The Promised Podcast – Segment

What’s a Good Book Good For?

Secular Israelis used to love the Independence Day Bible Contest, and religious ones hated it. Now religious Israelis dominate the Bible Contest, and secular ones ignore it. What does the odd career of the Annual Bible Contest tell us about the changing nature of the Israeli soul?

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For a Song

New regulations will prevent Israeli mayors from paying more than 20,000 bucks to pop stars to perform at gala Independence Day celebrations. A blessed return to sanity, or government sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong?

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Your Services are No Longer Needed

More than 40% of Knesset representatives are new to the job, and turnover among legislators is at an all-time high. Why? What does this augur for Israeli politics?

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Lights Unto the Nation

What do the people chosen to light torches at the national Independence Day say about the state of our national soul?

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Sins of the Fathers’ Grocer

When a supermarket chain uses a made-up story about Ashkenazi wholesalers exploiting and insulting Mizrahi shoppers four decades ago, is that a bigger insult to Ashkenazim or Mizrahim?

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The Holocaust Will Not Be Tweeted

Dramatizing the Holocaust on Instagram so phone-addicted kids will pay attention? Seriously?

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What, We Worry?

Israelis worry less about global threats – from climate change to cyberattack and beyond – than anyone else in the world. How come?

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Scholars’ Dolour

The Association for Israel Studies is in a tizzy about an academic journal issue that some think crosses the line from scholarship to propaganda. Is “pro-Israel scholarship” an oxymoron?

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The Solidarity Singularity

Has the time come for Israel’s Jewish (and Zionist) left to join forces with Israel’s Arab (and anti-Zionist) left? If so, how?

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“And You Shall Tell Your Child”

On Passover, we’re supposed to tell our kids the story of the Exodus and what it means to us today. But what does it mean to us today?

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