Jewanced

#66– Swords of Iron, Day 28: Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Sat, 11 Nov 2023 09:00:00 +0200

In this special ‘War Edition’ of the show, Dan and Benny take a deep dive into the geopolitical context of the October 7th war with Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman. Together, they discuss the war’s progress, impact, and possible outcomes both near- and long-term.

About Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman:

Colonel (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman is a lecturer in the Shalem College Departments of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies and Strategy, Diplomacy, and Security and in the Tel Aviv University Department of Political Science. He is also the Vice President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security and, since 2021, the editor-in-chief of Jerusalem Strategic Tribune.

A historian by training and the former deputy for foreign policy and international affairs at Israel’s National Security Council, Lerman has also served as director of the American Jewish Committee’s Israel/Middle East Office and in senior positions at the Israel Defense Forces’ Directorate of Military Intelligence.

He holds a PhD in Government from the London School of Economics and a mid-career MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. A third-generation “Sabra,” he is married to Annelies, the father of three, and the proud grandfather of four.

A special message from Benny & Dan:

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the thousands of victims - murdered, kidnapped, and injured - of the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on the morning of October 7th. This episode of the show is dedicated to the brave men and women of the IDF and Israel's security forces as they bravely serve to eliminate the destructive threats faced by Israel and the Jewish People both near and far - and to the People of Israel who are struggling at this unprecedented time.

For those interested in donating to help the Israeli people in this time of need, please check out the following resources. Your help is highly appreciated at this urgent time:

The Jewish Agency for Israel's Fund for Victims of Terror - CLICK HERE
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Emergency Campaign 2023 - CLICK HERE
Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) - CLICK HERE
JNF-USA Israel Resilience Campaign - CLICK HERE

עם ישראל חי! Am Yisrael Chai!

Additional Links:

· Follow Dr. Lerman on X @EranLerman

· Visit Dr. Lerman’s page at Shalem College HERE.

A special word about Israel travel from Kenes Tours:

Saturday, October 7th will go down in infamy. Israel was brutally and horrifically attacked by Hamas terrorists who violently infiltrated the country and penetrated southern Israeli communities. Thousands of Israelis were murdered, terrorized, and kidnapped. Deadly rockets are being fired upon southern and central Israel from the Gaza Strip and upon communities in the northern Galilee from Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces are working valiantly and strategically to secure the country’s borders and to eliminate the terrorist threat.

The entire global Jewish community is affected by this war. It has heeded the call and is expressing solidarity, unity, and support with Israel in unprecedented numbers. Massive amounts of time, energy, financial and other resources are being donated to the effort. Many of our Jewish organizational partners across North America – both from the Jewish Federation system and from synagogues of all denominations – have reached out to us to ask what they can do to actively contribute.

In a bold demonstration of support, Kenes Tours is facilitating solidarity missions to Israel throughout this challenging time. With worldwide escalating antisemitism, antizionism, and protests, Israelis feel afraid and alone. Simply “showing up” sends a strong message that this is not the case. Our missions will boost morale, help build resilience, increase understand of what has and is taking place in Israel, and will further strengthen the ties that bind us together.

Kenes Tours has the on-the-ground partners necessary to create your customized solidarity mission to Israel. These trips are designed to be short (from 36 to 72 hours), powerful, and impactful for both participants and Israelis affected by the war. Experiences might include the following:

Exclusive geo-strategic briefings with top military experts.
Visits to hospitals treating the wounded.
Meetings with evacuees and others displaced by the war.
Encounters with IDF soldiers, security forces, and reserve units.
Visits to affected areas (subject to security and safety guidelines).
Engagements with local communities and visits to Partnership communities (if applicable).
Opportunities to witness how the home front is protecting itself from threats.
Hands-on volunteer opportunities, coordinated with local partners.

Our Tel Aviv- and U.S.-based teams will work on your behalf to secure flights, transfers, security, and hotel accommodations, as well as plan community-optimized itineraries. We want to be your partner and help achieve your objectives for this mission.

Kenes Tours commits to fair, transparent, and affordable prices for interested groups, individuals, and organizations. We do not believe in price-gouging or profiting from our national tragedy. We stand ready to join you in expressions of support for those in need.

For more information and to plan your solidarity mission, contact Benny Scholder, Director of Sales – North America, at bscholder@kenes-tours.com.

#65 – Swords of Iron, Day 19: The PR Battle

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0200

In this special ‘War Edition’ of the show, Dan and Benny cover updates on the war as well as discuss Israel’s PR battle with special guests Joanna Landau, founder and president of Vibe Israel, and Haisam Hassanein, a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies specializing in Israel’s relations with Arab states and Muslim countries.

About Joanna Landau:

Best-selling author of “Ethical Tribing: Connecting the Next Generation to Israel in the Digital Era,” Joanna is an expert on country branding, Israel’s soft power, and the unique challenges Israel faces when building its global reputation. Recognized by Forbes Israel as one of the 50 Most Influential Women in Israel, Joanna worked as a lawyer in Israel’s high-tech industry, established two Tel Aviv-based start-ups, and is the Founder and President of Vibe Israel, a nonprofit that has generated over a billion positive mentions about Israel online. She is a director of Tel Aviv Global & Tourism, a governor of Tel Aviv University, and a member of the International Education Committee of Taglit-Birthright. Born in London and raised in Israel, Joanna lives in Tel Aviv with her husband, 3 children and 2 dogs.

About Haisam Hassanein:

Haisam Hassanein is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, where he is analyzing Israel’s relations with Arab states and Muslim countries. He has published in The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, the Hill magazine, the New York Daily News, and The Jerusalem Post. He was the first Egyptian to be named a graduate school valedictorian by an Israeli academic institution. Hassanein also sits on the advisory board of Sharaka, a leading organization working to shape a new Middle East, built on dialogue, understanding, cooperation, and friendship.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the thousands of victims - murdered, kidnapped, and injured - of the deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel on the morning of October 7th, and is dedicated to the brave men and women of the IDF and Israel's security forces as they valiantly serve to eliminate the destructive threats faced by Israel and the Jewish People both near and far - and to the People of Israel who are struggling at this unprecedented time.

For those interested in donating to help the Israeli people in this time of need, please check out the following resources. Your help is highly appreciated at this urgent time:

The Jewish Agency for Israel's Fund for Victims of Terror - CLICK HERE
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Emergency Campaign 2023 - CLICK HERE
Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) - CLICK HERE
JNF-USA Israel Resilience Campaign - CLICK HERE

עם ישראל חי! Am Yisrael Chai!

Additional Links:

Learn more about Vibe Israel – HERE
To buy Joanna Landau’s book, ‘Ethical Tribing: Connecting the Next Generation to Israel in the Digital Era’ click HERE.
Learn more about The Foundation for the Defense of Democracies – HERE
Learn more about Sharaka – HERE

A special word about Israel travel from Kenes Tours:

In a bold demonstration of support, Kenes Tours is facilitating solidarity missions to Israel throughout this challenging time. With worldwide escalating antisemitism, antizionism, and protests, Israelis feel afraid and alone. Simply “showing up” sends a strong message that this is not the case. Our missions will boost morale, help build resilience, increase understanding of what has and is taking place in Israel, and will further strengthen the ties that bind us together.

Exclusive geo-strategic briefings with top military experts.
Visits to hospitals treating the wounded.
Meetings with evacuees and others displaced by the war.
Encounters with IDF soldiers, security forces, and reserve units.
Visits to affected areas (subject to security and safety guidelines).
Engagements with local communities and visits to Partnership communities (if applicable).
Opportunities to witness how the home front is protecting itself from threats.
Hands-on volunteer opportunities, coordinated with local partners.

For more information and to plan your solidarity mission, contact Benny Scholder, Director of Sales – North America, at bscholder@kenes-tours.com or call 612-412-6180.

#64 - Swords of Iron: The Simchat Torah War - Day 7

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Sat, 14 Oct 2023 09:00:00 +0200

Join Dan Feferman and Benny Scholder for the return of Jewanced as we present a special live podcast covering Swords of Iron - The Simchat Torah War.

Taped Live on Friday, October 13, 2023, day 7 of the war, this will be the first in a series of episodes we're broadcasting to bring you ongoing updates and snapshots of the progress of this unfolding war - a horrific, devastating, and pivotal moment in the history of Israel and the Jewish People.

For those interested in donating to help the Israeli people at this time of need, please check out the following resources. Your help is highly appreciated at this urgent time:

The Jewish Agency for Israel's Fund for Victims of Terror - CLICK HERE
Friends of the Israel Defense Forces (FIDF) Emergency Campaign 2023 - CLICK HERE
Israel Trauma Coalition (ITC) - CLICK HERE
JNF-USA Israel Resilience Campaign - CLICK HERE

עם ישראל חי! Am Yisrael Chai!

#63 - Dr. Shlomo Fischer, JPPI Senior Fellow and Sociologist of the Jewish People

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 09:00:00 +0200

Dr. Shlomo Fischer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and teaches sociology in the School of Education at Hebrew University and at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He served as a research fellow at the Van Leer Institute.

Fischer has worked in the field of education for the past 25 years. In the past 10 years, he has worked in the field of religion, democracy, and tolerance. He has edited (together with Adam Seligman) The Burden of Tolerance: Religious Traditions and the Challenge of Pluralism (Hebrew; HaKibbutz Hameuchad and the Van Leer Institute, 2007) which addresses these issues. From 1996 to 2007 he was the founder and Executive Director of Yesodot – Center for Torah and Democracy which works to advance education for democracy in the State-Religious school sector in Israel and was also one of the founders and is on the Board of the International Summer School for Religion and Public Life which is based in Boston, Mass. He is a graduate of the Mandel School for Educational Leadership in Jerusalem.

Fischer’s research interests include the nexus of religion, politics and class in Israel, contemporary religion, and the sociology of the Jewish people. He has published extensively on radical religious Zionism and the West Bank settlers as well as on the Shas movement.

Links:

Shlomo Fischer at the JPPI – Jewish People Policy Institute (including a selection of his published writings and articles)

Shlomo Fischer at The Blogs at The Times of Israel

Buy The Burden of Tolerance: Religious Traditions and the Challenge of Pluralism (Hebrew) at the Van Leer Institute

Visit Yesodot: The Center for Torah and Democracy

Visit the International Summer School for Religion and Public Life

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#62 - Rawan Osman, Peace Activist and Member of 1st-Ever Arab-Jewish Delegation to the March of the Living

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Mon, 23 May 2022 09:00:00 +0200

Rawan Osman was born in Damascus and raised in Lebanon. After high school, Osman moved back to Syria and in 2011, during the beginning of the unrest, left for France. In 2018, Osman moved to Strasbourg and started working on her first book, The Israelis, Friends or Foes. Osman is a contributor to Fikra Forum.

A true believer in the potential for authentic and positive human interactions with Jews to change popular narratives in the Arab world and bring about peace, Rawan recently participated in the NGO Sharaka’s first-ever historic delegation of Arabs from across the Middle East, Europe, and America who traveled to Auschwitz together with their Jewish and Israeli peers to participate in the annual March of the Living, commemorating the victims of the Shoah on Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day.

Links:

Watch an interview with Sharaka March of the Living delegation members that recently aired on I24 News.

Read an article from The Jerusalem Post / JPost.com about Sharaka’s historic delegation to the March of the Living bringing together Arabs across the Middle East.

Watch an interview of Saudi journalist Abdulaziz Alkhamis who participated in the March of the Living with a historical delegation from the Sharaka NGO at Auschwitz to commemorate the six million Jewish people who were exterminated by the Nazis (in Arabic).

Read a feature piece in The Times of Israel about the historic delegation bringing together influencers from around the Middle East to learn firsthand about the Holocaust and partake in March of the Living (featuring interviews with both Dan Feferman and Rawan Osman).

Rawan Osman on Facebook

Rawan Osman at the Washington Institute

Read a letter from Rawan Osman to Yossi Klein Halevi featured in his award-winning book, Letters To My Neighbor

Visit the Fikra Forum at the Washington Institute

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#61 - Joel Haber, Food Blogger, Culinary Explorer, and Guide

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Sun, 03 Apr 2022 07:30:00 +0200

Listener’s beware, this episode of the show is virtually guaranteed to leave you super hungry!

NJ native and former screenwriter Joel Haber made aliya to Israel in 2009. Looking to leave his former profession behind in the Old Country, Joe did what anyone would do and became a licensed tour guide and soon found himself escorting travelers from all over the world to discover and uncover the wonder and beauty that is the Land and People of Israel.

Joel grew up in a modern orthodox home with a mother who was a great home cook, and a cosmopolitan one, and through her kitchen ate many traditional foods of his Ashkenazi Jewish background as well as dishes from other segments of Jewish culture. Developing a diverse palate, Joel’s taste buds found their perfect habitat when he got to Israel and he quickly was able to enjoy the super-diverse variety that is today’s modern Israeli culinary scene (think everything from pickled herring and kugel to malawach, khachapuri, kuba & gondi).

Combining his passion for tours with his love of food, Joel is renowned for his incredible, one-of-a-kind tasting tours of Jerusalem’s iconic Machane Yehuda market and giving lectures on what our classic Jewish dishes say about Jewish culture. He is the author of the popular Jewish food blog, “The Taste of Jewish Culture” and author of the book “Chulent: How an Unassuming Sabbath Stew Traveled the World, Changed its Look, and Came to Embody the Jewish Experience.”

Links:

Joel’s popular Jewish food blog ‘The Taste of Jewish Culture’

Tour Israel with Joel Haber at Fun Joel’s Israel Tours

Shuk Tours with Joel Haber

New Passover Foods For Your Seder – by Joel Haber

Learn all about Schmaltz with Joel Haber

A selection of articles by Joel Haber at The Times of Israel

Joel Haber on Twitter, @funjoel

Joel Haber on Facebook

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#60 Dr. David Gurevich - Archaeologist & Expert on Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple Period

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 09:00:00 +0200

DIG into history on this week’s episode of the show as Dan and Benny explore ancient Israel and the turbulent times of the 1st Jewish State and its destruction with guest Dr. David Gurevich, an archaeologist and expert on Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple period.

Dr. David Gurevich is an archaeologist who studies Jerusalem and the Second Temple Period. His doctoral dissertation focused on the large water pools of Jerusalem and established the link between the Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple and the water management of the city.

In 2014-2015, he was awarded the Fulbright Fellowship and became a post-doctoral scholar at Harvard University. In 2019, he published his co-edited volume Exploring the Holy Land that explores the story of the 19th-century British Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), the scientific society that sent the first archaeologists to the region. He also studies the First Jewish-Roman Revolt, a topic of his chapter in the Sefer Yerushalayim volume of Yad Ben Zvi. Dr. Gurevich is a member of the Archaeological Council of Israel.

Dr. Gurevich also researches Antisemitism in the Orthodox Church. He established the academic program ‘Ambassadors Online’ at the University of Haifa, which trained students to become unofficial diplomats of Israel. In 2017-2018, he worked in the Jerusalem Municipality as an officer-in-charge on the relations of the city and Christian institutions. He is frequently invited to speak on Israeli matters on various forums worldwide, and also works as a tour guide who guides enhanced excursions on historical themes and geopolitics.

Links:

Dr. David Gurevich can be contacted via email at sendtodav@gmail.com

Visit his website at https://www.israelincolor.com

Follow his Facebook group הרצאות וסיורים עם ד''ר דויד גורביץ (Hebrew only) where you can learn about the archaeological history and heritage of the Land of Israel and the ancient near east, as well as join upcoming tours led by Dr. Gurevich.

Click HERE for a selection of academic publications by Dr. Gurevich.

BUY ‘Exploring the Holy Land – 150 Years of the Palestine Exploration Fund’, a book co-edited by David Gurevich and Anat Kidron

Visit David's Instagram

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#59 Daniel Rakov - Expert on Russia and Russian Policy in the Middle East

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Mon, 17 Jan 2022 09:00:00 +0200

Are we headed towards a Cold War – Round Two?

Our guest this week, Daniel Rakov, might have the answer for that ominous question and it might not be what you think…

Lt. Col. (Res). Daniel Rakov is an expert on Russian policy in the Middle East and Great-Power Competition in the region. He served in the Israel Defense Forces for over 20 years, mainly in the Israeli Defense Intelligence Division (Aman). From 2019-2021, he was a research fellow at the Russian Studies Program at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Today, Daniel is a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), and he is internationally recognized as one of Israel’s premier experts on Russia today.

He is the author of ‘Thirty Years of Russian-Israeli Relations: Past, Present, Future(currently available only in Russian).

Links:

Daniel’s page at the JISS

A selection of articles by Daniel in the Israeli and international press

Daniel Rakov on Facebook

Download Daniel’s book, ‘Thirty Years of Russian-Israeli Relations: Past, Present, Future’ (currently available only in Russian)

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#58 Len Khodorkovsky - The State Department's Secret Weapon

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 24 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Len Khodorkovsky has one of those heartwarming American Jewish stories: A refugee from the Soviet Union finds safe haven in America, where he thrives, builds a family and reaches professional success… then helps the president of the United States tweet Game of Thrones memes.

Len Khodorkovsky served at the State Department as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs. He was also a Senior Advisor to the US Special Representative for Iran and the Chief Marketing Officer of America’s economic diplomacy. He was also the Trump State Department’s secret weapon, the guy who helped the President of the United States tweet some of his most famous (or infamous?) memes!

Prior to joining government, Len was an advertising executive for more than two decades, where he helped Fortune 100 companies develop global ad campaigns and grow their brands.

He is now the Chief Marketing Officer of the Technology Trust Network, an organization working to secure freedom through widespread adoption of trusted technologies.

Links:

Jpost article- Len Khodorkovsky: The State Department’s Secret Weapon

Len on Twitter, @MessageFromLen

Len on LinkedIn

Len on Facebook

Visit WatchYalla, a fast-paced, entertainment program in Arabic that gives a glimpse into the exciting characters shaping the future of the Middle East, promoting peaceful, people-to-people connections between the Arab World and Israel.

Visit WatchYalla on Facebook

WatchYalla on Twitter, @WatchYalla

WatchYalla on Instagram

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#57 Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, Terrorism Finance Analyst, Author, & Senior VP of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 03 Dec 2021 08:30:00 +0200

How do China, Hezbollah, int’l NGO’s, Iran, Palestinian politics, Gaza, Israel, Jihadism, and illicit financial networks connect?

Dan and Benny sat down with Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, terrorism finance analyst and Senior VP of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to find out!

Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. He is also on the leadership team of FDD’s Center on Economic and Financial Power, a project on the use of financial and economic power as a tool of statecraft.

Jonathan previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. He has held previous think tank research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum.

Jonathan has written hundreds of articles on the Middle East, along with more than a dozen monographs and chapters for edited volumes. His new book, Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War (FDD Press 2021), challenges and corrects the some of the wildly inaccurate news reported during the conflict. It is the first book published on the war. His three other books have made unique contributions to the field. State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) argues the main roadblock to Palestinian statehood is the Palestinian Authority’s political dysfunction and mismanagement. Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine (Palgrave Macmillan 2008) is still the only book on the market that analyzes the ongoing Palestinian civil war. Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror (Washington Institute for Near East Policy 2004) was the first to explore the al-Qaeda franchises of the Middle East.

Jonathan testifies often before Congress and publishes widely in the American and international media. He has appeared on American television channels such as Fox News and CNN, and Arabic language television channels such as Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera.

Links:

Visit Foundation for Defense of Democracies

Read Gaza Conflict 2021: Hamas, Israel and Eleven Days of War

Read State of Failure: Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Unmaking of the Palestinian State

Read Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine

Read Al-Qaeda’s Armies: Middle East Affiliate Groups and the Next Generation of Terror

Read a recent article by Jonathan in the Boston Herald: The Hamas Caucus gets it wrong on Gaza

Listen to Jonathan on NPR’s All Things Considered

View all news articles by Jonathan Schanzer

Follow Jonathan on Twitter @JSchanzer

Follow Jonathan on Facebook

See Jonathan at Foreign Policy magazine

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#56 Omar Al Busaidy, CEO of Sharaka USA, Optimistic Opportunist, Entrepreneur, Author, and Futurist

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 19 Nov 2021 08:00:00 +0200

The Future is Now!

Hey, Jewanced fans. We have missed you. Wondering where we went? Well, it all goes back to the Abraham Accords. We recorded this episode with our good friend (and Dan's colleague) Omar Al Busaidy. In case you are curious, Benny was about to head off for his first trip to the UAE. Omar, who usually lives in the US, was in his hometown of Dubai, and Dan just got back from Dubai and was getting ready to ship off to California (with Omar) to be a part of a Sharaka delegation promoting awareness of the Abraham Accords. This episode was recorded before these trips. We hope you enjoy.

CEO of Sharaka USA and may we say, a super friend of Jewanced Omar Al Busaidy is a Fulbright Scholar, Author and Economic Affairs Liaison at the Consulate General of the United Arab Emirates in New York. He is also the Co-Founder of Creative Space Events Management based in Saudi Arabia.

With a master’s degree in International Affairs & Intelligence at Florida State University, Omar is also a Non-Resident fellow at Trends Research & Advisory a geopolitical think tank based in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

His multiple roles have allowed him to achieve several accomplishments, from publishing his self-help book ‘Just Read It’ and his upcoming book on futurism titled “Why Jobs are Robots and Life is for People’, to investing in startups in the tech sector.

A former Global Shaper at the World Economic Forum and an alumnus of the State Department’s IVLP, Omar has been invited to mentor students on entrepreneurship, communication and leadership at several universities and conferences across the UAE and around the world.

Links:

Buy Omar’s book, Just Read It

Follow Omar on Twitter

Omar on Facebook

Follow Omar’s Instagram

Experience Sharaka

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#55 Shakked Beery, The Wandering Jewess - Author, Tour Guide & Storyteller

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 22 Oct 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Join us on a journey of discovery into the heart some of Israel’s best kept gems of history!

Our guest this week, Shakked Beery AKA The Wandering Jewess, spent this episode of the show as our expert tour guide as together we explored some of Israel’s most fascinating and least-known secret places – the ones most visitors to the country never get to see.

Native to Israel for ten generations, Shakked's family arrived at the land more than 200 years ago and took an active part in reconstructing the Jewish homeland. Following her family’s heritage, she combines her love for the land with her passion for storytelling. She is a third-generation tour guide.

While guiding people from all over the world, she experienced firsthand the negative views people hold against Israel, and how different they are from reality. Her mission became to deliver Israel to people “as is”, challenges and beauty combined, driven by a strong faith that only truth can bring peace. To better pursue her goal, she earned a Masters in Israel Studies from Haifa University, and a teaching certification from Oxford, specializing in Critical Antisemitism and the Delegitimization of Israel. Today, Shakked is an international speaker, dividing her time between guiding in Israel and speaking around the world, telling stories about the Israel she loves.

The halt of incoming tourism caused by the pandemic gave Shakked the time to write her first book: "SECRET ISRAEL – The Israel Most Visitors Miss". After guiding for ten years she seized the opportunity to finally tell the stories of the places she loves most. In the book, she reveals the incredible stories behind ten secret gems most tourists never get to visit.

Links:

Buy SECRET ISRAEL: The Israel Most Visitors Miss, by Shakked Beery

The official website of The Wandering Jewess: Speaker

Follow Shakked Beery – The Wandering Jewess on Facebook

Follow Shakked Beery – The Wandering Jewess on Twitter

Official website of Home Free, a seriously awesome country acapella band mentioned on the show

Reg’s 7 Mile SteakHouse of Columbus, Nebraska – as recommended by Shakked

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#54 Dr. Tomer Persico - Author, Philosophical & Spiritual Thinker, Jewish Thought Leader & Scholar

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 17 Sep 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Now, perhaps more than ever before in our lifetimes, humanity seems to be seeking answers to some of our biggest questions. What and where is God? How do spirituality and religion impact the uniqueness of humanity? What is the nature of reality? Will everything be ok?

Fresh off the boat from Berkeley, CA, Dr. Tomer Persico takes us on a fascinating journey throughout the human landscape of the Jewish and Western worlds to help uncover the evolution of our shared spiritual, religious, and humanistic existence.

Together with Tomer, this remarkable episode of the show explores topics ranging from Bay Area-based communities of experimental Jewish Renewal, the evolution of Jewish and Universal spirituality, human understanding of God, the nature of existence and the quest to connect to the beyond, Jewish meditation, New Age thought, the breakdown and evolution of Israeli Jewish identity, the profound impact that Jewish belief that all people are created in the image of God has had on defining the modern west, an interesting and otherworldly thought experiment explaining why religion exists, and beyond.

Dr. Tomer Persico is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute. For the last three years, he served as the Koret Visiting Assistant Professor at the Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley and a senior research scholar at the UC Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies. Persico's fields of study are contemporary spirituality, Jewish modern identity, Jewish renewal, and forms of secularization and religiosity in Israel.

His first book, The Jewish Meditative Tradition (Hebrew), was published by Tel Aviv University Press, and his second book, In God's Image: the Making of the Modern West (Hebrew), examined the way the idea of the image of God influenced modern western civilization, was published in May 2021 by Yedioth books.

Links:

Books by Dr. Tomer Persico:

In God’s Image: The Making of the Modern West (Hebrew)

The Jewish Meditative Tradition (Hebrew)

Dr. Tomer Persico at the Shalom Hartman Institute

Dr. Tomer Persico’s blog, לולאת האל (Hebrew)

Dr. Tomer Persico’s blog in English

Dr. Tomer Persico’s Facebook & Twitter pages

Jewish R&D - Bay-area Jewish communities and congregations:

The Kitchen – led by Rabbi Noa Kushner

Urban Adamah

Aquarian Minyan

Beyt Tikkun: The Synagogue of Spiritual Transformation and Social Healing

Chochmat Halev

Congregation B’nai Emunah

Mission Minyan

Keneset HaLev – Community of the Heart

Philosophers and writers mentioned on the show:

Immanuel Kant

Henry David Thoreau

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alexis de Tocqueville

Erich von Daniken – Chariots of the Gods

Charles Taylor

Alan Watts

Book Recommendations:

On modern Judaism – How Judaism Became a Religion: An Introduction to Modern Jewish Thought by Leora Batnitzky

On understanding the modern world – Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity, The Ethics of Authenticity, and A Secular Age – all by Charles Taylor

TV Recommendations:

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#53 Anat Sultan-Dadon - Israel's Consul General to the Southeastern United States

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 20 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0200

On this episode of the show, we talk to Anat Sultan-Dadon, Israel's Consul General to the US Southeast and learn everything we’d want to know about how Israel's all-star diplomats strengthen Israel by building relationships at the state, local, and national levels across a wide range of diverse interests.

As Israel’s Consul General in Atlanta, Anat Sultan-Dadon promotes bilateral relations between Israel and seven states covered by the Consulate General of Israel to the Southeast: Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi, furthering connections with national and local political, economic, cultural, and academic organizations and leaders to promote a strong, secure, and vibrant future for Israel, the Israeli people, and US-Israel relations.

Our conversation covered a broad range of topics ranging from how she became a diplomat to promoting Israel’s image through social media, the democratization of information, the battle against Antisemitism, the value of creating diverse partnerships and coalitions of allies throughout the community, the impact Israel’s national politics has on the nation’s diplomatic corps and efforts and much much more!

Links:

The official website of the Consulate General of Israel in Atlanta

Israel in Atlanta – the Consulate General’s official Facebook page

Get updates from the Consulate General on its official Twitter page

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#52 Dr. David Manheim & Dr. Rami Shanani: Covid-19 Update Show

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Over a year and a half into the Covid-19 Pandemic, we find ourselves in a very different place than we did back in 2020. If you’re fortunate to be in the developed world, chances are you have access to vaccines and promising therapeutics are right around the corner. But does this new reality translate to a new roadmap as far as public health policy is concerned? How is the world handling the realities of its ‘new normal’ as we enter the latter half of 2021?

On this episode of the podcast, we sat down with the two people we most wanted to talk with to try to answer our and YOUR most burning questions about the state of the pandemic today, Dr. David Manheim (episode 6) and Dr. Rami Shanani.

Dr. David Manheim is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Haifa’s Health and Risk Communication Research Center, as well as working with universities and NGOs in the UK and US. His recent work has focused on modeling test and trace programs for the UK, and policy options for COVID-19 in the US and internationally.

Long before the pandemic, David was working on understanding and mitigating global catastrophic biological risks including work on bioweapons, natural pandemics, and other disasters with groups at the University of Oxford such as the Future of Humanity Institute and for various nonprofits and NGOs in the United States.

He has a Ph.D. in public policy and decision theory at the RAND Corporation and has done work that ranged from informing policy decision making for infectious diseases to modeling risks from earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorism, and from flood insurance and resiliency building in the wake of catastrophes, to how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies affect counter-terrorism finance.

Dr. Rami Shanani is an Israeli physician. Born and raised in Jerusalem, Rami attended Hebrew University medical school and has worked for decades as a family doctor in Israel's public health system and has served in various management roles. He is a major in the IDF reserves, where he continues to serve as a commander of a medical unit involved with national preparedness for pandemics and other emergency situations, and is active in civic and communal leadership roles.

Links:

David’s Linkedin
A selection of Dr. Manheim’s published scholarly articles
A selection of Dr. Manheim’s research expertise & collaborations on Covid-19
The RAND Corporation
About Healthcare in Israel

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#51 Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum - Founder, Kehilat ZION & Jewish Spiritual Innovator

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 07:00:00 +0200

Hi friends! This episode of the show was recorded as a Jewanced LIVE! discussion, sponsored by the Orange County Community Scholars Program (CSP).

CSP is dedicated to bringing the best Jewish thinkers, writers, artists and musicians in the world to Orange County, California, the greater USA and the world!

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum is co-founder of the Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, a joint project of the HaMidrasha Educational Center for Israeli Judaism and the Shalom Hartman Institute. She is also the founder of Kehilat Zion in Jerusalem. Her work spans and links tradition and innovation, working toward Jewish spiritual and ethical renaissance. She devotes much of her energy to the renewal of community life in Israel and the struggle for human rights. In 2010 she was named by the Forward as one of the five most influential female religious leaders in Israel for her work promoting pluralism and Jewish freedom.

Links:

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum – Hamidrasha At Oranim

Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum – Shalom Hartman Institute

Video - Intervention in Times of Crisis: On Moral and Spiritual Leadership

Visit Kehilat ZION, an Eretz Yisraeli community in Jerusalem

Visit the Orange County Community Scholar Program (CSP)

Orange County CSP on Facebook

Learn more about Jewanced LIVE!

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#50 Jonathan Elkhoury - Israeli-Lebanese Christian public diplomacy adviser, speaker, advocate for Israel, and commentator

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 08 Jul 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Much like an onion, sometimes life seems to be made up of layers upon layers of complexity.

Our guest this week, Jonathan Elkhoury, definitely embodies a life of many such layers.

Jonathan Elkhoury is a gay Christian Lebanese refugee who now lives in Israel. In 2000 when he was 8 years old, he and his family were forced to leave Lebanon for Israel after the Lebanese Civil War for their own protection because his father was a member of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), which was supported by the Israel Defense Forces which had just withdrew from the country after a lengthy engagement there.

These days, he is a speaker, public diplomacy adviser, commentator, and advocate for Israel. He founded and coordinated the ‘Minorities Project’ for the organization Reservists on Duty in Israel. The Minorities Project is the first of its kind, in which Israeli minorities present their own perspective about life in the Democratic Jewish state and their part for its success today.

Elkhoury is the former spokesman for the Christian Empowerment Council that focused on integrating the Christian population into Israeli society through national and military service. He himself completed his national service of 2 years in Rambam Hospital in Haifa.

‏Jonathan writes and gives talks about the situation of Christians and other minorities in Israel, the integration and rights of the South Lebanon Army. He is a frequent commentator for Israeli media on Israeli Arab relations and the Middle East.

Links:

Visit Reservists on Duty, dedicated to defending freedom from hate by training college students and IDF reservists to speak with knowledge and confidence on behalf of Israel.

Learn about ‘The Minorities Project’ – dedicated to teaching about the lives of minorities in Israel and providing them with a platform to share their personal stories as well as their experiences in the military/national service, and to present their perspective on life in Israel.

Watch Jonathan Elkhoury responding to CNN criticism towards Israel.

Recent commentary by Jonathan on whether there’s a shift in Lebanese public opinion toward Israel.

Jonathan Elkhoury on Twitter, @Jonathan_Elk

Jonathan Elkhoury on Facebook

Follow Jonathan on Instagram @jon_elk

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#49 David Horovitz - Founding Editor, The Times of Israel

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 25 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0200

EXTRA! EXTRA!

DAVID HOROVITZ – THIS WEEK ON JEWANCED

In today’s media landscape where it’s increasingly difficult to tell facts from fiction and where finding a trustworthy news source seems as challenging as running a marathon (fake news anybody?), The Times of Israel’s founding editor David Horovitz truly is an anchor of authenticity and a real source of stability for our times. Listen to our fascinating interview with him on this week’s episode of the show.

David Horovitz is the founding editor of The Times of Israel, the fastest-growing current affairs website in the Jewish world, with an average of some 8 million monthly users worldwide and 40 million monthly page views. The Times of Israel, which provides independent, non-partisan coverage of Israel, the region, and the Jewish world, also publishes in Hebrew, French, Arabic, and Persian.

Horovitz was previously editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post (from 2004-2011). Before that, he was editor and publisher of the award-winning newsmagazine The Jerusalem Report.

He has written from Israel for newspapers around the world, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Irish Times, and (London) Independent, and is a frequent interviewee on CNN, the BBC, Sky, and other TV and radio stations.

He has conducted landmark interviews with a succession of Israeli and international figures, including all of Israel’s recent prime ministers, Presidents Barack Obama (when he visited Israel as a candidate) and George Bush, as well as Tony Blair, Vladimir Putin and, to the particular delight of his children, Paul McCartney.

Horovitz is the author of 2004’s “Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism,” and 2000’s “A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel,” both published in the US by Knopf.

Links:

Visit The Times of Israel

Read David’s articles at The Times of Israel

Follow David on Twitter

Follow the Times of Israel on Twitter

Follow the Times of Israel on Facebook

David’s book “Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terrorism” on Amazon

David’s book “A Little Too Close to God: The Thrills and Panic of a Life in Israel” on Amazon

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#48 Seth Frantzman - Mideast Analyst, Journalist, Foreign Policy Expert, Truth Seeker, & Author

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 11 Jun 2021 09:00:00 +0200

…So Much Trouble in the World…

It isn’t just one of the greatest Bob Marley songs, it’s the truth. We live in a wild place during a crazy time. But, it helps to remember that ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’…things have by and large been ‘burning since the world’s been turning.’ Only now, we have the added benefit of social media, a decentralized media landscape, echo chambers, clickbait, hardcore polarization, the 8-second attention span, Q, Wokeism, endless conflicts abound (especially in the Middle East) and it just seems like the thing’s starting to spin out of control – so much so that it’s kind of hard to make sense of it all.

This week’s guest, Seth Frantzman, gets up each and every day and tries to do just that – to make sense of the chaos and explain it to the world with proper context, nuance, and care – all with the perfect modicum of outrage, sensibility, and perspective.

Seth J. Frantzman is a Middle East affairs analyst based in Jerusalem. He is the author of After ISIS: America, Israel and the Struggle for the Middle East and 'Drone Wars: Pioneers, Artificial Intelligence, Killing Machines and the Battle for the Future, and executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. He runs the Israel Gulf Report, which follows developments between Israel and the Gulf countries, and has reported extensively from and conducted research in Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Israel, and the UAE. A former lecturer at Al-Quds University on US foreign policy, he has a Ph.D. from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, he writes on Middle East Affairs for The Jerusalem Post and contributes to Defense News and other publications and media.

Our time with Seth on the show was just as interesting and thought-provoking as his articles. Together, we jumped right into some amazing topics such as modern warfare (Seth’s newest book, Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machines, Artificial Intelligence, and the Battle for the Future comes out next week!), contextualizing Israel’s predicament in Gaza, the prevalence of atrocities and Western European resistance to the Nazis, western thought supremacy, the arrogance of some western approaches to Israel and the Palestinians and positive attributes of western culture such as human rights, freedom, and democracy, the cause celebre of turning Israel into a pariah state, progressive politics and false narratives of Israel as a white supremacist, settler-colonialist enterprise, the media’s deliberate omission of Hamas from its coverage of the conflict, the peace industry = war industry, the frequent disingenuity of the Israeli right’s approach to Palestinian national aspirations, Mansour Abbas and Raam, whetherIsrael’s adversaries (Iran & Turkey) will test the new Israeli government, and much much more.

Links:

Pre-order Seth’s newest book, Drone Wars: Pioneers, Killing Machines, Artificial Intelligence, and the Battle for the Future, on Amazon.

Visit Seth’s official website

Seth Frantzman at the Jerusalem Post

Seth Frantzman at Defense News

Seth Frantzman at Foreign Policy

Seth’s Facebook page

Drone Wars, Seth’s forthcoming book’s Facebook page

Seth’s Twitter page

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#47 Reuven Ben Shalom - IDF Military Affairs Expert, Cross-Cultural Strategist & Columnist

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 28 May 2021 09:00:00 +0200

So, there’s a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas…now what?

In this special live episode of the show, we sat down with IDF military affairs expert Col. (Res) Reuven Ben-Shalom (nickname ‘Rabash’) to discuss the aftermath of Operation Guardian of the Walls (שומר החומות), the cease-fire, and how we move forward from here.

What transpired was a fascinating, nuanced discussion about the nature of modern war in the Middle East, IDF contingencies and battle tactics mixed with a bit or concern about the country’s overall strategy (or lack thereof) to handling Hamas and the Gaza Strip. In addition, we talked about how this round of violence may only be the promo for what’s to come should Hezbollah and Iran choose to join in the future, and we received a scary vision of what a full-scale, multi-front missile war would look like (beware – you might become a prepper after hearing about it…).

Col. (Res.) Reuven Ben-Shalom (Rabash) is a cross-cultural strategist and columnist. He served for 25 years in the Israel Defense Force as a helicopter pilot and in various international relations positions. As a reservist, Reuven commands the IDF International Cooperation Division’s Operations Center during times of contingency. He also teaches cross-cultural communication at the Israel Defense College and the IDF School of Military Diplomacy. He holds a B.Sc. in industrial engineering and management and M.Sc. in business administration from Ben Gurion University. Reuven is an associate at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

Links:

Cross-Cultural Strategies Ltd., Reuven’s website.

The International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Reuven’s LinkedIn

For lectures and speaking engagements, contact Reuven at bnshlm@gmail.com

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#46 Dr. Steven Popper, Ph.D., Senior Economist-RAND Corporation & Expert on the Science of Decision Making Under Deep Uncertainty

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 21 May 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Decisionmaking for the future depends on anticipating change. And anticipating change is becoming increasingly difficult. How does a person make good decisions in the face of mounting uncertainty? What if that person is a CEO, legislator, prime minister, military general, or even the President?

This week’s guest on the show, Dr. Steven Popper, Ph.D. is a Senior Economist at the RAND Corporation who is an expert in, among many things, the science of decision making under deep uncertainty.

As associate director of the Science and Technology Policy Institute FFRDC (federally funded research & development center), Popper provided analytic support to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and other Executive Branch agencies.

His current work is on decision making under deep uncertainty, science and technology policy, multi-stakeholder strategic decision processes, foresight and future studies, and security planning. He coauthored the flagship study of the RAND Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Future Human Condition, Shaping the Next One Hundred Years: New Methods for Quantitative, Long-Term Policy Analysis (2003), which provides a methodological framework for decision making under deep uncertainty that has been applied to an expanding set of policy issues as Robust Decision Making (RDM). His research also focuses on regional economic development and international economics. He has served as a consultant to the World Bank and OECD, and is a Senior Fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI).

Oh, and just like Benny, Steven is a member of the ‘Frozen Chosen’, hailing originally from the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Links:

Steven’s official page at the RAND Corporation

A selection of Steven’s publications and commentary

Steven’s LinkedIn

Buy Shaping the Next One Hundred Years: New Methods for Quantitative, Long-Term Policy Analysis, a flagship study co-authored by Steven Popper on Amazon.com

Visit the website of the DC-based Science and Technology Policy Institute, where Steven is an associate director

Visit the website of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where Steven provided analytic support

Visit the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI), where Steven is a Senior Fellow

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#45 - Ariella Steinreich, Senior VP, Steinreich Communications talks PR, the Arab Gulf, and optimism for the future

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 14 May 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Ariella Steinreich is a senior vice president at Steinreich Communications overseeing the firm’s global corporate / issues practice and its Middle East division.

On this episode of the show, we talk to Ariella about all things PR, the Arab Gulf, and what makes her (and us) so excited about the opportunities ahead for our region.

Ariella brings over a decade of experience at major public relations firms where she created and implemented global corporate communications programs for leading companies and organizations. Her experience includes strategic media counseling, media training, communications strategy development, social media strategy, crisis communications/ issues management, financial communications, community relations, and corporate social responsibility.

Prior to joining the firm, she was a senior associate at Burson-Marsteller where she handled global media relations for several of the agency’s key clients. In 2014, she was named a finalist for PR Week’s Young Professional of the Year.

Links:

Visit Steinreich Communications

Ariella on Twitter @ariellas1

Ariella on LinkedIn

Visit the UAE-Israel Business Council

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#44 - Chaim Davids, proprietor of Prohibition Pickle & leader of the Ashkenazi soul food revival

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 07 May 2021 09:00:00 +0200

This episode of Jewanced with Chaim Davids was recorded live as a special culinary show at Prohibition Pickle - quite possibly THE BEST deli in Israel – where Chaim is the proprietor and pickle master extraordinaire.

We tuck into how the Baltimore native has gone from running the Judean Hills greatest bootlegging operation since the 2nd Temple period to leading the country’s delicatessen renaissance …and along the way, learn all about (and eat) the best full sour pickles, smoked herring & whitefish, deli mustard, and real-deal corned beef & pastrami available this side of the Atlantic.

Prohibition Pickle, located in the Kenyon Harim shopping center in Gush Etzion (south of Jerusalem) is a true ‘Ashkenazi soul food revival.’ It prides itself in making pickles, cures, and condiments that have been produced utilizing age-old, fresh pickling techniques in order to enhance and unlock ingredient flavor potential. The delicatessen is Kosher Mehadrin, under the hashgacha of the Gush Etzion Rabbinate.

***Note that the video version of the podcast features an extended version of the show including an exclusive, behind-the-scenes culinary tour of Prohibition Pickle where we delve into the delicious details of all your deli favorites. We hope you’ll check it out when it becomes available (soon, we promise) on our Youtube channel, Jewanced Podcast.***

Links:

Follow Prohibition Pickle on Instagram & Facebook

Place your deli orders the old-fashioned way, by calling 02-262-2889

Articles about Prohibition Pickle in the Jerusalem Post & Jewish Press

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#43 Dr. Guy Matalon, Judaic studies professor, Rambam & Talmudic scholar & expert on Jewish philosophy

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 30 Apr 2021 08:45:00 +0200

“Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.” – Rambam

To us, it seems that the Rambam might have been a guy who knew how to appreciate nuance!

On this week’s episode of the podcast, we sat down with Dr. Guy Matalon and dived right into the Rambam, the Talmud, the mystifying world of Jewish philosophy, the place of faith and rationality in our world, and much much more.

Dr. Guy Matalon is an expert on medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy, a former professor of Judaic Studies and founding director of the Schwalb Center for Israel and Jewish Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and is proficient in the study of both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds and other foundational texts. He currently directs an immersive Jewish study program at Ohr Somayach seminary in Jerusalem.

Links:

Dr. Matalon at Ohr Somayach seminary in Jerusalem

A selection of Guy’s video’s on YouTube

About the Rambam

The complete works of the Rambam

The Babylonian Talmud

The Jerusalem Talmud

The complete collection of works on Jewish philosophy on Sefaria.org

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#42 - Dan Libenson, founder & president of The Institute for the Next Jewish Future & co-host of the Judaism Unbound podcast

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Wouldn’t you like to predict the future?

Dan Libenson, gets up each and every day and does just that – for the Jewish world.

Dan Libenson is founder and president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future, co-host of the popular Judaism Unbound podcast, and co-creator of jewishLIVE, where he co-hosts the weekly live-streaming video series “The Oral Talmud” with Benay Lappe. He’s also the co-creator of “Text People,” a new project making Jewish texts maximally accessible to a broad audience through short videos and other media.

Dan translated The Orchard by renowned Israeli novelist Yochi Brandes, a novel about the early days of Rabbinic Judaism, and was the translation editor of The Secret Book of Kings by the same author, a radical retelling of the stories of the early kings of Israel.

He spent over a decade working with Jewish students on campus, at Harvard and at the University of Chicago, for which he received numerous awards, including Hillel’s Exemplar of Excellence Award and an AVI CHAI Fellowship. Dan is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and spent five years as a law professor. He lives in Chicago.

Links:

The Institute for the Next Jewish Future. Founded by Dan Libenson, the Institute is a hub for ideas, education, and action dedicated to accelerating bold innovation in Jewish life.

The official Judaism Unbound podcast website. Co-hosted by Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg, Judaism Unbound is a project of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future that catalyzes and supports grassroots efforts by “disaffected but hopeful” American Jews to re-imagine and re-design Jewish life in America for the 21^st century.

Listen to Judaism Unbound on Spotify

Check-out jewishLIVE, a portal to curated, inspiring live (and recorded) Jewish experiences.

Listen to The Oral Talmud, a weekly lie-streaming video series co-hosted by Dan Libenson and Benay Lappe.

Check out Text People, a new project co-created by Dan Libenson which makes Jewish texts accessible to a broad audience through short videos and other media.

Buy The Orchard by Yochi Brandes

Buy The Secret Book of Kings by Yochi Brandes

Dan Libenson on Twitter, @danlibenson

Dan Libenson on Facebook

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#41 - Inbal Arieli, serial entrepreneur, tech influencer, business executive and author

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Ahead of Israeli Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut), we recorded a special episode of Jewanced with superstar tech entrepreneur, acclaimed speaker and author Inbal Arieli.

In it, she talks to us about her unique insights on life, society, the miracle of Israel's thriving tech scene, and the incredible impact it’s having on the world, as well as uncovers the secret behind how Israeli parents are raising generations of entrepreneurs.

These unique insights led her to write the fascinating and successful book "Chutzpah: Why Israel is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship".

Inbal Arieli a serial entrepreneur, business executive, and tech influencer. She is the founder and co-CEO of Synthesis, a global leadership assessment firm to select venture capital and private equity firms, CEO’s and board directors, a graduate officer of the elite IDF 8200 intelligence unit (Israel’s version of the American NSA), a noted speaker and the author of ‘Chutzpah: Why Israel is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.’

Born in Israel and raised on hummus and chutzpah, Arieli fostered her entrepreneurial skills during her mandatory military service, serving as lieutenant in unit 8200, the Israel Defense Forces’ elite intelligence corps. After completing her military duties, and for the past twenty years, she embraced leading executive roles in the flourishing Israeli tech sector and has founded a series of programs for innovators, where she currently holds board seats. She lectures widely to business and government leaders around the world.

Arieli holds an LL.B. Law, a B.A. in Economics, and an MBA, all from Tel Aviv University. She was featured as one of the 100 most influential people in Israeli tech and as one of the top 100 tech business women speakers in the world.

Links:

Chutzpah Center, Inbal’s official website

Order Inbal’s book, Chutzpah: Why Israel is a Hub of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Check out the latest articles, podcasts, and shows that Inbal took part in here

Inbal Arieli on LinkedIn

Inbal Arieli on Facebook

Inbal Arieli on Twitter, @InbalArieli

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#40 - John Daly, Jewish former skinhead & Neo-Nazi survivor

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Jewanced commemorates Yom Ha’Shoah – Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day - with the inspirational and shocking true story of John Daly’s incredible tale of Jewish survival - transforming and escaping from life as a closeted Jewish Neo-Nazi commander in the USA to living in Israel.

Legitimately unlike any other story Dan nor Benny had ever heard before, John Daly’s riveting recounting of the details of the events of his youth spent in Ocala, FL joining an anti-racist skinhead (yes, that’s a thing) group, being kidnapped by Neo-Nazi white supremacists into their movement, hiding his Jewish identity only to be outed – resulting with an attempt to murder him is nothing less than intense, fascinating, and truly chilling. His subsequent tale of survival against all odds and aliya to Israel is truly inspiring.

Later in the podcast, we also discuss modern day Anti-Semitism, Holocaust memory, understanding extremism, and much more.

Links:

Visit John’s official webpage, youbeginchange.com

Visit John’s Facebook page, The John Daly Story

Rent or buy ‘Escape from Room 18’ – the award-winning, riveting documentary about John Daly’s shocking story on Vimeo

‘The ‘Jewish Skinhead’ gives back and fights on’ – an article about John Daly and his battle against brain cancer in the Jerusalem Post

The American Jewish Committee’s Translate Hate glossary of antisemitic terms, phrases, conspiracies, cartoons, themes, and memes.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#39 - Mark Samarsky, co-owner & founder of Rose Valley CrossFit

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 09:00:00 +0200

It’s almost inevitable that you've scrolled past a sweaty selfie of a friend, co-worker, or high school classmate bragging about their WOD and professing their love for CrossFit. What is Crossfit exactly? CrossFit is a global exercise phenomenon that started in the US about 20 years ago and has since spread across the world. There are roughly 13,000 affiliated gyms in 120 countries with countless others offering "Functional Fitness" and with many conventional gyms offering similar classes and equipment. It’s estimated that there are 4 million CrossFitters around the world, and its members are so devoted to the competitive approach to fitness that the community has been described as cult-like.

No doubt if you haven't tried it, you might be confused by what it is or perhaps intimidated, with many associating Crossfit with high risk of injury or training fad. With all this publicity, you may have wondered if Crossfit is for you or if all those Crossfitters (like our very own cohosts) are just plain crazy.

CrossFit is a functional fitness methodology that seeks to achieve comprehensive, measurable and high-level fitness for its "athletes". It is most often performed with a coach and in a group setting, and according to a training program that combines weightlifting, flexibility, body-weight gymnastic movements and a variety of aerobic activities.

Is Crossfit for advanced or very fit athletes only or is it also accessible for beginners? Is it for men only or also for women? What about kids? Older adults? On this episode of Jewanced, we talk with Mark Samarsky, co-founder and head trainer of Rose Valley CrossFit in Nes Tziona, one of Israel’s premier CrossFit boxes, to talk fitness, the difference between functional fitness vs what most people are doing in conventional gyms, healthy living, longevity, fitness in Israel, and to dispel common myths and misconceptions about Crossfit, weightlifting and fitness in general.

Links:

Rose Valley CrossFit website (Hebrew)

Rose Valley CrossFit on Facebook

Learn more about CrossFit and visit the official website

Find a local CrossFit box (gym) near you!

Official website of the CrossFit Games: The Open

מזון למחשבהMazon L’Machshava (Food for Thought) – a podcast produced by Mark and wife Lina (a leading nutritionist and trainer) about nutrition, sport, business, relationships, and everything in between (Hebrew).

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#38 - Mickey Gitzin, Executive Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0200

The NEW ISRAEL FUND and the Israeli Left – Few other NGO’s in Israel conjure up stronger feelings than the NIF. Subversive anti-Israel front or patriotic agent for social change and justice?

What really is the NIF (apart from one of the best examples of ‘Jewance’ that we can think of) and what does the organization truly stand for?

Moreover, as we just had our 4TH ELECTIONS in Israel this week, what happened to the Israeli left and where is it going? We sit down with MICKEY GITZIN, Executive Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel, a leading thinker, voice, and leader of the Israeli political left, to set the record straight.

Mickey Gitzin is Executive Director of the New Israel Fund in Israel. He served as a city council member in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, where he chaired committees for diversity and public housing. He was also the Mayor’s advisor for global development and innovation.

Prior to joining NIF, Mickey was the founding director of “Israel Hofsheet” (Be Free Israel), a leading grassroots organization fighting for separation of religion and state in Israel. Previously, Mickey was the spokesperson for MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz) and the Associate Director of "Festival BeShekel," an organization advancing arts and culture in Israel’s geographic and socioeconomic periphery.

After completing his military service as an intelligence officer, he served as a shaliach (emissary) in South Bend, Indiana for the Jewish Agency for Israel.

Mickey holds a Master’s in Public Policy from University College-London, for which he received a Chevening Scholarship from the British Foreign Office and the British Council.

In 2013, Mickey received NIF UK’s Human Rights Award, and in 2015, NIF’s Gallanter Prize for Emerging Israeli Social Justice Leaders.

Links:

New Israel Fund website (English)

NIF website (Hebrew)

Mickey on Twitter @Mickeygitzin

New Israel Fund on Twitter @NewIsraelFund

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#37 Jennifer Abadi, Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic recipe preserver and cookbook author

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 08:00:00 +0200

WE HOPE YOU’RE HUNGRY!

In today’s episode, we explore a RICH & DIVERSE culinary and cultural Jewish heritage as we take a journey through the heart of Jewish Syria, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, India, Turkey, and beyond with JENNIFER ABADI, a Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic recipe preserver & cookbook author. Together, we explore the diversity of the North American Jewish experience, discuss our feelings about the upcoming Pesach holiday, and along the way, discover some mouthwatering recipes that are simply Too Good to Passover.

Jennifer Abadi lives in New York City and is a researcher, developer, and preserver of Sephardic and Judeo-Arabic recipes and food customs. A culinary expert in the Jewish communities of the Middle East, Mediterranean, Central Asia, and North Africa, she teaches cooking at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), the Jewish Community Center Manhattan (JCC), and Context Conversations at Context Travel. In addition to providing Jewish food and culture tours on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Jennifer works as a personal chef in the New York City area and offers private in-person and virtual cooking lessons.

Her cookbook-memoir, “A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie's Kitchen” is a collection of recipes and stories from her family. Her second cookbook, “Too Good To Passover: Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic Seder Menus and Memories from Africa, Asia and Europe” provides an anthropological as well as historical context to the ways in which the Jewish communities of North Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and Middle East observe and enjoy this beloved ancient festival.

Links:

Jennifer Abadi’s website

Jennifer’s blog, Too Good to Passover where she shares info, insights, and recipes (including some belonging to dishes we discussed on the show)

Jennifer on Instagram

Buy Jennifer’s cookbook memoir, A Fistful of Lentils: Syrian-Jewish Recipes from Grandma Fritzie’s Kitchen, an intimate culinary food album featuring more than 125 Syrian-Jewish recipes, warm family anecdotes, and little-known stories of Syrian-Jewish culture.

Buy Jennifer’s groundbreaking cookbook, Too Good to Passover: Sephardic & Judeo-Arabic Seder Menus and Memories from Africa, Asia and Europe. Too Good to Passover is the first Passover cookbook specializing in traditional Sephardic, Judeo-Arabic, and Central Asian recipes and customs (covering both pre-and post-Passover rituals) appealing to Sephardi, Mizrachi, and Ashkenazi individuals who are interested in incorporating something traditional yet new into their seders.

The New York Women’s Culinary Alliance website

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#36 Shmuel Rosner, cultural & political commentator, columnist, editor & think-tank senior fellow

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Israel’s 4^th (yes, 4^th!) elections in 2 years are nearly here.

Like with every election in the world’s only Jewish democracy, Israel’s elections come with tons of questions. What are they about? Who’s running? Why are there always so many new parties running in every election?! What do polarizing terms like ‘left’ and ‘right’ mean in Israel anyways?!

Are you new to Israeli politics? A veteran observer or participant? Find the situation confusing? (don’t worry, so do we!) Need a primer to Israeli politics circa 2021?

Worry no more. This episode with the one & only Shmuel Rosner goes a long way in answering all your questions!

Shmuel Rosner is a Tel Aviv-based commentator, columnist, editor, and senior think tank fellow. He is a senior fellow at The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and the non-fiction Editor for Israel’s largest Publishing House, Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir. Shmuel is Senior Political Editor for the Jewish Journal and writes the popular blog Rosner's Domain as well as a weekly column for The International Herald Tribune/New York Times and Israel’s Maariv daily.

Rosner was previously a columnist for The Jerusalem Post and was Chief U.S. Correspondent, Head of the News Division and Head of the Features Division for the Israeli daily Haaretz. He wrote for many magazines, including Slate, Foreign Policy, Commentary, The New Republic, The Jewish Review of Books, and others. Rosner’s book “Shtetl Bagel Baseball, on the Wonderful Dreadful State of American Jews” became a bestseller and his most recent book (co-authored with Camil Fuchs), “#IsraeliJudaism, Portrait of a Cultural Revolution” proves that Israel’s Jews reinterpret Judaism by mixing tradition and national identity, making questions of continuity obsolete.

In 2021, Rosner joined Kann-News (Israel TV’s channel 11) as news commentator. He also recently founded and is the editor in chief of a data-research website, Hamadad, that investigates and reports on Israeli politics, society, identity, and culture.

For one year (1995), Rosner took a leave from journalism and has volunteered to work as an educator in the Jewish community of Kitchener, Canada.

An American history buff, in the last twenty years Rosner has written numerous pieces about U.S. policy and politics and traveled across the United States covering all American elections since the year 2000.

He is a frequent guest on Israeli television and radio as an analyst of American policy vis-à-vis Israel and the Middle East. When he lived in the US Rosner has lectured in many Universities and Think Tanks around the country - among them Yale, Berkley, Boston University, The Hudson Institute, The Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, American University, The Army War College - and also in many Jewish gatherings and communities.

He was raised and educated in Jerusalem, and he now lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and their four children.

Links:

Rosner’s Domain at the Jewish Journal

Rosner’s Domain Podcast

Shmuel’s articles in the New York Times

Shmuel Rosner’s website

Shmuel on Twitter @rosnersdomain

The Jewish People Policy Institute website

Buy Shmuel’s latest book, #IsraeliJudaism: Portrait of a Cultural Revolution on Amazon

Shmuel’s latest endeavor, the data-research website ‘Hamadad’ (in Hebrew)

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#35 Maj. (Res.) Danny Citrinowicz, Iran Expert, Former IDF Intel. Officer & Deputy Defense Attache in D.C.

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 09:00:00 +0200

IS IRAN HEADED TOWARDS THE BOMB?

With President Biden at the helm, will the US reenter the JCPOA (the ‘Iran Deal’)? If so, would that be good or bad? Would it be good or bad for Israel?

What should Israel do? Are all options really on the table?

With all the back and forth taking place over the past decade + about ‘the Iran deal’ and its politics, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s going on. It’s understandable, too. There are just so many moving parts to keep track of and so much noise the news cycle can make before reality gets drowned out. Do you want to make sense of it all?

Maj. (Res.) Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz is a Senior Research Fellow at the prestigious Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy. A Senior Intelligence and Middle East expert with extensive expertise in SIGINT collection, analysis methodologies, and systems, Danny is one of Israel’s foremost experts on Iran. He served for over 25 years in several capacities in the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate, including positions in the prestigious Unit 8200 and as Deputy Intelligence Attache in Washington, D.C.

Links:

The Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy website

A selection of Danny’s articles and blogs at the Times of Israel

Policy articles by Danny at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Danny’s publications at the DC-based Middle East Institute

Danny Citrinowicz on LinkedIn

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#34 Rabbi Alon Meltzer, Australian Jewish Community Builder & Leader

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0200

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan & Benny sit down with Rabbi Alon Meltzer, an amazing Sydney-based Jewish community builder and leader to learn about the Jews of Australia and New Zealand. On the way, they discuss some of the unique challenges and features of life that come with being part of the world's furthest-most’ Jewish community, and wrap up with a fascinating conversation on the origins of Purim.

Alon Meltzer is a community builder. Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand he was involved in most aspects of the community. Now living in Sydney, Australia he is the Rabbi of Or Chadash Synagogue, Director of Programs at Shalom, a cultural education organization, a doctoral student, and most importantly, dad to three daughters. An expert in medieval Jewish history, he is a graduate of both the University of Auckland and Yeshiva University. Rabbi Meltzer is dynamic, outgoing, and driven to create a relevant, engaged, and educated global Jewish community.

Links:

Rabbi Alon Meltzer’s website

Or Chadash synagogue’s website

The website of Shalom, one of Australia’s leading Jewish cultural education platforms

Blog posts by Rabbi Meltzer on 929, one of Israel’s leading online portal for Jewish religious commentary

A selection of Rabbi Meltzer’s blogs at the Times of Israel

Follow Rabbi Meltzer on Facebook

A virtual tour of the history of the Australian Jewish community

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#33 Steven Shalowitz, host of The One Way Ticket Show & IsraelCast podcasts & real-life explorer

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0200

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan & Benny sit down with Steven Shalowitz, real-life explorer and host of The One Way Ticket Show & JNF-USA’s IsraelCast podcast to talk about podcasting, radio, the power of travel, Israel, NYC, and so much more.

“If I gave you a one-way ticket to anywhere, past, present, or future, where would you go?” That’s the question that Steven Shalowitz asks all of his guests at the start of his captivating podcast, The One Way Ticket Show where he hosts celebrities and luminaries from across a variety of fields, including: art & design, business, communications, entertainment, travel, and world affairs.

Born and raised in Chicago, Steven worked for a major international advertising agency in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and New York City. While producing and hosting a radio show in Singapore, he conceived the idea for The One Way Ticket Show which he launched after moving to New York.

An exhibited photographer with a penchant for travel to rogue nations, Steven’s adventures have taken him from North Korea to Libya, Iran to Burundi, and Syria to Burkina Faso.

Steven earned his B.A. in Chinese Language & Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and his M.A. in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C.

He is also the producer and host of the IsraelCast podcast, which is powered by the Jewish National Fund USA, and the host of JNF’s monthly reading series which features author interviews.

Links:

The One Way Ticket Show website

Listen & Subscribe to The One Way Ticket Show on Spotify

The One Way Ticket Show on Twitter @towtshow

The One Way Ticket Show on Facebook

The website of IsraelCast, JNF-USA’s premier Israel podcast

Listen & Subscribe to IsraelCast on Spotify

Steven’s Twitter, @stevenshalowitz

Steven’s Facebook

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#32 MK Ruth Wasserman Lande, Israeli Member of Knesset from the Blue & White Party

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 07:00:00 +0200

Ruth Wasserman Lande is a Member of Knesset from the Blue & White party. Raised in South Africa, she is the founder and CEO of Ruth – Global Innovative Advisory, a diplomat, lecturer, columnist, and social activist particularly focused on the Arab population in Israel. She is also a Middle East affairs expert and commentator for various media outlets around the world. Wasserman Lande served as an advisor to the late President Shimon Peres, as the de-facto Deputy Ambassador at the Israeli embassy in Egypt, and for almost a decade as the Deputy Director-General for International Affairs at the Israeli Federation of Local Authorities.

Ruth was born in Israel and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. After arriving in Israel, she graduated, cum laude, in International Relations and Communications from Bar Ilan University. She completed, Magna cum Laude, her Master of Arts in International Relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2006, she was awarded a Wexner Fellowship to study for a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration at Harvard University, from where she graduated, cum laude in June 2007.

Ruth served for three years as an analyst in Israeli Defense Force intelligence, rising to the rank of Captain. Ruth continues to do reserve duty as an analyst in the IDF. Professionally, Ruth served as an Israeli diplomat for 13 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed to serve for three years, as the political and economic advisor in the Israeli embassy in Cairo, completing her service there as the de facto deputy Chief of Mission. After graduation from Harvard, Ruth was appointed as Foreign Affairs and World Jewish Affairs’ advisor to former President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres.

She served for almost a decade as the Deputy Director-General of the Israeli Federation of Local Governments, working with all Israeli Mayors, both Jewish and Arab, throughout the country. Ms. Wasserman Lande worked, voluntarily, on the promotion and development of one of Israel’s poorest, mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, Lod, where she also lived for a decade with her husband and three children. She has also founded (2018) and continues to chair the "Hagshama" initiative, a non-for-profit and non-political NGO, for creating real impact on Israeli society, via a country-wide initiative to transform one of the Bedouin villages in the North of the country into a model for emulation. That is, in coordination with its elected leadership, government ministries, philanthropists, business people, and the local community.

In July 2019, Ruth established her own strategic local and global consultancy which assists a wide variety of bodies and/or individuals -both Israeli and foreign- in identifying their needs, creating policy, establishing objectives, and accompanying their accomplishment and fulfillment. She is also a columnist in one of Israel’s leading dailies, in Hebrew, “Maariv”, and in the English-language “Jerusalem Post”. Ruth also often commentates on Regional and Arab-Israeli Affairs on local and international television channels.

Links:

MK Lande’s official Knesset webpage

Ruth Wasserman Lande on LinkedIn

‘Meet Ruth Wasserman Lande, Blue and White’s new MK Raised in Cape Town’ article in the Jerusalem Post

Articles by Lande in the Jerusalem Post

‘MK Ruth Wasserman Lande, Israel’s Force for Economic Equality’ article in MediaLine

MK Lande’s Twitter

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#31 - Laura Kelly, D.C. based foreign policy reporter for The Hill, covering Capitol Hill & the White House

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Laura Kelly is a reporter for The Hill in Washington D.C. where she writes about the politics and policy surrounding U.S. foreign affairs, covering Capitol Hill, the White House, and the State Department. Laura began her journalism career in Israel in 2012 working for The Jerusalem Post and lived in the country until 2016. Her reporting has taken her all over the world covering conflict, culture, and natural disasters. This includes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian Civil War, the fight against ISIS, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, to name a few. She is a graduate of Fordham University and originally from Cutchogue, Long Island, New York.

Laura covered the protests on Capitol Hill earlier this month and has a front-row seat to what is happening in Washington as the Biden Administration has come in.

We chatted with her about what is happening in Washington, what we can expect as far as US foreign policy, and Laura's own story as a journalist, including being a war correspondent.

Links:

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at The Hill

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Jerusalem Post, where she is a former Magazine editor. The publication frequently highlighted social issues in Israel such as Gay rights, Arab-Jewish relations, societal trends, high-profile interviews, cultural highlights, and international stories and conflicts.

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Jewish Insider, where she is a former Capitol Hill reporter.

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Washington Times, where she is a former health reporter.

Laura Kelly on Twitter @hellolaurakelly

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

BONUS Episode #30 - Jewanced LIVE! Meet the Emiratis, co-sponsored by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation & Partnership2Gether Rehovot-Minneapolis

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0200

Join us on Jewanced for a very special BONUS EPISODE of Jewanced – MEET THE EMIRATIS - where Benny and Dan host a panel of truly amazing Emiratis to learn about life in the UAE and their feelings about their country’s new normalization with Israel under the Abraham Accords.

This episode of the podcast was produced as a Jewanced LIVE! event, co-sponsored by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and the Jewish Agency for Israel Partnership2Gether Rehovot-Minneapolis.

Together with our Emirati panelists, we dive into the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE which occurred under last year’s monumental Abraham Accords and explore what we can anticipate for the people of Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, as well as for the broader Middle East.

Topics covered include:

-A day in the life of the average Emirati

-Emirati culture and cuisine

-Household economics and the cost of living in the UAE

-The business environment in the Gulf

-Islam in the UAE and its integration with a dazzlingly modern society

-The significance of the Abraham Accords for the young generation of Emiratis

-Emirati values of tolerance and how they relate to Israeli and Jewish visitors and residents in the UAE

-Emirati excitement to learn about Israel and the Jewish People

-And more!

About our panelists:

Dr. Majid Al Sarrah, DBA

A true Emirati patriot, Majid uses his strong, dynamic activist voice to build bonds between young Gulf Arab and Israeli leaders to strengthen peace, trust, and cooperation between our societies. He believes this is crucial to create a brighter future for our nations and all the peoples of the region. Majid recently participated in the first-ever delegation of young Gulf Arab leaders to Israel where he had a chance to experience the country and meet with Israelis from all walks of life. He is a founding Board Member of Sharaka, a platform connecting young leaders from Israel and the Gulf to turn the vision of people-to-people peace into a reality. He is also a legal adviser specializing in international law and a public policy expert trained at the London School of Economics. Follow Majid on Twitter @DrAlsarrah and on Instagram @dralsarrah

Sumaya Harib

Sumaya is a Dubai-based electrical engineer. Actively engaged in peace and co-existence dialogue, she participated in the first-ever delegation of young Emirati leaders to Israel in December, 2020 facilitated by Sharaka. Sumaya is passionate about people-to-people connections between Emiratis and Israelis and is learning Hebrew.

Al Anoud Al Hashmi

Al Anoud Al Hashmi is an entrepreneur working in the field of innovation, business, media and events. She is the Founder and CEO of 'The Futurist Company' established after putting together a team of experts in innovation and technology from all around the world to consult, research and execute future facing projects in MENA. Al Anoud is also the Marketing & Events Manager for Dubai Media City. A passionate film enthusiast and filmmaker herself, she has directed short films, several TV shows, advertisements, and campaigns in the region. Follow Al Anoud on Twitter at @ThinkerAlanoud and on Instagram @thinkeralanoud

Omar Al Busaidy

Omar Al Busaidy is an optimistic opportunist, entrepreneur, author, and futurist. He is also a very proud Emirati Global Shaper, speaker for the World Economic Forum, member of the US and UAE Public Affairs Committee, and member of The Arab Youth Pioneers Program. Full Bio Buy Omar’s book, Just Read It Follow Omar on Twitter at @omaralbusaidy and on Instagram @omaralbusaidy

We are proud to collaborate with our partners:

Minneapolis Jewish Federation

For over 90 years, the Minneapolis Jewish Federation builds community, cares for the welfare of Jews everywhere, and maximizes participation in Jewish life in Greater Minneapolis, Minnesota and beyond. Visit jewishminneapolis.org

Partnership2Gether Rehovot-Minneapolis

Partnership2Gether is a program of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) that:

-Provides opportunities for 500 Jewish communities worldwide to participate in cultural, educational, and social exchanges with Israeli communities -Strengthens the bonds between Israel and Diaspora Jewry through ‘sister city’ pairings -Offers Diaspora Jews a hands-on vehicle to assist in Israel’s economic and community development

The Minneapolis Jewish community is paired with the city of Rehovot. Located about 12 miles south of Tel Aviv, Rehovot has a population of around 115,000 and is one of the first communities founded in the modern State of Israel.

Partnership2Gether Rehovot-Minneapolis’s mission is to develop and strengthen their respective Jewish communities by creating revitalized, ongoing, and meaningful engagement between their members, based on mutual endeavor and shared Jewish identity. Visit the Partnership’s webpage and Facebook page for ongoing updates regarding programming.

Be sure to watch our LIVE RECORDING of this special event on our Facebook page.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at www.jewanced.com

#29 - Prof. Gil Troy, US presidential historian, scholar, author, political commentator & Zionist activist

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 08:00:00 +0200

Dan and Benny engage in a candid discussion with Professor Gil Troy, one of the world’s leading US Presidential historians, about the critical moment facing the United States, the world, and democracy as we transition from the Trump to the Biden White House. No less important, we also talk about American Jews and Zionism, the state of Israeli democracy, and co-authoring his most recent book with Natan Sharansky, Never Alone - Prison, Politics, and My People.

A Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University currently living in Jerusalem, Gil Troy is an award-winning American presidential historian and a leading Zionist activist. Recently designated an Algemeiner J-100, one of the top 100 people “positively influencing Jewish life,” Troy wrote The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s, and ten other books on the American presidency.

He appears as a featured commentator on CNN and has been interviewed on most major North American TV and Radio networks. Troy regularly publishes essays in the American, Canadian, and Israeli media, including for the New York Times the Daily Beast, and the Jerusalem Post.

Links:

Prof. Troy’s official website

Buy Never Alone – Prison, Politics, and My People, co-authored by Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy on Amazon

Learn about and buy Gil Troy’s books on the American Presidency and Zionism here

Articles by Gil Troy in The Jerusalem Post

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Jerusalem Post, “Trump, Capitol riot show dangers of violating invisible values – opinion”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Hill, “Joe Biden should help Americans rediscover the ‘Four Freedoms’”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Hill, “Why Joe Biden should pardon Donald Trump”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Jewish Journal, “Fragilience: When Temples are Desecrated – and Rededicated”

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#28 Dr. Natan Davidovics - Covid-19 Data Scientist & Director of R&D at BrainQ

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 15 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0200

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan and Benny sit down with Dr. Natan Davidovics, Ph.D., Director of R&D at the game-changing Jerusalem-based biotech firm BrainQ and Covid-19 data scientist and dig through the data to better understand the trajectory of Coronavirus in Israel and the United States. Dr. Davidovics breaks it down for us and provides a bit of much-needed positivity about the impact of the vaccine, as well as raises some serious red flags and dire warnings about where things might be headed in the USA. Later in the show, we get our minds absolutely blown as we sink into the confluence of brain science, AI, and the applications of cutting-edge tech in medicine.

Dr. Natan Davidovics is the Director of R&D at BrainQ, a Jerusalem based biotech company developing a wearable device that helps patients recover from stroke and other neurological disorders using a combination of brain monitoring, artificial intelligence, and electromagnetic brain stimulation. He grew up in New Jersey and has been active in the medical device field for 15 years. Dr. Davidovics has worked on several cutting-edge medical devices including the world’s first vestibular prosthesis that is designed to communicate with the brain to help patients recover from extreme dizziness and imbalance disorders. He has also been using his data science skills to model COVID-19 spread throughout Israel and has been posting insights and forecasts in concise and easy to understand form.

Links:

Visit the BrainQ website

Dr. Natan Davidovics on Facebook, where he regularly posts charts and graphs of Covid data

Dr. Davidovics's recent post about the British mutation variant of Covid, including charts and graphs

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#27 - Roy Margaliot, Visual Artist & Illustrator

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 08 Jan 2021 09:00:00 +0200

In this episode of the podcast, Benny & Dan have perhaps one of their freest flowing conversations yet with visual artist and illustrator Roy Margaliot in which they embark on a deep journey into an artist’s mind. On the way, they explore the philosophy of the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual realms – including the source of creativity inside us, how to be ok with the uncertainty of our times, the fragile nature of the world, Jewish consciousness, Hasidic teachings, UFO’s and the possibility of extraterrestrial life and sources of energy. Last but not least, Roy guides Dan and Benny through a selection of some of his artwork, breaking down his creative process and interpreting the possible meaning behind each piece.

Roy Margaliot is an Israeli visual artist and illustrator. Born in 1982, he is a Master of Visual Communication, having studied at Jerusalem’s prestigious Bezalel Academy of Art & Design. Roy’s stunning work is influenced by themes and narratives of the Jewish cultural and Israeli societal context, and has been featured in exhibitions in Israel and abroad, is included in private collections, and in magazines like Juxtapoz (the largest art publication in the US), Communication Arts (the largest international trade journal of visual communications) and more.

Links to the artwork featured in the episode:

#26 - Daniel Gordis, Senior VP of Shalem College, Author, Writer & Speaker

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 11:46:00 +0200

Dr. Daniel Gordis is Senior Vice President, Koret Distinguished Fellow, and Chair of the Core Curriculum at Shalem College. Previously the vice president of the Mandel Foundation in Israel and director of its Leadership Institute, Gordis was also the founding dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Author of numerous books, a regular columnist for Bloomberg View and The Jerusalem Post, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, The Times of Israel, and other leading news outlets, Gordis lectures throughout the world on Israeli society, American-Israeli relations, and the challenges facing the Jewish state.

Dr. Gordis is a two-time winner of the National Jewish Book Award, first for Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End (Wiley, 2010), and then for his Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn (Ecco, 2017), a comprehensive yet accessible single-volume history of the state of Israel from its inception to the present day.

Dr. Gordis’s other books include Menachem Begin: The Battle for Israel’s Soul (Nextbook, 2014), an original examination of Israel’s sixth Prime Minister, and The Promise of Israel, Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness is Actually its Greatest Strength (Wiley, 2012), which was named by Jewish Ideas Daily as one of the “best Jewish books of 2012.”

On this episode of Jewanced, we discussed the following topics and more with Daniel:

Shalem College, Israel’s first liberal arts college. We review the typical Israeli post-secondary education model and Daniel explains why a place like Shalem is so necessary
Daniel shares some thoughts about his recent Covid-19 vaccination that demonstrate the efficiency of the process in Israel and an ‘only in Israel’ moment
Jewish life in the post-Coronavirus crisis era: we talk about how life for Jews in America is going to become harder, for how Jews in Israel, life is going to become easier, and how that affects relations between the two communities
The renaissance of Jewish learning in North America amongst non-traditional streams of Judaism
The potential societal impact of an Israel at peace with her neighbors on Israelis, Arabs, and on American Jewry and legacy Jewish organizations in the US
The shifting hierarchies of power in the Jewish religious world (in all of its streams) and the possible effects of the post-Covid reality on Haredi society
The irrelevancy of the streams of American Judaism (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox – all American creations) in Israel for Israelis
Americans perceiving being Jewish primarily as a religion whereas in Israel, being Jewish is perceived (traditional stance) as a tribal peoplehood – ethnicity with a specific belief system – Judaism. I.E. in America, Jew is to Christian whereas in Israel, Jew is to Arab. Another example is that in America, one would answer the question ‘who is more Jewish’ based on their level of religious observance whereas in Israel, it’s a ridiculous question. One’s level of observance has nothing to do with whether one is more or less Jewish than another. You can’t be more or less Jewish.
Worry about the substance of North American Judaism in a context where Israel is less of a tying bind or issue
The ‘burning out’ of Tikkun Olam as what being Jewish is about in the US
American Jews, Israelis, and resilience
Zionism, social change and liberation movements
Daniel talks about his relationship with Peter Beinart who, he feels, as an advocate for the end of Zionism and Israel as a Jewish State has become an enemy of the Jewish people
What Jewish and Democratic looks like in the Israeli context

Links to purchase books by Daniel Gordis:

We Stand Divided: The Rift Between American Jews and Israel on Amazon
Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn on Amazon
The Promise of Israel: Why Its Seemingly Greatest Weakness Is Actually Its Greatest Strength on Amazon
Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End on Amazon
Home to Stay: One American Family’s Chronicle of Miracles and Struggles in Contemporary Israel on Amazon
If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State on Amazon
Becoming a Jewish Parent: How to Explore Spirituality and Tradition With Your Children on Amazon
Does the World Need the Jews on Amazon
God Was Not in the Fire: The Search for a Spiritual Judaism on Amazon

#25 - MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israeli Member of Parliament from the Blue & White Party

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 25 Dec 2020 10:38:00 +0200

MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh is a parliamentarian serving in Israel's parliament - the Knesset - representing the Blue & White party. She entered the Knesset less than a year ago as part of Israel’s implementation of the controversial ‘Norwegian Law’ when the recently-fallen National Unity government between her party and the Likud was formed. In a relatively short period of time, Cotler-Wunsh has become one of the country’s most outspoken MK’s on a variety of critically important issues such as immigration & absorption, Anti-Semitism and social media, Israel’s participation in international human rights institutions, truth and reconciliation for Israel’s Mizrahi citizens, political and cultural corruption, relations between Israel and Diaspora Jewry, returning Israelis from captivity in Gaza, and economic policies during the Coronavirus crisis.

Her mother, Ariela Ze’evi served as the late PM Menachem Begin’s parliamentary secretary and Michal grew up having very close relations with the Begin family (during Knesset sessions, her daycare would be with Aliza Begin in the Prime Minister’s residence). When she was 7, she moved to Canada after her mother married Canadian politician and human rights advocate Irwin Cotler. After growing up in Canada, Cotler-Wunsh made Aliyah to serve as a lone soldier. Later, she would return to Canada, after which she returned to Israel eight years ago with her spouse and four children.

During her military service as an officer in various training and command positions, she became aware of the complexity of the Israeli social mosaic.

Michal received her LL.B. from the Hebrew University Faculty of Law and an LL.M from the McGill University Faculty of Law in Montreal, Canada. As part of her master’s degree thesis (entitled, 'Addressing Power Imbalances in Divorce Mediation: Family, Feminism, and Foucault'), she studied power imbalances and how to address them in mediation processes, including a analysis from a gender perspective.

While studying law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, she worked as the assistant to the current President of the Supreme Court, Justice Miriam Naor, in her previous position as a District Court justice during the Deri trial. Additionally, she worked in the Ministry of Justice in consultation and legislation and coordinated the Civil Codification Committee chaired by Justice Aharon Barak on the ministry's behalf. In addition, she worked as an attorney in the private sector. During her years in Canada, she worked in mediation, formal and informal education, and extensive public activity.

Michal’s key roles before being elected to the Knesset include a being fellow at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism and a board member of Tzav Pius ('Reconciliation Order'), a nonprofit that strives to bring together Israelis who hold different worldviews on the religious-secular spectrum. Currently, she is writing her doctoral thesis in an international interdisciplinary program for ethics, law, and politics at the Hebrew University, researching freedom of speech and its effects, in its various contexts. In her work in the Law in the Service of the Community program at Tel Aviv University, she studied the issue of legal services to nonprofit organizations, which led to significant involvement in the field. In her most recent position, she was the director of the international relations department at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya and was in charge of sexual harassment prevention. Among other things, she headed efforts to plan, develop, and strengthen connections between Israel and the Diaspora in various contexts, while raising awareness and providing profound exposure to challenges and opportunities. Furthermore, she initiated and directed student and alumni preparedness for travelling to campuses around the world and attacks from the BDS movement, and she lectured on the subject at conferences in Israel and abroad.

As a religious, liberal woman and jurist, who has lived both in North America and Israel, she developed extensive and meaningful ties with many people from diverse backgrounds through an understanding of local cultures and appreciation of interpersonal communication. As someone who has dealt throughout her professional life with the liminal space between the academia and the practical world through critical examinations of legal, educational, and social theories in light of real life, she regularly writes and publishes opinion pieces on various platforms, including the Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, Canadian Jewish News, and Maariv.

Links:

Profile & Bio on the Knesset website

Terrific profiles on Cotler-Wunsh in the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel

MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh’s Twitter, @CotlerWunsh

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#24 - Russell Robinson, CEO of JNF-USA

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 10:57:00 +0200

Ranked by the Jerusalem Post as one of the world’s top 50 most influential Jews, Russell Robinson is the iconic CEO of JNF-USA, one of the Jewish world’s largest and leading philanthropic organizations. Under his leadership, the JNF has proven over and over its influence and impact in Zionist advocacy and education, Jewish community development, environmental work, developing the Negev and the Galilee, Israel travel, and so much more.

In this episode, Dan and Benny talk to Russell about everything from his growing up in the small Jewish community of El Paso, Texas to leading the JNF to become one of the most well-recognized non-profits anywhere, his positive thoughts about the current and future shape and identity of the Jewish Diaspora, JNF’s response to the Covid-19 economic crisis, the truly amazing initiatives and endeavors being developed by the JNF in Israel today, and the challenges of campaign development in the ever-changing reality of the 21^st century.

Links:

#36 – Russell Robinson on the Jerusalem Post’s list of the 50 most influential Jews of 2020

Jnf.org

JNF’s Vision – Outlining the organization's strategy of a $1b ‘Roadmap’ for the next decade

JNF’s ‘Go North’ strategic initiative to strengthen and grow the Galilee region, vital for the long-term prosperity of the Jewish homeland.

JNF’s ‘Blueprint Negev’ strategic initiative to revitalize Southern Israel, which calls for the population of the region to double in size and aims to improve quality of life for all its residents and encourage a population shift away from crowded, expensive central Israel.

AMHSI – The Alexander Muss High School in Israel

Visit Israel with JNF

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#23 – Chanukah with Rabbi Professor Jeffrey Woolf, internationally renowned scholar & lecturer

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 10 Dec 2020 13:35:00 +0200

Chanukah O' Chanukah!

This episode on Jewanced, we take a deep dive into everything Chanukah with Rabbi Prof. Jeffrey Woolf as we dig into real story behind how and why Jews celebrate the iconic 8-day festival of lights and the holiday’s fascinating evolution throughout the ages. We also ponder its meaning as we find parallel themes between the uncertainty and unrest of its ancient era to our current social and political landscape.

Rabbi Prof. Jeffrey R. Woolf is an internationally known scholar, lecturer and public figure. He is an Associate Professor in the Talmud Department at Bar-Ilan University, specializing in the History of Halakhah, Medieval and Renaissance Jewish History, the Philosophy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and the inter-action between Judaism, Islam and Christianity.

He received his PhD in Medieval Jewish History at Harvard University and spent two years at Yale University as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. Rabbi Woolf studied for nine and a half years under Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik זצ”ל, from whom he received semikhah (rabbinic ordination) in 1982.

He is a leading advocate and spokesman for Modern Orthodoxy. In Israel, he is a member of the Executive Committee of Maaleh: The Center for Religious Zionism and served on the Central Committee of Israel’s Bayt Yehudi (Jewish Home) Party.

Rabbi Dr. Woolf is a much sought-after lecturer, addressing a broad swath of issues and topics. Proficient in five languages (English, Hebrew, French, Italian, German), he has lectured throughout Israel, North America, and Europe. He is frequently interviewed in the media, both in Israel and abroad.

He has edited three books, among them the most recent translation of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s classic work, Kol Dodi Dofeq. His latest book was The Fabric of Religious Life in Medieval Ashkenaz (1000-1300), Leiden 2015. He is presently working on a book of essays on Israeli Orthodoxy and its encounter with modernity.

Links:

@JeffreyWoolf on Twitter

Rabbi Woolf on Academia.edu, containing a selection of published papers, book reviews, talks, and other posts.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#22 - Melanie Maron Pell, AJC Managing Director, Regional Offices

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 04 Dec 2020 12:04:00 +0200

This week on the podcast, we’re joined by the amazing Melanie Maron Pell, the Managing Director of AJC’s network of 24 regional offices across the United States.

Together with Ben & Dan, Melanie reflects on over 20 years of advancing AJC’s global mission, the rising significance of subnational diplomacy, the challenge of maintaining authentic nonpartisanship in a highly partisan world, the shifting nature of the US-Israel relationship, combatting shape-shifting Antisemitism, generational differences in American Jewish culture, the changing political perspectives of much of the American Jewish community, and much more.

As Managing Director of Regional Offices, Melanie Pell oversees AJC’s network of 24 regional offices. She was previously AJC Associate Director of Regional Offices and Director of Regional Engagement. In that role, Melanie worked to expand AJC’s presence in communities across the U.S. and coordinated several successful agency-wide advocacy campaigns, including the Mayors United Against Antisemitism and the Governors United Against BDS initiatives. Prior to assuming her national role, Melanie was Director of AJC Washington D.C., where she oversaw all regional office activities and represented AJC in a variety of diplomatic, civic, and intergroup settings. Melanie joined AJC in 2001 as Assistant Director of AJC Chicago. Melanie graduated with honors from the Chicago-Kent College of Law and magna cum laude from the University of Louisville.

Links:

AJC’s website, ajc.org

AJC’s #Translate Hate Glossary – To help you know it when you see it, AJC defined some frequently-used Antisemitic words and symbols you may find hiding in plain sight—from the internet to pop culture.

AJC Project Interchange - Project Interchange has achieved an international reputation as the premier forum for directly introducing diverse global thought leaders to Israel.

AJC’s Regional Offices

AJC Advocacy Anywhere - Advocacy Anywhere, Powered by AJC is a new platform that enables you to engage with AJC’s leading expertise, content, and advocacy opportunities from wherever you are, using cutting-edge technology.

To get involved with AJC, reach out to your AJC regional office or email Melanie at pellm@ajc.org

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#21 - Saar Wilf, Israeli serial entrepreneur & angel investor

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 26 Nov 2020 17:29:00 +0200

Join us for a thought-provoking conversation with serial entrepreneur and investor Saar Wilf.

Saar Wilf is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor. Over his career, he has founded several technology ventures, his first back in 1997. Most notably, he founded Fraud Sciences (acquired by PayPal/eBay for $169m), where he served as CEO and Chief Scientist. He also co-founded ClarityRay (acquired by Yahoo), Trivnet (acquired by Gemalto for $35m), Pointgrab, Deep Optics, Creditstacks, Bzigo, Rootclaim, Immersix, Initiative Q, and wikiwand.com, which serves over 10M users monthly. He was the first investor in Moon Active, Supersonic (merged with Iron Source), Crosswise (acquired by Oracle), Redhill Biopharma, and CallApp. His areas of technical specialty include finance, probability, Bayesian inference, signal processing, machine learning, optics, and computer vision.

Mr. Wilf also funded the Brain Preservation Prize, which sparked the first technique that aims to completely preserve an entire human brain for long-term storage.

Together with Saar, we engaged in a fascinating and at times sci-fi-like deep dive into the following topics:

· Vitamin D & Zinc as therapeutics for Covid-19

· Rootclaim – a company co-founded by Saar that uses probability theories to find truth outcomes and weeds out natural biases, providing clarity and aiming light on truth in today’s era of misinformation, deep fakes, and fake news

· SCOOP: Rootclaim’s determination regarding the source of Covid-19

· Bzigo – a company co-founded by Saar that provides an innovative product that acts as a personal ‘Iron Dome’ against mosquitos for your home

· Saar’s vision for the future

· The Brain Preservation Foundation – a unique process to cryogenically freeze the human brain intact to preserve memories and personality traits in the hope that in the future, they can be uploaded to a computer or other technologically advanced device

· Human longevity as a solvable problem

· The efficiency disparity between leadership in Israel’s business & hi-tech ecosystem vs. its public sector & government

Links:

Saar Wilf on Twitter @saarwilf

Saar Wilf’s profile on Startupnationcentral.org

Rootclaim.com - Calculating Reality

Bzigo – Autonomous devices for a pest-free life

The Brain Preservation Foundation website

Deep Optics – developing Omnifocals, the first ever dynamic focal eyeglasses.

Life Extension – Enhanced Zinc Lozenges

Watch the video of this episode on Jewanced's YouTube channel.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#20 - Raymond Holcomb, FBI Special Agent, Counterterrorist, & Homeland Security Advisor

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 08:30:00 +0200

This week, we’re bringing you an extra special episode of the podcast with former FBI Special Agent Raymond Holcomb, president and managing director of 1^st Watch Global.

Ray has over 30 years’ experience as a law enforcement and intelligence officer. He served for over 23 years as an FBI Special Agent; 8 as a Strategic Planner with the US National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and 4 as a state Homeland Security Advisor.

His FBI career included 15 years investigating foreign espionage, major drug trafficking organizations, organized crime and National Security matters. He also served as a member of the FBI’s New York office SWAT team and was appointed Commander of the team from 1998 to 2001. Under Ray’s leadership, the NY SWAT team assumed an expanded role, being involved in high risk domestic arrests and providing overseas security and enhanced investigative capability for FBI teams deploying internationally in response to terrorism.

Together with Ray, we take a serious and at times unsettling dive into the following topics:

· The FBI during the Cold War

· Moles, rogue agents, and defectors from the USSR

· Existent and new threats posed by the axis of Russia, China, and Iran

· Marxist/Anarchist influence in social justice movements and academia

· Antifa: its history, foreign financing and control, KGB-playbook organizational tactics, and the mainstream media’s reticence to cover the facts

· The Proud Boys & ‘lone wolf’ operators

· Foreign gaslighting of broad sections of the public to advance political aims and cover up the truth

· Hate and extremist groups in America

· 1^st Amendment issues

· Censorship

· Conspiracy theories and their effects on American culture

· Ray’s service abroad in countries identified and classified to conduct counterterror ops

· Al Qaeda and the bombings of the USS Cole and the US Embassies in Kenya Tanzania

· 9/11 – stories of victims & survivors, including that of his former commander John O’Neill who retired from the FBI to become the director of security at the World Trade Center who tragically died in the attacks after warning of the threat of Al Qaeda for many years

· His team’s interrogation of Saddam Hussein

· America’s retreat from the world stage

· A final message and warning about the future

Links:

1^st Watch Global – Ray’s internationally-renowned security consulting firm

Buy Ray’s book ‘Endless Enemies – Inside FBI Counterterrorism’ TODAY on Amazon

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#19 - Jewanced Presents: Meet the Emiratis!

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 13 Nov 2020 22:39:00 +0200

Join Jewanced for an unforgettable conversation as Benny and Dan host a panel of young, influential Emiratis to learn about life in the UAE and their feelings about their country’s new normalization with Israel under the Abraham Accords.

Following the ratification of the Abraham Accords, what can we anticipate for the people of Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as for the broader Middle East?

Topics covered include:

o A day in the life of the average Emirati

o Emirati culture and cuisine

o Household economics and the cost of living in the UAE

o The business environment in the Gulf

o Islam in the UAE and its integration with a dazzlingly modern society

o The significance of the Abraham Accords for the young generation of Emiratis

o Emirati values of tolerance and how it relates to Israeli and Jewish visitors and residents in the UAE

o Emirati excitement to learn about Israel and the Jewish People

o And more!

About our panelists:

May Albadi

May is an Emirati food blogger and culture expert, based in Abu Dhabi. She is a co-authoring a cookbook about kosher Emirati cuisine called ‘Kosherati’, together with Dubai-based Elli Kriel, the creator of Elli’s Kosher Kitchen, the UAE’s first kosher catering business.

Follow May on Twitter @MayALBadi

Thani Al Shirawi

Thani is a prominent young Dubai-based businessman where he serves as the vice chairman and deputy group managing director of the Oasis Investment Company. He is a co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council.

Follow Thani on Twitter @Thani75

Norah Alawadhi

Based in Dubai, Norah is a popular Emirati social media influencer. Bursting with positive energy, she is very active in many groups promoting the UAE-Israel relationship and people-to-people connections between the two nations. Notably, Norah became the face of the historic Abraham Accords in the UAE when she was featured as the Emirati woman in the viral UAE-Israel flag photo taken against the stunning backdrop of the Burj Khalifa and Dubai skyline.

Follow Norah on Twitter @thekingnorah

Follow Norah on Instagram

Link to an article about the famous UAE-Israel flag photo

Ahmed Al Mansoori

Ahmed serves as a forensic investigator with the Abu Dhabi police. Since the Abraham Accords were signed, he has made it his mission to learn as much about Judaism, the Jewish People and Israel as possible and is truly excited to see the developing relationship between the two peoples and countries exceed all expectations.

Follow Ahmed on Twitter @Hackmed804

For this episode, we are proud to collaborate with our partners:

The Jewish Agency for Israel’s Partnershiptogether Western Galilee and associated Jewish Federation Communities in the United States:
The Jewish Federation of Ft. Worth and Tarrant County
The Jewish Federation of Greater Austin
The Jewish Federation of San Antonio
The Youngstown Area Jewish Federation
The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
The Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo
The Jewish Federation of Omaha
The Buffalo Jewish Federation
The Jewish Federation of Louisville
The Jewish Federation of Greater Des Moines
The Jewish Federation of Northwest Indiana
The Jewish Federation of St. Joseph Valley
The Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne
The Jewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis
The Jewish Federation of Peoria
The Jewish Federation of Springfield

Be sure to watch our LIVE RECORDING of this episode on YouTube!

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information about Jewanced, visit us at www.jewanced.com

#18 - Michael Dickson, Exec. Dir. of StandWithUs Israel & Naomi Baum, Ph.D., authors of ‘ISResilience – What Israelis Can Teach the World’

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 05 Nov 2020 19:42:00 +0200

Are the news and the weight of the world getting you down? Got a case of the grumps? Join us this week on Jewanced as we sit down for a super optimistic conversation with Michael Dickson, Executive Director of StandWithUs Israel and Dr. Naomi Baum, a pioneering psychologist in the field of resilience research and treatment, together the authors of the new book, ‘ISResilience – What Israelis Can Teach the World.’

From well-known leaders making life-and-death decisions to ordinary people who have overcome incredible loss to do inspirational things, meet the Israelis who thrive against all odds and learn how you can too.

ISResilience is a study of a nation that has had to collectively and individually hang tough like no other country on earth. Imbued in Israel’s DNA is the understanding that survival isn’t optional – it’s a necessity. Any Israeli could have given testimony for this book. Israelis routinely carry on with their day-to-day lives not just when things are calm and peaceful but when rockets are launched at them, during official conflicts and wars and unofficial waves of gruesome terrorism. And they don’t just survive – they thrive.

Each chapter of this book profiles a diverse, compelling Israeli personality – some famous, some not, but all exceptional – and traces the characteristic that unites them all. The life lessons extrapolated from these interviewees can teach every one of us to be stronger people. Written by a communications expert and Israel analyst together with a pioneering psychologist in the field of resilience research and treatment, ISResilience brings today’s most in-demand skill to life and shows how we all can benefit from the trait embodied by the nation once admired by Princess Diana as “a plucky little country.”

Michael Dickson is Executive Director of StandWithUs in Israel, an international educational nonprofit dedicated to supporting Israel and fighting antisemitism around the world. Michael is a Senior Fellow at the Center for International Communication of Bar-Ilan University. In 2016, he was listed as the fourteenth most influential Jew on Twitter. He is the 2019 winner of the Bonei Zion Prize and in 2020, he was listed on the Global Jewish 100. He lives in Ra’anana, Israel with his wife and five children.

Naomi L. Baum, PhD, consults and facilitates workshops on resilience building in Israel and worldwide. She created the Building Resilience Intervention (BRI), an evidence-based resilience model that has been applied widely in Israel and abroad. She was Director of the Resilience Unit at Metiv – The Israel Psychotrauma Center and co-directed the International Course in Trauma and Resilience in cooperation with the Rothberg School of the Hebrew University. She is the author of several previous books. She lives in Efrat, Israel with her husband, and is mother of seven, and grandmother of twenty.

Links:

ISResilience.com

Buy your copy of ISResilience TODAY on Amazon

Read Michael Dickson’s personal blog – featuring articles and video appearances about Israel, Antisemitism, Jewish issues, and public diplomacy at michaeldickson.org

StandWithUs.com

DONATE to StandWithUs

Read Naomi L. Baum, PhD.’s personal blog, learn about her workshops and consultation services, and access psychology-related resources (including Covid-19 resources and trauma & post-trauma resources) at naomibaum.com

Link to watch the FULL EPISODE on Jewanced’s Facebook page.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#17 - The Abraham Accords: Shifting Regional Perceptions

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 29 Oct 2020 19:50:00 +0200

Join Jewanced for an unforgettable conversation as Benny and Dan host a panel of top Middle East experts from around the region to explore how perceptions and world views are shifting as history unfolds before our very eyes.

Following the ratification of the Abraham Accords, what can we anticipate for the people of Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, as well as for the broader Middle East?

Topics covered include:

The contrast between Gulf vs. other Arab states' attitudes towards normalization with Israel
The significance of the Abraham Accords for the young generation of Arabs across the region
Emirati values of tolerance and how it relates to Israeli and Jewish visitors and residents in the UAE
Whether Israel's new Gulf partners expect it to come to their aid in a possible future military conflict with Iran
The Gulf Arab Doctrine - Promoting national interests of the Gulf states, countering the Iranian threat and helping the Palestinians via normalization with Israel
And more!

About our guests:

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem for Foreign Relations, International Economic Development, and Tourism. She is a co-founder of the UAE-Israel Business Council.

Full Bio

Dr. Najat Al Saied

Dr. Najat Al Saied is an Independent Researcher at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR) in Abu Dhabi, UAE. She is also a columnist in both Al Ittihad (an Arabic language daily newspaper in the United Arab Emirates) and Al Hurra (an American satellite television news channel in Arabic). She specializes in political and social development communication geared to the modern and tolerant Middle East.

Full Bio

Buy Dr. Al Saied’s book, Screens of Influence: Arab Satellite Television and Social Development

Omar Al Busaidy

Omar Al Busaidy is an Optimistic Opportunist, Entrepreneur, Author, and Futurist.

He is also a very proud Emirati Global Shaper, speaker for the World Economic Forum, member of the US and UAE Public Affairs Committee, member of The Arab Youth Pioneers Program.

Full Bio

Buy Omar’s book, Just Read It

Haisam Hassanein

Haisam Hassanein is an Egyptian-American analyst, and a former fellow at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy. He is a frequent columnist writing on the Middle East in Foreign Policy, Wall Street Journal, and more.

Full Bio

Links:

The official U.S. State Department website of the Abraham Accords
The Abraham Accords Declaration
Full text of The Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between The United Arab Emirates and The State of Israel
Full text of The Abraham Accords: Declaration of Peace, Cooperation, and Constructive Diplomatic and Friendly Relations Between The State of Israel and The Kingdom of Bahrain
Watch ‘A Historic Day for Peace’, the official White House video of the Signing Ceremony of the Abraham Accords

For this show, we are proud to collaborate with our partners:

The UAE-Israel Business Council
The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern & African Studies at Tel Aviv University
TRENDS Research and Advisory

Be sure to watch our LIVE RECORDING of this episode on YouTube!

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

#16 - Senator Norm Coleman, National Chairman, Board of Directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition - Special US Election Series Part 2

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 21:18:00 +0200

This week on Jewanced, we host the 2^nd part of our exclusive 2-part series to find out which presidential candidate would be "better for the Jews".

We take a deep dive into issues of concern to Israel and the Jewish community in the upcoming presidential election, offering each side a platform to present its case in depth.

In today’s episode, part 2, we are honored to host Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), National Chairman, Board of Directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Sen. Coleman delves into his upbringing in Jewish Brooklyn alongside other notable political figures, his rise through the world of local, state, and national politics, his switching of party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, behind-the-scenes cooperation in the Senate, and his heartfelt perspective on why President Trump and the Republican party are better for Jews, America, and Israel. You won't want to miss this!

Link to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Link to watch the FULL EPISODE on our YouTube channel.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#15 - Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and former national security advisor to VP candidate Sen. Kamala Harris - Special US Election Series part 1

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 00:17:00 +0200

Starting this week on Jewanced, we host two special guests for an exclusive 2-part series to find out which presidential candidate would be "better for the Jews".

We take a deep dive into issues of concern to Israel and the Jewish community in the upcoming presidential election, offering each side a platform to present its case in depth.

In today’s episode, part 1, we are honored to host Halie Soifer, Executive Director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America and former national security advisor to VP candidate Sen. Kamala Harris.

Halie offers her impassioned argument for why these elections are critical for our future, and why the Jewish community (and all Americans) must vote for Biden/Harris. We talk about anti-Semitism, handling of the Covid-19 crisis and of course, Israel. You won't want to miss this!

Link to the Jewish Democratic Council of America

And, for the first time, Jewanced is available in VIDEO - on our website www.jewanced.com and on our YouTube channel - because we know you wanted to watch our pretty faces live in action. Check out the FULL EPISODE!

Next week on the podcast (Thursday, Oct. 15), we air part 2 when we will be honored to host former Senator Norman Coleman (R-MN), National Chairman, Board of

Directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#14 - Avi Jorisch on Israeli innovation, the changing Middle East and the optimistic future of humanity

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 02 Oct 2020 11:18:00 +0200

2020 has been a challenging year for all - but did you know that Israel is also at the global forefront of solving some of the world's biggest problems and, in the process, greatly improving lives everywhere?!

On today's episode of the podcast, Dan and Benny sit down with the undisputed oracle of optimism, superstar author AVI JORISCH for a truly inspiring conversation about world-changing Israeli innovations and why Israel seems to be atop the innovation world. Avi talks about his recent book - Thou Shalt Innovate - and his upcoming book on the optimistic future of humanity. They also take a side journey into Middle East developments, including Avi's first book about Hezbollah's popular television station and his journey into Beirut to research it.

Avi Jorisch is a seasoned entrepreneur and the author of five books, including Thou Shalt Innovate: How Israeli Ingenuity Repairs the World (2018), which, by 2021, will appear in over 40 languages. A former official in the U.S. Departments of Treasury and Defense, Avi is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, a member at the Council on Foreign Relations and the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). He is also the founder of IMS, a merchant processing company that works with clients nationwide. In the past two decades, Avi has lectured around the world and has published articles in nearly 50 influential outlets, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, and has appeared on CNN, CSPAN, Fox News, MSNBC and the 700 club.

Links:

Buy Avi’s book, Thou Shalt Innovate: How Israeli Ingenuity Repairs the World on Amazon

Avi’s website

Video clip of Avi Jorisch – Thou Shalt Innovate – Israeli innovations changing the lives of billions

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#13 - Dr. Moshe Weinstock on Rebbe Nachman of Breslov and the annual pilgrimage to his grave in Uman, Ukraine

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 23:52:00 +0200

Ahead of Yom Kippur, Dan and Benny sit down with the fascinating Dr. Moshe Weinstock for a deep dive into the origins and meaning of the annual Rosh Hashanah pilgrimage to the grave of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, in the Ukrainian town of Uman!!! This event, in recent years, has attracted tens of thousands of Jews - Chassidic, Haredi, Dati, Mizrahi and secular, and we wanted to learn why. Moshe takes us on a virtual tour of Uman, explores deeper trends at play and dispels common myths (drugs and prostitutes?).

Moshe literally wrote the book on this (in Hebrew), "The Israeli Journey to the Grave of Rebbe Nachman from Breslov", having spent years researching the phenomenon and visiting Uman multiple times.

As it turns out, Moshe is also a teacher of Jewish philosophy and an expert and pedagogical consultant to virtual learning start-ups, something relevant to all of us these days as schools across the world have gone virtual. He previously served as Head of Pedagogical Affairs at Israel’s Ministry of Education until 2018.

Links:

Buy Moshe’s book, The Israeli Journey to the Grave of Rebbe Nachman from Breslov (in Hebrew) here
Moshe’s Facebook page

Video clip of the Achnasat Orchim in Uman

Video clip showing highlights of the pilgrimage in Uman

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#12 - Avi Liberman on Comedy for Koby, the Koby Mandell Foundation, performing in Israel during the pandemic, and being a stand-up comic in today's wild times

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Wed, 16 Sep 2020 21:33:00 +0200

On this episode of the podcast, we at Jewanced have a special announcement and a special request...

This week, ahead of Rosh Hashanah, we had the pleasure of hosting the truly hilarious standup comic, screenwriter, and actor, Avi Liberman.

As many of you know, each year Avi organizes an amazing initiative – Comedy for Koby.

Comedy for Koby is an annual event that raises money for The Koby Mandell Foundation, which helps bereaved mothers, fathers, widows, orphans, and siblings who have lost loved ones to terror and other tragedies to rebuild their lives and create meaning out of suffering.

During normal years, Avi brings with him well known American comedians to Israel, where they play a number of shows around the country, with all proceeds raising money for this important cause.

This year, due to Covid-19, Avi came alone and did his best to hold a number of shows with local Israeli comedians and also by himself. With the new upcoming lockdown starting this Friday, Avi has had to cancel many of these fundraising shows he had planned.

So - we at Jewanced are hoping to help out. Instead of going to one of the amazing Comedy for Koby shows this year - check out the podcast!

During the episode, Avi hilariously describes his experience actually having contracted Covid-19, a behind-the-scenes tour of the stand-up comedy world, a preview of two fascinating scripts he’s written and is working to get produced as movies, comedy in the world of political correctness, and much more.

Perhaps most importantly, after you enjoy this awesome episode with Avi - please consider donating to the Koby Mandell Foundation!

Links:

· Donate to the Koby Mandell Foundation at this secured link

· Avi Liberman on Instagram

· Avi Liberman on Facebook

· Check out Avi’s documentary on Comedy for Koby, ‘Land of Milk and Funny’ here

· Comedy for Koby’s official website

· Comedy for Koby on Facebook

· The Koby Mandell Foundation’s official website

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com (new and improved website coming soon!)

#11 - Carice Witte talks about China's role on the world stage and Israel-China relations

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 10 Sep 2020 23:15:00 +0200

These days, China appears in the headlines A LOT! Whether in regard to its growing influence in international relations, competition with the United States, 5G and information technology rivalries with the West, or, of course, the Coronavirus pandemic, it’s impossible not to notice the incredible prowess and impact of the world’s most populous nation and second-largest economy.

That's why we decided to meet with one of the top China experts around – Carice Witte, Founder and Executive Director of SIGNAL (Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership) - for a deep-dive into... well... everything China.

We talked about China’s rich history, cultural identity, and international affairs, as well as China’s worldview and efforts to reshape the international order, the evolution and growth of China-Israel relations (of which Carice played a key role in fostering), and how the Chinese feel about Israelis and Jews.

Carice Witte is the Founder and Executive Director of SIGNAL (Sino-Israel Global Network & Academic Leadership), an Israeli policy organization that specializes on China-Israel relations. Ms. Witte initiated Chinese-Israeli Track-II exchanges in 2011. Having led over 1,000 briefings in China and Israel, she established a semi-annual China-Israel and annual China-Israel-U.S. Track-II dialogue in 2017.

In 2011, Ms. Witte initiated the founding of Israel Studies Programs (ISPs) at universities across China, including an annual program held in Israel for Chinese faculty on teaching Israel Studies.

An expert on China and China-Israel relations, Ms. Witte is a leading contributor to defining this field of policy research in Israel. Ms. Witte has authored articles, research and policy analysis papers on Sino-Israel relations, trade policy, strategic communications, and global Jewry. Her research focuses on Israel’s perspective on Xi Jinping Thought and its potential implications for the Middle East, Israel and the BRI, China in the Middle East, and China’s foreign policy.

Links:

SIGNAL's website
SIGNAL's Twitter
Carice's most recent article in Calcalist, Israel's leading source of economic news.

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#10 - Chazzan (Cantor) Daniel Schwartz takes a deep dive into the institution of the cantorial arts in the Ashkenazi tradition

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 03 Sep 2020 23:48:00 +0200

With the High Holidays right around the corner, Jewanced is happy to help get everyone in the spirit with a special holiday episode with Chazzan Daniel Schwartz.

Together with Schwartz, Dan and Benny totally geek out and take a deep dive into the rich world of traditional Ashkenazic Chazzanut (the institution of the Cantorate). We learn about the amazing tapestry of history behind this art form that dates back millennia, possibly to the time of the 2^nd Temple. Daniel guides us on an incredible journey through its origins, progression through Western & Eastern Europe to America, Israel and beyond, as well as introduces us to the world of nusach tefilah & some of the great Chazzanim of the 20^th century (Leib Glantz & Jacob Barkin…need I say more?!). We invite you to join us and go behind the scenes as we try to capture the essence of a true craft that helps guide us through prayer and that, at times, leads us to tantalizingly touch the most nostalgic emotions of our youth.

Links:

· Cantor Daniel Schwartz singing Tal by Israel Alter

· Cantor Daniel Schwartz with the Anim Zemirot Choir- Kahn's Kedusha

· Cantor Daniel Schwartz – Hashir Shehalviim

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced at https://open.spotify.com/show/6984NiP7H1ULW9lJeVt8Ie

on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7r6xLC1K4Zf29i9ttxbNFg

#9 - Col. (Res.) Udi Evental talks about major forces shaping the region, Iran, US foreign policy, Lebanon, Russia, the Palestinians and of course, the UAE-Israel agreement.

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 00:30:00 +0200

Confused about everything happening in the region? So were we!

That's why we decided to sit with one of the top Middle East intelligence and policy analysts around - Col (res.) Udi Evental - for a deep-dive into... well... everything.

We talked about the major forces shaping the region, Iran, US foreign policy, Lebanon, Russia, the Palestinians and of course, the UAE-Israel agreement.

While serving in uniform for 25 years, Colonel Evental served as head of the Strategic Planning Unit of the Political-Military and Policy Bureau of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, Assistant to the Military Secretary of the Prime Minister (PM Office), Intelligence Attaché in Washington, D. C. and elsewhere. He has held various positions with the intelligence and planning directorates of the IDF and has extensive experience in the fields of intelligence analysis, strategy and policy planning, and military diplomacy. He is the author of "Spotlight: Israel & The Middle East" an IPS weekly brief on strategic issues facing Israel and the region and will soon be teaching a course on policy planning at the Interdisciplinary Center-Herzliya’s (IDC) Arison School of Government.

Links:

· Links to Udi’s publications at the IDC’s Institute for Policy & Strategy

· Link to the IDC’s Institute for Policy & Strategy (IPS)

· Link to the official page of the IDC’s Institute for Policy & Strategy’s upcoming international online conference on ‘Israel in an Era of Crises – Where do we go from here?

Follow Col. (Res.) Evental on Twitter at @UEvental

#8 - Naftali Aklum, founder & CEO of Yerus Project on the history, heritage, and present-day reality of Ethiopian Jewry in Israel; and the true story behind the Netflix movie Red Sea Diving Resort.

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 20 Aug 2020 23:37:00 +0200

On this very special episode of Jewanced, Benny and Dan sit down with Naftali Aklum, CEO & Founder of Yerus Project, which passionately educates Israelis and the world about the unique story of Ethiopian Jewry. Recorded live at his home in the Negev city of Be'er Sheva, Naftali takes us on a journey through the mind-blowing history and heritage of this unique Jewish community, from its origins over 2,500 years ago arriving from Jerusalem after the destruction of the 1st Temple to the highlands of Ethiopia. We then hear the incredible one of a kind and deeply moving account of its harrowing aliya-immigration/homecoming to Jerusalem and the Land of Israel as pioneered by his brother, the legendary Mossad agent Ferede Aklum. Ferede's heroic story is the basis for the Netflix hit movie Red Sea Diving Resort, for which Naftali consulted. Naftali then takes us through the present-day realities and challenges of modern life in Israel.

Together with Naftali, explore one of the Jewish People's most unforgettable tales of overcoming hardship, realizing age-old dreams, and succeeding beyond all odds. Naftali’s story of learning to take pride in his own complex identity is the story of Israel’s Ethiopian Jewish community. Finally, listen to Naftali share his personal views on the racial divide in the United States, Black Jewish American identity and some of the current challenges and obstacles facing Black Jews and the broader Jewish community in the U.S. today.

This episode is a part of a new collaboration with Tribe Herald, the premier media company focused on Jews of Color and those in the Jewish community whose unique needs and concerns are not always addressed by traditional Jewish media.

At Jewanced, we are all about exploring and seeking to understand Israel and the Jewish world from multiple and nuanced perspectives, and to challenge popular conceptions. Therefore, a platform that gives a voice to Jews of Color and those who feel marginalized by the mainstream Jewish community is one we are proud to collaborate with.

After listening to the podcast, make sure to check out the feature article about Naftali and Jewanced on Tribe Herald later this week. www.tribeherald.com

Links:

Yerus Project at www.jewsofethiopia.com
Donate to and support the Yerus Project here
Tribe Herald's website
View and listen to traditional Ethiopian Jewish music and prayers as sung by the community's religious leaders, the Kesim.
The cover of The Power of One, the story of Naftali's legendary brother Ferede Aklum. The book is available for sale through the Yerus Project for $35 (includes shipping).

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced at https://open.spotify.com/show/6984NiP7H1ULW9lJeVt8Ie on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

#7 - Abigail Pogrebin - renowned author, journalist, Emmy-nominated producer, Jewish leader and outreach director for Mike Bloomberg’s Presidential campaign

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 18:53:00 +0200

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan and Benny sat down with the ever-fascinating Abigail Pogrebin, an award-winning author, journalist, former Emmy-nominated television producer, Jewish leader and Jewish outreach director for former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg's 2020 Presidential campaign.

We talked for what felt like the shortest two hours of our lives about being a part of a presidential campaign, American politics, Abigail's current and most recent book projects on God and the Jewish holidays, rediscovering Judaism and Jewish literacy, how Covid-19 is affecting Jewish life, working on CBS’s 60 Minutes and much more.

Abigail Pogrebin is the author of My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays; One Wondering Jew, which was a finalist for the 2018 National Jewish Book Award. She is also the author of Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish, for which Abigail interviewed 62 famous American Jews — from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Steven Spielberg — about their religious identity. Her book, One and the Same delved into every aspect of growing up as a twin — of which Abby is one. (The identical kind.) Her bestselling Kindle Single, Showstopper, chronicled her teenage adventures on Broadway in a rare Sondheim flop. She was an Emmy-nominated producer for Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes, and before that produced for Bill Moyers at PBS. She has moderated conversations at The Streicker Center, The JCC in Manhattan, UJA Federation, and the Shalom Hartman Institute. Tablet Magazine’s podcast, “Parsha in Progress” features a regular Torah discussion with Abigail and Rabbi Dov Linzer (President of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah). Abby received the “Impact Award” from the JCC in Manhattan, and the “Community Leader Award” from The Jewish Week in 2017. She served as President of Central Synagogue from 2015-18, and was Director of Jewish Outreach for Michael Bloomberg’s 2020 presidential campaign.

Links:

Abigail's official website
Selected photos of Abigail's interviews
My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays; One Wondering Jew on Amazon.com
Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk about Being Jewish on Amazon.com
Tablet Magazine’s podcast, “Parsha in Progress” co-hosted by Abigail and Rabbi Dov Linzer

We invite you to follow Jewanced TODAY on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and we'd love it if you leave us a 5-Star review!

https://open.spotify.com/show/6984NiP7H1ULW9lJeVt8Ie?si=4we8PR7dSJyav4np2foRWA

For more info about Jewanced, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

BONUS EPISODE - Dr. David Manheim on whether there’s a silver bullet for Covid-19

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 10:48:00 +0200

Is there an end to this madness?

We’re in unprecedented times that we’d rather not be in. We long for the day that we can go about our regular business without concern or fear, yet we remain uncertain when or how this will happen. In this special bonus episode, Dr. David Manheim discusses herd immunity, vaccines, and whether there’s a silver bullet for Covid-19.

In Episode #6, together with Dr. David Manheim, Jewanced takes a deep-dive into Israel's and the world's response to Covid-19, as well as embarks on a truly mind-blowing journey into the heart of understanding large-scale catastrophic risks to humanity. We discuss how the pandemic might end and what governments are doing right and wrong, as well as learn about the incredible idea of effective altruism and how to better ‘win’ an argument.

Dr. David Manheim works as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Haifa's Health and Risk Communication Research Center, as well as with many other leading universities and NGOs in the UK and US. His recent work has focused on modeling test and trace programs for the UK, and policy options for COVID-19 in the US and internationally. Long before the pandemic, David was working on understanding and mitigating global catastrophic biological risks including work on bioweapons, natural pandemics, and other disasters with groups at the University of Oxford such as the Future of Humanity Institute and for various nonprofits and NGOs in the United States. He has a Ph.D. in public policy and decision theory at the RAND Corporation and has done work that ranged from informing policy decision making for infectious diseases to modeling risks from earthquakes, hurricanes, and terrorism, and from flood insurance and resiliency building in the wake of catastrophes, to how bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies affect counter-terrorism finance.

Check out our full episode with Dr. Manheim and follow Jewanced TODAY on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, and we'd love it if you leave us a 5-Star review!

https://open.spotify.com/show/6984NiP7H1ULW9lJeVt8Ie?si=QEXRjxIJThybqx3xtSWZiA

For more info about Jewanced, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

#6 - Dr. David Manheim, global catastrophic risk expert on Covid-19 in Israel and around the world

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 06 Aug 2020 18:40:00 +0200

Together with Dr. David Manheim, Jewanced takes a deep-dive into Israel's and the world's response to Covid-19, as well as embarks on a truly mind-blowing journey into the heart of understanding large-scale catastrophic risks to humanity.

We discussed how the pandemic might end and what governments are doing right and wrong. David also introduced us to the incredible idea of effective altruism, as well as how to more effectively conclude arguments.

Dr. David Manheim is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Haifa's Health and Risk Communication Research Center, as well working with universities and NGOs in the UK and US. His recent work has focused on modeling test and trace programs for the UK, and policy options for COVID-19 in the US and internationally.

Links

David's Linkedin
A selection of David's published scholarly articles
Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute
The RAND Corporation
Effective Altruism
"The Precipice: Existential Risk and the Future of Humanity" by Tony Ord
"Automation and Utopia: Human Flourishing in a World Without Work" by John Danaher

#5 - Rachel Gur, Director of Public Policy at Lobby 99, Israel’s first non-profit public lobbying firm, on public participation in Israeli democracy

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 30 Jul 2020 18:50:00 +0200

Do you know what public lobbying is? On this episode of Jewanced, we sat down with the ever-fascinating and impressive Rachel Gur, Director of Public Policy at Lobby 99 - Israel, and probably the world's very first non-profit public lobbying firm. Lobby 99 is a crowd-funded project that takes on corporate interest lobbying firms in the name of the average citizen.

Together, we learned about political lobbying and how frankly, this idea could be revolutionary for transforming democracies and how citizens participate in and influence society, as well as some of the many more fascinating elements of how Israel’s democracy works and of the challenges it faces as we enter one of the most difficult periods in recent history.

Links

Lobby 99 website (English)
Lobby 99 website (Hebrew)

#4 - Rabbi Chaya Rowen Baker, leader of Jerusalem’s Masorti Kehillat Ramot Zion on religious tensions & pluralism in Israel

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 13:45:00 +0200

In this episode of Jewanced, Dan and Benny speak with Rabbi Chaya Rowen Baker of Kehillat Ramot Zion, a Masorti (Conservative) congregation in Jerusalem's diverse French Hill neighborhood. Together, they discuss an interesting array of topics ranging from the unique identity and state of Conservative Judaism in Israel, the nuanced relations between Orthodox and pluralistic streams in the Jewish State, some of the challenges facing female rabbis, reflections on the upcoming Tisha B'Av observance, as well as how Rabbi Baker's congregation is gearing up for the High Holidays during the Coronavirus pandemic.

Links:

Congregation Ramot Zion's webpage & Facebook page
The Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel's webpage
YouTube clip produced by 'Kan' (Israel's public broadcaster) featuring Rabbi Baker about Jerusalem's diverse French Hill neighborhood
YouTube clip of Ramot Zion's 'drive-by' style blessing of recent school grads.
Talmudic fable cited by Rabbi Baker during the podcast
Photos of Congregation Ramot Zion

#3 - Mark Lavie - veteran Middle East journalist shares fascinating stories from his illustrious career in the region

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Sat, 18 Jul 2020 09:20:00 +0200

Mark Lavie is a veteran journalist covering Israel and the Middle East, and the author of Why Are We Still Afraid and Broken Spring. In this episode of the podcast, Mark shares a fascinating variety of stories, opinions, and expert analysis, derived from his decades of eyewitness experience in the region. Together with Mark, we take a deep dive into Israel's complex socioeconomic reality, systemic problems in the press, the obsession of the media to play "gotcha" with public personalities and politicians alike, the transition of the media from objective reporter to active participant in world events, US press coverage of American Jewish attitudes towards Israel, the merits of Hasbara (Israeli public diplomacy), US military aid to Israel, Iran, his time living in Cairo covering the Arab Spring and much more!

For further info on Mark Lavie and some of the topics covered in this episode, check out the following links:

Mark's Website
Mark's Facebook page
Mark's Twitter
Mark's YouTube channel
Why Are We Still Afraid on Amazon
Broken Spring on Amazon
Photo of the map drawn by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Prime Minister Olmert's offer to the Palestinians during the 2008 Israeli-Palestinian peace talks

#2 - MaNishtana - Rabbi Shais Rishon - Tribe Herald co-founder on Black Jews, US racial tensions, and anti-Israel strains within BLM

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 16:30:00 +0200

This episode of the podcast, we hosted the always fascinating and original MaNishtana -Rabbi Shais Rishon. We discussed the experience of being an African-American Orthodox Jew, the hidden and complex history of black Jews in America, racial tensions, protests, riots, statues, cancel culture (light stuff), and the intersection of all of this with Judaism - specifically some of the anti-Israel strains within the BLM movement.

It was not an easy conversation (although Shais is always a pleasure to talk to) - but hey, those conversations we grow from usually aren't the easy ones.

Check out Rabbi Shais Rishon's webpage at manishtana.net

#1 - Uri Pilichowski - superstar Jewish educator and WB settler talks annexation, Israel-Palestine conflict, US politics, & Torah.

Benny Scholder & Dan Feferman — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 14:00:00 +0200

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski (@rationalsettler) talks with Jewanced about Israel's possible annexation/extension of sovereignty of the West Bank, a far-reaching vision for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, US-Israel relations and shares some awesome White House stories (from his time as a lobbyist), tells us about the time he (almost) spoke to Michael Jordan, and imparts us with some inspirational words of Torah.

Rabbi Uri Pilichowski is an educator. As a teacher, author and speaker, he teaches Torah and politics, where he specifically emphasizes rational thought and conceptual analysis.

Links:

Uri's blog posts at the Times of Israel

Peace to Prosperity - The Trump administration's vision to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Annexation of The West Bank: Where Does It Lead? Insights from a conference held at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Includes many maps of the West Bank.

Check out these photos we took of Uri's home (the Pilichowski Palace), the settlement of Mitzpe Yericho and its surroundings.