Jewishness that's independent of the state that pretends to act on our behalf. It's time for Jews to reclaim the moral mantle of our ancestors. For the Palestinians, but also for the future of the Jewish people, it's time for Jews to abandon Israel." https://uncomfortableconversations.substack.com/about Josh Szeps is the host of the podcast Uncomfortable Conversations with Josh Szeps.

For over a week now, we have been reporting stories about Canadians stranded in Israel since that country launched its pre-emptive attack on Iran on June 13. But slowly, and under the radar for security reasons, The CJN has been speaking to some of the first tourists who found ways to evacuate Israel–mostly without any help from the Canadian government. We couldn't report their stories until it was safe to do so. But now that many of the Canadians we interviewed last week are either home or well on their way, we can bring you some of their amazing stories–whether it was boarding that all-expenses paid, chartered luxury Israeli cruise ship for a party-filled voyage to Cyprus or taking an anxiety-filled secret bus trip through Israel to Jordan and then a flight to Cairo, and finally on to Europe, all while hiding their Jewishness and the fact they are gay. Leonard Temes is an architect and interior designer from Toronto who came to Israel for on a Pride mission with a Jewish Federations of North America group, but left clandestinely five days ago. He had the added fright of finding himself on the same plane as those extremist pro-Palestinian protesters who tried to participate on the global March on Gaza, but were kicked out of Egypt by local authorities. Meanwhile Philip Lerner, a Thornhill data scientist, came to Israel to volunteer with an Orthodox youth group connected to the AISH movement. Lerner was offered a berth on that Israeli cruise ship chartered by Birthright, via Ashdod to Cyprus. He's dubbed the overnight voyage “The Jew Cruise”. But Lerner says despite what social media videos you might have seen of the 1,500 Jewish young people dancing and partying on the pool deck, the overall journey was anything but smooth sailing. On today's episode of The CJN's North Star podcast, host Ellin Bessner speaks with both Leonard Temes and Philip Lerner, about how they got out. Related links Hear why some Canadian young people on subsidized Israel-volunteer programs like Birthright and Olami got out of the country, while those with MASA did not, yet, in The CJN. How a Canadian survived a direct missile hit in Tel Aviv, by praying and channeling Queen Esther, her personal heroine, on The CJN's North Star podcast. Read more about Philip Lerner and his advocacy for people with autism, in The CJN. Credits Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner) Production team: Zachary Kauffman (senior producer), Andrea Varsany (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer) Music: Bret Higgins Support our show Subscribe to The CJN newsletter Donate to The CJN (+ get a charitable tax receipt) Subscribe to North Star (Not sure how? Click here)

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Sam E. Goldberg, creator and host of “Respect the Chain,” a pop culture travel food show that dives into the stories behind the most iconic restaurant chains.  “Whether it's Moe's versus Chipotle, ketchup versus mustard, everybody's got an opinion and everybody's educated enough to discuss it,” Goldberg, who is team ketchup, says. “I put ketchup on my rice, I put ketchup on my eggs, I put ketchup on everything.” An attorney, who specializes in real estate law, Goldberg finds he has a really nice balance between his career and his passion project. Law is extremely serious; “‘Respect the Chain' is fun and upbeat. Growing up Jewish in New York City, Goldberg says a love of food is in his DNA. He enjoys traveling and exploring chain restaurants throughout the country and around the world. He also prioritizes sharing his Jewishness, especially during the holidays.  “We had the Adam Sandler song, we had that one “Rugrats” episode for Passover, but that was pretty much it [in my youth],” he says. “If I've got a platform, I'm going to make sure everybody sees some Jewish content.” Sam E. Goldberg shares “Respect the Chain's” origins story, why he loves chains - hint: he's a creature of habit, and restaurant best practices. Goldberg also shares his latest discovery, Ratatouille, the movie and the dish. Get his mom's recipe for ratatouille at JewishJournal.com/podcasts. Follow @RespectTheChain on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.

Sermon by Fr. Carl SmithAscension SundayDiscussion Questions:Jesus's primary role following his ascension is mediation, as stated in 1 Tim. 2:5-6: “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.” Does this truth impact your sense of security and comfort as you live your life before God? Explain.Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, when we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit. Did you find the acronym RIIBS helpful for the New Covenant works of the Holy Spirit (i.e., Regeneration, Indwelling, Baptism, Sealing)? Which of these works would you like to discuss further with your small group?Does it amaze you that Jesus was willing to turn over the ministry of the Gospel to the Apostles and the early church as he ascended to heaven? Does it amaze you that the church has survived and thrived for nearly 2000 years following this model? What does that tell you about the plan of God for his church and your role in it?The Jewishness of the Gospel is demonstrated in the grounding of Jesus the Messiah's ministry in the Jewish Scriptures, which are organized into three divisions: the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings. What does the fact that Jesus held the Jewish Scriptures in such high regard as a testament to himself tell you about the importance of the Word of God? Does it give you greater appreciation for and confidence in the Word of God as a believer in Jesus? Have you ever had an experience in which the Holy Spirit illumined a truth from the Word of God in such a way that "your heart burned within you" like the disciples on the Emmaus Road? Tell the group about that experience.While we can talk about Jesus's death and resurrection and what these events accomplished in many different ways, Jesus chose to summarize their effect in terms of the "forgiveness of sins." Do you think about your salvation in these terms? What impact should this truth have upon how we live our lives and maintain our relationship with a holy God?

In this episode, we talk with our good friend, Tahe Governor. Tahe is an amazing communicator and Bible teacher. He has conducted extensive studies on ancient texts, particularly on the topic of discipleship. Tahe is a graduate of Dr. Michael Heiser's Awakening School of Theology. He has led large ministries for college-aged students and leadership training programs, where participants dive deeply into theology. Tahe has a heart for helping people know Jesus and enjoys having fun along the way, often with a manga in one hand and a Bible in the other! Connect with Tahe!Theology: youtube.com/@MakingWholeDisciplesGaming: youtube.com/@ShonenDiscipleTahe's recommended resources for deeper study of Discipleship:-Discipleship in the Context of Judaism in Jesus' Time Part I: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/333538-Discipleship in the Context of Judaism in Jesus' Time - Part II: https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/345018YouTube-Walking the Text, Rabbi and Disciples Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBopsNhilpsQxdk5_ZHnINOAdGwkOBqEn&si=Q4GmypezUASd4fprBooks-Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith: https://a.co/d/aUor6UB-New Light on the Difficult Words of Jesus: Insights from His Jewish Context: https://a.co/d/gpdwIcm-The Jewish People in the First Century: https://a.co/d/65SS5fp-The Unseen Realm: https://a.co/d/fChDR84___________________________________________________________Connect with us! Social: Instagram.com/behindthecurtainpcYoutube.com/btcmysteriesTikTok.com/btcmysteriesEmail: behindthecurtainpc@gmail.comFair use Music in this episode: Opening & Closing track"Last Breath" by Jim Hall

Sabbaticals, break weeks, and paid vacation, oh my! For many, the idea of taking a break from work is daunting. With the disruption in the work environment, how will anything get done? As he prepares his own upcoming sabbatical, David Bryfman discusses the role that rest plays in the workplace with Josh Feldman, CEO and founder of R&R: The Rest of our Lives.In a time marked by burnout and uncertainty, especially in the nonprofit world, stepping back is more necessary than ever. Josh suggests that it isn't productive to be productive all of the time; a runner doesn't sprint for a whole race, they have disciplined places of sprint, of walk, and of stillness. How can we incorporate stillness into our work? Furthermore, Josh reminds the audience of the Jewishness of rest, and how we can be inspired by the Sabbath and the shmita year. David and Josh challenge the audience to think about when work gets done, and when it doesn't.  This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides. The show's executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media. If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating and review, or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released. To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York. 

Rabbi Chel Mandell of the Tzimtzum Community and Jewish educator and Diasporist Podcast Co-Host, Ben Yanowitz were invited on to local Santa Cruz radio station KSQD for an Interview for “Talk of the Bay,” hosted by Meilin Obinata, to explore the complexities of Jewish communal life in Santa Cruz, CA.The Jewish community in Santa Cruz is a microcosm of our diaspora at large. Change is happening and legacy communal institutions are lagging behind at best, and actively hostile at worst. Thankfully independent communities like Tzimtzum, which embody a queer diasporist Jewishness, are organizing to ground our quest for collective liberation in Jewish ritual and spirituality.Throughout the discussion we explored different religious and secular Jewish traditions which inform our understanding of the non-Zionist and diasporist Jewish future we are building, and how the pandemic and the post-10/7 Gaza genocide and international political environment have accelerated political polarization and transformed the way people engage with Judaism/Jewishness.Check out Meilin's work on KSQD here!Learn about the Tzimtzum Community here!Subscribe to our collaborative YouTubeFollow us on InstagramIf you like the work we're doing here, please consider supporting us on Patreon!Big thank you to Aly Halpert for continuing to allow us to use her music!

Today, I'm thrilled to announce my episode with Tony nominee Craig Bierko. Tune in to hear some of the stories of her legendary career, including what he learned from Meredith Willson's notes in the script of THE MUSIC MAN, dancing with Rebecca Luker, the “stop-start” feeling of THOU SHALT NOT, how James Lapine approached directing MODERN ORTHODOX, the Jewishness that is needed in GUYS AND DOLLS, why he didn't connect to the character of Miss Trunchbull in MATILDA, what it was like performing GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY just after the pandemic, why STANDING ON CEREMONY didn't work in New York, his efforts to revive LITTLE MARY SUNSHINE, talking to Patti LuPone backstage during COMPANY, a meaningful moment with Stephen Sondheim, playing opposite Len Cariou in HARRY TOWNSEND'S LAST STAND, and so much more. Don't miss this honest conversation with one of Broadway's greatest stars.

Wendy Elisheva Somerson (wes) is a non-binary Jewish somatic healer, writer, visual artist, and activist who helped found the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. They facilitate Ruach, body-based Jewish healing groups held in an anti-Zionist, anti-racist, and feminist framework. As part of a movement of anti-Zionist Jews, they support Jewish healing from historical trauma and promote a liberatory future for Judaism and Jewishness beyond Zionism that includes a free Palestine. Today on the show we discuss their new book An Anti-Zionist Path to Embodied Jewish Healing: Somatic Practices to Heal Historical Wounds, Unlearn Oppression, and Create a Liberated World to Come. https://wendysomerson.net/ Topics 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome01:09 Discussing the Book: An Anti-Zionist Path to Embodied Jewish Healing01:36 Genocide in Palestine: Context and Impact04:07 Zionism and Jewish Historical Trauma06:07 Embodied Jewish Healing: Concepts and Practices09:26 Technology and Disembodiment10:32 Anti-Zionism as a Path to Healing16:12 Spiritual and Ethical Responsibilities26:42 Activism and Jewish Faith30:05 Resources and Community for Anti-Zionism31:46 Somatic Healing Practices36:58 Hope and Solidarity for the Future40:07 Conclusion and Farewell Support the mission of SAND and the production of this podcast by becoming a SAND Member Join SAND June 3–9 for the FREE global film premiere of The Eternal Song and the 7-day online gathering with Indigenous voices

Live from the Franschhoek Literary Festival, John Maytham is joined by Judge Dennis Davis following a trilogy of riveting conversations that explored the moral and political tensions shaping South Africa and the world in 2025. What Is Jewishness in 2025? Maughan vs Zuma, Cutting to the Chase Presenter John Maytham is an actor and author-turned-talk radio veteran and seasoned journalist. His show serves a round-up of local and international news coupled with the latest in business, sport, traffic and weather. The host’s eclectic interests mean the program often surprises the audience with intriguing book reviews and inspiring interviews profiling artists. A daily highlight is Rapid Fire, just after 5:30pm. CapeTalk fans call in, to stump the presenter with their general knowledge questions. Another firm favourite is the humorous Thursday crossing with award-winning journalist Rebecca Davis, called “Plan B”. Thank you for listening to a podcast from Afternoon Drive with John Maytham Listen live on Primedia+ weekdays from 15:00 and 18:00 (SA Time) to Afternoon Drive with John Maytham broadcast on CapeTalk https://buff.ly/NnFM3Nk For more from the show go to https://buff.ly/BSFy4Cn or find all the catch-up podcasts here https://buff.ly/n8nWt4x Subscribe to the CapeTalk Daily and Weekly Newsletters https://buff.ly/sbvVZD5 Follow us on social media: CapeTalk on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@capetalk CapeTalk on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ CapeTalk on X: https://x.com/CapeTalk CapeTalk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CapeTalk567 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Prove All Things, hosts Jeff and Mike welcome guest Horane Smith to explore the influence of anti-Jewish sentiment on early Christian doctrine. Horane outlines how the primitive church was deeply rooted in Hebraic traditions—observing the Sabbath, Passover, and rejecting doctrines like the Trinity and Easter—but that a shift began after 135 A.D., particularly following the Bar Kokhba revolt, which led to a deliberate separation from Judaism by emerging Gentile Christian leaders. He argues that early church fathers, in an effort to define a distinct Christian identity, adopted anti-Jewish rhetoric and Greco-Roman philosophical influences, which dramatically shaped mainstream Christian beliefs.

Few analysts are more familiar with the politics of both contemporary Turkey and the United States than my old friend , the distinguished Turkish political scientist Soli Ozel. Drawing on his decades of experience in both countries, Ozel, currently a senior fellow at the Institut Montaigne, explains how democratic institutions are similarly being challenged in Trump's America and Erdogan's Turkey. He discusses the imprisonment of Istanbul's popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, restrictive speech in American universities, and how economic decline eventually undermines authoritarian regimes. Ozel emphasizes that effective opposition requires both public discontent and compelling leadership alternatives, which Turkey has developed but America currently sorely lacks. Most intriguingly, he suggests that Harvard's legal battle against Trump could be as significant as the 1925 Scopes trial which marked the end of another bout of anti-scientific hysteria in America. 5 Key Takeaways* Populist authoritarianism follows a similar pattern regardless of left/right ideology - controlling judiciary, media, and institutions while claiming to represent "the people" against elites.* Academic freedom in America has declined significantly, with Ozel noting he experienced more classroom freedom in Turkey than at Yale in 2019.* Economic pain combined with a crisis of legitimacy is crucial for challenging authoritarian regimes, but requires credible opposition leadership to succeed.* Istanbul mayor Imamoglu has emerged as a powerful opposition figure in Turkey by appealing across political divides and demonstrating practical governance skills.* Turkey's strategic importance has increased due to its position between war zones (Syria and Ukraine) and Europe's growing need for security partners as American support becomes less certain. Full TranscriptAndrew Keen: Hello, everybody. It's not great news these days that the U.S. Brand has been, so to speak, tarnished as a headline today on CNN. I'm quoting them. CNN, of course, is not Donald Trump's biggest fan. Trump tarnishes the U S brand as a rock of stability in the global economy. I'm not sure if the US was ever really a rock of stability for anything except itself. But we on the show as. As loyal viewers and listeners know, we've been going around the world, taking stock of the US brand, how it's viewed around the word. We did a show last week with Simon Cooper, the Dutch-based Paris writer of the Financial Times, who believes it's time for all Americans to come and live in Europe. And then with Jemima Kelly, another London-based correspondent. And I thought we would broaden. I asked european perspective by visiting my old friend very old friend Soli Ozel. iVve known him for almost forty years he's a. Senior fellow of international relations and turkey at the montane institute he's talking to us from vienna but he is a man who is born and spends a lot of his time thinking about. Turkey, he has an interesting new piece out in the Institute Montaigne. Turkey, a crisis of legitimacy and massive social mobilization in a regional power. I want to talk to Soli later in this conversation about his take on what's happening in Turkey. But first of all, Soli, before we went live, you noted that you first came to America in September 1977. You were educated here, undergraduate, graduate, both at uh, sized in Washington DC and then at UC Berkeley, where you and I studied together at the graduate program. Um, how do you feel almost 50 years, sorry, we're dating ourselves, but how did you feel taking off your political science cap, your analyst cap, how did you feel about what's happening in America as, as a man who invested your life in some ways in the promise of America, and particularly American education universities.Soli Ozel: Yeah, I mean, I, yes, I came to the States or I went to the States in September of 1977. It was a very different America, post Vietnam. And I went through an avant garde college liberal arts college.Andrew Keen: Bennington wasn'tSoli Ozel: Bennington College, and I've spent about 11 years there. And you and I met in 1983 in Berkeley. And then I also taught at American universities. I taught at UC Santa Cruz, Northwestern, SAIS itself, University of Washington, Yale, and had fellowships in different parts. Now, of course, in those years, a lot has changed in the US. The US has changed. In fact, I'm writing a piece now on Christopher Lash. And reading Christopher Lasch work from the 60s and the 1970s, in a way, you wonder why Trumpism has not really emerged a bit earlier than when it did. So, a lot of the... Dynamics that have brought Donald Trump to power, not once, but twice, and in spite of the fact that, you know, he was tried and found guilty and all that. Many of those elements have been there definitely since the 1980s, but Lascch identified especially this divergence between educated people and less educated people between brainies and or the managerial class and the working class in the United States. So, in a way, it looks like the Trumpism's triumph came even a bit late, although there were a couple of attempts perhaps in the early 1990s. One was Pat Buchanan and the other one, Ross Perot, which we forget that Ross Perot got 19% of the vote against in the contest when Bill Clinton. Won the election against George H.W. Bush. So underground, if you will, a lot was happening in the United States.Andrew Keen: All right. And it's interesting you bring up Lash, there's that sort of whole school Lasch Daniel Bell, of course, we had Daniel Bell's son, David Bell, on the show recently. And there's a lot of discussion, as I'm sure you know, about the nativism of Trump, whether it's uniquely American, whether it was somehow inevitable. We've done last week, we did a show about comparing what's happening now in America to what happened after the First World War. Being less analytical, Solé, my question was more an emotional one to you as someone who has built their life around freedom of expression in American universities. You were at Bennington, you were at SICE, you're at UC Berkeley, as you know, you taught at UC Santa Cruz and Yale and many other places. You come in and out of this country giving lectures. How do you personally feel about what's happening?Soli Ozel: Yeah, okay. I mean, in that sense, again, the United States, by the way, I mean the United States has been changing independently of Mr. Trump's presidency. It was much more difficult to be, I mean when I went to college in Bennington College, you really did not bite your tongue when you were going to speak either as a student or a professor. And increasingly, and especially in my last bout at Yale in 2019, I felt that, you know, there were a lot of constraints on what you could say or how you could say it, whether you would call it walkism, political correctness, whatever it was. It was a much, the atmosphere at the university was much more constrained in terms of what transpired in the classroom and that I mean, in Turkey, I had more freedom in terms of how we debated things in class that I felt that...Andrew Keen: That is astonishing. So you had more freedom in...Soli Ozel: As well, you did in Yale in 1990. I'm talking about not the political aspect of things, but how you debate something, okay, whether or not, I mean, there would be lots of views and you could you could present them without insulting anyone, however you presented them was fine, and this is how what the dynamics of the classroom had been when I was a student. So, in that sense, I guess it wasn't just the right that constrained speech, but also the left that constrained the speech, because new values were added or new norms were invented to define what can and cannot be said. And of course, that goes against the grain of what a university education ought to be. I mean, I had colleagues. In major universities who told me that they really were biting their tongue when they were giving their lectures. And that is not my understanding of education or college education and that certainly has not been my experience when I came to the States and for my long education here for 11 years.Andrew Keen: Solit, you and I have a long history of thinking about the Middle East, where back in the early 80s, we TA'd a class on the Arab-Israeli conflict with Yaya Sadowski, who at that time was a very independent thinker. I know he was a close friend of yours. I was always very influenced by his thinking. You're from Izmir, from a Jewish family in Turkey. So you're all too familiar with the complexity of anti-Semitism, Israel, the Middle East, Turkey. What do you personally make of this hysteria now on campus about anti-semitism and throwing out anyone, it seems, at least from the Trump point of view, who are pro-Palestinian? Is this again, I mean, you went back to Christopher Lasch and his thinking on populism and the dangers of populism in America. Or is this something that... Comes out of the peculiarities of American history. We have predicted this 40 years ago when you and I were TAing Sadowski's class on Arab-Israeli conflict at Berkeley.Soli Ozel: The Arab-Israeli conflict always raises passions, if you will. And it's no different. To put it mildly, Salvador, I think. Yeah, it is a bit different now. I mean, of course, my hunch is that anti-Semitism is always present. There is no doubt. And although I followed the developments very closely after October 7. I was not in there physically present. I had some friends, daughters and sons who were students who have reported to me because I'm supposed to know something about those matters. So yeah, antisemitism is there. On the other hand, there is also some exaggeration. We know that a lot of the protesters, for instance, were Jews themselves. But my hunch is that the Trump administration, especially in their attack against elite universities, are using this for political purposes. I'm sure there were other ways of handling this. I don't find it very sincere. And a real problem is being dealt with in a very manipulative political way, I think. Other and moreover So long as there was no violence and I know there were instances of violence that should be punished that I don't have any complaints about, but partially if this is only related to what you say, I'm not sure that this is how a university or relations between students at the university ought to be conducted. If you're not going to be able to say what you think at the university, then what else are you going to say? Are you going be able say it? So this is a much more complicated matter than it is being presented. And as I said, my view or based on what I follow that is happening at colleges, this is being used as an excuse. As somebody I think Peter Beinhart wrote today in the New York Times. He says, No, no, no. It is not really about protecting Jewish students, but it is protecting a certain... Type of Jewish students, and that means it's a political decision, the complaints, legitimate complaints, perhaps, of some students to use those against university administrations or universities themselves that the Trump administration seems to be targeting.Andrew Keen: Yeah, it's interesting you bring up Beinart. He was on the show a year or two ago. I think he notes that, I mean, I don't want to put words into his mouth, but he seems to be suggesting that Jews now have a responsibility almost to speak out, not just obviously about what's happening in the U.S., but certainly about what is happening in Gaza. I'm not sure what you think on.Soli Ozel: He just published a book, he just published the book being Jewish in the US after Gaza or something along those lines. He represents a certain way of thinking about what had happened in Gaza, I mean what had happened to Israel with the attack of Hamas and what had happened afterwards, whether or not he represents the majority. Do you agree with him? I happen to be. I happen to be sympathetic to his views. And especially when you read the book at the beginning, it says, look, he's a believer. Believer meaning he is a practicing Jew. So this is not really a question about his own Jewishness, but how he understands what being a Jew actually means. And from that perspective, putting a lot of accent to the moral aspects of Jewish history and Jewish theological and secular thinking, He is rebelling, if you will, against this way of manipulative use. On the part of some Jewish organizations as well of what had gone on and this is this he sees as a along with others actually he also sees this as a threat to Jewish presence in the United States. You know there is a simultaneous increase in in anti-semitism. And some people argue that this has begun even before October 7. Let us not forget Charlottesville when the crowds that were deemed to be nice people were chanting, Jews will not replace us, and those people are still around. Yeah, a lot of them went to jail.Andrew Keen: Yeah, I mean Trump seemed to have pardoned some of them. And Solly, what do you make of quote-unquote the resistance to Trump in the U.S.? You're a longtime observer of authoritarianism, both personally and in political science terms. One of the headlines the last few days is about the elite universities forming a private collective to resist the Trump administration. Is this for real and is it new? Should we admire the universities or have they been forced into this position?Soli Ozel: Well, I mean, look, you started your talk with the CNN title. Yeah, about the brand, the tarnishing of the U.S. Whatever the CNN stands for. The thing is, there is no question that what is happening today and what has been happening in my judgment over the last two years, particularly on the issue of Gaza, I would not... Exonerate the Biden administration and the way it actually managed its policy vis-a-vis that conflict. There is, of course, a reflection on American policy vis a vis that particular problem and with the Trump administration and 100 days of storm, if you will, around the world, there is a shift in the way people look at the United States. I think it is not a very favorable shift in terms of how people view and understand the United States. Now, that particular thing, the colleges coming together, institutions in the United States where the Americans are very proud of their Madisonian institutions, they believe that that was there. Uh, if you will, insurance policy against an authoritarian drift in their system. Those institutions, both public institutions and private institutions actually proved to be paper tigers. I mean, look at corporations that caved in, look at law firms that arcade that have caved in, Look at Columbia university being, if you will the most egregious example of caving in and plus still not getting the money or not actually stopping the demands that are made on it. So Harvard after equivocating on this finally came up with a response and decided to take the risk of losing massive sums of grants from the federal government. And in fact, it's even suing. The Trump administration for withholding the money that was supposed to go to them. And I guess there is an awakening and the other colleges in order to protect freedom of expression, in order, to protect the independence of higher education in this country, which has been sacrosanct, which is why a lot of people from all around the world, students... Including you and I, right? I mean, that's why we... Yeah, exactly. By the way, it's anywhere between $44 and $50 billion worth of business as well. Then it is there finally coming together, because if you don't hang together, you'll hang separately, is a good American expression that I like. And then trying to defend themselves. And I think this Harvard slope suit, the case of Harvard, is going to be like the Stokes trial of the 1920s on evolution. It's going to be a very similar case, I believe, and it may determine how American democracy goes from now.Andrew Keen: Interesting. You introduced me to Ece Temelkuren, another of your friends from someone who no longer lives in Turkey. She's a very influential Turkish columnist, polemicist. She wrote a famous book, How to Lose a Country. She and you have often compared Turkey. With the rest of the world suggesting that what you're going through in Turkey is the kind of canary in the coal mine for the rest the world. You just came out with a piece, Turkey, a crisis of legitimacy, a massive social mobilization and regional power. I want to get to the details of what's happening in Turkey first. But like Ece, do you see Turkey as the kind of canary and the coalmine that you got into this first? You're kind of leading the narrative of how to address authoritarianism in the 25th century.Soli Ozel: I don't think Turkey was the first one. I think the first one was Hugo Chavez. And then others followed. Turkey certainly is a prominent one. But you know, you and I did other programs and in an earlier era, about 15 years ago. Turkey was actually doing fine. I mean, it was a candidate for membership, still presumably, formally, a candidate for membership in the European Union, but at the time when that thing was alive. Turkey did, I mean, the AKP government or Erdogan as prime minister did a lot of things that were going in the right direction. They certainly demilitarized Turkish politics, but increasingly as they consolidated themselves in power, they moved in a more authoritarian path. And of course, after the coup attempt in 2016 on the 15th of July, that trend towards authoritarianism had been exacerbated and but with the help of a very sui generis if you will unaccountable presidential system we are we find ourselves where we are but The thing is what has been missed out by many abroad was that there was also a very strong resistance that had remained actually unbowing for a long time. And Istanbul, which is, of course, almost a fifth of Turkey's population, 32 percent of its economy, and that's where the pulse of the country actually beats, since 2017 did not vote for Mr Erdogan. I mean, referendum, general election, municipal election. It hasn't, it hasn't. And that is that really, it really represents the future. And today, the disenchantment or discontent has now become much broader, much more broadly based because conservative Anatolia is also now feeling the biting of the economy. And this sense of justice in the country has been severely damaged. And That's what I think explains. The kinds of reaction we had throughout the country to the first arrest and then incarceration of the very popular mayor of Istanbul who is a national figure and who was seen as the main contender for the presidency in the elections that are scheduled to take place in.Andrew Keen: Yeah, and I want to talk more about Turkey's opposition and an interesting New York Times editorial. But before we get there, Soli, you mentioned that the original model was Chavez in Venezuela, of course, who's always considered a leftist populist, whereas Erdogan, Trump, etc., and maybe Netanyahu are considered populists of the right. Is that a useful? Bifurcation in ideological terms or a populist populism that the idea of Chavez being different from Trump because one's on the left and right is really a 20th century mistake or a way of thinking about the 21st century using 20th-century terms.Soli Ozel: Okay, I mean the ideological proclivities do make a difference perhaps, but at the end of the day, what all these populist movements represent is the coming of age or is the coming to power of country elites. Suggests claiming to represent the popular classes whom they say and who are deprived of. Uh, benefits of holding power economically or politically, but once they get established in power and with the authoritarian tilt doesn't really make a distinction in terms of right or wrong. I mean, is Maduro the successor to Chavez a rightist or a leftist? I mean does it really make a difference whether he calls himself a leftists or a rightists? I is unaccountable, is authoritarian. He loses elections and then he claims that he wins these elections and so the ideology that purportedly brought them to power becomes a fig leaf, if you will, justification and maybe the language that they use in order to justify the existing authoritarianism. In that sense, I don't think it makes a difference. Maybe initially it could have made a difference, We have seen populist leaders. Different type of populism perhaps in Latin America. For instance, the Peruvian military was supposed to be very leftist, whereas the Chilean or the Brazilian or the Argentinian or the Uruguayan militaries were very right-wing supported by the church itself. Nicaragua was supposed to be very Leftist, right? They had a revolution, the Sandinista revolution. And look at Daniel Ortega today, does it really matter that he claims himself to be a man of the left? I mean, He runs a family business in Nicaragua. And so all those people who were so very excited about the Nicaraguan Revolution some 45 years ago must be extraordinarily disappointed. I mean, of course, I was also there as a student and wondering what was going to happen in Nicaragua, feeling good about it and all that. And that turned out to be an awful dictatorship itself.Andrew Keen: Yeah, and on this sense, I think you're on the same page as our mutual friend, Moises Naim, who wrote a very influential book a couple of years ago. He's been on the show many times about learning all this from the Latin American playbook because of his experience in Venezuela. He has a front row on this. Solly, is there one? On this, I mean, as I said, you just come out with a piece on the current situation in Turkey and talk a little bit more detail, but is America a few stops behind Turkey? I mean you mentioned that in Turkey now everyone, not just the urban elites in Istanbul, but everyone in the country is beginning to experience the economic decline and consequences of failed policies. A lot of people are predicting the same of Trump's America in the next year or two. Is there just one route in this journey? Is there's just one rail line?Soli Ozel: Like by what the root of established wow a root in the sense of youAndrew Keen: Erdogan or Trump, they come in, they tell lots of lies, they promise a lot of stuff, and then ultimately they can't deliver. Whatever they're promising, the reverse often happens. The people they're supposed to be representing are actually victims of their policies. We're seeing it in America with the consequences of the tariff stuff, of inflation and rise of unemployment and the consequences higher prices. It has something similar. I think of it as the Liz Truss effect, in the sense that the markets ultimately are the truth. And Erdogan, I know, fought the markets and lost a few years ago in Turkey too.Soli Ozel: There was an article last week in Financial Times Weekend Edition, Mr. Trump versus Mr. Market. Trump versus, Mr. Market. Look, first of all, I mean, in establishing a system, the Orban's or Modi's, they all follow, and it's all in Ece's book, of course. You have to control the judiciary, you have to control the media, and then all the institutions. Gradually become under your thumb. And then the way out of it is for first of all, of course, economic problems, economic pain, obviously makes people uncomfortable, but it will have to be combined with the lack of legitimacy, if you will. And that is, I don't think it's right, it's there for in the United States as of yet, but the shock has been so. Robust, if you will, that the reaction to Trump is also rising in a very short period, in a lot shorter period of time than it did in other parts of the world. But economic conditions, the fact that they worsen, is an important matter. But there are other conditions that need to be fulfilled. One of those I would think is absolutely the presence of a political leader that defies the ones in power. And I think when I look at the American scene today, one of the problems that may, one of problems that the political system seems to have, which of course, no matter how economically damaging the Trump administration may be, may not lead to an objection to it. To a loss of power in the midterms to begin with, is lack of leadership in the Democratic Party and lack of a clear perspective that they can share or program that they present to the public at large. Without that, the ones that are in power hold a lot of cards. I mean, it took Turkey about... 18 years after the AKP came to power to finally have potential leaders, and only in 2024 did it become very apparent that now Turkey had more than one leader that could actually challenge Erdogan, and that they also had, if not to support the belief in the public, that they could also run the country. Because if the public does not believe that you are competent enough to manage the affairs of the state or to run the country, they will not vote for you. And leadership truly is an extraordinarily important factor in having democratic change in such systems, what we call electoral authoritarian.Andrew Keen: So what's happened in Turkey in terms of the opposition? The mayor of Istanbul has emerged as a leader. There's an attempt to put him in jail. You talk about the need for an opposition. Is he an ideological figure or just simply younger, more charismatic? More attractive on the media. What do you need and what is missing in the US and what do you have in Turkey? Why are you a couple of chapters ahead on this?Soli Ozel: Well, it was a couple of chapters ahead because we have had the same government or the same ruler for 22 years now.Andrew Keen: And Imamo, I wanted you to pronounce it, Sali, because my Turkish is dreadful. It's worse than most of the other.Soli Ozel: He is the mayor of Istanbul who is now in jail and whose diploma was annulled by the university which actually gave him the diploma and the reason why that is important is if you want to run for president in Turkey, you've got to have a college degree. So that's how it all started. And then he was charged with corruption and terrorism. And he's put in zero. Oh, it's terrorism. There was.Andrew Keen: It's terrorism, they always throw the terrorist bit in, don't they, Simon?Soli Ozel: Yeah, but that dossier is, for the moment, pending. It has not been closed, but it is pending. Anyway, he is young, but his major power is that he can touch all segments of society, conservative, nationalist, leftist. And that's what makes people compare him also with Erdogan who also had a touch of appealing to different segments of the population. But of course, he's secular. He's not ideological, he's a practical man. And Istanbul's population is about anywhere between 16 and 18 million people. It's larger than many countries in Europe. And to manage a city like Istanbul requires really good managerial skills. And Imamoglu managed this in spite of the fact that central government cut its resources, made sure that there was obstruction in every step that he wanted to take, and did not help him a bit. And that still was continuing. Still, he won once. Then there was a repeat election. He won again. And this time around, he one with a landslide, 54% against 44% of his opponent, which had all theAndrew Keen: So the way you're presenting him, is he running as a technocrat or is he running as a celebrity?Soli Ozel: No, he's running as a politician. He's running a politician, he is a popular politician. Maybe you can see tinges of populism in him as well, but... He is what, again, what I think his incarceration having prompted such a wide ranging segments of population really kind of rebelling against this incarceration has to do with the fact that he has resonance in Anatolia. Because he does not scare conservative people. He aspires the youth because he speaks to them directly and he actually made promises to them in Istanbul that he kept, he made their lives easier. And he's been very creative in helping the poorer segments of Istanbul with a variety of programs. And he has done this without really being terribly pushing. So, I mean, I think I sense that the country sees him as its next ruler. And so to attack him was basically tampering with the verdict of the ballot box. That's, I, think how the Turkish public interpreted it. And for good historical reasons, the ballot box is really pretty sacred in Turkey. We usually have upwards of 80% of participation in the election.Andrew Keen: And they're relatively, I mean, not just free, but the results are relatively honest. Yeah, there was an interesting New York Times editorial a couple of days ago. I sent it over. I'm sure you'd read it anyway. Turkey's people are resisting autocracy. They deserve more than silence. I mean from Trump, who has very peculiar relations, he has peculiar relations with everyone, but particularly it seems with Turkey does, in your view, does Turkey needs or the resistance or the mayor of Istanbul this issue, need more support from the US? Would it make any difference?Soli Ozel: Well, first of all, the current American administration didn't seem to particularly care that the arrest and incarceration of the mayor of Istanbul was a bit, to say the least, was awkward and certainly not very legal. I mean, Mario Rubio said, Marco Rubio said that he had concerns. But Mr. Witkoff, in the middle of demonstrations that were shaking the country, Mr. Witkof said it to Tucker Carlson's show that there were very wonderful news coming out of Turkey. And of course, President Trump praised Erdogan several times. They've been on the phone, I think, five times. And he praised Erdogan in front of Bibi Netanyahu, which obviously Bibi Netanyah did not particularly appreciate either. So obviously the American administration likes Mr. Erdogans and will support him. And whatever the Turkish public may or may not want, I don't think is of great interest toAndrew Keen: What about the international dimension, sorry, Putin, the Ukrainian war? How does that play out in terms of the narrative unfolding in Turkey?Soli Ozel: Well, first of all, of course, when the Assad regime fell,Andrew Keen: Right, and as that of course. And Syria of course as well posts that.Soli Ozel: Yeah, I mean, look, Turkey is in the middle of two. War zones, no? Syria was one and the Ukraine is the other. And so when the regime fell and it was brought down by groups that were protected by Turkey in Idlib province of Syria. Everybody argued, and I think not wrongly, that Turkey would have a lot of say over the future of Syria. And I think it will. First of all, Turkey has about 600 miles or 911 kilometer border with Syria and the historical relations.Andrew Keen: And lots of Syrian refugees, of course.Soli Ozel: At the peak, there were about 4 million, I think it's now going down. President Erdogan said that about 200,000 already went back since the overthrow of the regime. And then of course, to the north, there is Ukraine, Russia. And of course this elevates Turkey's strategic importance or geopolitical importance. Another issue that raises Turkish geopolitical importance is, of course, the gradual withdrawal of the United States from providing security to Europe under the umbrella of NATO, North Atlantic Alliance. And as the Europeans are being forced to fetch for themselves for their security, non-EU members of NATO such as Britain, Norway, Turkey, their importance becomes more accentuated as well. And so Turkey and the European Union were in the process of at least somewhat normalizing their relations and their dialog. So what happened domestically, therefore, did not get much of a reaction from the EU, which is supposed to be this paragon of rights and liberties and all that. But But it also left Turkey in a game in an awkward situation, I would think, because things could have gone much, much better. The rapprochement with the European Union could have moved a lot more rapidly, I will think. But geopolitical advantages are there. Obviously, the Americans care a lot for it. And whatever it is that they're negotiating with the Turkish government, we will soon find out. It is a... It is a country that would help stabilize Syria. And that's what President Trump also said, that he would adjudicate between Israel and Turkey over Syria, because these two countries which have been politically at odds, but strategically usually in very good terms. Whether or not the, so to avoid a clash between the two in Syria was important for him. So Turkey's international situation will continue to be important, but I think without the developments domestically, Turkey's position and profile would have been much more solid.Andrew Keen: Comparing US and Turkey, the US military has never participated, at least overtly, in politics, whereas the Turkish military, of course, has historically. Where's the Turkish Military on this? What are they thinking about these imprisonments and the increasing unpopularity of the current regime?Soli Ozel: I think the demilitarization of the Turkish political system was accomplished by the end of the 2000s, so I don't think anybody knows what the military thinks and I'm not sure that anybody really wonders what the army thinks. I think Erdogan has certainly on the top echelons of the military, it has full control. Whether or not the cadets in the Turkish military are lower echelons. Do have political views at odds with that of the government that is not visible. And I don't think the Turkish military should be designing or defining our political system. We have an electorate. We do have a fairly, how shall I say, a public that is fairly attuned to its own rights. And believes certainly in the sanctity of the ballot box, it's been resisting for quite some time and it is defying the authorities and we should let that take its course. I don't think we need the military to do it.Andrew Keen: Finally, Soli, you've been very generous with your time from Vienna. It's late afternoon there. Let's end where we began with this supposed tarnishing of the U.S. Brand. As we noted earlier, you and I have invested our lives, if for better or worse, in the U S brand. We've always been critical, but we've also been believers in this. It's also important in this brand.Soli Ozel: It is an important grant.Andrew Keen: So how do we, and I don't like this term, maybe there is a better term, brands suggest marketing, something not real, but there is something real about the US. How do we re-establish, or I don't know what the word is, a polish rather than tarnish the US brand? What needs to happen in the U.S.Soli Ozel: Well, I think we will first have to see the reinvigoration of institutions in the United States that have been assaulted. That's why I think the Harvard case... Yeah, and I love you.Andrew Keen: Yeah, and I love your idea of comparing it to the Scopes trial of 1926. We probably should do a whole show on that, it's fascinating idea.Soli Ozel: Okay, and then the Democratic Party will have to get its act together. I don't know how long it will take for them to get their act together, they have not been very...Andrew Keen: Clever. But some Democrats will say, well, there's more than one party. The Sanders AOC wing has done its job. People like Gavin Newsom are trying to do their job. I mean, you can't have an official party. There's gonna be a debate. There already is a debate within the party between the left and the right.Soli Ozel: The thing is, debates can be endless, and I don't think there is time for that. First of all, I think the decentralized nature of American governance is also an advantage. And I think that the assault has been so forceful that everybody has woken up to it. It could have been the frog method, you know, that is... Yeah, the boiling in the hot water. So, already people have begun to jump and that is good, that's a sign of vitality. And therefore, I think in due time, things will be evolving in a different direction. But, for populist or authoritarian inclined populist regimes, control of the institutions is very important, so you've got to be alert. And what I discovered, studying these things and looking at the practice. Executive power is a lot of power. So separation of powers is fine and good, but the thing is executive power is really very... Prominent and the legislature, especially in this particular case with the Republican party that has become the instrument of President Trump, and the judiciary which resists but its power is limited. I mean, what do you do when a court decision is not abided by the administration? You cannot send the police to the White House.Andrew Keen: Well, you might have to, that's why I asked the military question.Soli Ozel: Well, it's not up to the military to do this, somehow it will have to be resolved within the civilian democratic system, no matter where. Yes, the decks are stacked against the opposition in most of these cases, but then you'll have to fight. And I think a lot hinges on how corporations are going to react from now on. They have bet on Trump, and I suppose that many of them are regretting because of the tariffs. I just was at a conference, and there was a German business person who said that he has a factory in Germany and a factory in Ohio. And he told me that within three months there would not be any of the goods that he produces on the shelves because of tariffs. Once this begins to hit, then you may see a different dynamic in the country as well, unless the administration takes a U-turn. But if it does take a U turn, it will also have weakened itself, both domestically and internationally.Andrew Keen: Yeah, certainly, to put it mildly. Well, as we noted, Soli, what's real is economics. The rest is perhaps froth or lies or propaganda. Soli Ozel: It's a necessary condition. Without that deteriorating, you really cannot get things on values done.Andrew Keen: In other words, Marx was right, but perhaps in a slightly different context. We're not going to get into Marx today, Soli, we're going to get you back on the show. Cause I love that comparison with the current, the Harvard Trump legal thing, comparing it to Scopes. I think I hadn't thought of that. It's a very interesting idea. Keep well, keep safe, keep telling the truth from Central Europe and Turkey. As always, Solia, it's an honor to have you on the show. Thank you so much.Soli Ozel: Thank you, Andrew, for having me.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. 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We kick off a new series about the Jewish people and how Israel affects our Bibles and the roots of Christinaity. Discussion Questions for this week are 1. Why is it important to understand the Jewishness of the Bible and of Jesus? 2. How does realizing that most of the Bible was written by and about Jewish people shift the way we read it? 3. What challenges do modern Christians face when interpreting ancient Jewish texts and customs? 4. Why did God choose the Jewish people to be his representatives on earth? 5. How do Genesis 12:1–3 and Isaiah 9:7 help us understand Israel's original calling? 6. What does it mean to say that Israel was “blessed to be a blessing”? How does that principle apply to us today? 7. What are some of the dangers of the church forgetting its Jewish roots? 8. What tensions arise when discussing modern political Israel in light of biblical Israel? 9. What does it mean to bear the name of Jesus in our lives today? 10. What does it look like when Christians misrepresent Jesus to the world? 11. What are some practical ways we can be agents of shalom in our daily lives? 12. Reflecting on Dallas Willard's quote: “Discipleship is the process of becoming who Jesus would be if he were you,” how would your life look different if you fully lived that out? 13. Are there areas of your life where you feel you've carried Jesus' name in vain (i.e., misrepresented him)? 14. What are some concrete steps you can take this week to better reflect Jesus to those around you?

Northwest Bible Church – April 27, 2025 – Matthew – Alan Conner Introduction to Matthew Intro 1. Why study a Gospel?    2. Why study the gospel according to Matthew?     1. It is a book of the Bible 2. Placed first in the order of NT canon.   3. Helps us in part to fulfill the Great Commission, Matt. 28:20  A. PURPOSE OF MATTHEW'S GOSPEL  1) to tell the story of Jesus.     2) to evangelize the Jews and give apologetic help for believers. B. DISTINCTIVES OF MATTHEW'S GOSPEL 1. Jewishness.      2. The kingdom of heaven is fulfilled in Christ and His followers.    a. Jesus is the Messianic King who brings in the kingdom of God (heaven).      b. Matthew is concerned to show that Christ and Christianity is the true     continuation of the Old Testament – the true Israel (Leon Morris).     3.  Matthew is interested in the entrance of Gentiles into the kingdom.      4. Jesus as the Prophet/Teacher.   5 major discourses that he gives from Jesus' teaching ministry, beginning with the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7; 10; 13; 18; 23-25).    Conclusion

Many Believers are beginning to ask, "how in the world did Christianity get here?" Well, I believe that there is an answer, but we must go way back to the immediate generations that followed Messiah's earthly exit. In this episode I'll promote a question for your consideration: What if the Body of Messiah is so grossly disconnected from what It was intended to be because the fruit that is growing on the tree of Constantine's efforts is now coming into maturity? Do you know of the historical shift of removing all that was errantly labeled the "Jewishness" of the faith? Would you consider that this is possibly why Christianity looks like it does today? Let's find out!

In this episode, we explore the connections between 1 Kings 8:1–13 and Ephesians 2:17–22, tracing the story of God's dwelling place from Solomon's temple to the household of God built on Christ, and the apostles and prophets.We begin by reflecting on Solomon as a man of peace who, at the height of Israel's unity and prosperity, brings the ark of the covenant into the Holy of Holies during the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). We unpack the significance of this moment—not only as the culmination of temple-building, but also as a symbolic statement about God's presence: God is stationary enough to dwell among His people, yet larger and mobile enough not to be confined by them. The mobile nature of God's presence was symblized by the poles used to transport the ark remaining attched to the ark, reminding Israel that God is not a localized deity limitd to the Temple, but the Lord of all the earth.From there, we turn to Ephesians 2:17–22, where Paul describes Jesus as the cornerstone of a new temple made up of people—both Jews and Gentiles—joined together through their participation in the new, unified, peaceful humanity of Christ. Like Solomon, Jesus partners with God to build a dwelling place for God from a place of peace and oneness. However, unlike Solomon, Christ did not inherit a situation of peace from his father. He had to forge it within himself - in his own flesh - reconciling his Jewishness with Gentileness. That reconciliation took place throughout the entire course of his life, all the way into the the excruciating experience of the cross where his love and commitment for Gentiles was severely tested. By reconciling Jew and Gentile together in his own flesh and humanity, he was able to reconcile them both to God in his own fleshly body on the cross. This made it possible for Jews and Gentiles who participate in his new humanity to be one "body", and function together as a dwelling place for God - a temple in the Lord - in the Spirit. Just as the glory of the Lord filled Solomon's temple, the Spirit now indwells this new temple, a mobile, missional people shaped by God's own presence. This episode invites listeners to consider how God's desire was never just to dwell among Israel, but to make His presence among Israel accessible among the nations. The mobile nature of God's presence—tabernacling with humanity, dwelling in Christ, and now among His people—is a thread that ties Solomon's temple to the apostolic mission of the Church. The temple was never meant to be an end in and of itself - it was pointing to something greater.Key Passages:1 Kings 8:1-13Ephesians 2:17-22Key Resources:Link to visuals and video of the design of Solomon's TempleExplainer⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Video⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on how to use ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.biblehub.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.blueletterbible.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Leave us a question or comment at our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠website podcast page⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.* Intro Music: "Admirable" Carlos Herrera Music

From his days in Meir Kahane's Jewish Defense League through decades representing South Brooklyn in Albany and now as an independent voice of assertive Jewishness, Dov Hikind has never stood ... The post “Militantly Jewish” appeared first on ColemanNation.

Who are the most symbolic mid 20th century American Jews? In Eminent Jews, New Yorker staff writer David Denby tells the remarkable stories of Leonard Bernstein, Mel Brooks, Betty Friedan, and Norman Mailer. He explains how each embodied a new Jewish confidence after WWII, contrasting with earlier generations' restraint. Each figure pushed boundaries in their own way - Bernstein through his musical versatility, Brooks through his boundary-pushing humor about Jewish experiences, Friedan through her feminist theories, and Mailer through his provocative writing style. Five key takeaways * Post-WWII Jewish Americans displayed a newfound confidence and willingness to stand out publicly, unlike previous generations who were more cautious about drawing attention to their Jewishness.* The four figures in Denby's book (Bernstein, Brooks, Friedan, and Mailer) each embraced their Jewish identity differently, while becoming prominent in American culture in their respective fields.* Mel Brooks used humor, particularly about Jewish experiences and historical trauma, as both a defense mechanism and a way to assert Jewish presence and resilience.* Each figure pushed against the restraint of previous Jewish generations - Bernstein through his expressive conducting and openness about his complex sexuality, Friedan through her feminist activism, and Mailer through his aggressive literary style.* Rejecting the notion that a Jewish "golden age" has ended, Denby believes that despite current challenges including campus anti-Semitism, American Jews continue to thrive and excel disproportionately to their population size.David Denby is a staff writer at The New Yorker. He served as a film critic for the magazine from 1998 to 2014. His first article for The New Yorker, “Does Homer Have Legs?,” published in 1993, grew into a book, “Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World,” about reading the literary canon at Columbia University. His other subjects for the magazine have included the Scottish Enlightenment, the writers Susan Sontag and James Agee, and the movie directors Clint Eastwood and the Coen brothers. In 1991, he received a National Magazine Award for three of his articles on high-end audio. Before joining The New Yorker, he was the film critic at New York magazine for twenty years; his writing has also appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, and The New Republic. He is the editor of “Awake in the Dark: An Anthology of Film Criticism, 1915 to the Present” and the author of “American Sucker”; “Snark”; “Do the Movies Have a Future?,” a collection that includes his film criticism from the magazine; and “Lit Up,” a study of high-school English teaching. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

If you value my work, please consider a $8/month or $80/year subscription. I'm funded entirely by you.If you can't financially support my efforts, please consider sharing my work with your friends and family to spread the message. I can't do it without you.At first glance, the optics are shocking: Jewish students chaining themselves to Columbia's gates, claiming they're being silenced. But look closer. These are pro-Palestinian activists protesting the university's ties to Israel and its alleged role in deporting a fellow protester through ICE. They're staging sit-ins, posting emotional pleas, and demanding the university cut off institutions they call complicit in genocide.This isn't about Palestine. It's about advancing a radical socialist agenda. These students aren't outliers—they're foot soldiers in a broader leftist movement that uses identity as cover for revolutionary politics. Same tactics as BLM: disruption, moral blackmail, and demands wrapped in the language of liberation.They cloak themselves in Jewishness—not as an expression of faith, but as a shield. The formula is simple: if Jewish students are protesting, any criticism must be antisemitic. It's a rhetorical trap—one that mirrors BLM's tactic of equating all dissent with racism.At the core is a Marxist reframe of global conflict: a world divided into oppressors and oppressed. Israel and Palestine are just the latest projection of this binary. The issue isn't geopolitical—it's ideological. The same narrative used to vilify capitalism and Western values is now applied to international politics.This isn't Judaism. It's ideological capture.This isn't about peace. It's about control—of institutions, of narratives, of power.Don't fall for it.The script hasn't changed. Just the actors.Decode The Left with Karlyn Borysenko is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Join me LIVE for streams on YouTube and Rumble, Monday-Friday at 5pm ET and Saturdays at 6pm ET for Socialism Saturday—your front-row seat to the far-left agenda.Support My Work and Help Me Expose the Far LeftI'm 100% funded by you via small donations and with the help of a volunteer community to spread the word. If you don't support my work, it won't happen. Learn how here. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit karlyn.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, cultural historian and literary scholar Golan Moskowitz discusses his current book project, which explores the cultural history of Jewish drag and its relationship with Jewish identity in America. Through detailed analysis of significant figures such as Adah Isaacs Mencken, Flawless Sabrina, Harvey Fierstein, Charles Busch, Sadie Sadie the Rabbi Lady, and Sasha Velour, Moskowitz highlights how Jewishness and drag have intertwined to challenge social norms and reflect shifting cultural and political climates. He also delves into the concept of 'transcreativity' and how Jewish drag performers have contributed to broader American drag culture, emphasizing the importance of recognizing queer, trans, and non-binary Jews in the art of drag.

Joseph was thrown into a pit. Sold into slavery. Locked in prison. But God had a plan - a plan bigger than anyone could see. A plan that would save his people.  Sound familiar? Joseph isn't just a historical figure - he's a foreshadowing of the Messiah.  From his betrayal by his own brothers to his rise to power in Egypt, every detail points to something greater. His story echoes through time - straight to the life, death, and resurrection of Yeshua. But here's the real question: Why didn't his brothers recognize him? And why don't so many Jewish people recognize Jesus today? In this episode, we uncover the hidden layers in Joseph's story and how they connect to Israel's ultimate redemption.  If you've ever wondered why the Jewishness of Jesus matters, this one's for you. Key Takeaways Joseph & Jesus - The Parallels Are Uncanny. Betrayal, suffering, redemption - it's all there. Why Didn't His Brothers Recognize Him? And what does that reveal about Israel today? God's Plan Was Bigger Than They Knew. What they meant for evil, God meant for good. The Exodus is Coming. Not just in ancient Egypt - there's another one on the horizon. Chapter Markers [00:05] - Welcome to The Jewish Road Podcast [02:15] - Joseph's Story: More Than Just a Coat of Many Colors [08:42] - The Parallels Between Joseph and Jesus - Foreshadowing the Messiah [14:30] - Why Didn't His Brothers Recognize Him? A Clue for Today [19:20] - The Hidden Exodus Prophecy in Joseph's Last Words [24:15] - How This Changes Everything - Seeing the Story Through Jewish Eyes [30:55] - Call to Action: What If There's More to the Story? Listen Now & Discover What You've Been Missing. This isn't just history - it's prophecy in motion. Are you seeing the full picture? Start watching the Joseph video series at TheJewishRoad.com/Joseph and prepare for what's next.  

With Nicholas Mirzoeff.  Content Warning: Sexual abuse In this episode we discuss the new book, To See in the Dark: Palestine and Visual Activism Since October 7. Nicholas Mirzoeff shares how experiences of domestic, political and sexual violence - in both his family history and his own childhood - have shaped his understanding of events since October 7th. He talks about what it means to identify as an anti-Zionist Jew in the current moment, and how we can find new anticolonial ways of seeing that reject the drone's-eye-view of ‘white sight'. We also discuss the evolving visual politics of Palestine solidarity, from watermelon emojis and AI-generated images, to the torn canvas of a portrait of Arthur Balfour. Podcast listeners can get 40% off the book on plutobooks.com, using the coupon PODCAST at the checkout. — Among the founders of visual culture as a field, Nicholas Mirzoeff has also written extensively on Jewishness and Palestine. His books include How To See The World, The Right to Look and The Appearance of Black Lives Matter. He has written for the Guardian, Hyperallergic and The Nation. He lives in New York City.

In Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies

In Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. 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 Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/latin-american-studies

In Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies

In Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/caribbean-studies

In Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas (U Toronto Press, 2025), Stephanie M. Pridgeon explores cultural depictions of Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity within a comparative, inter-American framework. The dynamics of Jewishness interacting with other racial categories differ significantly in Latin America and the Caribbean compared with those in the United States and Canada, largely due to long-standing and often disputed concepts of mestizaje, broadly defined as racial mixture. As a result, a comprehensive understanding of Jewishness and the construction of racial identities requires an exploration of how Jewishness intersects with both Blackness and Indigeneity in the Americas. Absorption Narratives charts the ways in which literary works capture differences and similarities among Black, Jewish, and Indigenous experiences. Through an extensive and diverse examination of fiction, Pridgeon navigates the complex connections of these identity categories, offering a comparative perspective on race and ethnicity across the Americas that destabilizes US-centric critical practices. Revealing the limitations of US-focused models in understanding racial alterity in relation to Jewishness, Absorption Narratives emphasizes the importance of viewing the narrative of race relations in the Americas from a hemispheric standpoint. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/jewish-studies

Hannah Lupton Reinhard's paintings always have a consistency in intent, and yet an interpretation of intention seems to be flexible for some, perhaps even malleable. The theme of moving goal posts to secure your own meaning is rife in modern society, perhaps more so than ever as we all have the unique ability to erase our own history so easily. We all, at the touch of a button, can share and manipulate our opinions, often in an instant. I don't know if we, as a collective, were ready for this, and we are struggling. We are angry. We are confused. Reinhard has been making paintings about being Jewish since her time at RISD, has explored Jewish "displacement, diaspora, and the weight of inherited identity." In her celebratory work, she speaks of something quite universal: the complex idea of home and, as she notes from the philosopher Judith Butler, "that cohabitation—living among and alongside others—is central to Jewishness itself." As war in the Middle East began to explore, her work was being re-evauluated, her inclusive opinions causing her anger from her community and re-reading of her artwork that was never her intention. It brought out broader conversations about coexistence, and how a proudly Jewish artist can criticize Zionism while remaining as proud of her heritage as ever? In this conversation on the Radio Juxtapoz podcast, Evan Pricco speaks with Reinhard at Rusha & Co just as her solo show, Are We Here Yet? was opening. They spoke about how the fires in Los Angeles gave her work an extra dimension, finding identity in art school and how she painted through a major shift in her public life and how it caused a uncertainty in her private life. (Editor's note: Click here to see imagery that connects with the conversation, a gives context for some of Reinhard's older works)Radio Juxtapoz' Unibrow podcast is hosted by Juxtapoz editor, ⁠⁠⁠Evan Pricco⁠⁠⁠. Episode 155 was recorded in Los Angeles on February 12, 2025 Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@radiojuxtapoz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠

If, as Paul states plainly in Romans 2, that the genuine quality of Jewishness and circumcision is inward and spiritual, why did God institute and attach promises to physical circumcision in the first place? Was He mistaken? Did He change His mind? And how can He be trusted if He's (seemingly) the one going back on His Word?In Romans 3:1-8, Paul begins to answer these objections and sets the stage for the clearest vindication of God's faithfulness — the good news of true life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

In this episode, we speak with Darryl Li about some of his essays. We begin by discussing his work and experiences in Palestine. His transformation from an NGO worker in the early 2000s to a scholar and political activist. Li explores the interpolation of Jewishness into a racial category globally. He also explores the Law of Return, which allows any Jew in the world to not only settle in Israel but also to enjoy superior rights to the land than Palestinians. The conversation covers the evolution of Palestinian armed resistance, particularly in Gaza, and the shift in Israeli strategies from direct occupation to economic strangulation and remote control bombardment. Li explains how Israel's reliance on Palestinian labor has fluctuated, leading to the importation of migrant workers from other countries, which weakened Palestinian leverage in resistance negotiations. He also addresses the impact of the Oslo Accords, which created the Palestinian Authority, and how it has undermined anti-Zionist critique by implicitly accepting Zionism. Additionally, Li touches on the intersection of the black freedom struggle and Jewish assimilation in the U.S., noting how Holocaust memory culture—in service of zionist imperialism—has helped elevate anti-Semitism above other forms of racial, ethnic, and religious antagonisms. Darryl Li is active in Palestine solidarity work in the United States as an organizer, lawyer, and writer. He lived in the Gaza Strip from 2001 to 2002 and made regular visits until 2011 working for various NGOs, especially the Gaza-based Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Darryl's day job is teaching anthropology at the University of Chicago. He is the author of The Universal Enemy: Jihad, Empire, and the Challenge of Solidarity (Stanford University Press 2020).   To support our work please become a patron of the show for as little as $1 per month at patreon.com/millennialsarekillingcapitalism   Links:   On Law and Racial Capitalism in Palestine    Disengagement and the Frontiers of Zionism   The Rise and Fall of Baby Boomer Zionism

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 this thought-provoking episode of The Dude Therapist, Eli Weinstein sits down with the multitalented Jonah Platt to explore the evolving narrative of Jewish identity and the power of activism. Jonah dives into his personal journey of embracing Jewishness, the complexities of advocating in Hollywood, and how recent events have ignited a renewed sense of Jewish pride. This episode explores what it means to celebrate identity in the face of adversity, from tradition and family to the importance of respectful dialogue. Jonah also shares wisdom for young activists, highlights the importance of education and community support, and offers a glimpse into the future of Jewish advocacy. Key Takeaways: Judaism is about more than religion; it's about family and tradition. Activism can spark newfound pride and strength in identity. Respectful dialogue fosters understanding, even amidst differences. It's okay to block negativity online—protect your mental health. Embracing and celebrating who you are leads to empowerment. Community and education are vital for strengthening identity and advocacy. Jonah Platt, host of the new podcast Being Jewish with Jonah Platt, is a trusted voice in modern Jewish advocacy and culture. With a career that has spanned Broadway (Wicked), Hollywood (Being the Ricardos), and beyond, Jonah brings authenticity and insight to the ongoing conversation about Jewish identity. Tune in for inspiration, insight, and actionable advice on embracing who you are and standing tall in advocacy. Don't miss this empowering discussion! Resources Mentioned: Jonah's new podcast: Being Jewish with Jonah Platt Recommended readings on Jewish identity and activism Follow Jonah Platt on social media for updates and insights

Isaiah Saldivar and Eduardo Arroyo (Radar Apologetics) Will be discussing what it means to be a messianic Jew, what's going on in Israel and how this relates to current events.Eduardo's Channel https://www.youtube.com/@RadarApologeticsTo sow into this stream Monthly/ONE time/ https://bit.ly/2NRIBcM PAYPAL https://shorturl.at/eJY57www.Isaiahsaldivar.comwww.Instagram.com/Isaiahsaldivarwww.Facebook.com/Isaiahsaldivarwww.youtube.com/IsaiahsaldivarOrder My New Book, "How To Cast Out Demons," Here! https://a.co/d/87NYEfcTo sow www.Isaiahsaldivar.com/partner

This is a teaser preview of one of our Radical Reads episodes, made exclusively for our supporters on patreon. You can listen to the full 85-minute episode without ads and support our work at https://www.patreon.com/posts/e97-radical-10-116392240In this episode, we talk to Michael Richmond, a Jewish communist author and anti-racist activist, about David Baddiel's ridiculous book, Jews Don't Count. In this book, Baddiel claims that the key thing about contemporary antisemitism is the left's confusion over it, and how this confusion means that Jews are uniquely excluded from left-wing political discourse and activism.We discuss (and make fun of) Baddiel's book for about an hour and a half covering every aspect of his shallow understanding of racism, whiteness, Jewishness and antisemitism, and why Baddiel should probably get new friends.Listen to the full episode here:E98: Radical Reads – ‘Jews Don't Count' by David BaddielMore information:Read Michael's excellent book (co-authored with Alex Charnley), Fractured: Race, Class, Gender and the Hatred of Identity PoliticsA number of Michael's articles can be found here and here. Some which are particularly relevant to this discussion are:'Philosemitism: An Instrumental Kind of Love''On "Black Antisemitism" and Antiracist Solidarity''A long way from Cable Street''Playing the Jew'Timeline of people's history stories about radical Jewish historyThe webpage for this episode is available here: https://workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e98-radical-reads-jews-dont-count-by-david-baddiel/AcknowledgementsThanks to our patreon supporters for making this podcast possible. Special thanks to Jazz Hands, Jamison D. Saltsman, Fernando López Ojeda, Jeremy Cusimano, and Nick Williams.The episode image of David Baddiel at Soho Theatre, 2020. Credit: Raph PH (with additional design by WCH). CC 2.0.Edited by Jesse FrenchOur theme tune is Montaigne's version of the classic labour movement anthem, ‘Bread and Roses', performed by Montaigne and Nick Harriott, and mixed by Wave Racer. Download the song here, with all proceeds going to Medical Aid for Palestinians. More from Montaigne: website, Instagram, YouTube.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/working-class-history--5711490/support.

To celebrate 2024, we're taking a look backwards, and diving into the standout thinkers who have taken to the Intelligence Squared stage in the past 12 months. You might still be on the hunt for that perfect gift for the avid reader in your life, or perhaps you're after some food for thought over the festive period. Either way, this 12 episode mini series will highlight the books that shaped 2024. We hope you'll join us in 2025 for more events that intrigue, fascinate and entertain. David Baddiel has been on our screens for over 35 years. The creator of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and one half of Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, he spent his early career in the world of television comedy. More recently, he has become a leading voice on Jewishness and antisemitism in the U.K after releasing his award-winning documentary and book Jews Don't Count. In October 2024 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how both comedy and Jewishness have shaped his career and life. Drawing from his hilarious new memoir My Family, he discussed his upbringing from reckoning with his family's trauma from the Holocaust to his late mother's affair with a golfing salesman and his father's struggles with dementia. Baddiel revealed his family story to shed light on why he believes laughter has the capacity to transform our darkest experiences into something more bearable. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations ad free, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary chats with theologian, author and speaker Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum. He is one of the foremost authorities on the nation of Israel. He received his BA from Cedarville University, and his Masters of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary.The completion of his dissertation, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology, was the culmination of 13 years of research for which he earned his Ph.D. at New York University in 1989. He has done graduate work studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NY and Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is the founder and director of Ariel Ministries, which is dedicated to evangelism of Jewish people and discipleship of Jewish and Gentile believers from a messianic Jewish frame of reference. His testimony as a Messianic Jew goes back to the 1940s when his parents were driven from their home in Poland, ending up eventually in the US after the war. A full version of his conversion is found here. Today we discuss his story as well as the biblical teaching that all of Israel shall be saved. Gentiles often have questions about this very subject because today's churches are not clear on this issue, citing that since Israel is gathered in unbelief since 1948,  today's Israel has no prophetic significance. Dr. Fruchtenbaum's teaching on the 5 covenants of Israel and who exactly is in the land clears this up. Dr. Fruchtenbaum has a pre-trib, pre-millennial, dispensational perspective; his teachings help the Gentiles understand the Jewishness of the entire Bible. All of his incredible resources are found here.   Stand Up For The Truth Videos: https://rumble.com/user/CTRNOnline & https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgQQSvKiMcglId7oGc5c46A

Leora Fridman is the author of Bound Up: On Kink, Power, and Belonging, and also serves as director of The New Jewish Culture Fellowship. She joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation exploring the intersection of Jewishness and kink — and the immense importance of art, to the future of Judaism.Head to JudaismUnbound.com/classes to check out our up upcoming 3-week mini-courses in the UnYeshiva! Explore Judeo-Futurism, Shabbetai Zvi, and more!Purchase Leora Fridman's book, Bound Up: On Kink, Power and Belonging here. Enter the code RBOUND for a discount!Access full shownotes for this episode via this link. If you're enjoying Judaism Unbound, please help us keep things going with a one-time or monthly tax-deductible donation -- support Judaism Unbound by clicking here!

David Baddiel has been on our screens for over 35 years. The creator of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and one half of Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, he spent his early career in the world of television comedy. More recently, he has become a leading voice on Jewishness and antisemitism in the U.K after releasing his award-winning documentary and book Jews Don't Count. In October 2024 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how both comedy and Jewishness have shaped his career and life. Drawing from his hilarious new memoir My Family, he discussed his upbringing from reckoning with his family's trauma from the Holocaust to his late mother's affair with a golfing salesman and his father's struggles with dementia. Baddiel revealed his family story to shed light on why he believes laughter has the capacity to transform our darkest experiences into something more bearable. This is the second instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations ad free, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Baddiel has been on our screens for over 35 years. The creator of The Mary Whitehouse Experience and one half of Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned, he spent his early career in the world of television comedy. More recently, he has become a leading voice on Jewishness and antisemitism in the U.K after releasing his award-winning documentary and book Jews Don't Count. In October 2024 he came to the Intelligence Squared stage to discuss how both comedy and Jewishness have shaped his career and life. Drawing from his hilarious new memoir My Family, he discussed his upbringing from reckoning with his family's trauma from the Holocaust to his late mother's affair with a golfing salesman and his father's struggles with dementia. Baddiel revealed his family story to shed light on why he believes laughter has the capacity to transform our darkest experiences into something more bearable. This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full conversations ad free, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices