The Promised Podcast

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Sticks and stones We discuss the raft of government proposals to increase the penalties for stone-throwing, in the wake of the tragic death of Alexander Levlovich. How ought we to treat kids in kaffiyehs pelting with potentially deadly projectiles in the name of political protest? Won’t anyone think of the capitalists? We discuss an essay in Haaretz magazine entitled "Capitalism in Israel is Under the Brutal Attack of Social Activists" - oh my, won't anyone think of the rich people!? But is there a point here? Have do-gooders turned capitalism into a dirty word? Portmania (A Tale of Love and Sadness) We discuss the new movie written and directed by, and starring, FOPP (Friend of the Promised Podcast) Natalie Portman, "A Tale of Love and Darkness," based on the astonishing book by Amos Oz. All songs by Adi Madanes, in honor of his new record, "Lachlom, Lirkom, Lifrom": Biglal AnatIm At Ta’azvi Oto Hu Yichtov ShirimAsher AhavtiBo’u Nachgog

To mark the Days of Awe, Allison, Don and Noah discuss a trinity of topics aimed to divine the state of the spirit and the spirit of the state here in Israel. We ponder the state of religion & irreligion, spirituality & superstition, creed & cult in the Jewish State, even as God looks down upon us and ponders whether or not to inscribe The Promised Podcast in the Book of Many Downloads, or instead, in the Book of Too Few Facebook Likes, heaven forefend! The religiouser we get, the happier we feel? A poll commissioned by Haaretz has found that ultra-Orthodox Jews are happier than Orthodox Jews, who are in turn happier than traditional Jews, who are in turn happier than secular Jews. What's the explanation? Gimme that ol’ time irreligion! That same poll has found that 70 percent of Israeli Jews believe in God, and 98 percent of Israeli Arabs, meaning – among other things – that lots of ostensibly secular Jews have begun to believe in God. Are atheist Zionists becoming an endangered species? Taming theists with technology? Research indicates that ultra-Orthodox Jews are using the internet in rapidly growing numbers. Can frumkeit and Facebook really mix? Or will the wiring of the ultra-Orthodox lead to their assimilation into the great unwashed mass of instagramming idiots? Songs by Tuna, one of Israel’s great rappers, in honor of his new album, "Gam Zeh Ya’avor"! Lama Lo AchshavGam Zeh Ya’avorOlam Meshuga (with Nechi Nech)Rock Shloshim

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. To hell with what folks think about Israel! This year, perhaps more than ever before in history, our government seems to be saying a big "FUCK YOU" to the world. We just don’t care what you think about us. Obama? Screw you! Hollande? Up yours! Merkel? Take a hike! But why? Why? Why? The beginning of the end of the Rabbinate Blatant rebellion against Israel's Chief Rabbinate broke out this year after a group of rabbis established an alternative, “friendlier” conversion court. Everyone expected the Orthodox hegemony to get even stronger, but are the rabbis losing their grip? Dazed, confused, drunk, and depressed Israeli leftists spent this year mad, muttering, and morbidly depressed. This was the year that so many of us on the left lost our nerve, our mojo, our hope - even though now is when we need them the most: What the hell can we do to get them back? Songs for a happy, indie Rosh Hashanah! Devek – Shir TishreiEfrat Ben-Tzur – Shnei TapuhimRona Keinan – Sof Ha-OnaYermi Kaplan – Ruach Stav

Allison, Noah, and The Times of Israel Ops & Blogs editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Constraining kids in casts: A scene from the occupation We discuss the inescapably viral video of an Israeli soldier grappling with a 12-year-old boy, one of his arms in a cast, as two Palestinian woman and one girl grapple with him, pounding, scratching, and biting. What are we to make of such a distressing sight? Opposing Netanyahu, this time with feeling Israel’s youngest MK (at 30) and social protest leader Stav Shaffir has called her party’s failure to challenge the ruling coalition “a first-rate leadership failure.” We ask whether she's right, and what the opposition should be doing instead. Teaching kids the Classics: Gates, Jobs & Zuckerberg New Minister of Education Naftali Bennett is trying to convince high-schoolers to take high level math, which will give them primo salaries - a sort of Start-Up National Service. We ask why all this neo-capitalist ideology on school grounds makes us want to puke. All songs by the cool and ethereal Luna Abu Nassar Bint MeenRakevetEynayimBoha

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Peace by the numbers A new poll commissioned by the energetic, leftist think-tank Molad, suggests a new strategy for ending the right’s grip on power and, in time, for ending the occupation and achieving peace with the Palestinians. We ask what these new numbers add up to. A new (leftist) saviour to rise from these streets There's a buzz in the sidewalk cafes of greater Tel Aviv this week, as we saw politic's future and its name is General Gabi Ashkenazi. Is he our “Great White Hope”? Or is “Great White Hope-ism” the religion of fools, and are those fools us? This land is your land, this land is my land We discuss the bill proposed by Labour MK Danni Atar, which would grant traditional agricultural settlements effective ownership over 90 percent of their lands, while requiring them to fork over the remaining 10 percent to nearby development towns. All songs by Avraham Tal, in honor of his kick-ass free show in the sandbox in the Tel Aviv Port: Ve-ha-boker Ya’alehAni ItachBo’ee NishkavBo Kmo she-Atah

Allison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Israel and the "A Word" Haaretz columnist and mensch Bradley Burston wrote an essay entitled “It’s Time to Admit it. Israeli Policy is What it Is: Apartheid.” It went viral. We ask if it makes sense – factually and politically – to use the "A word" to describe Israel. The wages of politicization The newly more-politicized “Judicial Appointment Committee” met this week, and Likud MK Nurit Koren proposed advancing a judge because she is a woman of Yeminite descent, like Koren herself. We ask if Koren was really that off base. The Way Home (Road Trip!) Social protest leader Daphni Leef and singer-songwriter Yael Deckelbaum are planning to load up a van with all manner of shit and travel cross country for a month, listening to people describe their vision for the country. Is Dafni and Yael’s fantabulous journey a political act of meaning? All songs by the Bob Marley-loving Hatikvah 6: Od Pa’am Pa’amHachi YisraeliKol Yom MihadashMa She-Yehiyeh, Yehiyeh

Allison, Noah, and The Times of Israel's Ops & Blogs editor Miriam Hershlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. A decade out of Gaza On the tenth anniversary of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Jewish settlements in Gaza, we discuss the lasting legacy of the withdrawal - one of the most dramatic events in Israel's history. What, if anything, can we learn from it a decade later? Jewing up the diaspora real nice An ambitious new program has been announced by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs meant to fix “the weakening of the Jewish foundations of the family unit” among diaspora Jews. Is this just more insufferable Israeli meddlesome condescension? Israel's dead, long live the Jewish State! We discuss 91-year-old peace activist and moral compass Uri Avnery’s assertion in Haaretz that we’re seeing a frightful shift in Israel from a “Hebrew” state to a “Jewish” state that will subvert Zionism and soon bury us all. All songs by Tamar Eisenman, in honor of her new record, Limbo, her first in Hebrew! Klum LoRegaLimboDay & Night

Noah and special guest Sandy Fox - Yiddishist, historian, and bon vivant - seek some solace from the news of a tragic week in the magnificent mosaic of Israeli music. Music: Astonishing, 100-percent-authentic Israeli music in Arabic, French, Russian, Amharic, Judeo-Iraqi, Judeo-Yemini, Judeo-Moroccan, Ladino, Yiddish, Romanian, Spanish, English, and Hebrew. It’s an almost miraculous mosaic, and a beautiful one! Ruba Shamshoum - Fuqaati (My Bubble) (فُقاعَتي - ربى شمشوم) Riff Cohen - J’aime Sadyle - Imena Zvuloon Dub System - Tenesh Kelbe Lay Dudu Tassa & the Kuwaitis - Walla Ajabni Jamalak A-Wa - Habib Galbi Joe Elbaz & The Blues Angels - Moroccan Hoochie Coochie Guy & Roey Zu Aretz - Quando El Rey Nimrod Ramzeilach - Fir Zin Balkan Beat Box - Balkumbia Los Caparos - Volver Daniella Spektor and Rotem Bar Or - Giant Heart Corinne Alal - Ein Li Eretz Aheret

Noah, Ilene Prusher, and radio impresario Shoshi Shmuluvitz discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. World Jews to Israel: "Quit Messing Up Our Game!" A new study finding that Jews around the world are ambivalent about how Israel uses force, and convinced that Israel’s sometimes ill-advised use of force in the occupied territories, and our failure to pursue peace in a serious way, put Jews around the world in danger. But isn’t Israel supposed to protect the Jewish People? Playing Backgammon Alone Another poll (the 6th Annual European Survey) finding – unsurprisingly -- that Israelis are very happy but also -- surprisingly -- that Israelis score lower than ever on "community well-being." Is the sense of community and solidarity that characterized Israel in its first generations now deteriorating? If so, why? Are Smart Cities a Dumb Idea Cisco and IBM have teamed up with the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality to make it one of the world’s "smartest" cities, with apps and electronic kiosks. Sounds great, but are digital cities are turning citizens into consumers, voters into buyers, and democracy into a sham of a shell of a simulacrum? All this and the happy sounds of Ta’ani Esther, in honor of their just released album, Maskanot.

Don, Noah, and special guest Ilene Prusher discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. How far is J Street from my street? We discuss J Street’s upbeat campaign in support of the Iran deal, which leaves no room for the worry and ambivalence that most Israelis feel. Is a chasm spreading between the Israeli left and the American Pro-Israeli left? The new face of Israel's opposition? MK and Yesh Atid party head Yair Lapid is attempting to parlay PM Netanyahu’s failure to prevent the Iran deal into his own political asset. Is this the beginning of a campaign that will lead him to the Prime Minister’s residence? The wages of compassion Security experts have found that six Israelis have been killed by men released as part of the deal that brought Gilad Shalit back to his family three years ago. Should this grim calculus affect future Israeli hostage negotiations? Songs from the new EP "Esek Mishpahti" ("Family Business") that just dropped this week, by pioneering Israeli M.C. Sagol 59 (Khen Rotem) and young rapper & producer Shiroto (Tomy Rotem). In addition to the musical simpatico of the two hip hop stars, they are also father & son!Shimiot ba-avirMaspikMatzav HeirumHip Hop