The Promised Podcast

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —Vax & Figures— What's the link between who Israelis vote for and whether, when, and how we get vaxxed and boostered? —The Cost of Freedom— Gilad Shalit was freed from Hamas captivity in Gaza exactly ten years ago. Was the deal that brought him home a good one? —Once They Wrote Love Songs for Tel Aviv— Has Tel Aviv jumped the shark? —What to Make of L'Affaire de Rooney?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we wonder what we ought to make of l'Affaire de Rooney? All that and new music of Israel's most outre rapper, Hadar Farjun!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —Coffee or Conflict: How Do Israelis Start Our Days?— Was PM Bennett right when he said at the UN that "Israelis don't wake up in the morning thinking about conflict"? —Smile!— Cameras in classroom, oh my! —Stone of Hearts— Would it really be so bad if not every building in Jerusalem was faced with the same tawny stone? —Opposing the Occupation Yet Choosing to Join the IDF and Serve in the Territories— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we mull over a personal essay in Haaretz called, "I Oppose the Occupation. This Is Why I Chose to Serve as an IDF Soldier in the Occupied West Bank." All that and music by The Bench, in honor of their new, debut record, Jasimo!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Sally Abed and Noah Efron discuss three two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —Iran, One Month from the Bomb— Experts say Iran can have an atomic bomb by Hanukkah. What, if anything, can Israel do about it? —Who is Sex For?— Is it unseemly for 60 year olds to let the rest of us know they still have sex? —Our Favorite Tel Aviv Coffee Shops and Bars— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss our favorite coffee shops and bars in the city. Sarit Hadad, in honor of coming out in song!

There is an ancient tradition on Sukkot, which is to say now, called Ushpizin, an aramaic word that means "Guests", and at its simplest, it means that one invites guests of all sorts, including anyone around who needs a meal, to eat with you in your Sukkah. But already in the 16th century, and maybe long before that, Kabbalists and mystics had symbolicized the thing, saying that when you sit in your Sukkah the Shekhinah , the divine presence, draws righteous heroes from history into your sukkah. Join us for a podcastilogical Ushpizin, constructed of 100% reused, renewed and recycled old episodes (because that's how much we care!) Wild brilliance by one of our great composers, Aviya Kopelman, the youngest ever person to win the Prime Minister Prize for composition!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Sally Abed and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —A Year of Abraham Accords— A year ago this week, ambassadors from the UAE and Bahrain celebrated with then-President Donald Trump and then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the launch of the Abraham Accords. With Trump and Netanyahu booted out of office in the interim, what should we make of the accords now? —Escape— After a week glued-to-the-screen, following a manhunt after six escaped Palestinian prisoners, we ask: What just happened? —White-ish Feminism— Some Israeli feminists say they've had enough of "White(ish) Feminism." Do they have a point? —What Yom Kippur Means to Us— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss what this days-of-awe-holiday-season means to us, each from our own perspective. All that and Sima Noon!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —Body Politics— A 21-year-old sergeant in the Border Police dies after being shot in the head through a hole in the wall that separates Israel from Gaza, and the tragedy instantly becomes a political talking point leading to demands that the Prime Minister resign. Why are IDF casualties suddenly being politicized? —A Problematical, Dogmatical, Fanatical, Climatical Sabbatical?— The Bible says that every seventh year, Jews are prohibited from planting in the Holy Land. Does that mean that, in 2021, Tel Aviv must stop planting shade trees, because the Bible told them so? —The Goy and the Jewish Question— Does Israel have a "Goy" problem? —"I Know Israel Has Let You Down. We are Doing Teshuvah, Repentance."— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk about a controversial High-Holidays-Days-of-Awe essay in the Times of Israel and on the JTA wire by Minister of Diaspora Affairs Nahman Shai headlined "I Know Israel Has Let You Down. We are Doing Teshuvah, Repentance." But are we? All that and new music one of Israel's newest stars, Nofar Salman!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —The Year That Was— The Talmud says that on Rosh Hashanah God judges the deeds of all creatures over the prior year. We figured, we'd get a jump on the job, giving God a hand, and figure out what we did right and what we did wrong over the past year. —The Defense Minister & the President— Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet on the down-low to talk about anything but peace. What's it augur? —Afghanistan and the Jewish Question— Do Israelis have anything to learn from the heartbreak in Afghanistan? (Because, you know, it's always, at least a little, about us.) —Is Canceling This Year's High Holiday a Retreat From All That Has Preserved Judaism Forever?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk about the brouhaha over an essay in Tablet in which Liel Leibovitz takes American rabbis to task for being overly COVID cautious. Liebowitz writes that "Jews celebrated Shabbat in silence under the Inquisition, lighting candles in darkened basements even though the flickers of holy light could attract the penalty of death. Jews baked matzo in the ghettos and observed Yom Kippur in the camps." To cancel the high holidays now, he suggests, is a craven retreat from all that has preserved Judaism forever. Might he have a point? All that and music of inspiration and atonement for the new year!

Sally Abed, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —What We Learned While Skipping School— Kids are finally returning to desks-and-whiteboards after missing almost all of last year. What did we learn from the pandemic about how to make schools better? —73 Days In— The Knesset goes into a "summer recess" after the most tumultuous session anyone can remember. How's the new government doing, 73 days in? —Wigging Out— We watched a movie about an ultra-Orthodox woman ambivalating over whether to stop wearing a wig, as women of her station are expected to wear, and came to opposite conclusions about what it all means. —3 Beautiful Audio Essays by the Lovely & Incomparably Beautiful Miriam Herschlag— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, an encore presentation of three (count 'em!) lovely, incomparably beautiful little audio essays by the lovely and incomparably beautiful Miriam Herschlag. All that and the uncategorizable music of musician, painter, sculptor and performance artist Ayelet Avni!

Forty years passed before the first song was written in Israel about the Holocaust. For a long generation, Holocaust survivors, and their kids, were mostly quiet about the events that, more than any other, shaped their lives. Then that all changed.

Sally Abed, Noah Efron and Tel Aviv Review host Gilad Halpern discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Listen to the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon —Noodge— Should the government tax us into acting right? —Pedagogies of Prejudice & Prejudices of Pedagogy— Can you teach co-existence? Decency? Some social scientists say "no." —By the Grace of Heaven— A movie about ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak during the pandemic upends everything we thought we knew. But is it the whole picture? —What's the Point of All Our Yammering About Israel in English?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, Sally, Gilad and Noah (each hosts of labor-of-love, English-language podcasts about Israeli politics and culture) talk about why we bother, which is to say, what we hope to accomplish by yammering into microphones in English about Israel. What's the point? All that and the jazz genius of Faraj Suleiman!