The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The "Federation Delegation Visitation Conversation" Edition Feb 08, 2018

Show notes

Before a live audience including a delegation from UJA-Federation of New York, the largest local philanthropy in the history of the world, Noah Efron, Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Don Futterman discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Looking for extra segments and other patron-only perks? They're available to our patrons on Patreon.

Israel's Urban Poorgeoisie Amia Leiblich, professor emerita at the Hebrew University, hasturned her gaze and attention to a group she calls "The New Poor." "The new poverty," she writes writes: "is poverty that is unexpected, given the place that those who suffer from it started. The new poor are people who stood on their own two feet, or who were supposed to stand on their own two feet economically, but for some reason the ground withdrew from beneath them." Who are these folks? Do they represent a social problem and challenge that needs to be addressed on its own terms?

The Promised Podcast Guide to Purse-String Power American Jews continue to be astonishingly generous in their contributions to Israel, but some voices are calling for them to use their cash as leverage to strong-arm some changes in Israeli attitudes. What ought donors want to change in Israeli society? What is the best way to help bring about this change? Is it a good idea to use philanthropy as a cudgel?

Still and All, Israel Around Rosh ha-Shannah, Rogel Alpher published a column in Haaretz called "Why I am Leaving the Country" in which he explained that "Israel is not worth the price it extracts from us, that is the truth." A few years ago, a Facebook page called "Olim Le-Berlin" -- we are moving (or "ascending") to Berlin -- gained thousands of followers. The hosts of the podcast have their criticisms of Israel, and their worries about the future of the country and, therefore, their own futures. Yet they are here. How do we harmonize between our criticisms of Israel, and our worries, and the fact that we made this place our home by choice and, effectively, we each day make this choice anew?

Music: Vocatikva Ensemble – Social Music!

The "Democrats, Diplomats & Habitats" Edition Feb 01, 2018

Show notes

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

Looking for extra segments and other patron-only perks? They're available to our patrons on Patreon.

Mind the Gap! In America in the age of Trump and Netanyahu, Israel has seemingly become a partisan issue. According to a new poll of Americans, 74 percent of Republicans sympathize more with Israel than with the Palestinians, while 43 percent of Democrats do. There are various theories about why there is such a partisan gap. Is this partisanization of Israel in America a danger to us and if so why and, most crucial of all, what the hell ought to be done about it?

Putting the "Low" in Diplomat Numerous mutually conflicting explanations have been offered for why Israel's Diplomatic Corps is disintegrating. Why it has become so difficult to find young people making a career of diplomacy. More important, does the decline of the diplomatic corps really matter in the age of Twitter diplomacy and rapid and direct communications between leaders?

Venting on Rent, Dissent and Discontent When the country's leading expert on and advocate of social housing and, especially, affordable rent policy attacks the government's first serious attempt in more than a generation to legislate an affordable rent policy, you know that on the way to doing something right, someone went desperately wrong. What should be done with the present bill under consideration? What should be done more generally about affordable rent in Israel? What vision of the neighborhoods and cities we want ought to guide us in setting housing policy?

Music: Soul J. (Alon Bloom):

Lo ha-Ben Shel Rothschild

Journey Called Life

Kach et zeh be-Eezy

Al Tivku

The "Abbas Unbound" Edition Jan 25, 2018

Show notes

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

Looking for extra segments and other patron-only perks? They're available to our patrons on Patreon.

In furorem, veritas?, or Abbas Unbound Palestinian Authority President let loose twice last week in long angry speeches, claiming that Israel is the result of Western colonialist machinations and is "unconnected to Jews." What do we learn, if anything, from these remarks? What impact ought they have on how we go forward to see peaceful and secure relations between Israelis and Palestinians?

Speaking frankly As Israel announces a plan to deport most of the (estimated) 42,000 refugees (mostly) from Eritrea, an NGO decides to found the "Anne Frank Home Sanctuary Movement," aiming to persuade Israelis to open their homes to refugees hiding from police. When (if ever) is it right to use Anne Frank (and all she stands for) as a moral exemplar and object lesson in contemporary political debates.

Amazon and the Jewish Question Amid news that retail leviathan Amazon.com may build a "logistics center" in Israel, there were those who responded with fear and worry. Does Amazon's incipient presence in Israel signal the sad destruction of our local economy or the happy enthronement of low, low prices?

Music: Gil Ron Shama (in honor of his new record, Café Jalal):

Dream

Leyla (feat. Mosh Ben Ari)

Asmar (feat. Lubna Salama)

Prophet (feat. Hayra Arby & Amir Shahsar)

The "Selfie in Auschwitz?" Edition Jan 18, 2018

Show notes

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

Looking for extra segments, in-depth prep material, and other patron-only perks? Support the show on Patreon and gain access to these and more.

In Praise of Progressive Populism Dov Khenin, the sole Jewish lawmaker representing the Joint List, delivers remarks criticizing the Israeli Left's purism and calling for a left-wing populism like the movements that formed around Bernie Sanders in the United States and Jeremy Corbyn in the United Kingdom. Are there signs of an Israeli progressive populism developing? Is this the path the Israeli Left should take right now?

"Selfie in Auschwitz" The latest video to sweep viral through Israel is by a duet who call themselves Reggie & Sig, and is called "The Trip to Poland." Sample lyrics: To take a selfie in Auschwitz is disrespectful/ it's disrespectful/ it's disrespectful/ Selfie in Auschwitz!" What are its creators trying to say?

Decaffeinated to Death? Some of Tel Aviv's most storied coffeehouses are shuttering their doors. Does the demise of once beloved, one-time coffeehouse meeting places of intellectuals and artists signal the end of the intellectual culture and cultural intellect that once thrived in these caffeinated colossuses of creativity? demise of once beloved, one-time coffeehouse meeting places of intellectuals and artists, signals the end of the intellectual culture and cultural intellect that once thrived in these caffeinated colossuses of creativity?

Music: Talisman, in honor of being selected as the breakout act of the year by Galgalatz:

Sim ha-Kol ba-Tzad (with EZ)

Kmo She'ani

Le'an she'ha-ruach tikach (with DJ Only and Omri Sabach)

Barbarim

The "Pascal's Meteorology" Edition Jan 11, 2018

Show notes

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

Looking for extra segments, in-depth prep material, and other patron-only perks? Support the show on Patreon and gain access to these and more.

UNRWA ShmUNRWA Should the very job description of the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinians be revisited and changed?

Pascal's Meteorology Last week the Israeli minister of agriculture organized a huge vigil at the Western Wall to pray for rain. Was there something untoward and inappropriate about a minister initiating and taking part in a public prayer?

Rachael Ray's Rapine Recipes Celebrity chef Rachael Ray sparked controversy with a picture of an "Israeli nite" feast. Is there something to the claims that the popularity of Israeli cuisine is, among other things, an erasure of Palestinian cuisine? If there is anything to these claims, how ought we feel about them and react to them?

Music: Efrat Ben Zur, in honor of her brand new single, "Al Derekh Ha-Teva", lyrics by Dahlia Rabikovitch

Al Derekh ha-Teva

Storm (Lyrics by Emily Dickinson)

Mifletzet

Be-Mo Yadai

The "Likud's Settlement-Schizoid New Year's Resolutions" Edition Jan 04, 2018

Show notes

Noah Efron, Ha'aretz journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer, and Times of Israel's Ops & Blogs Editor Miriam Herschlag discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

Looking for extra segments, in-depth prep material, and other patron-only perks? Support the show on Patreon and gain access to these and more.

Likud's Settlement-Schizoid New Year's Resolutions

On the last day of 2017, the Israeli prime minister's party made two precedented statements about the future of the Palestinian territories. How do we make sense of the two different voices we heard from Likud concerning settlements on December 31, 2017?

Linguaphobia

Some Israelis recently went into a tizzy when white-on-black billboards in Arabic filled their landscape. What accounts for many Jewish Israelis' fear of one of the country's two official languages?

Now That's Israeli!

A recent poll asked Israelis to pick the "most Israeli" thing in a number of categories, including the most Israeli PM, what the most Israeli character flaw is, and much more. What to make of the answers, and how do we answer the question of what is "most Israeli"?

Music by Nadav Hollander, from his new, debut record, Matat va'Ogen:

Rega Levad Matat Offanaim Biladai

"The 'Herem' of Public Opinion" Edition Dec 28, 2017

Show notes

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

Looking for extra segments, in-depth prep material, and other patron-only perks? Support the show on Patreon and gain access to these and more.

New Right? After right-wing voices join (albeit hesitantly) protests against the putative corruptions of the Netanyahu government, we ask whether this marks an important (and perhaps portentous) change. Does it mark an important change in the attitudes of (at least a portion of) the right?

Only Sixteen Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi is only lately the most recognizable face in a venerable activist family. Most recently, she appeared in another video that drew international attention. We try to puzzle out what sense to make of the latest incident. What, if anything, do we learn from it?

The "Herem" of Public Opinion: On Excommunication and Rehabilitation After writer and pundit Ari Shavit cancels a lecture over past sexual harassment, we ask: Should we be crowdsourcing judgment, or meting out tribal justice, when there seems to be no other way to get justice at all? If so, then how do we know when the punishment ought to end?

Music by Sheila Ferber, in honor of her performance today at Beit ha-Yotzer, Hangar 22 in Tel Aviv's port: "Yehiye Beseder" "Koresh 11" "Ha-Yalkut ha-Adom" "Bishvilkha"

The "Webbutz?" Edition Dec 21, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, and Ha'aretz journalist Allison Kaplan Sommer 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 segments and topic prep material? Support the show by becoming a patron. Learn more on Patreon.

Capital Crimes?

Israeli and global pharmaceutical giant Teva – once the most successful company to come from the soil of the holy land – has announced it will close factories in Israel and fire 1,700 workers. Should the factories be nationalized?

More Thomas Hobbes, Less Dale Carnegie?

Do Israel's opposition politicians to be less civil towards Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government?

Webbutz?

Is there something particularly Israeli behind the ideology of Israeli entrepreneur Adam Neuman's WeWork communal work spaces?

Music by Noam Rotem, off his new tenth anniversary rerelease of his beautiful record, Ezra Ba-Derekh: Lalekhet k'mo Arieh Oleh ve-Yored Ezra ba-Derekh K'mo Ruah

The "Who Killed Hanukkah?" Edition Dec 14, 2017

Show notes

Looking for the extra segments and topic prep material? Support the show by becoming a patron. Learn more on Patreon.

See No Evil? Evil Not to See?

After an Israeli musician covered his eyes with duct tape rather than see women dancing, offending many, we ask: Should we really be mad at him? If so, why precisely?

The Perplexing Problem of Patriotism

Why does Israel's Left consistently fail to persuade fellow citizens that they are, indeed, just as patriotic as other Israelis?

Who Killed Hanukkah?

What explains the downgrading of Hanukkah from one of the most important Zionist holidays -- secular and political in nature -- to one of the least important Israeli holidays?

Music by Yonatan Raz'el, a musicians' musician who unleashed an uproar this week when, for religious reasons, he taped over his eyes at a concert rather than watching women dance in front of the stage:

Hallelujah Nafshenu Hiktah Poteah Lev Ivdu et ha-Shem be-Simha

The "If I Don't Recogize You, O Jerusalem - Live from Boston" Edition Dec 08, 2017

Show notes

Noah Efron, Don Futterman, Ha'aretz International Director Charlotte Hallé, and and ARZA President Josh Weinberg are live in Boston to discuss three topics of incomparable importance.

Looking for the patron-supported extra segments? Find them on Patreon.

It Happens in the Best of Families

What can be done to allow American Jews to identify with a state whose leaders break deals with them, accuse them of living soft and convenient lives, and disparage them in a variety of ways?

If I Don't Recognize You, O Jerusalem

What fears and hopes are sparked by Trump's decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital city?

What Do and Don't Demonstrations Do?

What do demonstrations do? What have demonstrations done? Must we admit that they may have become an empty ritual?

All this live at the fabulous Union for Reform Judaism Biennial, through the largesse of the Association of Reform Zionists in America and J-Street, plus the brilliant music of young jazz sensation Lior Tzemach.