Episodes
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For so many, the Arab-Israeli World is a mystery. Even in Israel, where we live side by side with Arab-Israelis, it’s a foreign culture to us non-Arabs. We read about it in the news, we see it depicted in movies and television and we hear it talked about endlessly. But we don’t really know what it’s like. Probably the only part of their culture some of us know fairly well is Arab food - Shawarma, Knaffeh, Msabaha, the list goes on and on. It’s a good list too. But other parts of the culture are alien to us.
For example, what is it like to study in an Arab academic institution?
Well, our guest today might just have some insight. Avi Shalev served in Military Intelligence and the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip for 24 years. And then, he had what some might call a crazy idea. He wanted to obtain a teaching certificate in order to teach Arabic in schools and he decided to do it in Al Qasemi College, a Sufi Muslim academic institution in Baqa al-Gharbiyye, an Arab village along the border with the West Bank.
Avi wanted to cross the imaginary lines that divide Jewish and Arab Israelis and try to understand what life is like on the other side. Avi documented his experiences in his new book Al Qasemi Journal, or Yoman Al Qasemi in Hebrew and he joins us today to share his experience. We are thrilled to have Avi Shalev on the podcast today.
"The Al-Qassemi Diaries" on Headstart: https://headstart.co.il/project/64485 -
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On October 1st, 1939 Winston Churchill gave a speech on BBC Radio. When talking about the Soviet Union, Churchill said it is ‘A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma’. Now, 82 odd years later, while that definition is still true to modern time Russia, it’s just as much true about another country the west is struggling to understand. It’s Iran.
Iran is vast. With 1,684,000 square Kilometers, it is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal. It’s the 16th most populous country in the world, with almost 83 million citizens. It has an army of almost a million people. And all of this might is ruled by a bizarre combo of a kinda-democratically-elected president, alongside an almighty supreme leader, the Ayatolla.
Iran is the number 1. sponsor of terrorism on the entire globe, with the intent to ‘spread the shiite-islamic revolution’. They are the main funding source for terror organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. And they also don’t hesitate to kill their own, with tens of thousands of innocent Iranians who died for no reason since the 1977 revolution.
Last week a new president was sworn to office in Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, ‘The Butcher of Tehran’, who massacred thousands of innocent Iranians when he served in various roles in Iran’s judiciary system.
Today, it is safe to say Iran seeks to become a world superpower, and eventually destroy the ‘small devil’ - Israel, and the ‘Big devil’ - the United States.
Will they succeed?
To try and understand what makes Iran tick we figured we’d bring someone who knows it best. Today we’re joined by Dr. Thamar E. Gindin.
Dr. Eilam Gindin is an Iran expert from the Ezri Center in Haifa University. She is also the host of the Podcast ‘Enriched Iranium’ in Hebrew. We’re super happy to have her on the show today! -
In a little over a year, the United States will head to midterm elections. While these elections usually get less coverage and less voter turnout than presidential elections, they play a major role in American Politics. Congress is the main event with all 435 seats up for election. Also up for grabs - about one third of the senate seats and two thirds of the gubernatorial seats.
With the progressive discourse growing more dominant in the states, these upcoming elections are not only relevant for the US but also foretell of US - Israel relations and American foreign policy in general.
One thing’s for sure, Andrew Cuomo will most likely no longer be the governor of New York…
To discuss all this and more, we’re joined today by Yiftach Dayan. Yiftach is a commentator of American politics and author of the Hebrew blog “On Elephants and Donkeys.” And according to his Twitter bio, apparently a world renowned bed sheet folder - we’ll have to see about that. -
US President Joe Biden has just decided to nominate Deborah Lipstadt as the next US Ambassador to Combat and Monitor Antisemitism.
We interviewed Prof. Lipstadt in 2017 when the movie 'Denial' premiered. The movie depicted her incredible life story.
We're re-uploading the episode so that you can listen to it if you haven't yet! -
Join us as we talk about the latest news this month in Israel. The delta variant ushers back mask mandates and other restrictions; NSO sells spyware to Morocco helping in their surveillance of French President Macron; and the Israeli governments mulls new taxes on everything from electricity to plastic.
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*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Since Delta is on the rise and we might all be put back in our cages in a few weeks time, we thought it would be a great idea to revisit our old friend, Covid. But this time, from a different angle.
The poop angle.
Dr. Yair Lewis was part of the team led by Health Ministry’s national lab for environmental virology which is testing sewage across Israel to help pinpoint high risk coronavirus infection areas.
Dr. Lewis is also the VP Medical at Navina, a medical AI startup that makes patient data accessible for care providers. He earned his MD from the Hebrew University, and is board certified in Internal Medicine. Yair also holds a PhD in molecular biology from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.
We are super excited to be joined by Dr. Yair Lewis today to talk about Covid… and poop. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
It seems that in the past couple of years, the ultra-orthodox and Charedi community in Israel are constantly under the spotlight. It began with the Corona outbreak, when they were, quite despicably, tagged by the media as ‘disease spreaders’. Then, a couple of months ago, with the disaster at Mount Miron, in which 45 Charedis lost their lives as they visited the holy grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai. And now, the Charedis are again in the spotlight, as the new minister of Finance, Avigdor Liberman, announced that he will be cutting funds to the community unless, as he says, Orthodox men go out to work, instead of studying Torah all day.
Exactly a month ago, on June 15th, Rabbi Doniel Katz wrote a post on Facebook that went viral. “Having lived exclusively immersed in this culture for the last 21 years, I think I'm sufficiently qualified and well-researched enough to state that the consistent depiction of Chareidim and Torah Judaism by mainstream media, from Netflix to the daily news, is somewhere between delusion, slander and the literal equivalent of racism.“ We’ll read the entire post for you soon.
Rabbi Katz is the founder and director of The Elevation Project, an organization which aims to unlock the Torah & Kabbalah's definitive model of consciousness, meditation, and human psychology. Rabbi Katz is of course by no means an official representative of the ultra-orthodox community. But he is an educator, a lecturer, and a member of the Charedi community, so we thought it’d be interesting to hear his perspective. We’re extremely happy to have Rabbi Katz on the show. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
A few months ago, on episode 237, we had Daniel Wolfson on the show. Daniel told us her incredible story, about how she almost became handicapped but eventually recovered and became a mountain climber. Daniel was going to peruse her biggest dream, and become the first woman ever to climb mount Everest.
Well, a few weeks ago, it happened. Daniel did it, and made history.
Today, we’re super proud to have Daniel again to talk about her incredible, extremely dangerous journey. -
Naor and Eytan talk about everything that happened in Israel this month.
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
*Support Jeremy's Circle! Jeremy’s Circle is the first and only community in Israel to support children and teens growing up in families struggling with cancer or cancer loss.
www.jeremyscircle.org * -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
As we record this episode, we are about 2 weeks after Operation Guardian of the Wall, aka - Israel’s 4th war with Gaza. In the 12 day war, Hamas shot thousands of rockets on innocent civilians, as the IDF retaliated against military targets in Gaza, doing everything it could to harm as few civilians as possible.
While Operation Guardian has come to an end, there is another battle that is ongoing. One that probably won’t end anytime soon. The battle for public opinion.
Israel is fighting an uphill battle when it comes to advocating its case to the world. And some say it’s not doing the best job. As the Palestinians have a sophisticated propaganda wing, reinforced by a chain of influencers and celebrities like the Hadid family, John Oliver and Trevor Noah, we have…. well, not much at all. Even our biggest celebrity, Gal Gadot, refrained from stating her clear unequivocal support for Israel.
So, on to that almost empty stage stepped Rudy Rochman. Rudy is a noted speaker and writer on Jewish rights and an avid advocate for Israel worldwide. He was born in France but made aliya at the age of 3. He studied at Columbia University, where he joined Students Supporting Israel and served as the president. Since then he’s been creating viral content on Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We are super thrilled to have Rudy Rochman on the podcast today! -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
Last February, Gal Uchovsky said something provocative. So far, that’s not really news - since Uchovsky, who’s a very well known publicist, filmmaker and gay-rights-advocate, is also very well known for his eccentricity, his though provoking columns and television appearances.
But this time, things have gotten a bit out of hand.
On a Friday-evening family talk show, Uchovsky said ‘we should declare war on the Charedis. They’re like a cult.”
Almost immediately, Uchovsky received hundreds of phone calls and messages, from random people who called him for very peculiar reasons.
Thankfully, Uchovsky’s life and career has made his skin thick. As a screenwriter, he wrote some of Israel’s most famous movies, including ‘Walk on Water’ and ‘The Bubble’, directed by Eitan Fox, his partner. Those movies redefined the conversation about homosexuality in Israeli cinema. As a columnist, he wrote for many years in Maariv newspaper, and now he’s writing for the popular website ‘mako’. And in 2020, his documentary series, ‘The Gay Revolution’, was aired and was in the center of numerous debates and opinion pieces.
Uchovsky is the producer of Eitan Fox’s new movie, ‘Sublet’ now in theaters!
It’s safe to say then, that today’s guest is an extraordinary and opinionated person, so tune in, because today’s episode is bound to be interesting! -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
It seems like forever ago when rockets hit Israel and we ran to shelters to the soothing sounds of the sirens. Actually, wait, that was a week ago! That’s the pace of things in the Middle East. Still, something big happened here. Tectonic changes. Things will never quite be the same as they were.
Many people blamed the recent round of hostilities on Jerusalem-related events. Be it the Temple Mount, where we made the Palestinians angry, or Sheik Jarah, where… Apparently we made the Palestinians angry. They get angry quite often, I’ve noticed. But I digress.
In the aftermath of Operation Guardian of the Walls, we decided to summon some of our favorite past guests to talk about what went down and the current situation.
Ofir Dayan is a Temple Mount Enthusiast, an Al Aqsa aficionado if you will, and an advocate for Israel in the world. As a student at Columbia University in New York, she served as the head of SSI, Students Supporting Israel. Our second guest tonight, Jonathan Elkoury, was one of our first guests on the podcast back in 2001. Jonathan is an avid advocate for Israel in international media, he’s a political activist and recently, a reality tv star in a new upcoming show.
We are thrilled to be joined by Ofir and Jonathan today to try and understand what the hell happened here, and what the future holds for Israel and Jerusalem. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
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Naor and Eytan talk about the current hostilities in Israel -
(This episode was recorded before the recent events in Jerusalem and Gaza)
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
*We’re also sponsored by the Susie & Kevin Davis Foundation, please check it out at FirstWorkings.org, and consider supporting their efforts.*
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
Our guest today is a great friend of the podcast. We’ve had the honor of hosting him quite a few times, but always in a very different capacity than today. In the past, we’ve introduced Dr. Michael Oren as someone who served as the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's office, as Member of Knesset in the Kulanu Party and as the Israeli ambassador to the United States in the years 2009-2013.
Today, we’re introducing Dr. Michael Oren as a novelist.
Dr. Oren has released several non-fiction books in the past, including Sand Devil, Reunion and a collection of short stories titled The Night Archer and Other Stories. But in just about a week, Michael’s latest novel is going to hit the bookshelves. To All Who Call In Truth tells the story of Sandy Cooper, a guidance counselor and coach in a suburban junior high school, who’s otherwise uneventful life turns upside down after a word of advice to a troubled student embroils him in a forbidden relationship and the exposure of a twisted murder.
Aside from his extensive service to the country, Dr. Michael Oren also taught history at the Ben Gurion University and was a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale and Georgetown. We are thrilled to be joined by Dr. Oren on the podcast today to talk about his new novel and of course a little bit of politics - how could we not? -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
*We're also sponsored by the Susie & Kevin Davis Foundation, please check it out at FirstWorkings.org, and consider supporting their efforts.*
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: Forward.com/partneroffer promo code: 2NJB
CEO of a company that was valued at hundreds of millions of dollars, executive at Nickelodeon and MTV and novelist. These are just a few of the entries on today’s guest’s resume.
Shaul Olmert was CEO of Playbuzz, a company that for quite a while dominated online content. If you were on Facebook in 5 years ago, there’s 0 chance you didn’t come across a Playbuzz article. Today he is CEO and Co-founder of a stealth-mode startup called Piggy. And, recently, he’s written a novel. One that’s caused him to ask himself: Is Shaul Olmert an entrepreneur and businessman who just wrote a book? Or is he a novelist who’s been masquerading as an entrepreneur and businessman?
Well, today we get to find out. We are super excited to be joined by Shaul Olmert to talk about his business endeavors, his new novel and what his favorite Playbuzz article was. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: forward.com/2njb
Naor and Eytan talk about everything that happened in Israel this month. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: forward.com/2njb
What would you do if you woke up one day, and you were told that you’re going to be given 2.5 million dollars. No ifs or ands or buts. Just take the money, and make something good out of it. Unfortunately, us simpletons seldom face these kinds of problems. But today’s guest was recently put to this very test.
Prof. Oded Rechavi is one of the youngest, most promising scientists in the Israeli academia today. He’s a Professor of Neurobiology and Genetics in Tel Aviv University, where he researches various subjects, from diseases, to irrationality and even ancient scrolls. Prof. Rechavi is a laureate of many awards, including the Blavetnik award, the Schmidt award and the Polymath award, which recently granted him with 2.5 million dollars, and one goal - make something interesting out of it, whatever you see fit.
We are extremely excited to have Prof. Rechavi on the show today! -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: forward.com/2njb
Back in 2018, President Trump made a bold move when he exited the Iran Nuclear Deal and levelled crippling sanctions on the Iranians. Iran, in retaliation, cranked up its Uranium enrichment - well, at least they no longer hid it.
Last week, in a quiet corner of Vienna, the US began back channel negotiations with Tehran with the aim of reentering what is officially known as The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Talks are set to continue this week. Yesterday, Natanz nuclear facility in Iran experienced a devastating power outage which experts are saying has set back Iran’s nuclear goals by about 9 months! And guess who most are saying is responsible?
Dan Schueftan is the head of the National Securities Graduate Program at the University of Haifa. He has taught at the IDF National Security College and Command and Staff College. He was an advisor to Israel’s National Security Council and former Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ariel Sharon. He’s also the author of several books and articles on issues pertaining to Israel’s National Security. He joins us today for the second time to talk about the Iranian Threat.
We’re thrilled to welcome Dan Schueftan to the podcast. -
*This episode is sponsored by Masa Israel Journey. Check them out at masaisrael.org/twonicejewishboys *
Exclusive subscription offer for podcast listeners: Get 6 months of The Forward for only $15: forward.com/2njb
What do you do in your free time? Do you paint? Cycle? Study a foreign language? Well, our guest today climbs mountains. But not just any type of mountain. She climbs the mountains that are almost impossible to climb. Her most recent peak was Ojos Del Salado in Chile, the highest active volcano in the world. And this is what she does in her free time.
Daniel Wolfson is a lawyer by trade but in her free time she runs marathons, does triathlons and conquers some of the highest summits in the world.
We are super thrilled to have Daniel Wolfson on the podcast tonight to talk about the injury that led her to mountain climbing, the crazy dreams climbers have at high altitudes and the crazy dream she has at ALL altitudes - the dream of being the first Israeli woman to climb Mount Everest. - Show more
