For Heaven's Sake

Israel is on track to become one of the first immunized countries, and its public health system is among the best in the world. It has also entered its third lockdown amidst skyrocketing Covid rates. Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore how the pandemic is bringing out the best and worst of Israel and discuss the cultural shifts required to establish a sustainable social contract. 

For millennia, the threat of antisemitic persecution has made an acute sense of vulnerability one of the defining features of the Jewish experience. More recently, the stability and belonging--the "at homeness"--that the American Jewish community enjoys has largely supplanted this crisis narrative. Today, rising antisemitism in the United States has North American Jews increasingly defining their existence through a lens of crisis. Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss the impetus and ramifications of this perceptual shift on Jewish identity and Zionism in North America. 

Why and how do we, as Jews, remember the Holocaust today? Is "never again" a universal rallying cry against dehumanization, or is it an affirmation of Israel's Jewish sovereignty? In this week's episode, Netanyahu's controversial nomination of Brigadier General Effi Eitam as chairman of Yad Vashem sparks a passionate discussion between Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain about the core lessons of the Holocaust and Judaism's ancient emphasis on remembering evil.

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain examine the political divisions between American and Israeli Jews and discuss whether and how we can move beyond our respective ideological echo chambers towards productive dialogue. 

How does one begin to heal a deeply divided society, and is it even possible? Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore bridging political polarization as a civic and Jewish value.  

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain compare and discuss their understandings of pro-Israel political leadership. 

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore what Israel's recent peace treaties with the UAE and Bahrain could mean for peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. 

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain examine the Haredi response to rising Covid-19 cases in Israel and what it reveals about the nature of, and dynamics between, community and peoplehood.

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore the meaning of national atonement and discuss how they would like to see Israel approach collective repentance on this special Yom Kippur episode.

Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss the necessity of yearning for peace and and the courage to imagine the Israel we want to see in the world on this special Rosh Hashanah episode.