The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The "Déjà Vu All Over Again?" Edition Dec 12, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Looking to support the podcast and hear the extra segment?

--Déjà Vu All Over Again?--

What are Israel's third-time-this-year Knesset elections about, anyway? Did we learn anything from our failed first two elections?

--Rashamon of Rashomons--

Is the love-him-or-hate-him acrimony over Prime Minister Netanyahu really a struggle between "First Israel" (well-heeled, secular Ashkenazim) and "Second Israel" (pretty much everyone else)?

--Fearless--

Do native born Israelis just not "get" anti-semitism?

--Donald Trump's Very Strange Jewish Week--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss Donald Trump's very strange Jewish week, during which he gave a speech to a Jewish group saying that, caring about money as Jews do, they could never vote for a candidate who will raise their taxes, and during which he issued a decree seeking to redefine Judaism as a protected class, which led many Jews to argue, with confused consternation, that only Jews get to define Jews, buster!

All this and the big band funk of Rosh Groove!

--Music--

Rosh Groove

Ham (חם)
Ani Zokher (אני זוכר)
Yom Yafeh (יום יפה)
Zeh ha-Rega (זה הרגע)

The "Teacher, Is the Prime Minister a Crook?" Edition Dec 05, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Mano a Mano?--

Is the solution to Israel's electoral crisis, a winner-take-all, Mano-a-Mano personal run-off between PM Netanyahu and Lt. General Gantz?

--Teacher, Is the Prime Minister a Crook?--

A kindergarten teacher posts a viral video of her taking down a classroom photo of PM Netanyahu because in her classroom, men charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust are not honored. How are teachers and principals supposed to deal with the sad spectacle of a you-love-him-or-hate-him Prime Minister under multiple indictments?

--Next Station-Stop Is…--

What's in a name (of a train stop)?

--1 Ultra-Orthodox Man + 2 Ultra-Orthodox Men = 6 Ultra Orthodox Men?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss revelations that the IDF inflated, by a factor of two or more, the figures it reported on the number of ultra-Orthodox men who have served in the army for the past seven years. Mistake? Scandal? What should we make of it?

All this and the new wave blues of Zozo Ginzburg!

--Music--

Zozo (Zohar) Ginzburg, AKA Trust a Lady, in eager anticipation of her upcoming show at Levontin 7, next Tuesday, December 10th at 22:30:

Single
Clean
B.B. Cream
Blue Mountains

The "Quid Pro Squat" Edition Nov 28, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman, and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Et Tu, Gideon?--

"The Likud is a family, and you do not betray your family." So tweets the party spokesperson to a member who dared to say that Prime Minister Netanyahu should resign. Loyalty is a personal virtue; but is it also a political virtue?

--Quid Pro Squat?--

Alan Dershowitz and other legal scholars say the Israeli Attorney General is wrong to criminalize the complicated relationships between politicians and journalists, and should not indict Prime Minister Netanyahu for trying to charm and cajole journalists into giving him better coverage (and also, to make-it-worth-their-while). Might they have a point?

--Gobble Gobble--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about what we're thankful for (as we record on American Thanksgiving, with our turkeys stuffed and waiting to go into our ovens).

All this and the music of Tohar Shefi!

--Music--

Tohar Shefi

Tzhokim (צחוקים), with Yasmin Moallem, Oscar and Yuval Ma'ayan
Sira shel bahurim tovim (סירה של בחורים טובים)
Hipasti ba-Kokhavim (חיפשתי בכוכבים)

The "Going, Going, Gantz!" Edition Nov 21, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and Wunderkind writer, critic & activist Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

--Going, Going, Gantz!--

Blue-and-White head Benny Gantz failed to form the "secular, Liberal, national-unity government" he sought. Did we dodge a bullet?

--Politics by Other Means--

We hate to even ask, but: Is it possible that Israel's recent skirmish with the rocket-firing Islamic Jihad in Gaza was timed for PM Netanyahu's political purposes?

--Fear and Firer--

Controversy ignites over a benefit concert for an ultra-Orthodox-run NGO that helps people navigate Israel's health care system. What should we make of it?

--Are Settlements More a Moral Problem Rather Than a Legal One?--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we will discuss an essay in the Forward by Peter Beinart headlined, "Settlements Is Not That They Are Illegal. It's That They Are Immoral." This apropos the sound-and-fury-and-signifying-nothing statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that, following Ronald Reagan, the Trump administration does not hold that civilian settlements in the occupied territories contravene international law.

--Music--

Jasmin Moallem

Leftovers
Yoter Mi-Dai
Call Me
Noetzet Mabat, with Ari Brinker

The "We 3 at Z3" Edition Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

Recording live at the spectacular Z3 Conference in Palo Alto (home of Theranos Technologies), Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron explore the theme of the conference, One People, Two Centers, Three Opinions.

--One People?--

Some of our smartest cogitators – Rabbis, scholars, writers, organizers and activists – draft a "Declaration of Our Common Destiny": a sort of constitution of the Jewish People, by the Jewish People, and for the Jewish People. Is this a good thing?

--Two Centers?--

For long generations, American Jews have tried to leave their mark on the Jews of Israel, and the Jews of Israel have tried to leave their mark on American Jewry. What's all that effort add up to? Have we, in fact, influenced one another much at all and, if so, how?

--Three Opinions?--

The divide between Jewish Zionists and Jewish anti-Zionists pits children against their folks, students against their teachers. What should we make of it?

--Music--

16 Poly

Hollywood (Featuring Rony Alter)
Tangerine Girl (Featuring Rony Alter)
For Killing My Nightmares (Featuring Rony Alter)
Banana Nights

The "Gantz Is the New Rabin?" Edition Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

Z3 Conference Tickets to Live TPP Show (use promo code TLV1xZ3)

--Gantz is the New Rabin?--

Is Benny Gantz the new Yitzhak Rabin?

--Workers of the World, Privatize!--

A union head pushing to privatize the government-owned company he works for? Should labor be clamoring for their shops to be bought by capitalists who grease the sprockets of their profit-making machines with the blood of the workers?

--The Letter--

A letter by a kid murdered in Auschwitz goes up for auction in Israel, and anguish ensues. Who, if anyone, has the right to own (and sell) Holocaustiana?

--l'Affaire Kedar--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss l'Affaire Kedar, after Bar Ilan professor Mordechai Kedar fulminated at a demonstration in support of PM Netanyahu that Yitzhak Rabin was not assassinated by the guy we think assassinated him, Yigal Amir, but was instead assassinated by a security thug working for the Elders of Israeli Leftism. Should Kedar be sanctioned by his university?

--Music--

Ofek Adanek

Hey Gyal, featuring Shanty
Osim ta-Balagan
Tzumi
Lo Kmo Klum, featuring Zalalo G.

The "There's No Government Like No Government" Edition Oct 31, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Z3 Conference Tickets to Live TPP Show (use promo code TLV1xZ3)

--There's No Government Like No Government--

In Israel, could it be that not having a government is better than having one?

--The Opposite of What We Think?--

A leftist, civil rights activist says that no Prime Minister in Israel's history has ever done as much as Benjamin Netanyahu has to improve the practical circumstances of Palestinian Israelis

--The Awful Awesomeness of Tel Aviv--

Does Tel Aviv suck the oxygen away from other Israeli cities that could be great?

--You Get a Free College Degree, and You Get a Free College Degree--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss a modest proposal by Liel Leibovitz in Tablet magazine, that Jewish philanthropists, as the next Birthright program, should cover the tab of American Jewish kids who want to go to college in Israel. But only, we assume, if they'll share their drugs with our kids.

--Music--

Amit Sagie

T'ni li od (תני לי עוד), featuring Axum, Ayallew and Likkle Nate)
Cheap Talk, with EZ and Sarai Givaty
You My Life, featuring Ofek Adanek
Rum & Hennessey, featuring Shasha

The "It's All About the Benjamins" Edition Oct 24, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Z3 Conference Tickets to Live TPP Show (use promo code TLV1xZ3)

--All About the Benjamins--

Benny Gantz promised voters he'd never serve with Benjamin Netanyahu, if the Prime Minister is indicted. To keep from having to go to the polls again, should Gantz break his promise?

--Jewmanities--

What are humanities for, in a Jewish state?

--Gene Blues--

Rabbis are sending folks to do DNA tests to see if they're Jewish. Really? I mean, really?

--Fighting Anti-Semitism With a Little Jewish Joy--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss an essay in The Forward by uber-historian Deborah Lipstadt called, "The Best Way to Fight Anti-Semitism? Jewish Joy." Lipstadt worries that fear of violent persecution has captured the American Jewish soul, but are things really as bad as all that?

All this and the music of Mika Hary, just before the release of her first album.

--Music--

Mika Hary, who you can expect to hear a lot of soon

Ahava Zeh ha-Helek ha-Kal
Dami Lach
Sunny Came Home
When Morning Comes

The "Nature of Politics" Edition Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

Writer and activist Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida, roving journalist Naomi Zeveloff and Noah Efron discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Z3 Conference Tickets to Live TPP Show (use promo code TLV1xZ3)

--Earth--

Haaretz calls on Israelis to boycott streams, forests, and ancient ruins on the West Bank. But should places of religious and historical meaning for Jews be off-limits?

--Water--

An ambitious and controversial plan would build massive desalination plants in Israel and the West Bank, and gigantic solar arrays in Jordan, and swap water for electricity, all improve our lots and promote peace. But opponents say the project wreaks of "normalization."

--Between Heaven and Earth--

If we could invite anyone to our Sukkah, who would we have?

--Israel's Political Mythology--

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we discuss an essay in First Things by Ari Lamm (called Israel's Political Mythology) suggesting that Israeli politics only really makes sense in light of Jewish texts and traditions. We respectfully disagree.

--Music--

Poems of Zelda, set to music (All songs of the spectacular new album: אי המערבולת: שרות זלדה)

Shenai Yesodot (שני יסודות), Ester Rada
Lo Arahef ba-Hallal (לא ארחף בחלל), Ruhama Ben Yosef
Tzel ha-Har ha-Lavan (צל ההר הלבן), Mika Hary
Be-Nahal Achzav (בנחל אכזב), Yehudit Ravitz & Tamar Eisenman

The "Language of a Common Dream" Edition Oct 10, 2019

Show notes

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and activist, intellectual and educator Jeremy Benstein, author of the new book, Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World, discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Looking for the extra segment?

--Triaphobia--

Will a third Knesset election be the disaster everyone says it will be, or should we just chill out and repeat to ourselves, "Third time's a charm!", "Third time's a charm!," "Third time's a charm!"?

--The Language of a Common Dream--

The Hebrew language once brought Jews around the world together. Is it now tearing them apart?

--The "Oy" in "Joyocaust"--

A "Joy-o-caust"?!? What's Transparent telling us about how to be Jewish?

--Political Preach--

For our most generous Patreon patrons, in our extra-special, special extra segment, following a little brouhaha in the papers and on social media about whether Rabbis ought to preach politics on Yom Kippur, we'll talk about the sermons that we've heard, this year and in the past, that moved us, and why.

All this and the wonderful Yuval Mendelson (sometimes with The Lobsters, sometimes not so much).

--Music--

Chipushit Kechula (חיפושית כחולה), with the Lobsters
Sippur Pashut (סיפור פשוט)
Retzah Rabin (רצח רבין)
Krav Me'assef (קרב מאסף), with Or Edry

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