Conversations with B’nai B’rith

The coronavirus is being used as an excuse by some to spread anti-Semitism around the world. B’nai B’rith Deputy Director of the International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy Eric Fusfield joins the B’nai B’rith International Podcast for a discussion on coronavirus and anti-Semitism in this uncertain time. In a discussion with CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin, Fusfield delves into the anti-Semit...

The 2019 film Sefarad explores the fascinating history of Oporto, the Jewish community of northern Portugal. Visiting to discuss the film and its impact is Dara Jeffries, a long-time member of the Jewish Community of Oporto, where she lived for most of her life until relocating with her family to Miami. She is a representative and spokesperson for the Oporto community in the United States.

In this episode, host and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin sits down with Eric Fusfield, B'nai B'rith International's director of legislative affairs and the deputy director of the B’nai B’rith International Center for Human Rights and Public Policy. As anti-Semitism rears its ugly head again and again throughout the country, we have watched in horror as Jews have been assaulted and killed in Monsey, New...

In this episode, host and CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin talks with Laura Seltzer-Duny, the documentary filmmaker behind “Nobody Wants Us,” the true story of Jewish refugees who sailed to Hampton Roads, Virginia in order to seek asylum from the Nazis in 1940. During a period when the United States was turning away large numbers of refugees, this group was allowed in the country thanks to the advocacy of...

Nearly 100 years after his death, legendary illusionist and escape artist Harry Houdini continues to cast a spell over loyal fans worldwide. In his new book The Life and Afterlife of Harry Houdini, author Joe Posnanski unpacks both Houdini’s fascinating biography and how Houdini’s legacy has influenced individuals who have sought to follow in Houdini’s footsteps as magicians. On this episode, Posn...

Recently, the United Nations General Assembly committee voted to move forward with renewing the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Founded in 1949, UNRWA has a long history of supporting anti-Israel incitement. On this episode to discuss what the renewal of UNRWA’s mandate means for Israel is guest Dr. Asaf Romirowsky. Romirowsky...

Over his nine-decade career, Jewish American songwriter Irving Berlin created some of the most beloved and celebrated popular music in the United States. Due to major songs such as “God Bless America” and “White Christmas,” Irving Berlin’s music continues to live on as canonized works in American popular culture. One of the less examined aspects of Irving Berlin’s life is his relationship with New...

Coming-of-age novel Cosella Wayne: Or, Will and Destiny, by largely unknown American Jewish author Cora Wilburn, went largely unnoticed for over 150 years. That is, until preeminent Jewish Studies scholar Dr. Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University discovered the work in Jerusalem after having come across Wilburn's name throughout his career. Sarna helped bring Wilburn's novel to modern day readers...

Each year, B’nai B’rith sends a delegation of high-level representatives to the United Nations General Assembly, which convenes in New York in the fall. There, our delegation advocates for Israel with political leaders and diplomats from around the world. Given the United Nations’ well-documented and long-running bias against Israel, we consider this work of advocating for Israel a key part of our...

In this episode, our host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin is joined by Dr. Erica Miller, a clinical psychologist whose life has taken her from Romania, where she and her family were forced into a concentration camp during the Holocaust when she was a child, to Israel, where her family immigrated when Erica was 15 years old. In Israel, Erica eventually joined the Israeli Air...

In 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Act. As anti-Semitism continues to surge around the globe, this legislation sent a clear message that the United States will not tolerate hatred and bigotry. In February 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appointed Elan Carr to fill the post of the special envoy. Prior to this point, the posit...

Often in politically progressive spaces, Zionists are asked to leave their pro-Israel politics at the door, or else face exclusion and be branded as racists. Amanda Berman, the founder and executive director of the Zioness Movement, is aiming to address this problem by empowering and activating Zionists on the progressive left to stand proudly in social justice spaces as Jews and Zionists. In this...

The Band’s Visit is the winner of 10 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, making it one of the most Tony-winning musicals in history. With a Middle Eastern-inspired score and a highly skilled ensemble cast, The Band’s Visit celebrates the way that music brings people together in both poignant and often comedic ways. In this episode, Sasson Gabay, who stars in the national tour of The Band's Visit...

We know that the language that we choose is paramount when we talk about Israel and the Middle East. Author and FactsonIsrael.com co-founder Lee Bender emphasizes this point in his book Pressing Israel: Media Bias Exposed from A-Z, which he co-authored with Jerome Verlin. In this podcast episode, Bender and our podcast's host, B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin, discuss language a...

25 years ago this summer, the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentina's history occurred when a bomber killed 85 people and injured hundreds of others at the AMIA, the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. The evidence that Iran and Hezbollah were responsible for the attack is extensive. Yet, efforts to prosecute those responsible for the bombing have been unsuccessful. And the murder of Jewish...

In this episode, host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin talks with Eduardo Kohn, B’nai B’rith’s director of Latin American Affairs, about the upcoming yearly meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Medellin, Colombia. Kohn and Sienna Girgenti, Program Director for Strategic Engagement, will represent B’nai B’rith at the meeting. B’nai B’rith attends the OAS Ge...

Even today, mysteries circulate about the life of Moe Berg, a major league baseball player during baseball’s Golden Age in the 1920s and 1930s who also spied for the United States in Europe. Award-winning documentary filmmaker Aviva Kempner chose to take on Berg's fascinating and jet-setting legacy in her latest film The Spy Behind Home Plate, opening this month. In this episode with Kempner and h...

In this episode, host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin talks with our guests about our efforts to help Puerto Rico recovery from the devastating 2017 Hurricane Maria. We coordinated a vital  service mission as part of a gathering of our housing experts that included a focus on emergency preps, protecting seniors from financial fraud and aging in place. As the largest nationa...

In this episode, host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin sits down with guest Professor Pamela Nadell to discuss her latest book America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today, published this year by W.W. Norton. Nadell is the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women’s and Gender History at American University’s Department of History. She also directs the Jewish Studie...

Starting in the in 1940s, governments across the Middle East began expelling their countries’ Jewish populations. As a result, almost one million Jews were forced to flee; these refugees went to Israel and other Western countries. In this episode, guest and author Lyn Julius discusses this often-overlooked tragedy in Middle Eastern history with host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mar...

In this episode, our host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin is joined by guest David Michaels, the Director of United Nations and Intercommunal Affairs at B’nai B’rith International. David traveled with a delegation of B'nai B'rith's leaders to Paris and Geneva for B'nai B'rith's annual meetings at UNESCO and the United Nations Human Rights Council, respectively. During these...

In this episode, our host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin is joined by sports writer Jane Leavy, an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of biographies of baseball legends Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. Those books are titled The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood and Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy. Leavy also wrote the comic novel Squee...

In this episode, host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin is joined by David Weinstein, the Washington, D.C.-based author of two books, including most recently The Eddie Cantor Story: A Jewish Life in Performance and Politics (2017). In this biography, which is included the Brandeis Series in American Jewish History, Culture and Life, Weinstein explores the extensive legacy of...

As anti-Semitic incidents continue to occur on college campuses across the United States, how bad is the situation for Jewish students today? What is being done to combat anti-Semitism on campuses? How can we ensure that supporters of the BDS movement do not hijack student government agendas? In this episode, our host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin delves into these questi...

As we continue to witness a resurgence in anti-Semitism worldwide, it becomes even more critical for B’nai B’rith International to increase its global footprint fighting bigotry against Jews. In this episode, host and B'nai B'rith International CEO Daniel S. Mariaschin speaks to B'nai B'rith International's Director of European Union Affairs Benjamin Naegele about Naegele's work combating anti-Sem...