The Jerusalem Journal Podcast

As Jewish American Heritage Month draws to a close — and as the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of American independence — I wanted to share a remarkable conversation that feels especially timely.On the latest episode of the Jerusalem Journal Podcast, I sat down with Professor Jonathan Sarna, perhaps the foremost historian of American Jewry today, for a sweeping discussion about the past, present, and future of Jewish life in America.Paid subscribers are receiving early access to this episode ahead of its wider release.Among the questions we explore:* How did Jewish smugglers in the Caribbean help supply the American Revolution?* Why did George Washington’s famous letter to the Jews of Newport fundamentally reshape Jewish history?* How did waves of antisemitism repeatedly transform — and ultimately strengthen — American Jewish life?* How did Zionism go from a fringe movement to a defining feature of American Jewish identity?* And what lessons does the history of American Jewry hold for this moment of rising antisemitism, polarization, and uncertainty?Along the way, Sarna makes a striking argument: that many of the debates tearing through Jewish life today are not unprecedented at all — and that earlier generations of Jews faced moments of similar anxiety, division, and upheaval.He also offers a provocative warning: that both of the great modern Jewish “solutions” — America and Israel — now feel far less secure than many Jews once imagined.And yet, despite everything, his conclusion is ultimately a hopeful one.This was one of the most fascinating and eye-opening conversations I’ve had in quite some time, and I suspect many listeners will come away seeing both American Jewish history and the current moment differently.And finally: due to strong response to our first anniversary offer, we’re extending our 25% discount on annual subscriptions through June.If you value thoughtful conversations like this one — and would like early access to future interviews, essays, and analysis — please consider becoming a paid subscriber today:As always, thank you for reading, listening, and supporting Jerusalem Journal.Shabbat Shalom from Washington, D.C.,— A.M. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe

When I first heard the reports of an active shooter situation at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan, around 7:30 Thursday evening here in Jerusalem, my first thought was — Jen.Rabbi Jen Lader is a member of Temple Israel’s clergy team, responsible for the congregation’s teen-related activities, and is president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis.She is also a longtime friend of mine — we went to college together twenty years ago and last had dinner together in Jerusalem just a few weeks ago.I immediately texted her to make sure she was okay and let her know I was thinking of her. When she finally texted back an hour later, she wrote, “I’m okay, thank you,” and then, “All kids okay.”She was referring to the 106 children who attend the temple’s early childhood center, all of whom were safely evacuated by their teachers and temple staff as the synagogue’s security team confronted and ultimately neutralized the attacker, averting what could have been a catastrophe.Several hours later, as she finally made her way home, I spoke to Rabbi Lader about how she and the community were grappling with the day’s harrowing events, how the temple’s security team saved lives, why she wasn’t surprised by the attack, and what message she has for Americans and for Jews around the world.Click on the play button above to listen to our conversation.Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem — A.M.This episode of the Jerusalem Journal Podcast is being made available to all readers of Jerusalem Journal.Rabbi Jen Lader joined the Temple Israel clergy team in July of 2012, following her ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. She serves as the synagogue’s ‘youth guru,’ running all teen-related activities, and is the current president of the Michigan Board of Rabbis. Hailing from Austin, Texas, Rabbi Lader earned a Bachelor of Arts in Jewish Studies from the University of Maryland and a Master of Hebrew Letters degree from HUC-JIR. She and her husband, Daniel, have two beautiful children.Thank you for listening to the Jerusalem Journal Podcast. Subscribe today to receive new episodes as soon as they are released. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe

In early December, Israeli journalist Nadav Eyal broke a story that drew far less attention than it deserved.Israeli defense and intelligence officials, he reported, had concluded that much of the wave of anti-Israel and antisemitic sentiment that has engulfed global discourse over the past two years has been deliberately engineered by a state actor. The sophistication, coordination, consistency, and interconnectedness of both the messaging and those promoting it online and off led the officials to determine hat only a world power — or a state with vast financial resources — could be behind such a comprehensive influence operation.While considering the involvement of other countries with axes to grind against the Jewish state, the Israelis have focused their attention on one primary suspect: Qatar.To even casual observers, the signs of a broad effort to cultivate hostility toward Jews and Israel linked to the wealthy Gulf emirate are difficult to miss: from Al Jazeera’s propagandistic coverage to Tucker Carlson’s recently discovered affinity for the country, and from the appearance of Hamas leaders at government-hosted conferences to the prevalence of virulently anti-Israel narratives at academic institutions that receive Qatari funding.Taken together, Qatar’s role in shaping global hostility toward Israel — and its remarkable success in leveraging its unfathomable wealth to advance its interests — has proven strikingly effective in fostering negative perceptions of the Jewish state and in undermining its legitimacy at a moment when Israel has been fighting for its very existence.In this episode of the Jerusalem Journal Podcast, Eyal joins us to discuss how Israel identified Qatar as being behind this global defamation campaign, why the emirate has chosen to target Israel now, how it has cultivated influence in the United States and around the world, and what Israel can do to fight back.This episode is being made available to all listeners. To receive full access to all Jerusalem Journal Podcast episodes as soon as they are released, become a paid subscriber today.Nadav Eyal is one of Israel’s leading journalists and political commentators, a senior columnist for Yediot Aharonot and Ynet, and a regular contributor to Dan Senor’s Call Me Back podcast. He recently launched his own Substack newsletter, Between Us. Eyal is a senior scholar and adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, focusing on the Middle East, Israel, and the crisis of democracy.Thank you for listening to the Jerusalem Journal Podcast. To receive full access to all episodes as soon as they are released, become a paid subscriber today. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe

To Jews around the world, all too many place names have become shorthand for the terrible things that befell our people there: Kishinev, Munich, Toulouse, Pittsburgh, Manchester — and now Bondi Beach.Sunday’s horrific attack targeting a community Hanukkah celebration at the iconic Sydney landmark was shocking — in its brutality, in the innocence of its setting, and in its ghastly death toll, which currently stands at 15. But to many in the Australian Jewish community, it was hardly surprising.One such individual is Joel Burnie.Joel is a longtime advocate and leader in the Australian Jewish community. He served as President of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students during his university years, went on hold a succession of senior communal roles, and today serves as Executive Manager of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC), the leading public affairs organization of Australian Jewry.For years, Joel has been sounding the alarm about rising antisemitism to Australian government officials, media figures, and civil society leaders, warning that ever-escalating attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions would inevitably lead to bloodshed — as they did so dreadfully on Sunday.In this timely conversation, which took place just 24 hours after the Bondi Beach massacre, we discuss the mood within the Australian Jewish community, the government’s response to the surge in antisemitism, and what Israel and Jews around the world can do to help fight back.Due to the urgent nature of this conversation, this episode is being made available to all Jerusalem Journal subscribers upon release. You can listen to previous episodes here.Thank you for listening to this episode of the Jerusalem Journal Podcast. Subscribe today to receive new episodes as soon as they are released. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe

Become a paid subscriber of Jerusalem Journal to enjoy this podcast episode now.In recent years, Ireland has come to be viewed by many Jews and Israelis as one of the countries most hostile to Israel in Europe, if not the Western world entirely.From the Irish government’s effort to redefine the term “genocide” in order to apply it to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza to the national broadcaster’s recent announcement that it will boycott the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest due to Israel’s participation, Ireland’s approach has prompted the Jewish state to shutter its embassy in Dublin and has caused the tiny Irish Jewish community to feel increasingly beleaguered. In recent days, an effort to rename a Dublin park honoring Israel’s Belfast-born sixth president, Chaim Herzog, drew both international headlines and national criticism, resulting in the measure’s removal from the city council’s agenda.Among the individuals most assiduously pushing back against the tide of anti-Jewish hate in Ireland is Rachel Moiselle. Born to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father, Rachel has gained prominence for publicly calling out antisemitism in Irish society, deftly navigating both traditional and social media platforms as she raises awareness of the problem — often to those who would prefer not to see it.In our conversation, we explore Rachel’s personal experiences with antisemitism, how hatred of Jews and of Israel finds expression in Irish society, and what can be done to fight back.This podcast episode is being made available first to paid subscribers of Jerusalem Journal.To become a paid subscriber, click here. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe

Today I am delighted to share the first-ever episode of the Jerusalem Journal Podcast — a conversation with Natan Sharansky.This is also the first offering available exclusively to paid subscribers of Jerusalem Journal, an option we are launching today.In addition to privileged access to podcast episodes, paid subscribers will be invited to periodic live conversations and Q&A sessions with contributors, as well as other opportunities.You can upgrade to a paid subscription at a reduced introductory rate here.While the full conversation with Natan Sharansky is only accessible to paid subscribers at this time, here are a few notable excerpts:On discovering his Jewish identity:“Israel came into my life in 1967. Before that I was an absolutely assimilated Soviet Jew. And suddenly, because of this unbelievable victory, everybody around you — your enemies, your friends, everybody — looks at you and says, ‘How did you Jews do it?’ And you understand suddenly that, whether you want it or not, for these people, you're connected to Israel. And that's when you start learning in the underground about your history, about your people, and about the State of Israel. And that's how you discover your identity.”On the Soviet and Nazi origins of contemporary anti-Zionism:“Where did my discovery come from? From knowing very well Soviet antisemitic propaganda and Nazi propaganda and seeing the same cartoons, absolutely the same, which you could see in the Soviet Union — it was so easy to understand that their antisemitism, their anti-Israel and anti-Jewish position, is simply the same. [All you have to do is] look at these cartoons and, of course, Nazi cartoons. And then suddenly you discover the same cartoons in The Guardian or The Independent, and they're [being named] the best cartoons of the year, and it's all Jews who are eating Palestinian kids and so on. Then you understand this deep connection.”On antisemitism in the progressive moment:“In the eighties, Professor [Edward] Said — who was like the founder of this modern, progressive antisemitism — he said to Yasser Arafat that it’s a mistake to connect this conflict in the Middle East to the national struggle of Arab countries and Israel, that you have to connect it with the most important ideological streams which are happening in the world. And I don't know if Arafat understood it or accepted it, but no doubt that Said was very successful.”On anti-Zionist Jews:“Of course, there are always Jews who think differently. That's the definition of our people. But ideologically, I think today, let's say those who believe that the problem is not the fact that there are antisemitic demonstrations in universities, but vice versa, the problem is that some Jewish provocateurs try to turn the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people into antisemitism — it's simply negligible in numbers.”On the younger generation in Israel since October 7:“I have to say, it came as a surprise to many of us, including myself. The TikTok generation, who only planned how to go to Thailand, who were looking for spirituality in India, who were running away from our Jewish tradition — look what kind of generation we have, what Judaism means for them, what Jewish history means for them, what Jewish culture means for them, and what the Jewish state means for them. So I think we have all the reasons to be optimistic.”About Natan SharanskyNatan Sharansky is a former Soviet dissident, human rights activist, Israeli statesman, and Jewish leader.Born in 1948 in Donetsk, Ukraine, Sharansky was trained as a computer scientist in Moscow. He was denied an exit visa to Israel in 1973, became a prominent figure in the Soviet Jewry and human rights movements, and co-founded the Moscow Helsinki Group. Arrested in 1977 on false charges of collaborating with the CIA, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison, enduring solitary confinement and hard labor before his release in 1986 through international pressure and his wife Avital’s relentless campaign for his freedom.After emigrating to Israel, he continued advocating for Soviet Jewish emigration, notably organizing the 1987 Washington rally that helped open the USSR’s gates. Sharansky founded the Yisrael B’Aliyah party to aid the absorption of Russian immigrants, served as Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in multiple Israeli governments, and went on to serve as Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel.A recipient of the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he is also a bestselling author whose works, including Fear No Evil and The Case for Democracy, have influenced global leaders.Sharansky lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Avital, and is the father of two daughters and grandfather to several grandchildren. Get full access to Jerusalem Journal at www.jerusalemjournal.com/subscribe