The "Candles in the Wind and Candles in the Window" Edition

In this last episode before our two month break (save for an occasional special, check your feed!) Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about (1) What to make about Bondi Beach and the many, many violent things around the world that maybe led up to it, and (2) What does Hanukkah mean in 2025? For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What do we look for in a Rabbi? All that and a Mufti and a Chief Rabbi studying the New Testament in Gaza City. Plus some really good music that sounds more or less how we feel these days.

Allison, Don and Noah talk about (1) whether we are being buffeted by what some experts call a "mental health tsunami," after all that has happened, and (2) the decision by members of Kibbutz Be'eri not to preserve as memorials the mostly wrecked houses where almost a hundred of their loved ones were murdered on October 7. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Most Israelis think this is just a lull, and the fighting will start up again soon. All that and a long forgotten Israeli worth remembering and things that made our week. Plus some really good music that sounds more or less how we feel these days.

Miriam and Noah talk about (1) the Prime Minister's request that the President pardon him, to put an end to our long, national downer, and (2) what to make of the movie, The Sea, which took all the important Israeli prizes this year, for its depiction of a kid living under occupation, trying to get a glimpse of the sea. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: It's not easy being Peter Beinart. All that and a farewell to the general in charge of IDF intelligence who did not foresee the Yom Kippur War, a train ride to Bat Yam, and a celebration of America that says more still about Israel.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about (1) our slow slouch seemingly back towards war on four fronts – Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran – why is it happening and where might it lead? and (2) what to make of three new political parties that have set themselves up, as we near the start of Knesset election campaigns. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: How does celebrating the Pilgrim's first year in the New World look and feel when you do it in the very old world of the Holy Land? All that and Isaac and ourselves, Israelis in paradisical Hawaii, and Opera in Tel Aviv. Plus, new music for these uncertain times.

Allison and Noah talk about (1) the spike in thuggish thuggery of young Jewish thugs, throwing rocks, beating with sticks, setting fires, sparking fear among Palestinians on the West Bank, and also Jewish protestors and soldiers, and (2) the UN Security Council's decision to endorse US President Trump's 20 point plan for peace in the Middle East, offering a "pathway" to a State of Palestine. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: US President Donald Trump writes Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog (1) that peace has come to the Middle East after 3,000 years, (2) that the Jewish People are "amazing", and (3) that we should do him a solid and pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose only crime is that he cares too damn much. As Ezra Furman once sang, "Well, what can you say to that?" All that and a tribute to a beautiful barefoot runner, iconoclastic physicist and communist malcontent, an appreciation of Allison's uber-capable daughter, and an exhibitions of army photographs. Plus, hip hop about where we are, two years after the war started.

Miriam Herschlag, Noah Efron and managing editor at eJewishPhilanthropy Judah Ari Gross talk about (1) the storm of protest and worry over the discovery that the army's chief attorney leaked a video incriminating reserve soldiers, and (2) the rising swell of Jewish spirituality and religion after October 7th and whether it is something to celebrate or fear (or both). For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: My therapist is a Zionist. What do I do? Plus, the 30 year anniversary of the week after Rabin's assassination, philanthropists building hospitals, and Miriam's day in the Shuk. And new religious pop music sweeping the charts.

Noah talks about the big questions about Israel's future with historian, journalist, public intellectual and podcaster Marc Shulman.

Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron talk about (1) the on-again-off-again fragility of the ceasefire, visiting death on both sides, and (2) whether or not Prime Minister Netanyahu's admirers have a point when they say that he steered us through the war just how he said he would, and managed to achieve things that matter. For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: This week we celebrated Yom ha-Oleh, the National Day of the Immigrant. Miriam and Noah talk about the ups and downs of making a life here, after growing up there. Plus, the life (and death) of the last living Nokem, or avenger, a tiny group that set out after the war to kill ex-Nazis in great numbers. And Miriam's mother-in-laws pow-wow with the President on her 90th birthday. And some remarkable new music.

Allison and Noah talk about what the hell they make of the neither-fish-nor-foul liminal state we find ourselves in now and what the hell the future holds for us. Then they are joined by Danielle Haas, who for ten years was Human Rights Watch's only senior employee in Israel, to talk about bias in the Human-Rights-Industrial-Complex.  For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The government decides to rebrand the wretched conflict of the past two years as "The War of Resurrection" which, despite its Christological resonances, has got some people here seeing double. What's in a name?, we will ask. After all, that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Or so they say, anyway. Plus, life after the holidays and matters Witkovian!