Join self-confessed history nerd Dr. Noam Weissman on a journey through the fascinating and sometimes controversial events and personalities that have shaped Israel’s past and present. Each week, Noam explores the layers of Israeli history, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the cultural forces at play—drawing on a variety of sources and perspectives. Whether you’re a history enthusiast or simply looking to better understand this complex region, you’ll find a nuanced, authentic, and thought-provoking take on Israel—free from oversimplification and political spin.
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What Would Rav Kook Think of Religious Zionism Today?
Season 8
Thursday, October 1, 2026 • Duration 58:48
In the third and final episode of our series on religious Zionism, Noam Weissman explores how every major debate within religious Zionism, from West Bank settlements and the Haredi draft to the relationship between faith, ethics, and nationalism, leads back to Rav Abraham Isaac Kook.
Noam is joined by scholar Yehudah Mirsky, author of Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution, to discuss the mystic, chief rabbi, and foundational thinker whose complex legacy continues to shape Israeli religious and political life.
This episode is sponsored by Jewish Lives, a prize-winning series of biographies from Yale University Press. To learn more about Rav Kook's life, identity, and legacy, you should check out Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution by Yehudah Mirsky at www.jewishlives.org and you can use the special promo code KOOKPOD to get 30% off.
If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History email noam@unpacked.media. Connect with Noam on Istragram at Noamlweissman_. And check out our episodes on Youtube.
This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
The Fight for the Soul of Religious Zionism
Season 8
Wednesday, September 30, 2026 • Duration 01:01:20
UPDATED: In part 2 of his series on Religious Zionism, Noam traces a movement as it moves from the sidelines to the center of Israeli life, and asks what happens when religious certainty collides with political reality. The story moves through the founding of Gush Emunim, the theological rupture of Oslo, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, and the earthquake of the 2005 Gaza disengagement. It ends by examining where the movement stands today. This is a story about land, redemption, and the danger of being too certain you know God's plan.
Here is a link to sources.
Special thanks to Yair Ettinger, author of Frayed, for his help with this episode.
This episode is sponsored in memory of Leo M. Bernstein. Thank you to The Bernstein Foundation for their generous support and partnership.
If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History email noam@unpacked.media. Connect with Noam on Istragram at Noamlweissman_. And check out our episodes on Youtube.
This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
What Actually is Religious Zionism?
Season 8
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 • Duration 51:36
In Part 1 of our series on Religious Zionism, Noam Weissman traces how Jewish longing for Zion evolved into a religious movement that reshaped Zionism. From early rabbinic thinkers to Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the founding of Israel, and the Six-Day War, this is the story of how religion and Zionism became intertwined. What happens when a dream of redemption collides with the realities of a modern Jewish state, and what does that mean for Israel today?
Here is a link to sources.
Special thanks to Yair Ettinger, author of Frayed, for his help with this episode.
This episode is sponsored in memory of Leo M. Bernstein. Thank you to The Bernstein Foundation for their generous support and partnership.
If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History email noam@unpacked.media. Connect with Noam on Istragram at Noamlweissman_. And check out our episodes on Youtube.
This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Don’t Leave Zionism to the Extremists – with Yossi Klein Halevi
Season 8
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • Duration 50:35
What does it mean to be a Zionist? Yossi Klein Halevi has asked, and lived that question in radically different ways. He tells Noam Weissman about his journey from the Jewish Defense League and the Zionist right to the settler movement and political center, and explains how his views on Israel, the Palestinians, democracy, and Jewish identity have evolved.
Yossi Klein Halevi
If you like this podcast, you’ll love SAPIR, the quarterly journal of ideas edited by Bret Stephens. Subscribe for FREE at sapirjournal.org/noam.
If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History email noam@unpacked.media. Connect with Noam on Istragram at Noamlweissman_. And check out our episodes on Youtube.
This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Tel Hai: Rethinking Israel's Founding Myth
Season 8
Tuesday, September 8, 2026 • Duration 52:20
Tel Hai is a small historic site in the Galilee where, in 1920, a tense standoff between Jewish farmers and Arab fighters erupted into a deadly firefight. Among the dead was Joseph Trumpeldor, a one-armed war hero already legendary before Tel Hai. Within days, the battle became one of the founding myths of the State of Israel, immortalized by Trumpeldor's famous last words and a national narrative of sacrifice. Noam Weissman unpacks what actually happened at Tel Hai, how the myth was built and fought over, and why Yitzhak Rabin once stood at the same site decades later to argue for a very different lesson.
Here's a link to sources:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KM3OSK0ta4wil7xZRfrqOSckWczq14H4guRYCEOSgeg/edit?usp=sharing
Check out Noamlweissman_.
This episode is sponsored in memory of the very special Melvin S. and Blanche E. Bernstein. If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History email noam@unpacked.media. It's also sponsored by, and made in partnership with, Jewish National Fund-USA.
Since 1901, Jewish National Fund-USA has strengthened the land and people of Israel through bold initiatives that secure the country’s North and South. By preserving heritage sites like Tel Hai Courtyard, Jewish National Fund-USA invests in Israel’s future, driving tourism, generating jobs, and helping communities thrive. Find more information about visiting Tel Hai Courtyard and other parts of Israel below. You belong in Israel.
Find your Jewish National Fund-USA tour or mission: https://www.jnf.org/travel/?utm_source=partner_opendor&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=boruchin&utm_content=ep4_tel_hai_courtyard
Educators can explore Israel on Jewish National Fund-USA's special mission: https://www.jnf.org/travel/tour/index/educators-mission-to-israel-2026?utm_source=partner_opendor&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=boruchin&utm_content=ep4_tel_hai_courtyard
Jewish National Fund-USA's Alexander Muss High School in Israel offers semester, summer, and mini-mester academic experiences for North American teens.
Find out more: https://www.amhsi.org/?utm_source=partner_opendor&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=boruchin&utm_content=ep4_tel_hai_courtyard
Learn more about the Jewish National Fund-USA's work preserving heritage sites in Israel: https://www.jnf.org/our-work/heritage-site-preservation?utm_source=partner_opendor&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=boruchin&utm_content=ep4_tel_hai_courtyard
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Special Crossover: Can Israelis And Palestinians Ever Live In Peace? With Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib
Season 8
Thursday, September 3, 2026 • Duration 01:04:55
Will the war ever truly come to an end? Can two populations with so much pain find common ground? Or is the hurt too deep, too vast to overcome? There are no questions more urgent than these, and there is no better guest to wonder with than Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Palestinian activist and author of Hamas And Its Two Million Hostages.
In this special crossover episode originally aired on Wondering Jews, Ahmed shares with Noam his own own tragic story of loss, why he holds Hamas responsible for the plight of the Palestinian people, and what Israel--and the world at large--can do to truly bring about peace.
Follow Noam on Instagram: noamlweissman_
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Good Jews Only? Confronting New York Magazine's Habibi City Story
Season 8
Tuesday, September 1, 2026 • Duration 33:56
Noam Weissman unpacks the firestorm around New York Magazine’s "Habibi City" issue and traces the deeper historical pattern behind it: the demand that Jews prove they belong by disavowing Zionism, Israel, and sometimes each other. From Poland’s 1968 “anti-Zionist” purge to today’s SWANA purity tests, this episode is about the seductive pull of belonging, and the old politics of exclusion dressed up in today’s language of identity, justice, and solidarity.
Here's a link to sources.
Follow Noam on Instagram: noamlweissman_
https://www.instagram.com/noamlweissman_/
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Durban 2001: How Zionism Became a Dirty Word
Season 8
Tuesday, August 25, 2026 • Duration 01:03:50
In August 2001, Jewish delegates arrived at the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban expecting to fight bigotry. Instead they walked into what Tom Lantos called the most sickening display of hatred for Jews since the Nazi period. Noam traces how Durban revived "Zionism is racism," seeded the modern BDS movement, and still shapes how the world sees Jews and Israel today, closing with Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and his question of whether the Jewish people are alone or simply apart.
Here's a link to sources.
Follow Noam on Instagram: noamlweissman_
This episode is sponsored by Andrea & Larry Gill. If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking Israeli History, or to be in touch, email noam@unpacked.media.
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Why Israeli Elections Never Produce a Clear Winner
Season 8
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 • Duration 01:04:58
How do Israeli elections actually work? Israelis don't vote directly for prime minister, no party has ever won a majority, and a party with just a handful of Knesset seats can sometimes hold the keys to government.
Noam Weissman sits down with former Knesset member Rachel Azaria to unpack coalition building, the 3.25% electoral threshold, the power of Haredi and Arab parties, and why Israeli politics can look so confusing from an American perspective. They also explore the biggest divides shaping Israel's next government, and what to watch as the 2026 election approaches.
If you like this podcast, you’ll love SAPIR, the quarterly journal of ideas edited by Bret Stephens. Subscribe for FREE at sapirjournal.org/noam.
Follow Noam on Instagram: noamlweissman_
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
-------------
For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Borderlines with That Semite
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Live from Camp Tel Yehudah: Teens Talk Antisemitism, Identity, and Israel
Season 8
Thursday, August 13, 2026 • Duration 39:58
What do Jewish teens really think about Israel? Noam Weissman takes the podcast to Camp Tel Yehudah for a special live episode, exploring Israel, October 7, Jewish identity, and the future of peace. Their answers might surprise you.
Listen to this raw, honest conversation about Israeli history, Jewish identity, and the questions shaping the next generation of Jewish leaders.
This episode of Unpacking Israeli History is sponsored by the Marcus Foundation. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media.
Check out our episodes on Youtube. This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand.
If you like this podcast, you’ll love SAPIR. Subscribe for free at sapirjournal.org/noam
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For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out:
Jewish History Nerds
Soulful Jewish Living
Stars of David with Elon Gold
Wondering Jews
Unpacking Israeli History, a podcast by Unpacked - Stats, Episodes and Rankings - My Podcast Data
