The Promised Podcast

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Wunderkind Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida, All-star Haaretz writer Allison Kaplan-Sommer, NGO-maven-and-story-teller Don Futterman, Dan-David-Prize Czar Charlotte Halle, and ne'er-do-well Noah Efron tell stories of life and love in this place they call home, all previously aired, for quality control purposes. (That's how much we care about your listening experience!)

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, Wunderkind Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —How Do You Solve a Problem Like Rav Kanievsky?— Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox kids are going each day to schools that are required by law to be closed, in maybe the biggest act of civil disobedience in Israel's history. What's the government to do? —Skin in the Game?— Race, ethnicity, peoplehood, nationality, religion: How do these things fit together in today's Israel? —Anything But Apathy— Can a $678 embroidered hoodie with dropped shoulders and panelled long sleeves help bring peace to Israelis and Palestinians? —Is There Something Unique About Antisemitism on Social Media?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we talk about an essay in the forward by Joel Swanson called, "Facebook has banned Holocaust denial. But what about other genocides?", and ask more generally, is there something unique and sui generis about antisemitism on social media. All that and songs from Shlomi Shabat and family and friends!

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, 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. Become a Patron! —Exit Strategy— The government approves a plan to get out of Covid lockdown in nine easy stages. But will it work? —I Am Breathing on You— Novelist and editor Ruth Almog worries that Israelis are getting coarser, after a peeved, maskless woman breathes on her. Have we lost our civility? —Every Day— A big front-page ad compares abuse of animals to Treblinka. Is that o.k.? —Ought a Jewess Like Gal Gadot Be Allowed to Play Cleopatra?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss the fufura (though some think it's a mere brouhaha) on social media over whether a Jewess like Gal Gadot ought to be allowed to play Cleopatra on screen? All the Ancient Macedonian-Greek-Egyptian actresses in Hollywood are enraged at Gadot's cultural appropriation, and we'll try to figure out what to make of the fracas (though some think it's a mere ruckus). All that and songs by Vxodoo Daddy and Evja!

Times of Israel Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag, wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —The People Doth Protest Too Much!— In confining demonstrations to 1,000 meters from each protestor's home, did the government just do permanent damage to Israeli democracy? —Distant, Yes, But Is It Learning?— A study shows distance-learning is a complete failure for Israel's kids. Now what? —Poets & Politicians— Can poetry change politics? —Oh Gila, Gila Gamliel…— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we consider whether Minister of Environmental Protection Gila Gamliel ought to be fired, after she got Covid after breaking the rules and going to shul on Yom Kippur hundreds of kilometers from her home, and then tried to cover it up. All that and songs from the brand new EP by Jazz and Sabbo!

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. —Who Shall Live— As Israel's hospitals are overwhelmed with Covid patients, how do doctors decide who gets a ventilator and who doesn't? —AOC, AOC, Won't You Fight for Me?— Is AOC not that into us? —Make Me a Match— Why is matchmaking becoming a thing for (secular) Israelis? —Our First Lousy, Temporary Homes in Israel— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, ahead of Sukkot, the only holiday of the Jewish year that valorizes lousy, temporary housing, we reminisce about some of our first lousy, temporary homes here in Israel. All that and the happy music of Amir ve Ben!

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. —The Other Deal of the Century— Should Prime Minister Netanyahu get amnesty from prosecution for corruption in exchange for resigning? —RBG for She and We— Israel's Former Minister of Justice, Ayelet Shaked, says she reveres RBG's freedom-fighting feminism, but would never have appointed her to the bench here. A contradiction? —Atone Again, Naturally— About which public figures have we "spoken slander and evil speech, accused falsely and deceitfully, mocked" and worse? Who deserves our apologies for the sins of podcastery and assholery? —Michael Sfard Argues That in Israel, an RBG Could Never Make It To the Supreme Court. Is He Right?— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss an essay in Haaretz by the great civil rights lawyer Michael Sfard, arguing that in Israel, an RBG (or anyone who starts their career at an NGO) could never make it to the Supreme Court. We try to figure if he's right. All that and four awesome songs for the Days of Awe!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --It Never Bahrains, But It Pours!-- Did this week's historic signing of historic agreements at the historic White house set us upon new historic path? --An Exceptional Lockdown-- Do praying and protesting trump a lockdown? --The Jews Gotta Go?-- Should Israel's public TV network use public money and public airwaves to present to the public something that lots of people in one part of the public find profoundly offensive? --A Poetry Reading to Commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the Death of Yehuda Amichai-- For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the death of the great poet, Yehuda Amichai, we each read aloud an Amichai poem we love. All that and songs by Isaac DaBom!

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. Click here to listen to this week's extra-special, special extra patron-only segment --But What Future?-- What does the Greek-tragic struggle over leadership of the Yesh Atid ("There is a Future") party say about the future of our politics? --Disobedient, Sure! But Is It Civil?-- A former Israeli Foreign Minister calls for "civil disobedience" against the government's coronavirus rules and regulations. Has he crossed a line? --Bestirred-- What events and people mattered most in Israel over the Jewish year now drawing to a close? --The Arrest of Shoshke Englemayer, The Alter Ego of Artist Ze'ev Englemayer-- For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss the arrest last week at the Balfour protests of Shoshke Engelmayer, an alter ego of artist Ze'ev Englemayer, who is a an utterly naked, Outré, bevulva-ed, bare-breasted, lipsticked, bespectacled blond. Shoshke was arrested, absurdly, for 'sexual harassment', but we'll try to understand who she is and what, by her very way of being in the world, she says to us and about us. All that and songs by the happy, hip-hop collective, Shazamat!

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. --And the Bush Was Not Consumed: On the Surprising Longevity of the Balfour Protests-- The protests in front of Prime Minister Netanyahu's home have lasted almost twice as long as "Occupy Wall Street" and the demonstrations at Tiananmen Square. How come? --Surfing the Waves (of Corona)-- Naftali Bennett may be Israel's next prime minister, threatening Benjamin Netanyahu from the right. Why was he become so popular, during a pandemic? --N, Na, Nah, Nah-to-Uman-- Israel's coronavirus czar begs Ukraine's president to ban ultra-Orthodox Israelis from visiting the grave of their patron-saint Rabbi on the Jewish New Year, for fear that they'll spread the virus. Is that a step too far? --Israel is Breaking Records. Infection Records. Should We Worry?-- For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion, we discuss how Israel's infection numbers break records day after day, and yet most of us are pretty ho-hum about it. Why aren't we more freaked out? All that and the collective genius of Foto Màriana.

Twenty two years ago, a week after Israel celebrated its fiftieth anniversary, a 26 year-old former drag-queen and trans woman won the world's biggest song contest, The Eurovision. She also forever changed the way we Israelis see ourselves. In this very special edition of The Promised Podcast, Noah tells her story, and explains why he thinks that in this moment of anxiety and dreadful Nation-State laws, Dana International represents the humane and decent Zionism so many of us long for.