Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides joins guest host Professor Ido Aharoni on Touro Talks to discuss the future of U.S.–Israel relations, lessons in authentic leadership and diplomacy, and the path forward after the October 7 Hamas attacks. Drawing on his career in government and business, Nides shares insights on rebuilding bipartisan support for Israel, strengthening understanding among the younger generation, and confronting the global rise in antisemitism. He speaks with moral clarity, empathy, and resilience and underscores the shared democratic values that bind Israel and the United States.

In this powerful Touro Talks episode, Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, speaks with Dr. Chezi Levy, a senior Israeli medical expert and former Director of Barzilai University Medical Center in Ashkelon and Director General of Israeli Ministry of Health. Dr. Levy shares firsthand insights from treating Israeli hostages released after captivity during the Hamas-Israel war. He has a rare look into the medical, psychological, and emotional recovery process of hostage survivors, young and old. He discusses the sensitive protocols for receiving and caring for returnees, and the immense mental health and nutritional challenges faced by those emerging from prolonged trauma and deprivation. The conversation highlights Israel’s multidisciplinary approach and hope for continued healing.

Recorded live on March 9, 2022. A conversation between guest host Sam Levine, Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center and lawyers Yehudah L. Buchweitz and Robert G. Sugarman on their work in the high-profile litigation brought against municipalities in New Jersey and New York regarding the establishment of eruvim and the construction of houses of worship.

Recorded live on April 6, 2022. “You were strangers in the land of Egypt.” In a special pre-Passover episode, Dr. Henry Abramson, guest host, Touro dean and professor, reflects on refugees in Jewish History. With an emphasis on the crisis in Ukraine, he looks at the experience of displacement from the descriptions in the book of Exodus, through the centuries, until today. 

Recorded live on May 18, 2022. In conversation with leaders in the autism inclusion space, autistic individuals Tim Goldstein, Global Cloud Trainer, Google andElisabeth Wiklander, Cellist, London Philharmonic Orchestraand diversity advocates Hardeep Rai, Group CEO & Founder, Kaleidoscope Group/Kaleidoscope Investments a company that exclusively invests in disabled people with great business ideas, and Dr. Michael Stein, Executive Director, Harvard Law School Project on Disability, a leading experts on disability law and policy.

Recorded live and in person on November 15, 2022. A presentation from the Winters Center for Autism on autism in the workplace.

Recorded live on November 15, 2022. A conversation exploring the autism employment program at Mobileye, an international leader in autonomous driving technologies, with Lihi Lapid, president of SHEKEL – Inclusion for People with Disabilities and those involved with SHEKEL member placement at Mobileye, Mollie Goldstein, Eli Schreiber, and Roni Vistuch.

Recorded live on December 15, 2022. A conversation on autism on religious spaces and activities with guest host Sam Levine, Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center, and Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Chief Program Officer & Director, Whole Community Inclusion, Jewish Learning Venture; John Elder Robison, Neurodiversity Scholar, College of William & Mary; New York Times Best-Selling Author of Look Me in the Eye; and Rabbi Dr. Rafi Feuerstein, President of the Feuerstein Institute.

Recorded live on February 12, 2023. With an introduction from former President of the Supreme Court of Israel, Justice Aharon Barak and a tribute from law professor, Miriam Marcowitz-Bitton, a conversation on the Supreme Court of Israel with Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, former Vice President of the Supreme Court of Israel and Attorney General of Israel.

Recorded live on May 18, 2023.A conversation with leaders in corporate America: Deb Benovitz, Senior Vice President, Global Insights and Innovation, WeightWatchers; Allen Fagin, who served as Chairman of Proskauer; and David Sable who was the Global CEO and Chairman of Young & Rubicam and is currently the Co-Founder/Partner of DoAble on navigating Jewish identity in the corporate environment in the United States.

(Recorded live on September 20, 2023.)

Recorded live on September 20, 2023. A conversation between Rabbi Professor Carmi Horowitz and Rabbi Dr. Michael A. Shmidman on the life and legacy of Rabbi Professor Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky z”l, a unique individual and unusual scholar. Prof. Twersky was the Talner Rebbe a, professor at Harvard University, and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies at Harvard University. His most recent work is Perpetuating the Masorah: Halakhic, Ethical and Experiential Dimensions.

Dr. Monty Penkower joins Touro Talks to discuss the process of writing an objective daily accounting of the war Israel is fighting since it was attacked on Oct 7, 2023, the war he calls “The War for the Narrative”. How do you ensure accuracy in a chaotic media environment? How do you provide context and an understanding of the radical Islamist ideology driving Hamas and other groups? Penkower shares political and military lessons from the conflict, his concern for the rise of anti-Semitism, and the hope he sees in the resilience of the Israeli people.

John Spencer, a renowned military analyst and urban warfare expert, joins Dr. Alan Kadish to discuss the realities of combat in Gaza. From the IDF’s unprecedented civilian harm mitigation measures to the challenges of Hamas’s vast tunnel network, Spencer explains how modern warfare is evolving in real time. He also addresses the media’s role in shaping global perception — and what these lessons mean for the future of conflict.

Rav Doron Perez, World Mizrachi CEO, joins Touro Talks for a conversation about the importance of Zionism and bringing Torah values to Zionism. He explains how every Jew can impact the development of the land of Israel, and who has a monopoly on truth. Sharing the tragic loss of his son on October 7 as he fought for the land of Israel, Rav Perez stresses the importance of building bridges and standing together.

Political analyst and Egyptian refugee, Dalia Ziada, joins Touro Talks for an incisive analysis of the shifting dynamics in the Middle East, including Israel's emergence as a regional power and Turkey's growing influence, peer pressure on American college campuses, the socialist Islamist alliance, and her journey from burning the Israeli flag on her university campus in Egypt to speaking on American college campuses about the Islamist threats to America.

Faulkner said “The past is never dead. It's not even past.” In this Touro Talks, Dr. Henry Abramson, historian and dean of Lander College for Men, spoke with former refusenik and author Rabbi Dr. Yosef Mendelevich on the occasion of the release of his new volume, The Cantonists, published by Touro University Press. They speak about Mendelevich’s experience in the gulag, integrating into a society, army conscription, and the relevance of his most recent book for the issues we still face today.

Recorded live on October 14, 2020. A conversation with activist, political prisoner, and Israeli minister, Natan Sharansky & historian Gil Troy on their book, Never Alone: Prison, Politics, and My People. Sharansky talks about family and that “once you discover your people, you are never alone” and Palestinian activism and rights. 

In a wide-ranging conversation with Touro President Dr. Alan Kadish, Congressman Ritchie Torres shared how his upbringing in the South Bronx led to success in his political career. He spoke about his passion for Israel, the rise in antisemitism, why he believes some of his colleagues are misguided when it comes to the Jewish state, and how he’s fighting that on all fronts. Dr. Kadish and Torres also discussed ways to address America’s mental health crisis and what Torres is doing to help impact and improve the lives of New Yorkers.

Poland and Lithuania are home to the Chassidic movement, misnagdim and the controversy between the two, so much of our halachic commentary, and a rich and diverse Jewish cultural life. Walking their streets, we can relive our history and find out place in it. Get a taste of the stories and knowledge Drs. Shnayer Leiman and Henry Abramson have to share and what you’ll experience if you join Touro’s luxury summer tour of Poland & Lithuania with this special episode of Touro Talks.

Recorded live on June 20, 2021. A conversation on the new Middle East with Ambassador Houda Nonoo of Bahrain on the Abraham Accords, and the history of Jewish life in Bahrain.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein and Bishop Glenn R. Plummer join Touro Talks host, Dr. Alan Kadish, for a conversation on antisemitism, support for Israel, and what we can expect under the new U.S. administration.

Recorded live on November 19, 2024. Touro Talks host Dr. Alan Kadish, explores the series of high-profile legal cases filed after the horrific events of October 7th, 2023 against those who provided material support to the designated foreign terrorist organization Hamas, with guests Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder and Erielle Davidson.

Touro Talks commemorates October 7th, one year later, with divrei chizzuk, words to guide and strengthen us, from Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and an analysis from former Consul General of Israel and new distinguished Touro faculty member, Ido Aharoni, on the global rise of antisemitism and the challenges now faced by Israel in a post-October 7th world. Touro president, Dr. Alan Kadish, host. Note: Rabbi Lau's message is in Hebrew. Translation is available in the transcript.

In this Touro Talks conversation, Irwin Cotler — international human rights advocate and former Canadian Minister of Justice — highlights what today’s struggles demand of us. Drawing lessons from the anti-apartheid fight for Nelson Mandela in South Africa and the movement for Soviet Jewry that became a model of global advocacy, Cotler shows how collective action can dismantle injustice. Cotler discusses the rise of antisemitism, magnified since October 7, as not only a threat to Jews but to democracy itself, and calls out the United Nations for betraying its founding ideals by enabling rather than combating antisemitism.

Recorded live on September 8, 2024. Since the Hamas massacre and the Gaza war, Jews have been caught in a loop: condemned as victimizers even as they see themselves as the victims. Join Touro Talks host and Touro President, Dr. Alan Kadish, with guest, best-selling author Yossi Klein Halevi, as they talk about what it means to be a people that has regained power, but is still under existential threat. How can Jews navigate power and vulnerability? And what needs to change in the Jewish psyche to help the community better cope with the threats facing the Jewish world today?

A conversation with US District Judge, Honorable Roy K. Altman, and President of Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Alyza D. Lewin, Esq., on antisemitism on college campuses and beyond.

Recorded live on May 9, 2024. Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, hosts professors and students at American universities across the country for a conversation about antisemitism on American college campuses. Guests are Miri Bar-Halpern (Director of Intensive Outpatient Treatment Service, Boston Child Study Center; Clinical Instructor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School), Oren Gross (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Irving Younger Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School; Senior Research Affiliate, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg, Germany), Marie-Alice Legrand (J.D. Candidate '24, Columbia University), and Talia Segal (B.S. Candidate ’24, Georgia Institute of Technology)

(Recorded live on February 26, 2024) Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, hosts professors Shai Davidai, PhD (Assistant Professor of Management, Columbia Business School), Claire Finkelstein, JD, PhD (Algernon Biddle Professor of Law and Professor of Philosophy; Faculty Director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, The University of Pennsylvania), Yael Shiloh-Malawsky, MD (Clinical Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Steven Davidoff Solomon, JD, M.Fin. (Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law) for a conversation about antisemitism on college campuses across the United States.

(Recorded live on January 29, 2024) Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, hosts Anne Bayefsky (Director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust) and David Luchins (Founding Dean of Touro University's Lander College for Women–The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School and Chair of the Political Science Department) for a conversation role of the United Nations in past and current conflicts between Israel and its neighbors.

(Recorded live on December 18, 2023) Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, in conversation with student leaders on American college campuses, Gabriel Diamond (B.A. Candidate '24, Yale University), Talia Dror (B.S. Candidate '25, Cornell University), Jillian Lederman (A.B. Candidate '24, Brown University), Marie-Alice Legrand (J.D. Candidate '24, Columbia University). 

(Recorded live on December 4, 2023) Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, hosts David M. Friedman, former Ambassador of the United States to Israel for a discussion on a career in law, diplomacy, Israel, antisemitism and October 7.

(Recorded live on November 19, 2023) Dr. Alan Kadish, President of Touro University, hosts Michal Cotler-Wunsh, LL.B., LL.M. (Israel’s Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism), Joel Finkelstein, Ph.D. (Co-Founder & Chief Science Officer, Network Contagion Research Institute), Malcolm I. Hoenlein (Executive Vice Chairman Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations) for a conversation on cutting-edge efforts to combat worldwide antisemitism.

(Recorded live on October 24, 2023.) Special screening of the Oscar-Nominated Short Film, Feeling Through, the first film to star a DeafBlind actor, with guest host, Sam Levine, Professor of Law and Director of the Jewish Law Institute at Touro Law Center. Post-screening conversation with Doug Roland, the film's director/writer, and the film's producers from Helen Keller Services, Dr. Susan Ruzenski, and Chris Woodfill. 

Recorded live on March 7, 2021. A conversation with Bernard-Henri Lévy, French philosopher, filmmaker, activist and author, on his 2020 book The Virus in the Age of Madness and a philosopher’s view on science and illness.

Recorded live on October 5, 2021. A conversation with Dr. Temple Grandin on autism, understanding it and harnessing autistic talents.

Recorded live on October 18, 2021. Guest host, Rabbi Dr. Zev Eleff, president of Gratz College, in conversation with Touro professor and dean, Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol, on Dr. Sokol’s book The Snake at the Mouth of the Cave. 

Recorded live on December 14, 2021. The name Touro adorns two synagogues, a hospital, and several streets, including one in Jerusalem and, of course, our school. Touro President Dr. Alan Kadish and Dr. Jonathan Sarna, University Professor and Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, discuss Judah Touro. 

Recorded live on January 12, 2022. In honor of Touro’s 50th anniversary, a conversation with the illustrious Touro grad the New York Times called a Hasidic Superwoman, Judge Ruchie (Rachel) Freier.

Recorded live on February 23, 2022. A conversation with history professor and author Dr. Andrew Porwancher, on his book The Jewish World of Alexander Hamilton.