The Jewish Story

The Jewish Story Special: A 9 Days Conversation featuring Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz





The Israeli Judicial Reform protests come the same week 18 years after the Gush Katif protests and 2,000 years after the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. What can we learn from Tisha B'Av and the Nine Days about modern Jewish and Israeli unity? Sometimes the echoes of history are so loud that they seem to drown out the present. This conversation with Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, former Jerusalem City Council member, was recorded in Jerusalem at a Jewish unity tent with the sounds protesters in the background.




Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty











 

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 21 – The Final Episode of The Jewish Story

There is no way to give closure to six seasons of a story, but you have to try! Here is an interview with Rav Mike Feuer that looks back on the lessons of Jewish history and reflects on the challenges of today. It also announces tomorrow’s new project – so stay tuned for more amazing stories with the Jewish Heroism Project.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 20 – The Temple Mount Part IV

Was Ariel Sharon’s visit to the Temple Mount in 2000 the trigger for what the Arab community calls the Al Aqsa Intifada? Or was this a pre-planned assault orchestrated by the likes of Marwan Barghouti, Raed Salah of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel and even the Palestinian Authority?

In this final installment of the Temple Mount series, learn about the assassination attempt against Rabbi Yehudah Glick, the lynching of two Israelis in Ramallah, the rejection of Jewish history by PLO leader Yasir Arafat during his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, the and the rioting that took the lives of thousands including that of Muhammad al-Durrah during the Second Intifada. Plus, Yehuda Etzion and the Hai Vekayam movement who sought to ensure Jewish people had the right to pray at the Har HaBayit, the site of the Beit HaMikdash.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 19 – The Temple Mount Part III – The Narrative War

Why is the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism a lighting rod for terrorist attacks and central to Israeli-Arab peace negotiations? Learn about how the Har HaBayit shifted from being acknowledged by Muslim leaders in the 1920s as a Jewish site to a complete denial by Yasir Arafat by the 1990s. The Oslo Accords, the Camp David Summit and reactions of President Bill Clinton. Plus, the history of the destruction of Jewish antiquities by the Muslim Waqf and the creation of the Temple Mount Sifting Project.

Credits: Rav Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude - Future of American Zionism

Rav Mike Feuer speaks at Valley Beit Midrash in an event co-sponsored by Temple Chai entitled “Is There a Future for American Zionism? American Zionism in the Era of the Ethnic State.”

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

 

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - Interview with Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz

Rav Mike Feuer interviews educator and activist Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz and discuss what it means to be both progressive and orthodox in the Jewish world, as well as his vision of the Jewish story, Israel and Zionism past present and future.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 18 – The Temple Mount Part II – The Status Quo

Should Jews be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount? Or will it inflame Muslim sensitivities? Learn the history of this debate from the Six Day War in 1967 when General Moshe Dayan argued with Rabbi Shlomo Goren on the issue, to the fire started by Australian tourist Denis Michael Rohan, the shooting by Allan Goodman, through the 1980s up until the riots in 1990. Plus learn more about Zionist philosopher Shabtai Ben-Dov, radical activist Yehuda Etzion, Gershon Salomon and the Temple Mount Faithful. What Muslims call the Haram al-Sharif and Al Aqsa Mosque and what Jews call the Har HaBayit and Beit HaMikdash have ramifications for today’s conflict.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

 

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 17 – The Temple Mount Part I – The Hinge Point

Every tale has a point around which it revolves, and for the Jewish Story that is the Temple Mount. Here is the opening round in a new series tracing the way in which the sacred mountain in the middle of Jerusalem is still at the center of our story.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

 

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - The Crisis of Israeli Sovereignty

A live webinar on behalf of for Fuel For Truth: Israel Education & Advocacy Training, on “The Crisis of Israeli Sovereignty.” First Rav Mike lays out his innovative approach to three dimensions in which sovereignty is exercised – territorial, economic and cultural. Then in the question and answer he engages the judicial reform protests, the purpose of Israel, what it means to be a Jew in modern society and whether or not one can believe in both the Nakba and in the miracle of Israel’s founding.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - Constitution Now!

Rav Mike Feuer calls for a constructive alternative to the current mass protests against judicial reform being debated in Israel’s Knesset. Along the way he touches upon some historical context about Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, Supreme Court Justice Aharon Barak, Meir Kahane’s Kach party and what the Israeli Declaration of Independence actually says. On the way toward a new model of national covenant, the Jewish State needs to learn to speak to one another again, and that also requires understanding how the Disengagement from Gaza and destruction of Gush Katif in 2005 affect the current political situation.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 16 – The Endgame (American Anti-Semitism Part VII)

The final installment in the series on the tri-partite part nature of American Antisemitism. This episode revisits all three forms of Jew-hatred characteristic of society in the United States and touches base with their manifestation in the new millennia. Along the way we identify the narrative endgame driving each of these stories of destruction and consider what the Jews ought to do about it.

Learn about the 2001 Durban Conference on Racism, the Turner Diaries, the Oklahoma City Bombing, James Baldwin, Black Lives Matter, and Jewish students on college campus today.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

 

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 15 – Progressing Towards Anti-Semitism (American Anti-Semitism Part VI)

Anti-Jewish and Anti-Israel leftists and progressives. Learn why Jews vote Democratic, and how Tikkun Olam became the civil religion of liberal American Jews. As Jews sought greater acceptance for themselves and other minorities, anti-Zionism turned into Judeophobia, with help from the community Soviet Union. Anti-Zionism became Judeo-phobia and a manifestation of hate in the progressive culture of the United States. Hear the stories of Rabbi Michael Lerner of Tikkun Magazine who authored The Socialism of Fools, Leonard Fein, CAJE (Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education), the New Jewish Agenda, and more in this important episode of the ongoing series that explores both right-wing and left-wing Jew-hatred.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - Interview with Ken Jacobson of the ADL

Is Judeophobia getting worse in the US? Kenneth Jacobson has worked for the Anti-Defamation League since 1971 and as deputy director, he shares his unique view on the history of Jew-hate in America.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 14 - American Antisemitism Part V

This episode opens up our exploration of the third face of American antisemitism with the backstory of progressive Jew-hate. Listen in to uncover the ongoing impact of Soviet era propaganda, and to learn what is “the socialism of fools.”

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 13 - American Antisemitism Part IV

When the cracks start to open up in American race relations, Jew-hate seeps into the mainstream. Here is an episode about Reverend Jesse Jackson, Minister Louis Farrakhan and the evolution of black antisemitism.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Interlude - The Inner Pressure of the Present Moment

Sometimes you have to get out of your own head in order to know what you really think. Here is an episode where my good friend Eitan Ben Avraham of Aleph Male interviews me on the fundamental tensions underlying the Israeli/American Jewish relationship and how they find expression in our present political challenges.

Topics include the Jewish-American identity versus the Jewish-Israeli identity and what it means for an American oleh who made aliyah. Also, the Israeli Supreme Court and justice reform controversy, the Law of Return, reform, conservative and orthodox Jewish synagogues, and more.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 12 - American Antisemitism Part III

Jew-hatred has two fundamental elements no matter where it manifests – one connected to the role Jews play in society, the other the role we play in the mind of the hater. This episode opens a new facet of American Antisemitism as we turn from white hate to black, and try to understand the roots of them both.

Learn about James Baldwin, Malcolm X, the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, Elijah Muhammad, Ambassador Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, the PLO, the 1968 New York City teachers’ strike, pawnbrokers, landlords, race riots and the changing face of urban neighborhoods in American’s north.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6 

Episode 11 - American Antisemitism Part II

In part 2 of our exploration of the new face of the oldest hate focuses on the history of Jewish response to American Antisemitism through a look at the Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913 by Sigmund Livingston. Over the years they battled Henry Ford’s Dearborn Independent and Father Couglin’s radio show. Later they faced off against modern incarnations of Judeophobia such as Christian Identity and replacement theory. As a bonus there is an interview with Bettysue Feuer, retried regional director of the ADL and my mother.

Credits: Rabbi Mike Feuer - Pardes Faculty

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude – Greek Wisdom and Cultural Sovereignty


Here is my annual Hanukkah class in honor of my father, Charles Feuer/Betzalel ben Avraham ob’m. As the end of the Hasmonean kingdom that was established after the Hanukkah war, the Sages decreed “cursed by the man who teaches his son Greek wisdom.” This talk explores what that wisdom might be, how to hold it off and why doing so is central to our national struggle for cultural sovereignty.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 9 - Boundary Issues Part V

Uzi Dayan was national security advisor to both Ehud Barak and Ariel Sharon, helping them navigate the stormy waters of the Camp David summit, the Oslo war and Operation Defensive Shield. Through it all, he labored to build his vision of a separation wall on a solid political foundation.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 8: Boundary Issues Part IV

Though the first intifada paved the way for the wall, the second – known as the Oslo War – brought it into being. This episode makes a bridge between these two conflicts, tracing the arc from suppression to separation and asks the question -why not sovereignty?

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 7 - Boundary Issues Part III

Violence often has an arc, and in this episode we trace how the intifada progresses together with the Israeli policies of suppression and separation. Along the way we outline the birth of the Hamas terror organization and end on a childhood note from yours truly.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude - On Violence

In this episode we take a break from tracking the evolution of Israel’s separation wall to consider the deeper issues of violence on which it is built. Rav Yehuda Hakohen of the Vision Movement joins me for a conversation about Max Nordau, Zev Jabotinsky and Frantz Fanon. Along the way we consider issues of decolonization, settlement and the hope for a new Jewish consciousness that might soon emerge.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 6: Boundary Issues Part II - The Intifada

When the intifada erupted it caught the Israeli army and leadership unprepared. Part two of the series exploring the evolution of the separation barrier explores Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s “iron-fist” policy response as part of arc of government decisions that move from suppression to separation – all in avoidance of sovereignty.

 

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 5: Boundary Issues Part I

Almost two thousand years ago the Sages determined that Am Yisrael was bound in exile by an oath not to go up to the land “like a wall.” Now two millennia later there is a wall built by the Israeli government running through the heart of our biblical homeland. Here is the introductory episode to a new series that aims to break down the evolution of Israel’s security wall.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude: The Sukkot Interlude

The Zohar calls the Sukkah “the shade of faith.” Here are some impromptu thoughts from me to you as I sit in the shade of my sukkah – inspired by these holy days, but relevant all year round.

 

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 4: Electoral Dysfunction Part III

Here is the final installment in the series detailing the evolution of Israel’s electoral system. It brings us almost all the way to the present, touching on topics like the Oslo Accord, electoral reform and Israel’s Supreme Court along the way. If you want to have a better understanding of our current electoral dysfunction, then tune in now.

The Jewish Story Season 6

Interlude: Interview with Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi

Here is an interview with Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi, of Hakhel: The Jewish Intentional Communities Incubator in the Diaspora, an expert on the biblical sabbatical year – shemitta. This is our first taste of a “future vision” for the Jewish people, as well as some stirring thoughts for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

 

The Jewish Story Season 6

Episode 3: Electoral Dysfunction Part II

The unity government wasn’t born yesterday, it has a long history in Israel. Tune in to this ongoing exploration of the evolution of Israel’s electoral system to learn about the government shared by ex-underground fighter Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres through the 80s, how it held together Mizrachi pride, religious tension and territorial confusion. A government that withdrew from Lebanon, tamed galloping inflation and faced the First Intifada before being brought down by the infamous “dirty trick.”

The Jewish Story Season 5

Episode 22: Soviet Jewry - The End Game

The third and final episode in our series on Soviet Jewry in which Russian Jews are finally able to leave the Soviet Union. The 1980s saw a welding together of American Cold War policies and the struggle for Soviet Jewry in a dramatic fashion. Super power summits, Glasnost, the release of Russian refusenik Natan Sharansky and the Freedom Sunday demonstration all came together to achieve one purpose – let my people go

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on Patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

 

The Jewish Story Season 5

Episode 21: American Jewry Circa 1984

As we circle in toward the end of season five, it is time to check back in with American Jewry. The Eighties were a time of economic and social security for the Jews of the US, and the overall growth of their religious communities was boosted by a surprising source - the Kollel. It was a decade in which the assumption that Jews vote Democrat was first really challenged and in which the early rumblings of antisemitism in the public sphere could be felt once more.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on Patreon. For more information, visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

The Jewish Story Season 5

Interlude: An Interview with Daniel Gordis

Menachem Begin has been part of our exploration of the Jewish Story since the uprising against the British back in 1944, and the Lebanon War was the last chapter in which he took an active role. In order to give a fitting wrap-up to such an important character, here is an interview with Dr. Daniel Gordis, author of the biography Menachem Begin: the battle for Israel's soul.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on Patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

The Jewish Story Season 5

Episode 19: The Lebanon War Part IV: Sabra and Shatila

The assassination of Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayel was an explosion that rocked the region, and the massacres at Sabra and Shatila which followed in its wake horrified the world. This episode touches on a rabbinic debate over the morality of war, and the political struggle over its consequences and sets the stage for a sea-change in Israeli society.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on Patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

We are all actors in the Jewish Story, and part of the art of becoming a main character is knowing how to seize the moment. Here is an interview with former Ambassador David Friedman which explores how he came to be in his position, the contributions he made and his vision for where Israel might be headed.

Crossing into Lebanon to destroy PLO started as a successful mission, and when the IDF destroyed the Syrian SAM belt in the Bekaa Valley through Operation Mole Cricket 19 it looked like victory was assured. Nonetheless as Defense Minister Ariel Sharon pursued Yasser Arafat (and his dreams of a peace treaty) into the Siege of Beirut, he discovered that his Maronite allies were not to be trusted and that it is easier to enter Lebanon than to leave.

Sometimes a listener question can cause a whole interlude. Here is an exploration of Jewish leadership and its roots in the Jewish story. Along the way we touch on Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, R' Chaim Kanievsky and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. There is also an opening attempt at defining leadership and a chance to ask the question - what exactly makes someone a Jewish leader?

Operation Peace for the Galilee begins with Israeli jets pounding Yasser Arafat's PLO bases in southern Lebanon, but there is always a backstory. In this episode learn about the complicated history Lebanon's civil wars fought between Christians, Moslems and Druze. Meet Ariel Sharon in his new role of Defense Minister, ever the bulldozer and now hoping to stabilize Israel's northern border together with Maronite leader Bachir Gemayel. Hear also how Prime Minister Menachem Begin's personal experience with the Holocaust drove him to support a war of choice for the first time.

Before we can discuss the outbreak of war between Israel and the PLO in Lebanon, we must lay out the political context. As Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian liberation army were massing troops along the border, and the city of Kiryat Shemona was facing bombardment, Prime Minister Menachem Begin visited US President Ronald Reagan in Washington to solidify a US-Israel relationship - a goal made more complicated by Reagan's cabinet. American envoy to the Middle East Philip Habib will fight to keep the border from boiling over, but his efforts will come to an end with the assassination attempt against Israeli ambassador Shlomo Argov in 1982.

Israel's leadership came to be part by never forgetting the principal of "when one comes to kill you, rise early and kill first." Menachem Begin's 1981 bombing of the Iraqi reactor Osirak on the distant banks of the Tigris gave birth to the "Begin doctrine" of absolute opposition to enemy possession of nuclear weapons - which is still being questioned today. Without doubt Begin's rising to strike first in Iraq was a testimony to the power of adhering to first principles.

image from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Osirak_Plan.jpg
by: BotKannadiga
li: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

People like to talk about the price of peace, but they rarely define what peace actually means. This makes evaluating the price impossible. In April of 1982 Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and for the first time destroyed established Jewish homes in the name of peace. This episode explores the price.

There are some conversations which Am Yisrael is just not having. As a follow up to some of the issues raised in the last few episodes Rav Mike is joined by R' Yehuda Hakohen of the Vision Movement for a conversation on power and violence in the State of Israel.

Today the media loves to discuss "settler violence," but it is rarely interested in its historical origins. This episode picks up the story of Yehuda Etzion and Menachem Livni who had set out to trigger redemption by any means necessary. As it turns out, events went in another direction and their actions continue to have consequences down to our day.

In politics as in physics - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Menachem Begin's signing of the Camp David Accords did not produce a singular response, but it did send shock waves through every aspect of Israeli society. Among the idealists of the settlement movement, it birthed an underground element which felt called to continue the revolution which Begin himself had helped to forward. Fueled by redemptive visions, powerful personalities and practical pressures the action they take in response to Camp David will be explosive.

It is rare that someone who begins a movement is still leading strong fifty years later. Daniella Weiss was part of the original settlement of the Shomron in the early 70s, and remains a militant force within the settlement movement today. Here is an interview which touches on her experience of past and present, as well as her views of the future.

Is anyone else feeling a little frayed around the edges? Here is an interlude where I give some insight on how to avoid snapping under the pressure of our world, and even how to fray with grace. Send me an email at ravmikefeuer@gmail.com if you want to set up a counselling session about how to take these ideas deeper into your life.

image by author Alan Levine, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode

The domestic political upheaval of 1977 was followed quickly by an international earthquake in 1978 when Israel and Egypt agree to make peace. Here is the story of how shifts within two societies, and two leaders, led to the signing of the Camp David Accords.

Begin's victory in 1977 was the beginning of revolutionary change for Israel, not the end. Some who rejoiced will be bemused, others who were skeptical will be surprised. This episode explores the aftermath of Begin's election as it intersected fault lines within his society and within himself.

There are few events in the history of Israel's democracy which have had a greater impact than the elections of 1977. When all the votes were counted three decades of Labor Zionist rule had come to an end and Menachem Begin's Likud party was victorious. It is known in Israeli history as 'the earthquake,' and this episode explores what forces underlay such a tectonic shift in Israel's political system.

Many people look at the world today and feel the foundations of American power shaking - and most are afraid. Here is an episode about empires, made in the spirit of Hanukkah. Rav Mike takes a look backward to seek wisdom for survival in imperial transitions Am Yisrael has weathered in the past, touches on the problems of the present, and even takes a glance forward to offer a taste of what might lie ahead.

photo attribution: by: outtacontest, from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/outtacontext/8682324203 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Heroism is a precious quality, and one strong enough to change the world. Here is the story of the Israeli mission to free hostages on Entebbe, perhaps the most heroic mission of its time. At its heart lies a person who in many ways embodies the qualities of his generation - Yoni Netanyahu.

Historian and author Gil Troy joins me for a follow up to the 'Zionism is Racism' episode. We talk 'Moynihan's Moment,' the rise of the PLO, the mental health crisis on American campuses and much more. Tune in also for a fascinating discussion that lays out 'Identity Zionism,' a vision which offers hope for Am Yisrael and the entire world.

When most people think about Yitzchak Rabin as Israel's Prime Minister they focus on the Oslo Accords and his tragic murder, but many are unaware that Rabin's assassination ended his second term. Here is an episode on his opening round as Prime Minister, when Rabin's choice as the first native born Israeli to head the government opened a new era. We will see him face down US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on the international scene, but in the end a handful of religious idealists will force him to compromise on the domestic front.

Rabin faced conflicts on all three fronts of Jewish history - within Am Yisrael, between Israel and the nations, and as a people in their land. This episode focuses on the third, as the Arab/Israeli war shifts into the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. This new phase of struggle will see the rise of the PLO as a legitimate political force, the strengthening of Palestinian identity among Israeli Arabs through the birth of Land Day and a horrific surge in terror.

Many things within Israeli society were threatened with collapse in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, and perhaps the most profound danger was a loss of spirit. This episodes explores the rise of the 'bloc of the faithful,' vanguard of today's "settlement movement" who moved to inherit the pioneering spirit of Israel in this difficult time.

If Israel is meant to be a light to the nations, then how they see us offers illuminating insights. In this episode we meet the Non-Aligned Movement, Israel's relationship with Africa, President Mobutu of Zaire, Ugandan leader Idi Amin, US ambassador to the UN Daniel Patrick Moynihan, and Israeli delegate to the UN Hadassa Ben-Itto. All of them want to know whether the national liberation movement of the Jewish people is racist and akin to apartheid, and what it means for oppressed peoples of the world.

The feminist movement and Jewish American life came together in the 1960s and 70s - each influencing the other. In this episode we touch on Betty Friedan's Feminine Mystique, the religious activism of women like Sally Priesand and the Ezrat Nashim organization. We will also explore how feminism and antisemitism intersect, from Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Womens Bible to the 1975 United Nations World Conference on Women in Mexico City which Betty Friedan, and fellow attendee Letty Cottin Pogrebin, founding editor of Ms. Magazine, called a turning point for many things to come.

picture from: Victuallers
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode

Sometimes a simple question sparks the deepest thoughts. This episode is in answer to a simple question - what is the story of Rosh Hashanah. It explores the nature of kingship and the crown in Jewish tradition, and offers some guidance on how we can all approach telling a different story of our lives in the coming new year.

image from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/xeni/436828769
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/legalcode

talks about Russian Jewish refuseniks, why they were denied exit visas to immigrate to Israel, and how the Communist regime eventually let them go. Learn about US President Richard Nixon's détente with the Soviets, championed by Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and opposed by Henry "Scoop" Jackson, co-author of the Jackson-Vanik amendment of 1974 and his assistant Richard Perle.

Others discussed regarding the issue of Russian Jews include Shaul Avigur, founder of Israel's Liaison Bureau (Lishkat Hakesher), also known as Nativ, Jacob Birnbaum of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, Moshe Decter of Jewish Minorities Research, and Russian dissident Andrei Sakharov and his influence on the most well known refusenik, Natan Sharansky.

The changing culture of American Jewry after the Yom Kippur War in Israel and the Vietnam War meant leaving old neighborhoods, a surge in Zionism and new developments in the Jewish community like the Havurah movement. We explore the publication of the First Jewish Catalog: A Do-It-Yourself Kit edited by Richard Siegel, and Michael and Sharon Strassfeld and the shift from left-wing liberal to neo-conservative in the writings of Commentary Magazine editor Norman Podhoretz. Plus, Rav Mike gets personal and talks about his own Jewish upbringing.

Telling the story of the Exodus is something so simple that we do it every year, and so complicated that we never get it quite right. With all the effort we put into preparation for a kosher Pesach, it is worth dusting off the Haggadah a couple of weeks early in or to prepare for an awesome Seder. Author Mark Gerson joins me to discuss his new book about the Haggadah and how we can best access its energy and wisdom.

The desire to get even is as old as Cain and Abel, so what new could possibly be said about it? Here is an interview with author Thane Rosenbaum where we explore the nature of vengeance, its relationship to justice and how it informs our actions.

Here is a rant on the current struggle in Israel and Gaza. There is something in it for everyone, both to provoke and inspire. Make sure you don't miss the message at the end!

The power of fairy stories goes well beyond entertainment. In this interlude author Rena Rossner joins me to explore myth, story and the power of fairy tale. Along the way we touch on God, history and my favorite author as well!

It is not every day that you get to speak with a legend, much less interview one. Here are some precious words I had with the Alter rebbe of Jewish History, Rabbi Berel Wein. We touch on the nature of history, the Jewish people, the experience of salvation and much more.

In this interlude I am joined by special guest Dr. Michael Oren. The topic at hand is how the Six Day War helped shaped the special relationship between Israel and the United States. Along the way Dr. Oren offers insights on a range of events, sharing his perspective as an historian, author, diplomat and a Jew.

photo credit: Anne Mandelbaum, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en

How we chew and swallow what history shoves down our throat can define us as individuals and nations. Here is an interview with R' Yitz Greenberg, foundational thinker on post-Holocaust theology. In it we explore how American Jewry began to process the memory of the Holocaust, the impact of the SIx Day War on their identity, and if one can see the God of History in the post-modern era. If you want to explore more of R' Yitz's thoughts, check out - https://rabbiirvinggreenberg.com/

Every chapter comes to an end sometime, and with this epilogue season four draws to a close. Listen in for some reflections and where we have been and where we are headed in the season to come, as well as some insights on what it might mean.

The shock waves of the Yom Kippur War ripple through Israeli society down to our day, but the days immediately after tell a story all their own. This episode explores the rise of Israel's first protest movement around Motti Ashkenazi, the first cracks of the Labor government under Prime Minister Golda Meir and the formation of the Likud at the hands of Ariel Sharon. All of these combine to make up the domestic aftermath of the war.

photo from: ארכיון דן הדני

Every war has a winner, but sometimes identifying who that may be is not a simple task - nor a neutral one. This episode explores the international aftermath of the Yom Kippur war, explaining how the super power confrontation, the Arab oil embargo and the international peace process all created different winners of the conflict.

Some people play a perfect role in the Jewish Story, and in this episode that will be US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and General Ariel Sharon. As the fighting reaches its conclusion, each will give his utmost to achieve his ends, but as we will see though the battle may be won - the war is far from over.

photograph by Amnon Tzur https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SuezBrdg1973.jpg

This is the story of how close the end really came during the Yom Kippur War. Even as Israel's tanks held out in the north, turning a stretch of the Golan into 'The Valley of Tears,' the forces in the south were stretched to the breaking point. Nonetheless, an American airlift will provide the arms, and the impetuous general Ariel Sharon the means, to yet snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

A surprise blow is always the hardest to absorb, even if it's not so powerful. The first strike of the Yom Kippur War will be massive, and it will come close to stunning the entire nation of Israel. Listen in to hear how the shock nearly caused leaders like Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan and Chief of Staff David Elazar to lose their way, while the common soldiers of Israel held on for the very life of the nation.

Sometimes the ideas we hold most dear are those which prevent us from seeing t hat which is most important. Here is an episode about the 'concept,' the security analysis paradigm which stopped Israel for from recognizing its danger almost until it was too late.

Long before there was a start-up nation the Jews were the can do people, but a constant crisis-solving posture poses problems of its own. Here is part two in our effort to build the context for the surprise of the Yom Kippur War. It is a story of technological revolutions, unstoppable confidence and even what might be called an act of piracy.

picture attribution: Israeli Navy Spokesman Office

If we call what happened in the 1967 a war of the spirit, then what occurred seven years later was a struggle of psychology. Here is the first episode leading up to the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It explores the booming economy, the Israeli Black Panthers and the emergence of a new leader of Egypt, all in an attempt to understand the context for surprise.

The whole world watched in horror as the murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games raised the bar on international terror to previously inconceivable heights. The events cannot be forgotten, and their consequences are with us down to this day.

There is a narrative battle which has been raging for decades between Arab and Jew in the land of Israel, and sometimes it breaks out into open warfare. This is the story of the abortive attempt by Palestinians to overthrown the Kingdom of Jordan and the role it plays in giving an international standing to their nationalist struggle.

The Jewish Story Season 5

Interlude: An Interview with Aaron Leibowitz

Jerusalem Day is a time when past and present come sharply together and have the potential to define our future. Social activist and former city councilor Rav Aaron Leibowitz joins me to discuss the potential of the holy city and this momentous day.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on Patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

The battlefield and the boardroom come together for the last episode in the series on the War of Attrition. Meet new Prime Minister Golda Meir as she balances war and politics in her new policy of 'asymmetrical response.' Unfortunately this may win her the battle just as it looses the war.

Every major conflict is fought on many fronts. This second installment on the War of Attrition explores the diplomatic front. We will encounter Yitzchak Rabin as the new Israeli ambassador and get our first look at American Jewish policy maker Henry Kissinger as our story leaves the battle ground for the boardroom.

Changing our conceptions is one of the hardest things in life to do, for countries as well as individuals. Israel's stunning victory in 1967 brought many blessings, but it also posed certain challenges in how to understand the post-war reality. Here is the first episode on the War of Attrition, a conflict so poorly understood that many people don't even know it happened.

The return to Israel can have two meanings - a return to the Land and a return to essential self. The birth of a settlement movement striving for redemption was one of the most significant results of the Six Day War, and no community tells the story better than Hebron.

One can look at life as one long string of decisions, whether for individuals or nations. Israel had a number of decisions to make in the wake of the Six Day War and none was more pressing than where to place the borders. Here is an episode about some of the factors in that decision - the Allon Plan and the return to Kfar Etzion - which helped shape the future.

Abundance is always a blessing, so long as one has the capacity to receive it. In the weeks and months after their victory in June of 1967, the Israeli government struggled to absorb the meaning and practical implications of everything which they had just acquired. This episode begins our exploration of the new political, economic and spiritual realities which began on the day after the war.

It is a truism that struggle brings out unexpected powers from within us, and what's true in life is true in history as well. The struggle to liberate Soviet Jewry will be a formative element of our story for decades to come, so here is the first chapter.

There are stories which are turning points in a larger tale, and there are those which prove to be tempests in a tea cup. The story of the 1968 NYC school strike could be read as both. Either way, this episode offers a look at a microcosm of Black/Jewish relations in 1968 which will have a profound impact down to our day.

As each decade passes, the Holocaust retreats in time and grows in memory and this is not a linear process - some years count more than others. This episode looks at American Jewry's relationship to the Shoah before and after the Six Day War and adds an important piece for understanding how Israel and Auschwitz became twin pillars of American Jewish identity.

History is all about telling the story after the fact, but there is a particular wisdom to be gained in the heat of the moment which is easily lost in hindsight. The first episode of season four begins to explore the impact of the Six Day War on American Jewry through the wisdom of the moment itself.

The Golden Age of Tzefat had more to it than the writing of authoritative legal texts. There was also a flowering of kabbalistic thought which returned the experience of the Divine to its central place in the culture of Am Yisrael. And the most powerful master of this esoteric wisdom was certainly R’ Yitzchak Luria – the Holy Ari z”l. Listen now to the latest installment of The Jewish Story by Rav Mike Feuer.



Deepen your relationship with Israel as a People and take a journey through the most remarkable, majestic and dramatic history of any people in human history with The Jewish Story. Click here for more episodes in the series.

This episode was taken from the Jewish Story Season 4, Interlude The 10th of Tevet: It is Not Too Late to Change
Every fast day is an chance for cheshbon nefesh, for making an accounting of life and the world. The Tenth of Tevet offers an additional, unique opportunity - to think about imminent dangers. Here is an exploration of some of the challenges which our world faces and how this holy day can leave us better prepared to meet them.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

Credits:
Rav Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty and Jewish Story Host
Rabbi Adam Titcher - Executive Producer

The Jewish Story Season 4, Interlude Yom Yerushalayim - Here is a LIVE Yom Yerushalayim class given in honor of the 10th yartzeit of Fruma Raizel bat Genendel and Nehemia haKohen. It explores the relationship between Yom Ha'atzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim, between self-actualization and inspiration, in order to provide insight and inspiration for these holy days.
Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

Credits:
Rav Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty and Jewish Story Host
Adam Titcher - Executive Producer

The Jewish Story Season 3, Interlude Yom Haatzmaut Interview* - Here is an interview of Rav Mike Feuer by Rabbi Yonatan from the RRG Beit Midrash at Hebrew University (May 2020) in which we reflect on Israel Independence day from the historical and spiritual perspectives. If you want some insight into the potential depth of this day, and how the strange circumstances of this pandemic year actually offer us a unique opportunity, then tune in.
*This episode of the Jewish Story was first published in 2020 on Yom Haatzmaut but is being redistributed for Yom Yerushalayim 2021.

Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story with Rav Mike by supporting him on patreon. For more information visit elmad.pardes.org/ravmike.

Please let us know your comments and thoughts about the podcast, write us at: elmad@pardes.org.il. If you enjoyed what you just heard please give us a 5-star review on iTunes or wherever you download our podcasts today. For more information about Pardes, visit our website www.pardes.org.il.

Credits:
Rav Mike Feuer – Pardes Faculty and Jewish Story Host
Adam Titcher - Executive Producer