Explore every episode of the podcast The Promised Podcast

Linda Gradstein, Judah Ari Gross and Noah Efron ask, for each of the 13 parties that are most likely going to be in the next Knesset, why for their voters, they are just the party they want.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: In elections that matter so much, should we be gaming out my vote, or just voting our hearts?

Plus: Beagles and other breeds, the National Library, dancing for peace, and how, now, there are mohalot in Jerusalem!

Miriam and Noah talk about (1) Whether or not it's true, like so many people are saying, that the upcoming elections are maybe the most consequential in the country's history, and (2) How a small, new right-wing party might dash the hope that lots of us have for a better future after the elections.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: For people who maybe care about Israel but don't live here, what are the most important things for them to understand about the upcoming elections and why?

Plus: Rats, the new year, and a tribute to the great Bible scholar, Uriel Simon, of blessed memory.

Allison, Judah and Noah talk about (1) Why, despite all the hardships and miseries of the past three years, Benjamin Netanyahu is still a viable candidate for prime minister, and (2) What the hell are these elections about again?, as we seem to have lost the plot.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What, if anything, does flydubai tell us about the souls of Israelis?

Plus: Providence & flydubai, Shul dinners in the shadow of the war, staying at the Tel Aviv hotel where Eichman stayed, and crying on a plane with a charismatic Pentecostal named "Mama Moses."

Tehila Wenger, Rotem Ur Soco and Noah Efron talk about (1) The so-called "Statement of Principles" signed this week by the leaders of the so-called "Parties of Repair & Hope", and why it left us so-called "unimpressed", and (2) How schools ought to mark the third anniversary of October 7.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Third anniversary of October 7, and things make only less sense now than they did before.

Plus: Remembering a poet who really listened to kids, looking into the eyes of a Palestinian activist across the table and seeing something familiar, and the first cleansing rain of the new year.

In a very special episode in celebration of the holiday of Sukkot, Noah goes on about the etrog, its complicated past, and the hope it holds for the futures of all of us.

(With two versions of Naomi Shemer's canonical Sukkot song, "Shlomit Bonah Sukkat Shalom", the one by Mashina, and the other by Ash&Buzi.)

Tehila Wenger, deputy director of the Israeli branch of the Geneva Initiative, and Noah talk about why so many Jewish-Israeli politicians and parties rule out joining a coalition with Palestinian-Israeli politicians and parties. Then Hannah Brown, film critic for the Jerusalem Post, joins to talk about the eventful week in Israeli cinema, starting with the Ophir Award Best-Picture winner Tell Me Everything, and continuing with the controversial new documentary about the IDF's policy on civilian casualties, NAZA, which won a Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and got the longest standing ovation in the history of film.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What we wouldn't give for some superego: Have AI videos made elections all id?

Plus: Back when blowing shofar at the Wall was illegal, gearing up with friends for the elections in 40 days, life with a kid on the spectrum and awesome new music with a Days-of-Awe vibe.

Linda, Judah and Noah talk about (1) the weird party mergers and odd-couples running together for Knesset in the upcoming elections, and what these strange bedfellows say about the state of Israeli politics, and (2) the "Nili force" which, we recently learned, was started just after October 7, dedicated to capturing or killing every last one of the 5,000-odd Gazans who poured over the border on that day, to pillage, plunder, rape and murder. Is this sort of vengeance-to-the-last-man,-no-matter-how-long-it-takes what we want from our army and security forces?

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: What do we expect from 5787?

Plus: Yossi Sarid as we never knew him when he was alive, Selichot in Zikhron Yaakov, and big slabs of meat in Jerusalem. Plus, new music with a New Year's vibe.

Two years ago, this week, Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin and Libi & Orly Goldberg-Polin buried their son and brother Hersh. The rest of us did, too. In this episode, we hear Rachel Goldberg-Polin during those 328 days when Hersh was in those tunnels alive, until he wasn't.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about (1) a new "working man's ultra-Orthodox party" that wants science in the classroom and Haredim in the boardroom and the barracks, and (2) a new poll showing that most Israelis feel like they need to hide who we are when we travel abroad.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The Prime Minister's son, Yair Netanyahu, was spirited out of Miami, where he lives, after the Mossad learned that Iranian agents had planned to assassinate him. Well, what can you say to that?!?

Plus: the rediscovery of the Altalena after 78 years in the briney deep, and the memories likely to get dredged up with the ship, and wine and gifts, and branch new breezy summer music for the late-summer heat.

The Jerusalem Post's Hannah Brown and Noah Efron talk about (1) the criminal harassment of Abu Rida and the Hassan families in Qusra, (2) the surprising results of the Likud primaries and what they augur, and (3) Avi Nesher's profound and affecting new movie, "Our Loves," about October 7th, and the day that came before and the day that came after.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: We've always suspected that "movie reviewer" is the best job ever. Hannah Brown, who reviewed for the New York Post and the Jerusalem Post, explains why we were right about that all along!

Plus: Down in the dumps with Gershom Scholem, neanderthal hip-joints, sheltering on the spectrum and tomorrow's scholars, today! All that and the brilliant recording debut of Allison's girl, Naomi Sommer!!!!

Linda, Judah, and Noah talk about (1) The new parties springing up in the "middle" of Israel's electoral map, between the Netanyahu bloc and the anti-Netanyahu bloc: What do they augur?, and (2) The likely addition as number two on the "United Arab List" party of Yoav Segelovitz, a Jew who made his name in the army and police: What's it mean and what's it, too, augur? (So much auguring!)

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: A right wing newspaper editor writes that maybe we shouldn't let people who don't live in the country fly in to vote, and gets shouted down. But maybe he has a point?

Plus: What happens after you win twelve and a half million in the lotto, a day in Sderot, and what to do with the kids in the dog-days of August. Plus one of the all-time great punk albums about being pregnant in wartime!

In this very special episode, Noah shares love letters he heard walking the streets of Tel Aviv with Lucy the Dog, on a new "Love Letters" app made by genius Russian-Israeli director Semyon Alexandrovsky.

Linda and Noah talk about (1) What has become of the "Religious Zionism Party," after its sort-of primaries made it a settler-only affair?, and (2) What are the ties that bind the different sorts of people who hope to give Benjamin Netanyahu four more years in office?

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Challenger for the premiership Gadi Eisenkot buys campaign billboards in Cyprus, and lots of people cry foul. Can the election be won by persuading ex-pats to fly to what was once their home to cast a vote? Also, why is the adjective "Cypriot" so very appealing?

Plus: Expecting a baby grandchild that they never expected when they were hostages in Gaza, a millennia-old edition of the Book of Isaiah, and young girls praying under trees in a park in Tel Aviv. Plus, an astonishing new record of heartbreak and loss by Netta Barzilai.

On Tisha B'Av, Allison Kaplan Sommer, Judah Ari Gross, and Noah Efron talk about (1) this week's primaries in the "Democrats Party" and what they say about Israel's only leftist Zionist party going forward, and (2) whether or not (on this day when we commemorate the laying waste of ancient Israel on account of all the "baseless hatred" people had one for the other back then) our contemporary politics are infected by the same sort of ugly and gratuitous enmity.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shares on all the sites a campaign video maybe suggesting that his challenger General Gadi Eisenkot cares more about Palestinians than he does about his own son, who died fighting in Gaza. In this election, is everything permissible?

Plus: Marking 400 years since the birth of Shabbetai Tzevi, enjoying unity at Anu and in a yard watching the World Cup Finals. Plus, music of these odd days.

Star teacher and activist Rotem Ur-Soco, Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about what to make of 1) The "blitz" of legislation passed by the government in the fading days of the 25th Knesset and 2) A hauntingly beautiful essay in The Atlantic by former Prime Minister and head of the opposition Yair Lapid, which he calls "a love letter to America", and what it maybe says about how many of us Israelis regard the 250 year old democracy across the sea.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: It may be that one of every twenty residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo was born in an English speaking land, and the city today is lousy with young "Anglos". What is this strange hyphenate: American-Israeli?

Plus: Books and papers representing a man's life's work dumped onto Dizengoff, collected by rubbish trucks and taken to landfill, plus a bunch of things that made our lives worth living over the last little while. And, of course, some new music of our unsettled times.

Geneva Initiative Deputy Director Tehila Wenger, Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron talk about: 1) The Cabinet's dramatic statement implying that the government may not comply with a Supreme Court ruling, and whether it signal a constitutional crisis, and 2) The meaning of the Maccabiah, the "Jewish Olympics" underway now, with more than 8,000 competitors from around the world: What should we make today of this remnant from centuries past?

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: It may be that one of every twenty residents of Tel Aviv-Yafo was born in an English speaking land, and the city today is lousy with young "Anglos". What is this strange hyphenate: American-Israeli?

Plus: Laying to rest Supreme Court Justice Edna Arbel, Palestinian-Jewish dialogue today, the storied streets of Tel Aviv, and a new Israeli Poker champ.

Linda, Judah and Noah talk about: 1) The grim milestone marking one thousand awful days since October 7, and what these one thousand days have been for us, and 2) The emergence of a new joint Jewish-Arab political party, A Place for Us All, that unapologetically puts peace at the center of their agenda, along with increasing wages, lowering prices, equality for women and everyone else, and all sorts of other things that people like us admire. The new party gets a harsh reception on the left, especially on the pages of Haaretz, and we try to puzzle out why.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Shani Gabbai, who was killed at the Nova festival on October 7, returns via AI to speak movingly at her kid sister's wedding. What do we learn, if anything, about the states of our souls from that sad, fragile, strange thing?

Plus: Fifty years since the Entebbe rescue mission, the start of the Maccabiah "Jewish Olympics", some great music and lots more.

Linda and Noah talk about: 1) a Hebrew University poll finding that eleven out of twelve Israelis think that Iran "won the war", and 2) the eviscerating new movie, "Yes", by Israeli director-in-self-imposed-exile Nadav Lapid, who despite his criticism of Israel and Israelis was BDSedly hounded out of next week's Marseille International Film Festival (for which discussion we were joined by novelist and Jerusalem Post film critic Hannah Brown!).

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: New York City's next delegation to Congress will be the most anti-Israel ever. What can you say to that?

Plus: Fifty years of the Reshet Gimel pop radio station, meeting Landsmen in Milan, Yakov Agam and more than you probably ever wanted to know about the Tel Aviv-Yafo city council! Plus, songs from the stunningly beautiful and moving forthcoming record by Ayalah Asherov and Yehoshua Sobol, Ha-Zman ha-Zeh.

Miriam and Noah talk about: 1) The "great deal" that US President Donald Trump struck with Iran, being a Memorandum of Understanding that does what now?, and (2) The resurgence of "communal singing" in Israel, and what it says about the state of our souls, and how nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Have we exaggerated how divided we Jews are?

Plus: Old books, young love and memories on the highest rooftop in Tel Aviv!

Allison and Noah talk about: 1) Our strange, short, truncated warlet with Iran this week, and 2) New findings that point to a weird entanglement between Israeli attitudes towards climate change and our attitudes towards Netanyahu, the courts, the ultra-orthodox and most everything else we argue about here.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Sam Harris makes waves by saying there's no point in even debating enemies of Israel. Might he have a point?

Plus: An old-new life for Kibbutz Manara and hip new music by the graduates of a not-known-for-being-hip youth movement, Noam.

Allison and Noah talk about President Yitzhak Herzog's alarmed warning that we are turning into animals, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's very viral election ad, about how leftist-wing sorts make right-wing sorts feel like less.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: I.D.O.5., or Israel Day on Fifth (a.k.a, the Israel Soliidarity Parade) in Manhattan used to be about unity. Now it's about controversy.

Plus: Remembering our friend, the ain't-no-one-like-her, poet-painter-peace-activist-therapist-story-teller Lisa Fliegel. Plus the good karma of Yonatan Razel as he convalesces in Shaarei Tzedek hospital.

Linda, Noah and Judah Ari Gross talk about the war with Iran and the peace with Gaza, and how US President Donald Trump's diplomatic ADD makes it close to impossible for anything good to come of our miserable wars.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: The last time our dollars bought so few shekels (and our shekels bought so many dollars), it was before we could dial up the internet, and around the time Mario first got his Kart. What's it mean (hint: diminished retirements for some, and boarded-up NGOs).

Plus: Drawing hope from frogs, philanthropists and hotel buffet breakfasts. And some great new music.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron try to make sense of why long-time allies and fellow-travelers of former Alternate Prime Minister and former IDF Chief-of-Staff Benny Gantz have lately left the Blue & White Party, wondering if it is the man or what he stands for. Then they are joined by special guest star Rabbi Joe Wolfson of JLIC-TLV to try and make sense of the many secular and egalitarian Tikkunei Leil Shavuot, all night sessions of study, song, discussion and meditation that have become so popular over the past years asking, what exactly are those things about?

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Everyone said no one would ever vote for Noam Bettan, the Israeli singing in the Eurovision Song Contest, yet he finished in second place. How? Why?

Plus the changing face of Shavuot over the years and a few things that moved us over the week. And some great new music.

Miriam, Noah, and Deputy Director of the Geneva Initiative Tehila Wenger talk about: 1) The controversial opinion piece in the Times suggesting that Israeli guards and soldiers sexually assault Palestinian prisoners, and 2) Why Jerusalem Day has become an almost sectarian holiday for religious Zionists.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Tehila Wenger's Geneva Initiative has been arguing for a Two-State Solution for 23 years. How has working for peace changed over this time?

Plus remembering Marie Nahmias and a few things that moved us over the week.

Allison, Noah and (for some of the time) special star-ringer Professor Gordon Lafer talk about: 1) How the war with Iran seems to have quickened a surprisingly close strategic relationship between Israel and the UAE, and 2) How Israel is these days seen on college campuses, from the quad to the student union to the seminar room to the faculty lounge.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Is it still possible to be a "liberal Zionist" outside of Israel?

Plus an ambivalent tribute to artist Yair Garbuz and a few things that moved us over the week.

Linda and Noah talk about 1) President Yitzhak Herzog's split-the-baby reply to Prime Minister Netanyahu's request for a pardon, saying he will host and mediate plea bargain negotiations: Is this clever or craven? 2) The announcement that former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid will run together in the upcoming elections, with Bennett atop the list, and whether the whole they make is bigger or smaller than the sum of its parts.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: After Bennett and Lapid ring the opening bell of the election campaign, we ask ourselves what we expect from the next six months of politicians politicking politically.

Plus new songs with words by lately fallen soldiers, a kid in Beirut who asks the IDF to blow up her school, and talking peace in Area C.

Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron talk about 1) The imposed cease-fires, and whether Israelis ought to worry we're becoming a vassal state, and 2) What explains why an IDF soldier thought it was right, or maybe just amusing, to take a sledgehammer to a statue of Jesus in a yard in a village in Lebanon.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Peace activist, negotiator, and friend of the podcast Gershon Baskin writes that, "Donald Trump is the best chance Israelis, Palestinians have for peace since 1993". That so?

Plus the joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Ceremony, an out of control bus-driver, and the lovely debut record of rising-star Noa Carsenti.

Allison and Noah talk about 1) Whether or not, as an essay in the New York Times suggests, war has become "not a strategy but the norm" for Israel, (2) The World Happiness Reports finding that Israelis remain among the happiest people on earth, including after October 7th: Why is this?

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: A bunch of writers send a confusing open-letter to the Jewish Book Council saying (we think) that the JBC needs to de-Zionize. What should we make of that?

Plus Yom Hashoah, Yom Ha-Atzmaut and Noga Erez rocking Coachella!

Linda and Noah talk about: 1) The abrupt, maybe fleeting, end to the war with Iran, and what it means, and 2) The "Death Penalty for Terrorists" law recently passed by the Knesset (and destined to be struck down by the Supreme Court), and what it means.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Polls showed support for the war among Israelis steadily slipping with each passing day. Why did people's faith that something good might come of bombing Iran fade even as the airforces of Israel and the United States did most everything they set out to do?

Plus a wedding that changed a culture, a boy gone missing, and life underground.

Linda, Noah and journalist Judah Ari Gross discuss: 1) the Jewish thugs attacking, hurting and terrorizing Palestinians on the West Bank and, relatedly, 2) what our exodus story needs to be this year.

Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: With the missiles and all the rest, we struggle to answer Joey Tribiani's all-important question: "How you doin'?"

Plus making Passover at this odd moment (an audio collage by Miriam) and music of our season of freedom.

Ninety years ago this week, Hebrew was heard on airwaves as the Voice of Jerusalem had its first broadcast. The feint echoes of the thing are worth listening for today.

In this gala return of the Podcast, Miriam and Noah talk about (A) What this thing with Iran is, (1) Whether these days we're seeing a new, more Strangelovian Prime Minister Netanyahu, and (2) What life underground in the homefront tells us about Israeli society at this strange moment.

Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Miriam and Noah talk about their lives during wartime. Is it really true that it ain't no disco, it ain't no party, it ain't no fooling around?

Plus some really good music that sounds more or less how we feel these days.

Today marks the thirtieth day since we buried Ran Gvili, the hostage who came home last. The thirty day mark, the Sheloshim, signifies the end of the period of intense mourning. It may also be taken as the end of the terrible war in Gaza that followed October 7. Noah explores how wars end in Israel, and what the end of this war is like for all of us going through it.

(This is the last of our special breaktime episodes. Stay tuned, the show is coming back soon!)

Uri Lupolianski was the first ultra-Orthodox mayor of Jerusalem, and he was convicted of corruption. A week after his death, Noah says that he was also a reflection of all of us, at our imperfect best.

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!

We waited and we waited and now they are here.

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron talk about (1) US President Donald Trump's "Twenty Point Plan," to bring home the hostages and end the war, and (2) On the second Yahrzeit of October 7, how we have changed, personally, and as a society.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: John Oliver thinks that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a corrupt, warlike, evil scumbag. What do we make of that?

Plus, music from the memorial ceremony in the park, by some of our best!

For this Yom Kippur, we return to stuff that gave us solace and understanding in the past.

Linda Gradstein, Don Futterman and Noah Efron talk about (1) The very viral essay by Yossi Klein Halevi, pressing Israelis to finally engage in the moral conversation that we have, until now, avoided, and (2) The new 5785 Jewish People Policy Institute's Annual Assessment of the Jewish People, basically a report card for the Jewish people, and why our grades are so lousy, and what we ought to do about it.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: How did we welcome the New Year, in this seemingly, endless groundhog day of despair?

Plus, the short, beautiful life of Eran Shelem, of Blessed Memory, and weddings, cruises and prayers for the New Year!

Linda and Noah talk about (1) Israel's newest invasion of Gaza City, and Prime Minister Netanyahu's chillingly Strangelovian gird-your-loins speech ahead of the invasion, about how Israelis need to learn to be "Super Spartans", and (2) The fifth year anniversary of the Abraham Accords, and what they have meant in the past and may mean in the future.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Why did Charlie Kirk's assassination mean so much to so many of us here in Israel?

Plus, the 70th anniversary of the founding of Dimona, and ultra-Orthodox women on a bus!

Miriam and Noah talk about (1) Israel's bombing of Qatar, in failed hope of killing the leaders of Hamas, with the possible result of killing the negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza, and (2) the controversial movie that aired on Israeli TV this week, after an 865 day delay, about the 1948 war, and what we ought to learn from it.

For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Is my old camp counselor the guy who is maybe going to save the life of the hostages?

Plus, the surprising origins of the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Wall-E in the Golan Heights, and Banai kids of a new generation!