Podcasts about Tel Aviv

IDF demolishes apartment of Palestinian terrorist who killed Or Eshkar on Dizengoff street in Tel Aviv; Turkey uncovers Mossad ring & ancient Jewish burial grounds in Israel north found to  have been robbed and ruined.  New: Patreon Link http://patreon.com/shannafuld Social Media links, Newsletter sign-up &, Support the show $ here: https://linktr.ee/israeldailynews Music: Flying High; Erika Krall http://www.beatport.com/track/flying-high/14762768 --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/israeldailynews/support

Andrew Rimland is a 22-year-old serial entrepreneur who founded Swish Breaks, one of the fastest-growing sports card entertainment companies.  In high school, he founded Ace Hospitality Group, an event marketing company that has hosted nightlife events all over the U.S. and in Tel Aviv, Israel.  The post 1099: What It's like to be a Successful Serial Entrepreneur at 22 With Andrew Rimland, Swish Breaks [Main T4C Episode] appeared first on Time4Coffee.

Seventy-five years ago this week, the Jewish community of Palestine (known as the yishuv) gathered in the art museum of Tel Aviv—then a city of less than 200,000 inhabitants—in order to perform a resurrection. Thirty-seven people—36 men and one woman—were about to sign Israel's Declaration of Independence, which would reestablish Jewish political sovereignty in the Holy Land for the first time since the destruction of the Second Temple 2,000 years ago. They gathered in that museum just three years after the liberation of Auschwitz, just three years after six million Jews were murdered in Europe, to establish Israel as a place where the Jewish people could at last control their own fate and destiny and safety. More than that, in the land of Israel, there was a sense—not just among religious Jews, but all Jews—that they were finally going home. The Israel of the early days—poor, socialist, secular, where food rationing was the norm— feels so far away. Now, Israel is an economic superpower, a world leader in high tech. And the socialist left that built the country has given way to a political right that dominates the Jewish state. But throughout its 75 years, Israel has always prided itself on being the world's only Jewish democracy. A liberal democracy in a sea of undemocratic regimes. Now, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are worried that that identity—an identity that Israelis pride themselves on and have defended since its existence—is in danger. They've been taking to the streets, night after night for the past five months, with Israeli flags in their hands chanting and demanding one thing: “democratya.” Democracy. One of those people is my guest today, Daniel Gordis: rabbi, academic, American Israeli, and author of eight books, including the just published Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled Its Founders' Dreams? On today's episode, Danny helps us make sense of this complicated, tumultuous, beautiful, often indecipherable place: What did Israel's founders want for the country? Has their promise been fulfilled? How did the Jewish people manage to become a world economic powerhouse after two in every three European Jews had been slaughtered? And in light of the ongoing political turmoil, what does the future of this small, miraculous country—both Jewish and democratic—hold? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of AI21 Labs, Ori Goshen. AI21 Labs is a Tel Aviv-based software company specializing in natural language processing-based systems. In conversation with Emerj CEO and Head of Research Daniel Faggella, Ori expounds on generative AI use cases that carry true ROI potential for every business and where the technology is expected to take us over the next decade. Together, they offer analyses of genAI's capacity as an “autocomplete”-style technology and where comparisons between the two begin and end. This episode is sponsored by AI21 Labs. Learn how brands work with Emerj and other Emerj Media options at emerj.com/ad1.  

In a special breaking news edition, Lt. Col. (res.) Avital Leibovich, director of AJC Jerusalem, joins us to break down Israel's Operation Shield and Arrow and the threat posed by the Iranian-backed terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has fired over 500 rockets towards Israel since Tuesday. Leibovich also provides an update on how Israelis are coping with the latest escalation and efforts being made towards a ceasefire.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  ___ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Avital Leibovich ___ Show Notes: Take action: Urge Congress to Stand with Israel Against Terrorism Read: What to Know About the Gaza Strip, Terrorist Rocket Attacks, and More 5 Things You Need to Know About Israel's Iron Dome Defense System and Those Who Voted Against It Listen: Israel at 75: 7 Things You Should Know About Israel: Listen to these seven episodes of AJC's People of the Pod featuring leading Israeli and American scholars, experts, and influencers that will help you learn more about the complexities, triumphs, and challenges facing Israel today. AJC CEO Ted Deutch on the Importance of Jewish American Heritage Month: This May, AJC is proud to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and the countless contributions that Jewish Americans have made as patriotic citizens, creative artists, brilliant scientists, and star athletes. To kick things off, we're joined by AJC CEO Ted Deutch to hear his reflections on his first several months at AJC, what he's looking forward to at AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv, and how he's marking Jewish American Heritage Month. Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org   If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of Interview with Avital Leibovich Manya Brachear Pashman:  Welcome to a special breaking news edition of People of the Pod to bring our listeners up to date on what's going on in Israel. Joining me is Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, Director of AJC Jerusalem. Avital, welcome, and I hope you are safe. But how are you doing? Tell me. Avital Leibovich:   Thank you. It's an opportunity for me to be here with you today and to share from the ground our experiences here in Israel. This is already the third day of the operation. There's tension in the air, but I think that our resilience as Israelis is quite strong. And I'm sure we will overcome this situation as we have in the past. Manya Brachear Pashman: So what is going on there–who is firing the rockets that are now falling on Israel? Avital Leibovich:    So the operation is directed towards the Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Islamic Jihad in Gaza is the smaller of two terror groups in Gaza. It's backed and funded and directed by Iran. And its charter is pretty clear, I would say. Basically, the organization believes that Israel has no right to exist. And in order to make sure that we will not exist, Iran is funding its military capabilities. They have managed to build an arsenal of rockets, of mortars, of drones. They have managed to train soldiers, militants in order to conduct anti-Israeli operations.  And Israel decided to initiate an operation, following two events. The first event was a week ago, where over 100 rockets were fired by this organization, the Islamic Jihad, within 24 hours, towards Israel. And the second event actually took place on Pesach, on Passover, in which 34 rockets were fired from Lebanon within 10 minutes by factions of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Lebanon. So this was an opportunity to make sure that Israel is preventing further escalation and basically defending its people. Manya Brachear Pashman: So where's Hamas in all of this? Avital Leibovich:    So Hamas has in the past, decided to actually sit quietly and not intervene. And this is common. We've seen this in the operation last year, we've seen this in the operation two years ago. And you may want to ask what the reason for Hamas sitting back and the reason is that Hamas has a lot to lose. Currently, Israel declared that it's only looking to target Islamic Jihad targets, namely not Hamas targets. And Hamas understands that if it will join the celebration of Islamic Jihad, then the price Hamas will pay will be very, very high, for one.  There are 18,000 Palestinian workers entering Israel from Gaza on a daily basis. These kinds of workers bringing salaries back home, actually move some sort of an economic cycle inside the Gaza Strip, and the shopping power is stronger and stronger by these workers. If Hamas will join the operation, then obviously, Israel will close the border and will not allow these workers to enter. And additionally, I'll remind our listeners that Hamas is still renovating Gaza from previous operations. So it would be quite serious from their perspective, to stop the renovation and then create further damage. Because as you know, Hamas and Islamic Jihads' arsenal of weapons are very much inside densely populated areas. Manya Brachear Pashman: So what are we seeing in terms of – is the Iron Dome doing its job of protecting Israelis? Avital Leibovich:    So I would say thank God for the Iron Dome, I would say thank God for the very strong and strategic partnership Israel has with the US, which is very highly valued here. The Iron Dome is basically saving their lives with a whopping success rate of 90%, the Israeli people know that there's something in the sky that will be able to protect them. There are thousands of people that have spent the last three days in shelters, their spirit is quite broken. Because sitting in a shelter, whether you're a four year old child or a 30 year old mum, and hearing constantly sounds of explosions and jets flying in the air, this is not a normal kind of atmosphere.  Manya Brachear Pashman: By the time this airs, perhaps a ceasefire will be reached, wouldn't that be a blessing? Are you optimistic that that will happen? Avital Leibovich:   You know, living in the Middle East, you have to be optimistic in routine times, in emergency times. Talks of a ceasefire began yesterday. But we have to keep in mind that there is a lot of fake news, a lot of false publications. And I don't see an end to the current situation, the next couple of hours, maybe in another 24 to 48 hours. And I'm just getting a report that there was a direct hit of a building in Rehovot, which is a city maybe half an hour from here, half an hour from Tel Aviv. So we're not there quite yet. I do want to mention, in this context, Egypt's role. Media has put a focus on Saudi Arabia's role in the region. But we must not forget that Egypt is a strong partner. And this is the partner who actually mediates between Israel and the different terror groups in Gaza. They have an important role. Israel respects this role. And we should not forget this very, very significant actor in our region. Manya Brachear Pashman: Well Avital, thank you for that addendum and thank you for joining us. I really hope that you're able to stay safe and that we are talking about a ceasefire very soon. Avital Leibovich:   Thank you for the opportunity.   

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian, diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman and US bureau chief Jacob Magid join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode. We are on the third day of Operation Shield and Arrow. Fabian debriefs on the events of the past 24 hours, including a targeted killing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad military commander Ali Ghali. We hear about the first real-world interception for the David's Sling air defense system. Berman discusses the lack of a long-term strategy as Israel appears to face the same scenario in these too-often cycles of rocket attacks and air strikes.  We hear how the world at large is responding to Operation Shield and Arrow in the diplomatic sphere. Magid drills down into events that took place at the United Nations yesterday. How is the Biden administration responding to the fighting -- and what is different this time to previous flareups.  Discussed articles include: Live blog May 11 Homes damaged as Gazan rockets bombard south, hampering ceasefire efforts David's Sling downs rocket headed for Tel Aviv in first real-world interception Israeli airstrike in Gaza kills commander of Islamic Jihad's rocket forces Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: Police and army at the scene where a rocket fired from Gaza into southern Israel, hit and caused damage between houses in the southern city of Ashkelon, May 10, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aviv Leibovici is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer of Buildots, a construction tech company based in Tel Aviv with locations in the UK and US, as well. Buildots uses AI and powerful data systems to connect all of the aspects of construction projects, from the first day of design to the last day of construction, to bring accuracy to data analysis and keep everyone on the the same page through the construction process. Surprisingly, Aviv is relatively new to construction, but he knew through his research that there was a technology gap in the traditional construction process and understood that he and the other founders of Buildots could fill it. This week on Dirt Talk, host Aaron Witt is joined by Aviv Leibovici, who joined the pod from London. They discussed Aviv's entrance into the Dirt World, the similarities and differences between tech and construction companies, and the challenges of discussing tech with construction leaders who have had negative experiences with other new technologies. Thanks to Aviv and Buildots for coming on the podcast. To learn more about Buildots, check out buildots.com or follow them on IG at @buildots. If you have any questions or feedback, email the Dirt Talk crew at dirttalk@buildwitt.com. Stay Dirty!

As The Islamic Juhad is shelling the cities of Israel please join me for a discussion of communcal responsibility in Tel Aviv and in ... Gaza News From The Torah 10MAY2023 - PODCAST

CytoReason is supporting some of the largest pharma companies and research institutes with their boldest attempts to improve people lives through improved clinical design and speeding the discovery of new life-saving drugs. Using the knowledge the world has accumulated to intelligently augment clients' data and to identify patterns within it and generate a system-level understanding of immunity. These patterns then become powerful tools for explaining, predicting and optimizing outcomes proving guidance in both drug discovery and clinical trials. I spoke with David from his office in TelAviv and here is some of what we touched on: - What it means to be the first cell-centered computational model for human disease. - How CytoReason's massive database and AI-led platform supports the pharma and the biotech space to make decisions on what drug to give to what patients. - It's not one company, it's not one person, it's not the brilliance of one researcher or one invention but rather a long, long, long chain of people, different people, different companies, different research institutions, different governments all contributing to bringing therapy to a patient somewhere in the world. - Five of the world's top 10 pharma companies use CytoReason technology in order to manage their research and development. - The why behind his personal drive to improve patient outcomes in healthcare. - The early stages of getting the business off the ground and bootstrapping the company until they knew the exact value they could bring to the market and then scaling to 150 team members globally. David Harel, co-founder and CEO of CytoReason, is a well-rounded business leader with proven strategic thinking and demonstrated execution in healthcare, technology and finance. He spent the first part of his career in private equity, focusing on strategy and financing of growth companies in industrial and healthcare IT markets. Prior to CytoReason, David served as the CEO of Virtual OfficeWare Healthcare Solutions. He is an expert at evaluating business models, creating targeted go-to-market plans and focusing on the right opportunities. David has excellent negotiation skills with the ability to close large contracts. David also has direct experience in P&L management, M&A, market evaluation, sales planning and financial analysis. Connect with David: Website: https://www.cytoreason.com/ Connect with Allison: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisonsummerschicago/ Website: DisruptiveCEONation.com Twitter: @DisruptiveCEO    #futurist #CEO #startup #startupstory #founder #founderstory #business #businesspodcast #podcast               Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the Second hour of the Marc Cox Morning Show: Ron DeSantis keeps building his case for running for president Hans von Spakovsky, Senior Legal Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, joins Marc to discuss the Supreme Courts' "so-called" ethical violation Dom Savino from This Morning with Gordon Deal, gives a market update. In Other News with Kathleen England.  Today Kathleen tells us about Prince Charles becomes King.  There is a shortage of Fruit Roll-ups in Tel Aviv, a couple gets busted trying to smuggle some into the country.   Coming Up:  Raven Harrison and Real or Fake News with Carl Middleman

More than 100,000 people turned out in central Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday to say no to the government's plans for judicial reform, for the 18th consecutive week. For now, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding off on the judicial overhaul. And, in 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Council established the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in the context of Law Enforcement. Their most recent trip brought the international experts to the United States. Also, the humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate in Sudan as the fighting intensifies. The UN estimates 19 million people will be food insecure in the coming months. Plus, get ready for Eurovision, kicking off soon in Liverpool. 

Tel Aviv-based producer, vocalist and live performer May Lavie joins the Human Endeavour Records family for its fourth release, ‘Are You Having A Good Day?' The four tracks are a window into May's mind-expanding world, which she creates through hypnotic, textural loops and spoken samples dug up from all corners of the Internet. She pairs passages of text from scientists, social activists and films that raise questions of human nature, with her intoxicating vocals and a cosmic concoction of indie dance, synth-wave and electronica. 'The Poem' picks things up next. Eerie and hypnotic, a dizzying vocal passage is layered over a bewitching, echoing synth line, moody pads and May's gliding voice. Buy: bit.ly/HE004MayLavie

Our dear friends, Rabbi Zev Porat and Pastor Carl Gallups, join Pastor Jim and Lori today to talk about what is going on in Israel today. Rabbi Zev lives in Tel Aviv and gives us a “boots on the ground” update of the events taking place there, in Jerusalem, and in other areas of Israel! Rabbi Zev tells us that A.I. and cyber warfare are leading up to the physical battle for Israel. Pastor Carl reminds us that the prophet Ezekiel said that Jerusalem is the center of the earth - and that Israel, specifically Jerusalem, is Ground Zero for the spiritual battle that is coming at the end of the age! Find out today about all of these happenings and so much more! We are in the Revelation Days!

Vor 75 Jahren wurde der Staat Israel gegründet. Der Jahrestag steht allerdings im Schatten der schwersten innenpolitischen Krise seit der Staatsgründung. Wo steht das Land heute? Wohin steuert es? Einschätzungen von Michael Wolffsohn, deutsch-jüdischer Historiker. Vor 75 Jahren wurde der Staat Israel gegründet. Staatsgründer David Ben-Gurion rief am 14. Mai 1948 die Unabhängigkeitserklärung Israels aus. Der Jahrestag steht allerdings im Schatten der schwersten innenpolitischen Krise seit der Staatsgründung. Das Land ist gesellschaftlich, politisch und religiös tief gespalten. Was ist aus den Träumen der Gründerinnen und Gründer von einst geworden und wo steuert Israel hin? Michael Wolffsohn wurde in Tel Aviv geboren, er ist Sohn einer jüdischen Kaufmannsfamilie. Der Historiker wanderte später nach Deutschland aus und war mehr als 30 Jahre Professor für Neuere Geschichte an der Bundeswehr-Universität in München. Er ist zu Gast bei David Karasek.

In Other News with Kathleen England.  Today Kathleen tells us about Prince Charles becomes King.  There is a shortage of Fruit Roll-ups in Tel Aviv, a couple gets busted trying to smuggle some into the country.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian and environment reporter Sue Surkes join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode. To start the program, the panel weighs in briefly with thoughts on King Charles III's coronation yesterday. Unfortunately, over this weekend, there were numerous reports of violent incidents and murder. Fabian puts the numbers in the context of the past bloody week, as well as the total murdered this year. On Thursday, two Palestinians accused of killing Lucy Dee and her daughters Maia and Rina in a shooting attack in the Jordan Valley last month were shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Nablus along with a third Palestinian gunman. Leo Dee, the husband and father of the victims, said he was grateful the operation was “done in a way that has not endangered the lives of Israeli soldiers, nor innocent Palestinian civilians — in a way that only the Israeli army knows how to do.” Fabian explains how the operation was carried out. Last week Surkes wrote about two environmental reports that indicate that Israel isn't living up to its promises. The first reviewed existing data through the end of 2021 and states that Israel isn't fulfilling its global warming emissions targets. The second report discusses an ombudsman's findings on pesticide misuse and lack of environmental enforcement. She describes a dire situation. For years, Surkes has followed the building and promised opening of the Tolerance Museum in Jerusalem. When will it finally be opening its doors? Israel Aerospace Industries announced Thursday that it has been developing its first large autonomous underwater vehicle. It's called BlueWhale and it is meant to gather covert intelligence and detect enemy threats. Fabian describes its capability. Discussed articles include: The Royal Family's 800-year relationship with Britain's Jews, in 7 historical tidbits Young Arab man shot dead in apparent brawl on northern road; another killed in Acre ‘Scores settled': IDF kills Palestinians who allegedly shot dead 3 Dee family members Israel falling far behind its own global warming emissions targets Number of Israelis harmed by pollution more than doubled in past decade — ombudsman Climate bill delayed as Energy Ministry argues it should head panel on emission cuts Tolerance Museum, a ‘people's parliament,' will partially open in mid-May Israel Aerospace Industries unveils BlueWhale unmanned spy submarine Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. IMAGE: In this March 13, 2021 file photo, Jewish and Arab Israelis protest in Tel Aviv against police inaction, the surging crime and violence in Arab communities. (Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"Enough of blood and tears, enough!" Genug Blut, genug Tränen sind schon vergossen worden – mit eindringlichen Worten bekennt sich Israels Ministerpräsident Izchak Rabin im September 1993 vor dem Weißen Haus zum Frieden mit den Palästinensern. Er reicht Palästinenserführer Jassir Arafat an diesem Tag in Washington die Hand, mit ein wenig Nachhilfe von US-Präsident Bill Clinton. Das Bild geht um die Welt, Frieden im Nahen Osten scheint plötzlich möglich. Doch nicht alle wollen den Frieden. Gut zwei Jahre nach dem historischen Handschlag, im November 1995, wird Rabin am Rande einer großen Kundgebung in Tel Aviv erschossen. Der Täter ist ein strenggläubiger rechtsnationaler Jude. 16 Jahre zuvor, im März 1979, haben Ägyptens Präsident Anwar al-Sadat und Israels Ministerpräsident Menachem Begin ebenfalls einen Friedensvertrag vor dem Weißen Haus unterzeichnet. Den ersten Friedensschluss Israels mit einem seiner arabischen Nachbarn, 30 Jahre nach der Gründung des jüdischen Staates. In diesem Fall ist es der Ägypter Sadat, der seinen Willen zum Frieden mit dem Tod bezahlt. 1981 wird er bei einer Militärparade von fanatischen Islamisten erschossen. Zwei Friedensschlüsse, zwei Attentate – hat der Frieden im Nahen Osten überhaupt eine Chance? Das fragen wir in der neuen Folge des ZEIT-Geschichtspodcasts Wie war das noch mal? Wie kann man Frieden in dieser Konfliktregion erreichen? Welche Versuche gab es? Und was ist aus ihnen geworden? Diese Folge des Podcasts haben wir live beim ZEIT ONLINE Podcast-Festival im Großen Saal des Westhafen Event & Convention Center in Berlin aufgenommen. Mehr zum Thema, zum Beispiel ein Interview mit dem Historiker Dan Diner zum Zweiten Weltkrieg im Nahen Osten, lesen Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe des Magazins ZEIT Geschichte. Unter diesem Link können Sie eine Gratisausgabe von ZEIT Geschichte zum Testen bestellen. Sie bekommen das Heft im Handel oder online im ZEIT Shop. Alle Folgen von "Wie war das noch mal?" hören Sie hier. Die Redaktion erreichen Sie per Mail unter zeitgeschichte@zeit.de.

On COI #417, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the attempted drone strike on the Kremlin, Moscow pointing the finger at the US after the attack, a major delegation of American arms makers going to Taiwan, the tensions between Kiev and the White House over the Discord Leaks, the aggressive US Ambassador to China warning Beijing against supporting Moscow, multiple Israeli bombing raids in Syria, reports that the US has killed a Syrian civilian in airstrike, Arab ministers calling for the de-occupation of Syria, Tel Aviv's bombing of Gaza, as well as the leaders of Syria and Iran signing long-term oil and trade agreements.

On COI #417, Kyle Anzalone and Connor Freeman cover the attempted drone strike on the Kremlin, Moscow pointing the finger at the US after the attack, a major delegation of American arms makers going to Taiwan, the tensions between Kiev and the White House over the Discord Leaks, the aggressive US Ambassador to China warning Beijing against supporting Moscow, multiple Israeli bombing raids in Syria, reports that the US has killed a Syrian civilian in airstrike, Arab ministers calling for the de-occupation of Syria, Tel Aviv's bombing of Gaza, as well as the leaders of Syria and Iran signing long-term oil and trade agreements.   Odysee Rumble  Donate LBRY Credits bTTEiLoteVdMbLS7YqDVSZyjEY1eMgW7CP Donate Bitcoin 36PP4kT28jjUZcL44dXDonFwrVVDHntsrk Donate Bitcoin Cash Qp6gznu4xm97cj7j9vqepqxcfuctq2exvvqu7aamz6 Patreon Subscribe Star YouTube Facebook  Twitter  MeWe Apple Podcast  Amazon Music Google Podcasts Spotify iHeart Radio

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The FTC proposes barring Meta's from earning money on the data it collects on young users. TikTok launches a new advertising product. Also, Israel's tech sector says political turmoil in the country is making it hard to raise money. WSJ reporter Dov Lieber joins host Zoe Thomas from Tel Aviv to explain the impact the unrest is having on “startup nation.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This May, AJC is proud to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and the countless contributions that Jewish Americans have made as patriotic citizens, creative artists, brilliant scientists, and star athletes. To kick things off, we're joined by AJC CEO Ted Deutch to hear his reflections on his first several months at AJC, what he's looking forward to at AJC Global Forum 2023 in Tel Aviv, and how he's marking Jewish American Heritage Month.  *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  ___ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Ted Deutch ___ Show Notes: Learn more at: AJC.org/JewishAmericanHeritageMonth Join us in Tel Aviv at AJC Global Forum 2023: AJC.org/GlobalForum Sign up for AJC CEO Ted Deutch's Video Newsletter: Receive "Ten from Ted," the biweekly video newsletter from AJC CEO Ted Deutch where he'll share ten major highlights in the work he and American Jewish Committee (AJC) are doing to make this world safer for the Jewish people and Israel.  Take our quiz: Jewish American Heritage Month Quiz: Test your knowledge of the rich culture and heritage of the Jewish people and their many contributions to our nation! Start now. Listen: Israel at 75: 7 Things You Should Know About Israel: Listen to these seven episodes of AJC's People of the Pod featuring leading Israeli and American scholars, experts, and influencers that will help you learn more about the complexities, triumphs, and challenges facing Israel today. How Playing Baseball With Team Israel Transformed Ryan Lavarnway's Life: In celebration of Israel's 75th birthday, guest host Dov Wilker, AJC's Atlanta director, sits down with retired Major League Baseball catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who played for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics. Lavarnway reflected on the Jewish pride he felt representing Israel on the international stage, how he has dealt with the antisemitism in his career, and the importance of building connections between the Jewish state and the Diaspora. Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of Interview with Ted Deutch: Manya Brachear Pashman: This May, AJC is proud to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and the countless contributions that Jewish Americans have made as patriotic citizens, creative artists, brilliant scientists, lightning fast athletes, one of whom we heard from last week. Returning to the studio to help us kick off the celebration is AJC's CEO, Ted Deutch. Ted, welcome back to People of the Pod.    Ted Deutch: It's great to be back. Thanks, Manya.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So I want to start with a progress report. You have been CEO now for I'm going to count on my fingers here October, November, December -seven months, now?    Ted Deutch: Now, you've got to get onto your second hand.   Manya Brachear Pashman: Which means this time last year, you were still a congressman. So what's remarkably different about your life now, your mission and your day to day approach to that mission?   Ted Deutch: Well, the day to day work is very different. And I'd start with the most obvious: I came from a place that was, by definition, political, everything about it was driven by politics. I worked really hard to focus on the issues that mattered to me and my community. But there were always political considerations. Now, as the CEO of American Jewish Committee, I have the incredible honor of spending everyday working with a supremely talented team here at AJC, remarkable volunteers and lay leaders with one mission, and that's to think about how we can do more to enhance the well being of the Jewish people and Israel and advance democratic values. And every issue I work on, I'm passionate about, and it matters to me, it matters to my core. It affects who I am, and my family and my community. And that's a big difference. And it's just a big privilege to be able to spend my days this way now.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So what have some of the milestones been so far?   Ted Deutch: AJC as the global advocacy organization for the Jewish people has been doing incredible work in the United States and all around the world for more than a century. But to bring those two things together, as we did in our advocacy, with the Biden administration, to urge them to create a national action plan to combat antisemitism, seeing them move forward, and announce that plan and then bringing to the White House special envoys to combat antisemitism from around the world that we had helped create. And as we worked in other countries, as they prepared their own action plans to confront anti semitism and foster Jewish life, this was an opportunity to bring their experiences together so that they could share their insight into what's worked and what hasn't in their own countries. So that our own administration can come up with something meaningful as we seek to strike back against antisemitism. That is something that I'm really proud of. And being able to travel around the country and around the world as I have to meet with Jewish communities, in all parts of America and all corners of the world and to be reminded of just how much we have in common.  It sounds obvious and probably silly to say, but when you're when you're speaking with university students in Paris and you realize that the things that they're focused on, the challenges they face and antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment that they deal with is not unlike what our campus leaders in America are dealing with and, and knowing that we can bring them together as we will at our Global Forum. Or spending time with communities from across Latin America. And when we all got together in Mexico City, to talk about the ways to ensure a strong future for the Jewish community. And meeting LFT students, our high school program, Leaders for Tomorrow, the high school students that we're helping to train to be the leaders of the next generation, and be inspired by by what they've already taken from this program, whether it's in Atlanta in Chicago, or any of the other places that I've had the opportunity to travel. There's a lot that we've done, there's a lot that I'm really excited about. And as you point out, just barely been seven months.   Manya Brachear Pashman: Shortly after you began, there was kind of a torrent of antisemitic incidents, rhetoric that was on social media, in the celebrity world. And I'm curious if that kind of took you aback because it happened right after you started your position. And do you feel like you've made some progress in that sphere, as well, in terms of educating celebrities, creative artists, and the like?   Ted Deutch: It happened immediately after almost as if it were planned to happen right when I started. But, I've been clear about this, as horrific as that was- there was a national conversation that started that I don't remember seeing before and to have the chance to talk about the Jewish community and antisemitism and the issues that AJC works on, on national television on a regular basis, and help elevate the importance of these issues for the broader community was an important moment for me and for AJC, and for the Jewish community to really focus on what we do, and the fact that our call to action against antisemitism is a document that the rest of the country can look to Jews and non-Jews alike for ways that they can be involved to combat antisemitism.  And since all of this happened, and since we've found ourselves in the middle of this conversation, there has been a real interest in looking at all the ways that government and education and law enforcement and corporate America and social media can all play their part. And yes, there's a special opportunity for the creative community.  I was in Los Angeles recently with Doug Emhoff, with the second gentleman, and we did a program for executives and agents and music and studio executives, to talk about antisemitism, the things that that they can do, all with the understanding that content really drives so much of what we think about in our country, and we want people to be aware of this rising antisemitism and make sure that there's an understanding as well of what the Jewish community is and what the Jewish community isn't, and to be careful not to advance antisemitic tropes and to reflect the diversity of the Jewish community and to acknowledge the great diversity within Israel. These are, these are conversations that are taking place there, they're taking place with media, I've met with a number of media outlets, again, just to make sure that some of these issues that we know are so challenging and sometimes complicated, deserve a full airing, and we need to start with what is true about our community and about the things we care about. We've worked hard to accomplish that.   Manya Brachear Pashman: And I just just want to remind listeners that it's Kanye West. It was the comments from Kanye West that just kept coming. And yeah, you're right. It was days after you started your job that we were addressing that.  It was Congress that named the month of May Jewish American Heritage Month or JAHM, as we affectionately call it around here. How did you celebrate it on Capitol Hill?   Ted Deutch: Well, there were receptions and we usually made a statement in Congress. We looked for opportunities to help elevate the issue. This is an important opportunity for the community. It happens every May. Most people I'm not embarrassed to say–although I will be next year if this is still the case. But I'm not embarrassed to say that most people didn't know that May was Jewish American Heritage Month. They're obviously familiar with the steps Congress took to create Black History Month and Women's History Month and so many others. But here we are at this moment. And Congress, when I was a member of Congress, we tried to, to remind people what was happening. But there's so much more and this year, in particular, in light of what the community has been facing, the timing of Jewish American Heritage Month is really important. And it's something that we're really trying to take advantage of, frankly.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So now how do you celebrate it as you lead a non Jewish nonprofit? Is that very different, what you're experiencing this year?   Ted Deutch: Well, it is. And again, it means I get to spend a lot of my time thinking about all of the ways that we can draw people's attention to this month. It gives me a chance to think about the prominent Jewish Americans who contribute to our country and in so many ways, that helps strengthen it. And for us here at AJC, we've worked really hard, focusing specifically at the outset of this month, on elected officials, state, local, and federal, and business leaders just to come in and acknowledge Jewish American Heritage Month and look for their own ways to recognize the contributions that Jewish Americans have made to our country. And we have a resource to do that. It's AJC.org/JewishAmericanHeritageMonth, of all things, which helps elected officials know what this is and how they can be involved and tells business leaders how they can acknowledge this month and it's so important this year, especially when so much of the conversation has been about antisemitism, and about hatred. And about that really a debate that's being, a conversation is being driven by those who want to divide the country and to spread false stereotypes of conspiracy theories about Jews and the Jewish community. Here is the perfect opportunity for us to set the record straight.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So you raise an important point that the people who should be driving the conversation about Jewish American Heritage, or driving the conversation in our community should not be the antisemites, it should be the Jewish community itself. So is this month a rare opportunity, or a platform to move the needle when it comes to awareness of antisemitism? Or is that not what this month is necessarily about? I mean, why is it on the calendar?   Ted Deutch: It is not a month about antisemitism any more than Black History Month is a month about racism. These are important milestones for our two communities to celebrate the contributions of our communities to the American story, that's what Jewish American Heritage Month is. The best way to push back against the antisemites is to marginalize them, and to give more people the opportunity to actually get to know the Jewish community–who we are, the diversity within the Jewish community. The fact that the Jewish community is not just a religion, but a people, and a culture and, and a group that has contributed so much throughout our nation's history. That's what this is really about. And by the way, it's going to have the added benefit of reducing antisemitism, because antisemitism preys on false narrative conspiracy theories, and providing facts and helping to educate people about who we really are, is the great opportunity that we have in front of us.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So I'm curious, you talked about traveling the world and spending time with Jewish communities around the globe, celebrating many Shabbats abroad. Have you encountered comparable commemorations, and time set aside for Jewish heritage in those countries? Or any heritage for that matter? I mean, Arab Americans in France or Asian Pacific Islanders in Germany.   Ted Deutch: First, I would note that May is also AAPI Heritage Month here in the United States. And AJC is working with partners in the API community, in a number of our regions to do joint programming, because again, important contributions to American history from both of our communities. Around the world, I don't know of anything, specifically comparable. I know, in Europe, there's a Europe-wide day to acknowledge the contribution of the Jewish community. There's a Jewish culture festival in Krakow that has become fairly popular. I was in Mexico City, just recently, and I know that in Mexico and in Argentina, there are opportunities to celebrate the Jewish community. But I don't know anything quite like this. But I know that in Europe, a lot of the plans that were created to combat antisemitism also includes specific ways to foster Jewish life. And one of the ways to do that is to highlight the history of the Jewish community in each of those countries.   Manya Brachear Pashman: So why does America devote an entire month to all the many diverse heritages, ethnicities, that make up our country? Why is this an American concept?   Ted Deutch: Well Manya, I don't know what the thinking was in moving forward with these designations. But it is, in many ways, the most American idea. This is what America is, it's who we are. It's this great collection of all different groups and faiths and nationalities, all contributing to create this remarkable country that we're so privileged to live in, a country with challenges that we can only overcome by working together. Antisemitism, by the way, one of those challenges, that it doesn't just affect the Jewish community, it affects everyone. But having specific times to pause to think about the contributions from each of those communities. When you add them all up, suddenly, you've got a year's worth of contributions from the great diversity within our country to celebrate. And I think that's the way we need to think about it. This isn't about May. This is, as you point out, about this collection of months throughout the year where we can celebrate the contributions from individual groups, which overall, reflect and contribute to the great diversity and the great successes that we've had.   Manya Brachear Pashman: I want to switch gears, switch countries, and talk a little bit about Israel. Israel has been going through a pretty difficult few months between its internal political debate over judicial review and the ongoing threats of terrorism, just this week more rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip. What would be your message to American Jews who are concerned about what they're seeing here?   Ted Deutch: Well, I understand the concern. Obviously, this most recent barrage of rockets is a reminder that while we're focused, and there's so much attention here in our country, to the politics in Israel, to the protests to the workings of the Knesset and the government and, whether there's going to be some sort of judicial reform, or what it looks like, to protect civil liberties and minority rights and checks and balances…while all of those conversations are taking place, 100+ rockets reminds us that we have a whole lot to be vigilant about. And Israel's security is not something that we can ever take for granted. And that it's important to note that all of those protesters in Israel, whether they're protesting, on Saturday nights, on a regular basis against judicial reform, or they were part of the big protest of people who turned out in Jerusalem to support judicial reform, all of them understand the threats that the country faces externally. And I understand concerns, I just think it's important to remember that it's, standing together in support of the country, doesn't mean that we don't have specific opinions about things that happen within the country. It doesn't mean that everyone comes at their connection to Israel the same way. But it does remind us that, being united, as rockets fall, as Israel confronts these threats is really important, not only for Israel, but I think for diaspora Jewry, as well.   Manya Brachear Pashman: We are holding our first Global Forum under your leadership in Tel Aviv next month, on the occasion of Israel's 75th birthday. So what are you hoping participants take away from that event, especially in light of what we just discussed – the difficulties and the many, many tensions that have to be managed there?   Ted Deutch: Well, the one thing that I know people will take away is the importance of being there. The fact that at this moment when history is being made the opportunity to be in Israel not only to focus on judicial reform and the political challenges and the security threats, but to also be in this incredibly vibrant, and diverse, and beautiful country, and to be reminded of the important place that Israel plays in the world in technology and innovation, and in humanitarian circles, and in combating climate change, and all of the ways and we go on and on, that this tiny little country is doing such remarkable things. And then all of that is continuing, even as hundreds of 1000s of people are marching in the streets.  That's what people will take away from this. You want to be there when history is being written. You want to be part of the history that's being written now and showing up in Israel and coming together at AJC Global Forum is well, for me, clearly, it's the best way to do that.   Manya Brachear Pashman: In other words, people should be excited about the democracy swirling all around them while they're experiencing Israel.   Ted Deutch: I've had friends reach out to invite us to come to the protests, I've had other friends reach out to tell me that they're looking forward to talking about the challenges of the Supreme Court as it currently exists. I've told them AJC's views on the importance of where this is going and, and the importance of shared democracy between the United States and Israel. And the response, again, from everyone on whatever, wherever they are on the political spectrum in Israel is, okay, well, it's just important that you're coming. We may agree with you completely. We may disagree with you, but as American Jews, your voice matters, and this is the opportunity to share it.  And it's the opportunity to hear directly from Israeli leaders and from global leaders who will be joining us literally from around the world, because they share in our commitment to safeguard Israel's place in the world. And it's those diplomatic efforts that help us do our work around the world, but at this moment, will allow all of us to focus on all that's happening in Israel.   Manya Brachear Pashman: Ted, thank you so much for joining us for the party, for coming to JAHM with us. And I look forward to more celebrating in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much.   Ted Deutch: Manya, I look forward to it as well, to celebrate with you and everyone who's listening. It's going to be a remarkable trip. But remember, we still have all of JAHM ahead of us.   Manya Brachear Pashman: May has only just begun.   Ted Deutch: All right, happy, JAHM.    Manya Brachear Pashman: Thank you so much.  

*) Rocket fire from Gaza after Palestinian hunger striker dies Rockets have been fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory after the death in custody of Palestinian Khader Adnan, who was affiliated with the Islamic Jihad group. Adnan, charged for terror offences by Tel Aviv, had been on hunger strike for 87 days following his detention by Israeli forces in February in the occupied West Bank. Adnan's lawyer accused Israel of medical negligence. Israel's military reported three rockets were launched from Gaza following Adnan's death and Islamic Jihad warned Israel would pay a price for what they called a crime. *) More than 800,000 may flee unrest in Sudan A United Nations official has warned that over 800,000 people may flee Sudan due to fighting, which erupted on April 15 between the army and rival paramilitary group RSF. The official, Raouf Mazou, said consultations with concerned governments and partners arrived at a planning figure of 815,000 people that may flee into neighbouring countries. The estimate includes around 580,000 Sudanese, and many who had already come to Sudan as refugees. So far, he said some 73,000 people have already fled to Sudan's seven neighbours - South Sudan, Chad, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Central African Republic and Libya. *) Turkish expatriates in Europe, Middle East begin voting Turkish expatriates in Finland, Sweden, Qatar, and Lebanon have begun voting for the presidential and parliamentary elections that will be held across Türkiye on May 14. Polling in Finland will continue until May 7 for 6,791 Turks eligible to vote, while Sweden will welcome 42,800 Turkish voters until the same date. Separately, polling has begun in the Middle Eastern country of Qatar, where 10,868 Turk expatriates are eligible to vote until Sunday. A total of 8,336 Turk expatriates registered to vote in Lebanon also have seven days to cast their ballot. *) Kuwait's Parliament dissolved again Kuwait's Parliament has been dissolved by royal decree, just over a month after it was reinstated in March following a previous dissolution, state media reported. Kuwait's Crown Prince had said last month that the legislature would be dissolved, and that new parliamentary elections would be held in coming months. Sheikh Meshal, who was handed most of the duties of the ruling emir in late 2021, signed Monday's Emiri decree after it was submitted by the cabinet earlier in the day. *) Biden reaffirms US commitment to Philippines' security President Joe Biden has reiterated the United States' commitment to the Philippines' security, noting the "deep friendship" of the two nations. The remarks came as Biden welcomed Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for White House talks after the Southeast Asian nation completed its largest war drills ever. The Philippines became an important US ally as the hegemon looks to deter China's increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea.

Miguel Armaza sits down with Itai Damti, CEO & Co-Founder of Unit, one of the leading banking-as-a-service and embedded finance providers in the US. Launched in 2019, Unit is backed by Accel, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Insight, Flourish Ventures, and many more.Itai is also a serial entrepreneur, having previously co-founded two companies in the financial industry back in Tel Aviv and Hong Kong.We discuss:Learning from successes and failures of building companies around the worldEmbracing "atomic" problem-solving and why this is incredibly important in product and company managementWhat fintech founders should keep in mind when partnering with banks and financial institutionsFundraising lessons and why you should not ignore investor feedback… and a lot more!Want more podcast episodes? Join me and follow Fintech Leaders today on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app for weekly conversations with today's global leaders that will dominate the 21st century in fintech, business, and beyond.Do you prefer a written summary, instead? Check out the Fintech Leaders newsletter and join 53,000+ readers and listeners worldwide!Miguel Armaza is Co-Founder & Managing General Partner of Gilgamesh Ventures, a seed-stage investment fund focused on fintech in the Americas. He also hosts and writes the Fintech Leaders podcast and newsletter.Miguel on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3nKha4ZMiguel on Twitter: https://bit.ly/2Jb5oBcFintech Leaders Newsletter: bit.ly/3jWIpqp

In today's episode, Gowri Gowda, Ezra Schwartz and Morgan Gold, and Dr. Sharif Ellozy interview Dr. Daniel Silverberg about his experiences practicing and teaching vascular surgery in Israel. Dr. Silverberg is the deputy director of the Department of Vascular Surgery and the Director of the endovascular service at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan in the municipality of Tel Aviv, Israel. He completed his undergraduate medical studies with honors at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel, and his clinical internship year at Meir Medical Center, Kfar-Saba, Israel. Dr. Silverberg performed his general surgery training at Meir Medical Center, Kfar-Saba, Israel, and later at Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York City. He then remained at Mount Sinai, where he completed his vascular surgery fellowship. Dr. Silverberg worked as an attending vascular surgeon at the James J. Peter VA Medical Center in New York for three years until returning to Israel in 2009.  Contact Information for Dr. Daniel Silverberg Email: daniel.silverberg@sheba.health.gov.il   Twitter: Dr. Gowri Gowda (@GowriGowda11) Dr. Ezra Schwartz (@ezraschwartz10) Dr. Morgan Gold (@MorganSGold)   Articles, resources, and societies referenced in the episode: Israeli Society for Vascular and Endovascular Surgery:  https://israelivascular.ima.org.il/ViewEvent.aspx?EventId=3630 https://www.commonwealthfund.org/international-health-policy-center/countries/israel Zhang LP, Silverberg D, Divino CM, Marin M. Building a Sustainable Global Surgical Program in an Academic Department of Surgery. Ann Glob Health. 2016 Jul-Aug;82(4):630-633. doi: 10.1016/j.aogh.2016.09.003. Epub 2016 Oct 1. PMID: 27986231.   Follow us @AudibleBleeding Learn more about us at https://www.audiblebleeding.com/about-1/ and #jointheconversation.

Prof. Rena Buckstein from Toronto, and Prof. Moshe Mittelman from Tel-Aviv discuss the role of blood transfusions and issues related to quality of life in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), including reviewing the recent research in the field.

Prof. Rena Buckstein from Toronto, and Prof. Moshe Mittelman from Tel-Aviv discuss issues related to RBC transfusions, the hemoglobin threshold for transfusion and related quality of life issues.

My guest is Noam Levinberg, a mixing and mastering engineer in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has worked on various projects for Artlist.io, providing music for companies such as Netflix, Volvo, Stripe, Google, Adobe, Shopify, and Nike. He's also the owner and creator behind the plugins from Safari Pedals.  In this episode, we discuss Tel Aviv and New Jersey Sibling Competition Teenage Recording Supportive Parents Hanging Outside a Studio Dreaming About Studios Earning Your Place in the Studio Recording and Living in India Fluid Time in India Building a Client Base  Working Relationships MWTM Revalations Building Plugins Having Kids Diversification Matt's Rant: Are You Running on Autopilot? Links and Show Notes Safari Pedals Baba Prasad WCA #281 Noam's Site Credits Guest: Noam Levinberg Host: Matt Boudreau Engineer: Matt Boudreau Producer: Matt Boudreau Editing: Anne-Marie Pleau  WCA Theme Music: Cliff Truesdell  Announcer: Chuck Smith

Ms. Gal Arad (Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel) discusses a non-pharmacological intervention for the treatment of social anxiety disorder in comparison with standard care.  Afterwards, we'll be joined once again by AJP Editor-in-Chief Dr. Ned Kalin to discuss the rest of the May issue. Transcript Arad interview [00:18] What were your results? [02:11] Reduction in dwell time on threatening faces [03:36] Limitations [04:09] Immediate clinical implications [05:27] Further research [05:58] Kalin interview [06:37] Arad et al. [06:55] Grant et al. [09:07] Reddy et al. [10:59] Taipal et al. [13:28] Buchanan and Krane [14:39] Brandt et al. [15:41] Be sure to let your colleagues know about the podcast, and please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you listen to it. Subscribe to the podcast here. Listen to other podcasts produced by the American Psychiatric Association. Browse articles online. How authors may submit their work. Follow the journals of APA Publishing on Twitter. E-mail us at ajp@psych.org

A stellar novel rendered into a darkly comic, unforgettable narrative by Booker International Prize winning translator Jessica Cohen. An Israeli professor travels to a fictitious West African nation to trace a slave-trading ancestor, only to be imprisoned under a new law barring successive generations from profiting off the proceeds of slavery. But before departing from Tel Aviv, the protagonist falls in love with Lucile, a mysterious African migrant worker who cleans his house. Entertaining and thought-provoking, this satire of contemporary attitudes toward racism and the legacy of colonialism examines economic inequality and the global refugee crisis, as well as the memory of transatlantic chattel slavery and the Holocaust. Is the professor's passion for Africa merely a fashionable pose and the book he's secretly writing about his experience there nothing but a modern version of the slave trade?Agur Schiff, born in 1955 in Tel Aviv, is a graduate of Saint Martin's School of Art in London and the Rijks Art Academy in Amsterdam. He has worked as a filmmaker, started writing fiction in the early 1990s, and has published two short story collections and six novels. Schiff, professor emeritus at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, has been awarded the Israeli Prime Minister's Prize.Jessica Cohen shared the 2017 Man Booker International Prize with author David Grossman for her translation of A Horse Walks into a Bar. She has translated works by Amos Oz, Etgar Keret, Dorit Rabinyan, Ronit Matalon, Nir Baram, and others.Buy the book from Wellington Square Bookshop - ​https://wellingtonsquarebooks.indiecommerce.com/book/9781954404168

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur and news editor Amy Spiro join host Amanda Borschel-Dan in today's episode. For the 17th straight week, protesters against the judicial overhaul took to the streets Saturday night. Organizers claim that nationwide, about 430,000 people were out throughout the country, about 200,000 of which were in Tel Aviv. Last Thursday in Jerusalem, another 200,000 or more people were out in support of the judicial overhaul. Rettig Gur describes the scene in Jerusalem and the protest's significance. The Knesset is reopening today and it appears that the judicial overhaul will be on the back burner and all eyes are on the budget. Rettig Gur weighs in. Spiro speaks about Netflix's new series, “Rough Diamonds,” which she describes as “The Godfather” meets “Shtisel.” We hear about the Israeli creators -- and the non-Jewish actors taking lead roles and why. Spiro also recently interviewed Aleeza Ben Shalom, the star of the new reality TV show “Jewish Matchmaking.” Why would Netflix put this on its roster? Discussed articles include: Masses rally against prospect of fresh overhaul push, as Knesset about to reconvene Pro-overhaul protest showed the right's strengths — and the government's weakness ‘Godfather' meets ‘Shtisel': New Netflix thriller delves into Haredi diamond dealers Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a TV show? ‘Jewish Matchmaking' set to hit Netflix Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out this weekend's What Matters Now episode: https://omny.fm/shows/times-will-tell/what-matters-now-to-prof-gil-troy-identity-zionism IMAGE: Right-wing Israelis attend a rally in support of the government's planned judicial overhaul, outside the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2023. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emil Langballe, Lukasz Konopa and Face2Face host David Peck talk about their new film Theatre of Violence, Christianity and conflict, radicalization,nature versus nurture, restorative justice, government oppression, and why retributive justice doesn't work.Watch the trailer here and head to Hot Docs for more information.Synopsis:Can you be an executioner and a victim at the same time? At the age of 9, Ayena's client, Dominique Ongwen, became one of at least 20.000 children abducted by rebel leader Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in Uganda. Ongwen was brainwashed by Kony, who used a combination of Christianity, witchcraft and torture to turn the children into loyal LRA soldiers in the rebellion against president, Yoweri Museveni.Ongwen quickly learned that it was a matter of kill or be killed - and he rose to the rank of commander before one day surrendering to the authorities and the following prosecution in The Hague. He is charged with 70 different counts of crimes, including torture, rape and murder. But his defence lawyer, Ayena, wants him acquitted because he believes Ongwen is not responsible for the way his life turned out. In addition, the outcome of the trial threatens to reopen old wounds at home in Uganda seeing that Ongwen and the LRA are part of the Acholi people of northern Uganda, where Kony founded his brutal army in response to the equally brutal crackdown on the Acholi people by the incumbent president, Museveni. Personally, Ayena has a lot at stake. He must not only get justice for his client and his people - but also try to explain to the Western-based International Criminal Court what kind of country Uganda is, and what the potential consequences of the verdict might be.About Emil and Lukasz:Lukasz Konopa has a master's degree in Documentary Film Directing from the UK's National Film and Television School (NFTS) and an MA in sociology from the University of Warsaw, Poland.His documentaries have been featured at festivals, such as Hot Docs, Camerimage, Visions du Reel and SXSW. His film After won the CILECT Best Documentary film award, which is chosen by the association of the world's major film and television schools. Currently splitting his time between Tel Aviv, where he works as a cinematographer on documentaries produced by one of Israel's top production companies, Heymann Brothers Films; and Denmark where he has just completed his first feature length documentary with Made in Copenhagen.Emil Langballe graduated from UK's National Film and Television School in 2013. His graduation film Beach Boy was honoured at such film festivals as Karlovy Vary, Thessaloniki, Tampere and Hot Docs. The Wait premiered at IDFA. His latest films Q's Barbershop and A Married Couple both premiered in competition at CPH: DOX.Image Copyright: Emil Langballe, Lukasz Konopa & Dogwoof Films.F2F Music and Image Copyright: David Peck and Face2Face. Used with permission.For more information about David Peck's podcasting, writing and public speaking please visit his site here.With thanks to Josh Snethlage and Mixed Media Sound. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the suicide bombing at the iconic Tel Aviv bar Mike's Place. The attack, perpetrated by two radical British Moslems, killed three people and wounded 50 others. Among the injured was Jack Baxter, a US-based documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist who had arrived in Israel and partnered with director Joshua Faudem to make a documentary about the unique social ecosystem of the blues bar on the beach. Baxter is currently in Israel, for a special screening of the resulting 2004 film: Blues By the Beach.  It will take place this coming Friday, April 28th, at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque. Baxter spoke earlier this week to KAN's Naomi Segal. (Photo: Screenshot) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In celebration of Israel's 75th birthday, guest host Dov Wilker, AJC's Atlanta director, sits down with retired Major League Baseball catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who played for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics. Lavarnway reflected on the Jewish pride he felt representing Israel on the international stage, how he has dealt with the antisemitism in his career, and the importance of building connections between the Jewish state and the Diaspora. *The views and opinions expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views or position of AJC.  __ Episode Lineup:  (0:40) Ryan Lavarnway ___ Show Notes: Watch: Catch the full video conversation with Ryan Lavarnway, recorded live on Yom Ha'atzmaut as part of AJC's Advocacy Anywhere  Test your knowledge: Quiz: How much do you really know about Israel? When was Israel founded? Who was the first Israeli to win a Nobel Prize? Which country was the first to recognize the State of Israel? Start the quiz! Listen: Israel at 75: 7 Things You Should Know About Israel: Listen to these seven episodes of AJC's People of the Pod featuring leading Israeli and American scholars, experts, and influencers that will help you learn more about the complexities, triumphs, and challenges facing Israel today. Julianna Margulies on Holocaust Education and Fighting Antisemitism: Emmy Award-winning actress Julianna Margulies recently partnered with the New York's Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, to help create the Holocaust Educator School Partnership. To date, the partnership has trained two university fellows to teach the history of the Holocaust to 1,700 middle and high school students in New York City Public Schools. In a poignant interview, Margulies shares her motivations for expanding the program, personal experiences of how antisemitism has affected her family, and reflections on her first visit to Israel and Yad Vashem. Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've enjoyed this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, tag us on social media with #PeopleofthePod, and hop onto Apple Podcasts to rate us and write a review, to help more listeners find us. __ Transcript of Interview with Ryan Lavarnway: Manya Brachear Pashman: Sometimes it just makes more sense for my AJC colleagues to guest host. When it comes to sports, I always try to hand the mic to AJC Atlanta Director Dov Wilker. This week, in honor of Israel's 75th birthday, Dov sat down for a live conversation in front of a virtual audience with Major League Baseball Catcher Ryan Lavarnway, who played for Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic and the Olympics. Ryan talked to Dov about the pride he felt representing Israel on the international stage and the importance of building connections between the Jewish state and the Diaspora. I might not know a lot about baseball, but as someone about to visit Israel for the first time, Ryan's recollections and reflections brought tears to my eyes. Here's an instant replay.  Dov Wilker: Let's get it started in the beginning, Ryan, how did you get into baseball? And does your Judaism intertwine with that, or is that a separate story? Ryan Lavarnway: So, I started playing baseball when I was five years old. And my dad always played baseball, he was always doing pickup games on the weekends playing high-pitch softball, but the story of why I got started was my kindergarten teacher told my parents that I was not good at sharing, and that I should get involved in a team sport. So they signed me up about as early as I could sign up, when I was five years old. And I took to it really quick and the rest is history. Dov Wilker: You know, that's good advice for my seven year old who is also not very good at sharing. So I appreciate that.  And what about the role of Judaism in your life? Was Judaism something that was important to you from an early age? Or has that sort of become more important to you as you got older? Ryan Lavarnway: No, it really wasn't. My mom is Jewish, and she always loved Christmas. They had a white Christmas tree in her house with blue ornaments. And my dad would describe himself as a disenchanted Catholic. So growing up, we celebrated holidays from all religions. But there was no religion involved. We celebrated just to have a nice meal together, to have a reason to give presents and celebrate or light the candles. We went through the motions. Sometimes I joke that we celebrated Hallmark holidays.  And it wasn't until really until high school that I started to grow into my own as an adult and start to search for more. And in high school, I ended up going to temple for the first time with a high school teammate's mother who had MS and couldn't drive herself. So we kind of needed each other because I needed someone to go with, and she needed someone to drive her. And that was really my first experience. As an adult, when I started searching for more meaning behind –Why do we celebrate these holidays? And what do they mean? And where's the community that I want to be a part of? Dov Wilker: What state did you go to high school in? Ryan Lavarnway: I grew up in California, LA County, in the valley. My wife likes to make fun of me every time I talk about home, she references that SNL skit The Californians– she's like, Oh, you, you were on the one oh one and the four oh five.  So I grew up in Southern California. A lot of Jewish players on my youth league teams, on my little league teams, you know, Bar Mitzvah season for me, you know, when you're 13, 15, in that season of your life, I had a ton of friends that were Jewish, we had a great community here. But my family, again, we were more of the Hallmark holidays. Dov Wilker: So when you were in high school, when sort of you started getting more into your Judaism, but also, you know, as you were playing, did you ever experience antisemitism on the field when you were younger, or even when you were older? Ryan Lavarnway: When I was younger, not so much. And I think the reason that I was able to kind of dodge those bullets was because my dad was Catholic, and my mom was Jewish. So as we studied the Holocaust in school, I felt, you know, and to me, I'm almost embarrassed looking back, but this is my truth.  I would step away and I would say, Well, I'm half Catholic, so the people that were hurt and the people that were, killed in and, and antisemitism is against, that wasn't me. But then I could also step on the other side and be like, Well, I wasn't the evil villain, either. It wasn't my people that were causing all this pain. And that helps me avoid feeling, and feeling hurt by the antisemitism as a kid. But what that also did was, it kept me from feeling the benefits of the community.  And it wasn't until later, and we can get into this, when I played for Team Israel and I fully embraced being Jewish–and publicly–that I started facing antisemitism for the first time and really internalizing it and feeling it personally. But then that was also the first time, with that came, the feeling, the sense of community and feeling like I'm your brother, and you're my brother, you're my sister, and like we're all in this together. So I feel like they go hand in hand. Dov Wilker: So let's dive into that, the Team Israel stuff a little bit. Your first experience with the team came about in 2017, 2016.  Ryan Lavarnway: 16, yeah. Dov Wilker: 16. So how did that all start? I mean, you're a Major League Baseball player, you're a world series champion, and you get a phone call from some guy who was like, hey, like, we've got this team we want to create it? Or, was it, the World Baseball Classic is gonna be a big thing and you want to find a way to be a part of it and you're a great catcher, but you might not be picked for team USA. How does this all work? Ryan Lavarnway: So, yeah, I got a phone call from some guy that I'd never heard of. Peter Kurtz. I don't know if it initially came through my agent or how he first got ahold of me. But I got a call in 2012. And I had just made it into the big leagues as a rookie the year before. I had like half a year of service time, still trying to prove myself and establish myself as a major leaguer. And he said, Hey, we have this Team Israel. And we play baseball, surprise, you never heard of us. Which I think was everyone's reaction. But you qualify for the team, because your mom's Jewish. So what do you think?  And I was like, Well, what's the WBC because 10 years ago, it wasn't very popular yet, it's still growing. He's like, Well, we have to qualify to get into the tournament, because we only have one field in our whole country. And we're ranked 64th in the world. But we think we can do it. What do you think? The qualifier's in September, can you be there?  And I was like, Well, it sounds like an amazing opportunity. Let's do it. But if I get called up again, this year, I'll be in the big leagues, so I can't be there. So September 2012, came in when I was in the big leagues. I wasn't able to go, but I had the seed planted in my mind of this, this is a possibility. This is a thing. So four years later, they just missed qualifying in 2012, they had a lead in the last inning.  And my now best friend from this team, Josh Zeid, ended up blowing the lead.  Flash forward four years later, 2016, I get another call, Hey, we're going to try to qualify again. We just missed it last time, we think we're really going to make it this time. Can you be there? And this time, my answer was, well, I'm probably going to be in the big leagues. But if for whatever reason I'm not, heck yeah, let's do it. And then the skies parted. It was the first year in six years, I wasn't in the big leagues in September. And I was available. And I went and played. And what I remember, showing up, when I first got there was Josh Zeid spoke very passionately to the group about how blowing that lead four years earlier, is still eating him up inside. And it was the lowest of lows for his career and everything he had done pitching in the big leagues. That was the moment he wanted to change. And his impassioned speech really spoke to the rest of us about oh, man, this is maybe more important than we thought. Dov Wilker: So I want to jump back to something that you said, which I find very profound. This random person calls you and says, Hey, your mother's Jewish, you qualified to be on the team. How do you respond to that? Right? You started off by saying that you got more into your Judaism when you were in high school and but, how do you feel, what is that? And by the way, have you ever been to Israel before? Was there any sort of connection to Israel, as all of this is sort of taking place? Ryan Lavarnway: I had not ever been to Israel. When he first called me in 2012, my wife and I were engaged to be married. By the time 2016 came around, we had been married. My wife was raised Jewish, she had a bat mitzvah, she had been on Birthright. We had a Jewish wedding. I was more involved in the Jewish community locally in Denver, and had really embraced, on a personal level, that I'm a Jewish man, and I want to raise a Jewish family. I want to be involved in the Jewish community in Denver. I still had yet to say that publicly.  Because playing for the Boston Red Sox, our media training, at least 10 years ago, this was before athletes branding themselves and having their own brand was really acceptable. Especially in baseball, baseball is one of the last sports to embrace that.  So the Boston Red Sox media training involved: if anything is even potentially controversial—just keep it to yourself. The Red Sox is the brand, don't tarnish it. And Boston itself as a city is a little closed minded, I would say. I think people that know Boston could agree with this, that they're not the most forward thinking city.  Dov Wilker: No offense to anyone in Boston that's listening. Ryan Lavarnway: No, I love the city of Boston. Trust me, I love Boston. It's one of my favorite places. I still feel at home there. I've got my Red Sox World Series ring on the table right here.  But like, I know, some of my black teammates didn't feel comfortable, and black visiting players don't feel super comfortable there. So it's just it's just the way Boston is a little bit. So I just kept to myself.  When I announced I was going to play for Team Israel, was the first time that I really feel that it was public. And I feel maybe in a way that's the first time I dove all the way into the deep end of embracing it. Because you have to say to the world, right? If you are privately Jewish, in a sense, you could say that maybe it's–you're hiding it a little bit. Or it's just you're just not announcing it. So I finally announced it to the world. I finally experienced antisemitism for the first time in a way that I really internalized and personalized and I was really embraced by the Jewish community and it was really wonderful in that way. Dov Wilker: Two things --one is, AJC has a campaign that we created called Jewish and Proud. And it's something that we've been sort of pursuing as a result of the rise of antisemitism in our society. So I couldn't agree with you more. I think that that's so important. It's why, in fact, one of the reasons that I wear my kippa— one of the reasons is that I've got a hair problem in the back. But the second reason is that I feel it's an important identifier, because I'm very proud to be Jewish. And I want people to be able to know that. But I'm one of the things you just said was that, it's when you started to experience antisemitism, really publicly. So could you share a little bit about that? What was that like, or what type of experiences you might have had? Ryan Lavarnway: Yeah, so there was a couple of experiences that were more subtle. And it was more of people questioning, like, Oh, I didn't realize you were Jewish, or like, I didn't know that about you. And I felt like, I felt like they felt permission to express their questioning, or they felt like they had the right to have an opinion. Which ultimately, what's the difference? I'm the same exact person you've known for years. And now you think you have a different opinion about me.  And just the fact that they even made a face or had a slight different tone when they talked to me. It made me feel like well, why? Why did something change? Why did anything have to change?  There were more obvious experiences. Baseball is a very Christian sport, at least on the professional level. I think that we have 12 Jewish major leaguers this year, and that's a record. Out of 780  players in the major leagues, 12 are Jewish, so it's very much a minority. So every Sunday, a chaplain comes in and holds baseball chapel, in the dugout or in the clubhouse, for both teams, and they do it in English and in Spanish. So it's a really established institution within baseball. And it's great for those players. But it's not my thing. And I kind of established, ‘that's not my thing,' was my go to response when I was invited, because they tried to include everybody. And one time I remember I was in Gwinnett, Georgia, the AAA team for the Braves. Dov Wilker: Yeah. So it's up the street from where I live right now. Ryan Lavarnway: Yeah. And I was invited to baseball chapel. And I said, Well, it's not my thing. And the chaplain really pushed back,  like, why wouldn't you go? And I was like, Well, I'm Jewish. So you know, I don't need to go to baseball chapel. We have our own thing on the weekend. And, he said, Well, I've dealt with heathens like you before. And I don't remember what happened with the rest of the conversation.  But it left me feeling really awful, that he would call me that. And I honestly didn't even know what heathen meant. So I went and I looked it up in the dictionary on my phone. And I think technically, by the definition, heathen just means non-believer. But the way he said it made me feel like he was talking down to me, like I was less than and, for a supposed man of God, I didn't think that was very ethical, or I didn't really like the way he handled it.  So small experiences like that. And then there was one other time I was in AAA, I don't remember what team I was with. But one of my teammates in the outfield was expressing some other backwards opinions about some other groups that he thought maybe I might relate to—which I didn't. And he also went on to add –also, if we're going to be friends, I'm gonna have to tell you, you're wrong at some point. Because you don't believe in Jesus Christ. And I was like, okay, guy, well, then we're just not going to be friends after this.  So there have been experiences, some of them have been more subtle, some of them have been more obvious. In my experiences, I feel like antisemitism falls into two major categories. It's either ignorance, or it comes from hate. And I approach them in two separate ways. I think if it stems from ignorance, I try to educate them. It shouldn't have to be my job and anybody that is a Jewish person, it shouldn't have to be your job either. But if we don't do it, who will? And I think it goes the same way with anybody that is the receptor of any sort of ignorant hate, you know, whether it's black people, or gay people, anybody that experiences that, it shouldn't have to be your job to educate people. But again, if you don't, who will? So when someone makes a joke that might be hurtful or someone comes from a place of not understanding why it might be hurtful, I try to educate them, like this is where the history of that joke or the history of that ignorance comes from.  And then in general people, they don't want to be ignorant and they don't want to be hurtful. So most of the time they back off. The other time is when it comes from hate. And I don't know if you can necessarily change people's hearts. I take one of my cues from Hank Greenberg, who was one of the more famous baseball players in history. He was a big, strong, intimidating person, he would stand up to it. And he took the approach, at least from the stories that I've heard, of, you deal with a bully, you stand up to them, and you maybe intimidate them back, and then they'll back down. And I think that's one way or the other way is, if it stems from a place of hate so much that you're in danger, then that's when you kind of try to avoid it, or you reach out to authorities in some regard.  Dov Wilker: Ryan, I appreciate you sharing that. Unfortunately, for me, it's not surprising to hear what you shared. And I'm sure for many in our audience, they wouldn't have expected it. And yet, it also might not be a surprise. It's also one of the reasons AJC created a tool. It's an online glossary called Translate Hate, for those experiences to be able to explain to people what the root of the antisemitism that they might be sharing comes from. I absolutely agree with you about the two types of antisemitism that you've experienced. I'm curious if you ever, did you ever talk to the other 11 Jewish players in the majors about their experiences? Or that you sort of just assume that they had similar ones? And did you ever experience it from the fans? Ryan Lavarnway: No, in general, a lot of most of the fans have been really supportive, or don't bring it up at all. So fan wise, it's been really, really positive. And as far as talking to other players about it, when we're with Team Israel is when I interact with the other Jewish players the most. And we're really just enjoying the experience and really positive. So any experience I speak of is really personal. And you'd have to kind of talk to them about theirs. Dov Wilker: Yeah, no, I appreciate that. So let's talk a little bit more about what it was like to represent Team Israel. What was it like? I mean, here you are, you've sort of done very cool things in the majors, you got to be a part of this team, this unique gathering of the diaspora Jews essentially to represent the Jewish homeland. Here we are again, on Yom Ha'atzmaut, Independence Day, talking about that. Was the team received well by the other countries in the World Baseball Classic? These are other ballplayers that, you know or were you sort of shunned aside a little bit? Ryan Lavarnway: So the first thing is, when I first started to play for Team Israel, I can be totally honest about this. I signed up because it was a great baseball opportunity. Playing in the World Baseball Classic was, I had never played international baseball before. So it seemed like a cool thing to do. And it would add to my baseball resume. Representing a people, a culture, and a country, it didn't even enter my mind. I didn't know what it would mean to me. So I signed up for a baseball opportunity. We played in Brooklyn in a qualifier.  And it started to hit me when I stepped on the field with Israel across my chest. And we stepped onto the line for the national anthems before the game. And we took off our hats and we put on kippas. And it was the first time that a sports team had ever done that, or at least a baseball team had ever done that. It was really interesting. And I looked into the stands and there was–Brooklyn's a home game for for Israel, right, there was a bunch of Jews in Brooklyn, and there was a few yeshiva schools with kids with the tallit and the kippa. And it hit me that these kids have never had a team like this, where they can relate to every player on the field.  And everything that I know about representation and how the more things you can relate to in leaders, or the more things you can relate to in role models, the more meaningful and impactful it will be for you as a young person. It really hit me that I wanted to be the person for them. I wanted to be their role model. And then it hit me again when we got to Israel, because after we qualified for the tournament, they brought us to Israel and filmed a documentary about it. They did a great job. I don't get five cents if you download it on Amazon but check it out because they did a great job.  Going to Israel really, really it hit home for me. We got to Israel and we had a practice on the only field in the country. And I have this sense of meaning that's growing and my heart is expanding another size like the Grinch on Christmas, when his heart grows two sizes. And after our practice, we have a press conference with the Israeli media. And they let us have it. They were initially not excited to have us represent them. They pushed back really hard. Who are you to represent us? We don't even play baseball, you guys are outsiders. Who do you think you are? And we were all like, Oh, my God, like, we thought we would be at this press conference, and it was going to be a love fest where they were so happy that we made it into the tournament. And that was very much not the case.  So that gave us pause a little bit. But we also appreciated that they didn't just accept us because we were winners. They wanted us to prove it, like prove that you mean it and prove that you're gonna represent us well. So we went to Seoul, South Korea was the first round. And we started to win. And we counted out before we started, I don't know if you remember the article that ESPN posted. They called us the Jamaican bobsled team of baseball, has-beens, wannabes, never-weres, that perfectly fulfill the role of “team that has no business being there, and somehow found a way to win minus, they haven't won yet.” That was what the article said.  And that was maybe the best thing that ever happened to us because we got a very, very solid collective chip on our shoulders. And we had a lot of players that felt like maybe they had been overlooked in their careers or hadn't got the opportunity or hadn't performed to their potential. So we had a lot of players that already had a chip on their shoulder. And now as a group, we had one. So we went out there, and we started to win. And we beat Korea, and we beat Taiwan, and we beat the Netherlands. And everybody's now freaking out. We're a Cinderella story. And the other teams were great. The other teams, you know, you qualified for Israel, whatever.  We move on to Tokyo. And as we advance to the second round, now the Israeli media is like, we're so happy you're representing us. Thank you for being respectful and giving positive energy on the worldwide stage and for playing so great. And now we have this positive thing. So the Israel media finally embraced us, as we continued to send the message that we want it to grow the game within Israel, not just win, and not just say, wham bam, Thank you, ma'am, we're out of here. But we all had the intention to be around for a while.  And then we beat Cuba. And the Cuban media was pissed. And I think they were probably embarrassed that they lost. And that was the first time that another country's media had been like, well, you guys are all American. You guys are America. American's B-team. And that was the first time we really got pushed back. But realistically, nobody on Team Israel would have made America's B-team or America's C-team or America's D-team or E-team or F-team. Like us we were a collection of has-beens, never-weres and wannabes that qualified for Israel. And then most of that team from 2017 signed up for the Olympics and we established Israeli citizenship and went back to Israel a second time.  And every time that we've been to Israel, we make the commitment to grow the game we go, and we host clinics for the youth. Most of the prize money for the team has gone to building new fields or funding international tournament travel for the youth. And participation in baseball in Israel has doubled since the first time I wore an Israeli uniform. Dov Wilker: There's so much that was said. I'm so grateful that you shared all of that. Ryan Lavarnway: I have no idea if I answered your question.  Dov Wilker: I'm not even sure what my question was anymore. So it's the perfect answer. By being members of the Israeli team at the Olympics, did the Israeli Olympic Committee do anything to share about the massacre of the 72 Olympics? Was that at all a part of sort of, in general, was there sort of learning, teaching, touring that that Israel did, that the the institutions there to help you all sort of have a better understanding if you'd never been there before, sort of different challenges and things like that on the global scale?  Ryan Lavarnway: Yeah, there absolutely was. So we all had to go to Israel a second time to establish our citizenship, which I think was the right thing to do. You know, you can't just mail us a passport overnight, right? So we went to Israel again, we went to all the fields, we coached kids. We went to Independence Hall, we did all the things.  What we also did was we had to go to their athletic Institute to be put through a battery of testing. They wanted to make sure we were healthy, and that we weren't going to die on the field. And I don't know if you remember the old Gatorade commercials, where they had a tube hooked up to your mouth and the EKG machine, all the wires coming off and you're running on a treadmill. We did that.  And we're running on this treadmill. We're dripping sweat, we're panting. Our hearts are beating and we're all like, do you understand baseball? Like, we don't have to do this. But they put us through all the crazy testing. It was really awesome. And while we were at the Institute, we got to meet some of the Judo athletes, some of the windsurfer athletes and we went straight from there to the Israel Olympic Experience, which is like a museum for Olympics in Israel. It's not a very big museum. Dov Wilker: They've got some gold medals... Ryan Lavarnway: I believe, and don't quote me, because I'm not sure on the facts. But I believe they had 13 medals, before Tokyo and four gold, I want to say. Judo and windsurfing I believe, I might be wrong.  But going through that Olympic experience, it really gave us context for understanding the history of Israeli athletics. And the tragedy that happened in the 70s.  Dov Wilker: I'm glad to hear that. I'm curious: in Israel, what was it like for you the first time, the second time? Did your opinions change when you became an Israeli citizen? I'm not going to ask for your political analysis of the current situation there, I don't think that'd be fair. How has that experience changed for you and your family? You're married. Did anybody join you in Israel? Ryan Lavarnway: So the first time I went, my parents were nervous. Because if you watch the American news cycle, you would think that Israel feels like a dangerous place. And they were like, Are you sure you want to go, especially right now. So I went into it a little nervous. not knowing what to expect, and you land on the ground. And I was like, I've never felt more safe in my life. This place is beautiful. It's amazing. We spent, the first time I went, we spent four days in Tel Aviv first, beautiful city, right on the water, we stayed in this beautiful beachfront hotel. And then we went to Jerusalem, and going to Jerusalem. And this is going to be a pained metaphor, so please forgive me. But in the same way, the first time that I stepped into the old Yankee Stadium, or Wrigley or Fenway Park, you can just tell it's different.  You can just smell the significance in the air, you just know, like, I am among history, so many important things have happened here. And I get to experience this in the modern world. And it just feels, like your heart beats different, the air smells different. So going to Jerusalem was that for me, and especially getting to the Western Wall, I swear to God, I felt God for the first time. And it was just this transformational experience. I think I cried. I think they caught it on video for the documentary, which is cool for me to live through and get to see again, because that was a really, really meaningful moment in my life. But going there, for the first time, yeah, my wife came with me. This was before we had our daughter, years before we had our daughter. But it was really, really meaningful and transformational for me to go for the first time.  When I went back the second time, I got to experience it all again. You know, you don't have that transformational experience, because you've already changed as a person, and you're changed forever. So it was really cool to go back again. And then they handed me my passport. And I have this goatee so I kind of felt like Jason Bourne, where I have two passports now, like, which I am going to use. Except they both have the same name. It's very, very, very cool. Dov Wilker: So I'm gonna go for some rapid fire questions… Ryan Lavarnway: Oh wait, I have one more. I think it's a good answer. And I don't like to express my political opinions. But what I'd like to tell people is, if you either voted– in America, if you're an American citizen, you either voted for our current president, or you voted for the last president, you didn't vote for both. And either currently or four years ago, you were unhappy with the decisions that the government was making. I don't think that made you feel less proud to be an American.  And I would encourage you to use the same opinion, when you think of Israel. Whether you agree with what the current current government is doing or not, does not have to color your opinion of whether you agree with the concept of Israel. When I think of Israel, I believe in what Israel is about, and it being a safe haven for the Jewish people worldwide, whether I agree with what the current government is doing or not. And I think it's very easy to judge ourselves by our intentions and others by their actions. And that goes the same with a country that you personally identify with also, so I just wanted to throw that in there. Dov Wilker: I so appreciate you saying that. I was speaking to a group of high school students recently. And I shared with them that, you know, we're talking about the current situation, and I said, you know, Israel welcomed in Ukrainians as citizens, not as refugees. If you read Israel's Declaration of Independence, it refers to the survivors of the Holocaust and those who were expelled from other lands. And so the in-gathering of the safe haven for the Jewish people is so important for us to be able to continue to remember the role that Israel plays in our lives. We're, you know, we're fortunate to live in the United States today. But we see that people need Israel more and more depending on where they live, not everybody is as fortunate and there are many people who have moved to Israel because of the antisemitism that they themselves might have experienced here. So I think it's a really powerful statement for you to make and something that I hope, I'm guessing that if you shared it here, you share it with all of your audiences, but if not, I hope that that's something you continue to share with your audiences.  All right, well, it's no easy transition to my rapid fire, so I'm just gonna do it. Ryan Lavarnway: Just rip off the bandaid. Dov Wilker: There you go. Favorite Israeli snack? Ryan Lavarnway: Shawarma. Dov Wilker: Oh. Snack? You have a very different appetite than I do, my friend. Ryan Lavarnway: I have a very big appetite.  Dov Wilker: Favorite city in Israel? Ryan Lavarnway: Jerusalem.  Dov Wilker: Favorite baseball memory. Ryan Lavarnway: Two answers: World Series win, or my debut with Cincinnati.  Dov Wilker: Okay. Most challenging part of being a catcher. Ryan Lavarnway: Hitting in the ninth inning. Dov Wilker: You know, you talked about the small numbers, the mighty numbers of Jews in Major League Baseball today. Is there an association between the Jewish ballplayers in the major leagues and other professional sports? Is there any reason, maybe it's based on a city that you live in? Or it's sort of an overall, I know like, there's the Jewish Coaches Association, something like that? Is there anything like the Jewish professional ballplayers association, that gets you together, perhaps to be able to encourage others like you to play for the Israeli teams in other sports that they're professionals in. Ryan Lavarnway: Not that I've experienced yet, but that might be a cool idea to start. I'd be up for it. If you want to talk off of this broadcast. Dov Wilker: It's my new side project at work. Ted, thank you for the approval.  And I guess my final question for you, Ryan, is, we're here today, Yom Ha'atzmaut, Israel's 75th birthday. What type of closing message do you have about the importance of Israel, you already talked about the safe haven for the Jewish people, but sort of the future of American Jewry. Any parting words of wisdom that you'd like to share? Ryan Lavarnway: My biggest thing is, participate, and be proud. And you need to be public, because the only way that we can get the benefit of the community and strengthen numbers is if we support each other, and we're aware of who each other are. I've received so much benefit in my life from embracing the community and stepping out into the public. And it's really changed my life. And it's changed how I view myself as a man. And it's changed the direction that I want to raise my family. And it's been such a positive change. And I've had such a positive embrace from the community. And I want others to experience that. And I never would have experienced it if I didn't go out of my way to participate in Team Israel. So I encourage anybody watching, go out, get involved, anything in your community, a team you can get involved in. It's been so positive for me, and I hope it can be so positive for you as well. Dov Wilker: Well, Ryan, on behalf of American Jewish Committee, thank you very much for joining us for this wonderful conversation.  

With a little change in our conversations Liz asks Alan about his week in Israel experiencing the rally in Tel Aviv. They share experiences of the Yom Hazikaron sirens and what will they be doing on Yom Haatzmaut--Israel's 75th year of independence. Enjoy!

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 15-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, from Sunday through Thursday. Knesset correspondent Carrie Keller Lynn and health reporter Renee Ghert-Zand join host Amanda Borschel-Dan on today's episode. Today, the capital is preparing for a “March of the Million,” in which supporters of the coalition and the judicial overhaul are being pushed to show up in great numbers andorganizers are hoping for upwards of 250,000 demonstrators. Who is doing the pushing? On Monday night, the beginning of Israel Memorial Day observance, Keller-Lynn attended the annual joint ceremony in Tel Aviv in which Israelis and West Bank Palestinians mutually commemorate those lost on both sides of the conflict. What did she see there? At the opening of the Independence Day ceremony on Tuesday night, one of the 12 torches was lit by an unusual pair of doctors. Shock trauma pioneer Prof. Avi Rivkind of Hadassah and infection control expert Dr. Khetam Hussein of Rambam. We hear about their dedicated work. Internationally renowned Weizmann Institute of Science professor of neuroimmunology Michal Schwartz received the Israel Prize for science yesterday afternoon, only the fourth woman to do so. We learn about Schwartz's scientific breakthrough. Also at the Israel Prize ceremony, there were two ripples of protest -- in a speach from Amnon Shashua, the president and CEO of Mobileye, and from Michal Rovner, who won the prize for her work in plastic art. Rovner was filmed handing Netanyahu a personal note on stage as she received her award. What was the content of their protests? Keller-Lynn reminds us that the Knesset opens again next week and shares her thoughts on what can we expect. Discussed articles include: Israeli teen girls win first, second place in annual Bible quiz Religious, settler groups lead charge on Thursday's pro-overhaul ‘Million March' 15,000 attend controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day event Doctors tapped for Independence Day torchlighting hope to heal fractured nation For scientist Michal Schwartz, Israel Prize is rewarding milestone in ongoing journey Meeting PM at Israel Prize event, two recipients warn of danger to society Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on iTunes, Spotify, PlayerFM, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out yesterday's Daily Briefing episode: https://omny.fm/shows/the-daily-briefing/what-would-israels-founding-parents-think-about-it IMAGE: The 75th anniversary Independence Day ceremony, held at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem on April 25, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.