In the Spotlight: Tomer Persico

Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch reflects on the war with Iran, calling for a clear-eyed reckoning with a radical theocracy that fuels global instability and advances an ideology portraying the United States, Israel, and Western civilization as enemies to be destroyed.

US-born Hayley Nagelberg and Israeli-born Idan Lev, a young couple living in Israel, reflect on life there and on Idan’s video Choosing to Stay, which explores his struggle over whether to remain, especially in the aftermath of October 7.

Abigail Pogrebin meets with Tomer Persico, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute and scholar of contemporary spirituality, Jewish identity, secularism and the author of several books on religion, freedom and modern Jewish thought.

JBS Journalist Micah Halpern argues that unpredictability from Trump and Netanyahu has left Iran off balance and scrambling to respond—this and more on this episode of "Thinking Out Loud" on JBS.

David Harris is joined by Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva Daniel Meron to discuss the rampant anti-Israel bias running amok in the 40 UN organizations headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and what Meron is personally and professionally doing to combat this "baked-in" prejudice.

Rabbi Deborah Sacks Mintz, educator and facilitator of Jewish communal music, joins Abigail Pogrebin to discuss her work weaving song and Torah into communal life and her forthcoming album entitled "Songs from the Beit Midrash."

JBS Journalist Micah Halpern examines Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that the extreme left and Islamist groups are aligned and what that framing suggests about today’s global political climate—this and more on this episode of "Thinking Out Loud" on JBS.

David Harris sits with his wife, Giulietta Boukhobza, a Jewish survivor and refugee from Libya, as she recounts her family’s story and reflects on its urgent lessons for today.

In a sermon to his congregation of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York City, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch reflects on the often-overlooked details of the Tabernacle’s construction in Exodus and the mystery of an ancient word whose lost meaning invites us to consider what it truly means to have “skin in the game.”

Robert Siegel examines American antisemitism today with leaders in Jewish advocacy, history and public service.  With Abraham Foxman, Jonathan D. Sarna and Rabbi David Saperstein, in a program of the AFRMC.