The Promised Podcast

Latest Episodes:

The 'Jewesses with Guns' Edition Nov 12, 2014

Show notes

Are we terrorized yet?

News analysts and professors are holding forth about whether or not the third intifada has started, and the question of whether or not the killing we’re seeing now will pass soon. So the question remains, how do the recent stabbings and rammings impact folks like us?

Can the Bible reduce poverty?

MK Ruth Calderon is working to implement the biblical injunction to forgive debts every seven years. She says, “It is an idea that will change the lives of thousands of kids who live beneath the poverty line. An idea that contains within it traditions that pertained in the days of the Talmud, through which people helped their fellows.”

Why do guys get an icky charge from Jewesses with guns?

There is something majorly messed up about how men think about Jewish women and, especially, Jewish women with guns. This is proved all too true today with a Girls-of-the IDF pinup calendar, and the icky charge guys get from Jewesses with Guns.

Playlist:

All songs by Mika Karni, in honor of her forthcoming album (and the single she just released)

Nashakti Bahurah

Kol Dodi

Mi Zot

Shvil

The "What's Red and Blue got to do with Blue and White?" Edition Nov 05, 2014

Show notes

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

Is Bibi rooting (too openly) for his American home team?Prime Minister Netanyahu’s unmasked hope that Republicans capture the US Senate, and whether we won’t pay a price for his partisan enthusiasm.

How many generals does it take to reinitiate a peace process? Maybe 106106 Generals call on Prime Minister Netanyahu to initiate a regional peace process.

Jewish conversion rules are a'changingAre the new rules about how conversions work in Israel a sign that the Rabbis’ grip is loosening?

The 'Whither Jerusalem?' Edition Oct 29, 2014

Show notes

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

Whither Jerusalem?

Recent acts of terrible violence in Jerusalem have had pundits debating whether the Third Intifada has begun. We discuss political analyst Gershom Gorenberg’s suggestion that a divided city can be turned into a bridge between two divided peoples.

The President and the precedent

We discuss President Rivlin's speech at the annual Kafr Qasem memorial service. What we are to make of a President whom we all know as an advocate of a one-state solution, who is also emerging as the country’s strongest voice for Palestinian rights?

The astounding wisdom of the Jewish people

The Yavne City Council just voted unanimously to begin work on a museum to be called 'The Hall of the Wisdom of the Jewish People,' in which 120 Jewish geniuses are to be memorialized. Is it time to drop the 'Jews are so smart' trope?

Playlist:

All songs by Mira Awad:

Singing My Song

Cloud

All I Want

We Can Work It Out (With Achinoam Nini)

A tale of two lefties Oct 21, 2014

Show notes

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

Palestinian statehood and the tale of two lefties

With the dust settling on the British Parliament's Palestinian vote, we consider the two leftist models for dealing with the growing international embrace of Palestinian Statehood - one for it, the other against - embodied by MKs Zahava Gal-On and Hilik Bar.

The Berlin brouhaha continues to baffle

The Olim leBerlin Facebook group caused a tidal wave of anger: Anger that groceries are so expensive in Israel, and anger at the people willing to emigrate (especially to the site of such painful Jewish memories) just for cheaper 'Milky.' What's it all about?

The Jewish watchdog: Saving Soviet Jews

We discuss the ethos behind the recently-divulged 1990 Israeli plan to invade the USSR to save Russian Jews: What does it say about the Israeli psyche? Is this sense of responsibility towards Jews around the world, wherever they may be, still alive today?

Playlist:

All songs by the post-punk genius of Morah Machlifah:

Lo Tsarich

Tagid Li

Shir Al HaTkufa

Beton

The 'calamari is kosher, right?' edition Oct 15, 2014

Show notes

llison, Don, and Noah discuss three topics of incomparable importance, and end with an anecdote each about something in Israel that made them smile this week.

The United States of Israel?

Could 'Cantonization' save Israel? We discuss a proposal to slice and dice Israel into small ethnically and ideologically defined localities that would each have laws that better fit their populations. Would such a system benefit Israel's minorities?

The great media parallax

The coverage of Operation Protective Edge this summer looked very different on Israeli TV screens compared to American or European ones. Why is this, and should something be done to change Israeli media coverage of regional events?

Calamari is kosher, right?

Why did PM Netanyahu feel compelled to make this dubious statement to a journalist recently: "I do not eat unkosher foods"? Is the legitimacy of being an out-and-out secular politician diminishing? Is this a sign that secular Judaism is on the retreat?

Playlist:

All songs by the anarchic genius of 'Old Man River' (whom you can call Ohad Rein):

Amazing Grace

You’re On My Mind

Shanti Aaye

The 'doctors, lawyers, and rabbis' edition Oct 07, 2014

Show notes

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

A spoonful of politics helps the medicine go down?

Lancet editor Richard Horton visited Israel this week to apologize for his publication's controversial 'An Open Letter for the People of Gaza.' As authoritative social figures, should doctors express their political views publicly, while wearing their white coats?

How to judge the judges

The Israel Bar Association, ignoring fierce opposition from representatives of the bench, recently decided to reinstitute the annual rating of judges by lawyers. Does this serve to remind judges that they're human, or is it populism at its most problematic?

Seeing black at 30,000 feet

We discuss the now-infamous El Al flight that took off 20 minutes late because an ultra-Orthodox man was negotiating not to have to sit next to a woman, which led to a change.org petition and global feminist uproar. Is this the classic paradox of liberalism?

Playlist:

All songs by Shmemel, because we can:

Berlin

Shir Ahava Hevratit

Shmemel ve-Ha-Omanim Ha-Koasim – Al Tig’u Lanu Ba-Arak

Fear and loathing at the UN Sep 30, 2014

Show notes

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

A tale of two speeches: Fear and loathing at the UN

In the last few days, PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu have given speeches to the United Nations General Assembly. Which speech was more depressing, and should we even care about what was said?

How Supreme a Court?

Over the past two weeks, the Israeli Supreme Court has angered many with its rulings on 'admission committees' and the Holot detention facility for illegal immigrants. Does the Supreme Court overreach or should judicial activism be encouraged?

They cry of the silenced

We discuss journalist Mairav Zonszein's New York Times op-ed, 'How Israel Silences Dissent': Have dissenters in Israel really been silenced in any meaningful way? Or have they just failed to work out what they should be saying and how they should be saying it?

Playlist:

All songs by Hadara Levine Areddy (in honor of her cool show this week at Levontin 7):

Wedding Song

Not Another Sad Song

Anything More (with Duvid Swirsky)

Mishehu Pa'am Ahav Oti

The death and life of the Left Sep 24, 2014

Show notes

Who really killed the Israeli Left?

Where exactly is the Israeli Left failing? And if it is, indeed, dead, was it killed by an ill-advised infatuation with 'abroad,' which distracted it from winning hearts and minds at home?

Can the army smash class barriers in Israel?

Is the Israeli Army a great equalizer and civilian high-tech incubator? Or are today’s soldiers, who will be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, just yesterday’s privileged rich, white boys? And what of those who don't participate in the army?

The Promised Podcast's 'year that was'

PM Netanyahu's Rosh Hashanah speech to the nation listed Israel's accomplishments over the last year - we didn't know we'd had it so good! In reality, what, if anything, has changed over the past year? And what changes would we like to see next year?

Playlist:

All songs by Tamar Aphek, in honor of the European tour she’s just announced:

We Deserve ItWho Cares/Summer ComesThe Second I Am HoneIt’s For Us

You say goodbye, and I say hello Sep 18, 2014

Show notes

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

Were the Unit 8200 'refuseniks' right to break ranks?

Unit 8200's 'refusenik' letter exposed some Israeli intelligence practices some are finding very hard to swallow. Were the soldiers right to publicly expose these practices? Why are important leaders of the moderate left so fiercely opposed to the letter?

"You say goodbye...": Reasons to get the hell out of dodge

TLV1's very own Rogel Alpher caused a stir in his recent Haaretz piece, in which he announced his reasons for wanting to emigrate from Israel. How will this affect other leftists? In Rogel's words, is Israel worth the price it's exacting from us?

"…And I say hello": Reasons to make Aliyah

The government's recent promotional video aimed at getting young Jews to come and study in Israel has received mixed reviews. Should the government be marketing Israel in a political vacuum, as a bitching lifestyle choice, in order to seek American immigrants?

Playlist:

All songs by Shirly Kones, in honor of her show this week at Tel Aviv's Levontin 7:

SiraBeKarov BaCfarShniot ArukotYasha

Acts of conscience, acts of love Sep 11, 2014

Show notes

Host Noah Efron conducts a very special interview with a conscientious objector, and we pull together our favorite 'Vatacountry' segments.

Acts of conscience: Summer in the slammer

Noah interviews IDF reservist Gilad Halpern, who spent the summer in a military jail for conscientiously objecting to his call-up during Operation Protective Edge. How does conscientious objection in Israel map onto the political landscape?

Acts of love: 'Vatacountry' best bits

A personal reflection by podcast listener Andrew Wirth on art, freedom of expression, and the army in Israel; plus some of our favorite 'Vatacountry' segments about life in this infuriating country that, at the end of the day, we cannot help but love.

Playlist:

All songs by The Victor Jackson Show:

Mechva LeNimrod Reshef

HaDor HaBa

Safa Shnia LeBchira

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