#73 - Sam Benjamin

Fleur Hassan-Nahoum is the former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. Among other roles, she is the Secretary-General of Kol Israel at the WZO, and the Israeli Foreign Ministry's special envoy for innovation.Fleur is the daughter of Gibraltarian statesman Sir Joshua Hassan.

Richard Kemp is a colonel of the British Army (retired). He now works as a security consultant and political commentator.

Elisha Ancselovits is a rabbi, teacher, and researcher at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, Yeshivat Maale Gilboa, and Yeshivat haHakshava.His most recent book is "When Jews Argue: Between the University and the Beit Midrash", which he edited with Prof. Ethan B. Katz and Prof. Sergey Dolgopolski. Along with Uri Farber, he hosts the podcast "Common Sense Halakha".

Azar Gat is a professor at the School of Political Science, Government, and International Affairs at Tel Aviv University. He holds the Ezer Weitzman Chair for National Security.

Aleeza Ben Shalom is a matchmaker, author, and TV personality. She is most well-known as the star of the Netflix series "Jewish Matchmaking".

Rachmiel Travitz is an ordained rabbi and a scholar of the Andalusian rabbinic tradition.

Charlie Solomon is an old friend of my grandfather’s, who grew up in India when it was still under the British Raj. He will turn 100 this July.  

Yehuda Niasoff is a chazan, a shochet, and mohel (cantor, ritual slaughterer, and ritual circumciser). He is also a wedding singer, a medical first responder, and an amateur pilot. 

Sam Benjamin bears the torch of a fascinating culture: the Baghdadi Jewish community of India. He teaches the traditional Iraqi method for reading from the Torah, and works at the Sephardi Synagogue.

Eddy Boas is a child survivor of the Holocaust and author of “I’m Not a Victim, I Am a Survivor”, which tells the story of how he and his family made it through the Holocaust.