Israel Beat

For generations, Rachel’s Tomb (Kever Rochel) has attracted Jewish women for prayer and blessing. One of these was Lady Judith Montefiore, a British philanthropist who funded the rebuilding of the site after it was damaged in the 1837 earthquake. Hear here eloquent, poetic descriptions of the Land of Israel’s beauty and why the Tomb of Rachel inspired her. Plus, learn beauty tips and recipes from...

The Jewish farmers who escaped the pogroms in Eastern Europe and Russia rebuilt their lives in Latin America. Learn about Baron Maurice de Hirsch and the Jewish Colonisation Association, his connection to Theodor Herzl and the once thriving town of Moisés Ville. Hear excerpts from Alberto Gerchunoff’s famous book Los Gauchos Judíos (The Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas). Thank you to Kehila Latina . N...

Many recited blessings when they voted for the first time in an independent, democratic Jewish State in 1949. Hear memories of the exciting days of Israel’s first elections amid war and learn about the colorful candidates including Rachel Cohen-Kagan of WIZO, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Amin-Salim Jarjora, the Christan-Arab mayor of Nazareth, former militant Lechi fighter Nathan Y...

The Jerusalem park called Gan Sacher attracts picnic-goers, athletes, and families but back in 1967 it was the planned site of a cemetery for the projected mass casualties of the invading Arab armies. But Israel’s lighting victory in the Six Day War meant a large cemetery was not necessary. Learn about Harry Sacher, the Zionist philanthropist for whom the site is named who helped draft the Balfour...

David Littman never knew his job helping Jewish children in Morocco was part of a secret illegal immigration mission called Operation Mural. He was one of the many who risked their lives helping Jews leave move to Israel after the Moroccan government banned aliyah. Another hero is Yehudit Yehezkeli Galili, a member of the Misgeret, a Jewish underground that ran self defense units and helped Operat...

Tu Bishvat is the new year for the trees and Israel is a pioneer in creating sustainable agriculture and water management. Meet Simcha Blass who invented modern drip irrigation and built Israel’s first pipeline to the Negev. Learn about his rabbinical family from Europe and the struggle to revive the deforested and arid land through the Netafim company, born in Kibbutz Hatzerim, an agricultural co...

Thousands flocked to the Baba Sali both during his lifetime and on the annual memorial of his passing for miracles of healing and salvation. But the Baba Sali rejected all honor and insisted the miracles came not from him, but through the individual’s faith in God. Learn about Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira and his illustrious family of sages: Rabbi Shmuel Elbaz, the Father of the Carpet, the musical p...

Operation Solomon, the massive airlift to rescue the Ethiopian Jewish community made history. Learn about the tragedy of the trek through the Sudanese desert, the abrupt halt of Operation Moses and Jewish-Ethiopian community leaders who risked their lives to covertly arrange immigration of thousands to Israel amid famine and political turmoil such as Baruch Tegegne, Ferede Aklum and Yona Bogale. P...

The tzitzit tassels on the tallit have great significance in Judaism. The blue fringe, or tekhelet color was thought to be lost but was rediscovered through the efforts of such people as the Radziner Rebbe, whose students fought the Nazis, Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog, and Jewish scientists who combed Israel’s beaches looking for the elusive chilazon. Plus, how a tallit saved Israeli soldiers during t...

The story of Uziel Gal, creator of the Uzi submachine gun, which defended Israel from the 1950s and beyond. Born in Germany, his family fled the Holocaust to a small kibbutz where young Uzi developed an early interest in innovative weapons. Learn about his father, the noted Bauhaus artist Erich Glas who was forced from his job and home by the Nazis, his brother the award-winning educator Michael G...

The Tenth of Tevet is a Jewish fast day which marks the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians. But it also served as Holocaust memorial day before Yom HaShoah and was used to protest unfair treatment of Russian Jews during the Soviet era. Learn about the Chamber of the Holocaust on Mount Zion, Rabbi Mordechai Nurock who initiated Holocaust commemoration in Israe...

In the 1940s, American Jewish soldiers lit the Chanukah candles with Holocaust survivors, Tel Aviv was ordered to hide their menorahs, and the annual torch relay marathon took place starting from the graves of the Maccabees in Modiin. Hear about Chanukah during World War II, during the fight against the British Mandate’s White Paper, and finally culminating with the first Chanukah in the newly est...

Singer-songwriter Yitzchok Meir Malek (Mayer Malik) talks about his 20 years of performing at Israel Defense Force army bases and compares today's conflict to the Second Lebanon War of 2006 during which he lost his friend Michael Levin. His Notes of Strength project helps boost the morale of Israeli soldiers. Hear stories about singing Jewish songs amid tanks, sirens, and hostage negotiations and...

Interview with almost 100-year-old journalist Walter Bingham about his recent trip to Germany, the Netherlands and England for a special reenactment and commemoration of the Kindertransport which rescued nearly 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Europe during the Holocaust. He describes the change in attitude of the German public towards Holocaust survivors and the reactions to the current...

Learn about Krav Maga and its founder Imi Lichtenfeld who fought Anti-Semitic gangs in Slovakia. He escaped Europe during World War II on the ill-fated Pancho, an immigration vessel that was shipwrecked near Greece. He eventually made it to Israel where he taught hand-to-hand combat to the newly formed Israel Defense Force. Hear rare audio of this Israeli martial arts expert and his unique story o...

A brief review of Jewish and Pro-Israel rallies in Washington DC including the Rabbis March in 1943, the Six Day War rally in 1967, Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jewry in 1987 and the National Rally in Solidarity With Israel in 2002 featuring rare sound audio from Natan Sharansky, Elie Wiesel and more. Did you or a family member attend one of these rallies? Let me know in the comments section. Notes:...

The history of Israeli tanks includes the locally produced Merkava, the Magach, the secret Pereh missile carrier, and the new AI-powered Barak. Learn about IDF General Israel Tal who developed the Merkava, early armored division head Major General Jackie Even, and the Ma'ale Akrabim massacre and fedayeen infiltrations that preluded the Sinai War and led to Israel liberating the entire Gaza Strip i...

Times are tough for Israeli tour guides, but Rachel Lazar knows both the joys and challenges that come with showing people the ancient, historic sites in the land of the Bible. Click here for more information on Rachel Lazar Tours. Get full access to Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky at benbresky.substack.com/subscribe

NOTES: Magen David Adom history United Hatzalah emergency medical services ZAKA emergency response team Dr. Nancy Caroline Dr. Meshulam Levontin Dr. Moses Erlanger Founding of Magen David Adom Magen David Adom in 2020 Magen David Adom 90th Birthday Foreign Magen David Adom volunteers reflect on saving lives in Israel The Origins Of Magen David Adom by Saul Singer Magen David Adom: History & Overvi...

The slogan Am Yisrael Chai — the Nation of Israel Lives — has returned to public consciousness in recent days due to the current war in Israel with Hamas controlled Gaza. This phrase has its roots in the Torah. It was recited by Rabbi Leslie Hardman at the Bergen Belson concentration camp in 1945, heard by Soviet Jews during the visit of Golda Meir in 1948, turned into a song by Shlomo Carlebach f...

The famous commentator on the Mishnah, Ovadia of Bartenura sipped wine with the Jews of Gaza in the 1480s. The founder of Wissotzky Tea spearheaded the revival of a thriving Jewish Gazan community in the 1880s. Today, there is still a section of Gaza City known as the Jewish Quarter. Find out about the history of the Jews of Gaza who lived, worked and prayed along Israel’s southern Mediterranean c...

For more stories by I. L. Peretz see here: https://archive.org/details/stories-and-pictures/page/18/mode/2up Get full access to Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky at benbresky.substack.com/subscribe

Before the city of Modi'in, amid the archeological ruins of the Maccabees, there was a small, idealistic community with one road, one phone line and one car that they shared. Also known as Moshav Meor Modiin, the students of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach paved the way. Video: Early Days on Moshav Mevo Modi'in, 1977 Get full access to Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky at benbresky.substack.com...

The classic Yom Kippur story "Tenth man for the Minyan" and the history of the Avraham Avinu synagogue in Hebron. Get full access to Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky at benbresky.substack.com/subscribe

A medley of stories for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashannah. Get full access to Jewish History Moment podcast with Ben Bresky at benbresky.substack.com/subscribe