Jewanced

In this special ‘War Edition’ of the show, Dan and Benny take a deep dive into the geopolitical context of the October 7th war with Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman.  Together, they discuss the war’s progress, impact, and possible outcomes both near- and long-term.  About Col. (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman: Colonel (Res.) Dr. Eran Lerman is a lecturer in the Shalem College Departments of Middle East...

In this special ‘War Edition’ of the show, Dan and Benny cover updates on the war as well as discuss Israel’s PR battle with special guests Joanna Landau, founder and president of Vibe Israel, and Haisam Hassanein, a fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies specializing in Israel’s relations with Arab states and Muslim countries. About Joanna Landau: Best-selling author of “Ethical...

Join Dan Feferman and Benny Scholder for the return of Jewanced as we present a special live podcast covering Swords of Iron - The Simchat Torah War. Taped Live on Friday, October 13, 2023, day 7 of the war, this will be the first in a series of episodes we're broadcasting to bring you ongoing updates and snapshots of the progress of this unfolding war - a horrific, devastating, and pivotal moment...

Dr. Shlomo Fischer is a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute and teaches sociology in the School of Education at Hebrew University and at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. He served as a research fellow at the Van Leer Institute. Fischer has worked in the field of education for the past 25 years. In the past 10 years, he has worked in the field of religion, democracy, and tole...

Rawan Osman was born in Damascus and raised in Lebanon. After high school, Osman moved back to Syria and in 2011, during the beginning of the unrest, left for France. In 2018, Osman moved to Strasbourg and started working on her first book, The Israelis, Friends or Foes. Osman is a contributor to Fikra Forum. A true believer in the potential for authentic and positive human interactions with Jews...

Listener’s beware, this episode of the show is virtually guaranteed to leave you super hungry! NJ native and former screenwriter Joel Haber made aliya to Israel in 2009. Looking to leave his former profession behind in the Old Country, Joe did what anyone would do and became a licensed tour guide and soon found himself escorting travelers from all over the world to discover and uncover the wonder...

DIG into history on this week’s episode of the show as Dan and Benny explore ancient Israel and the turbulent times of the 1st Jewish State and its destruction with guest Dr. David Gurevich, an archaeologist and expert on Jerusalem and the 2nd Temple period. Dr. David Gurevich  is an archaeologist who studies Jerusalem and the Second Temple Period. His doctoral dissertation focused...

Are we headed towards a Cold War – Round Two?     Our guest this week, Daniel Rakov , might have the answer for that ominous question and it might not be what you think… Lt. Col. (Res). Daniel Rakov is an expert on Russian policy in the Middle East and Great-Power Competition in the region.  He served in the Israel Defense Forces for over 20 years, mainly in the Israeli Defense...

Len Khodorkovsky has one of those heartwarming American Jewish stories: A refugee from the Soviet Union finds safe haven in America, where he thrives, builds a family and reaches professional success… then helps the president of the United States tweet Game of Thrones memes.  Len Khodorkovsky served at the State Department as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Global Public Affairs. He was also...

How do China, Hezbollah, int’l NGO’s, Iran, Palestinian politics, Gaza, Israel, Jihadism, and illicit financial networks connect? Dan and Benny sat down with Dr. Jonathan Schanzer, terrorism finance analyst and Senior VP of Research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies to find out! Dr. Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD...

The Future is Now! Hey, Jewanced fans. We have missed you. Wondering where we went? Well, it all goes back to the Abraham Accords. We recorded this episode with our good friend (and Dan's colleague) Omar Al Busaidy. In case you are curious, Benny was about to head off for his first trip to the UAE. Omar, who usually lives in the US, was in his hometown of Dubai, and Dan just got back from Dubai an...

Join us on a journey of discovery into the heart some of Israel’s best kept gems of history!  Our guest this week, Shakked Beery AKA The Wandering Jewess , spent this episode of the show as our expert tour guide as together we explored some of Israel’s most fascinating and least-known secret places – the ones most visitors to the country never get to see. Native to Israel for ten generations,...

Now, perhaps more than ever before in our lifetimes, humanity seems to be seeking answers to some of our biggest questions.  What and where is God?  How do spirituality and religion impact the uniqueness of humanity?  What is the nature of reality? Will everything be ok? Fresh off the boat from Berkeley, CA, Dr. Tomer Persico takes us on a fascinating journey throughout the human la...

On this episode of the show, we talk to Anat Sultan-Dadon, Israel's Consul General to the US Southeast and learn everything we’d want to know about how Israel's all-star diplomats strengthen Israel by building relationships at the state, local, and national levels across a wide range of diverse interests. As Israel’s Consul General in Atlanta, Anat Sultan-Dadon promotes bilateral relations between...

Over a year and a half into the Covid-19 Pandemic, we find ourselves in a very different place than we did back in 2020.  If you’re fortunate to be in the developed world, chances are you have access to vaccines and promising therapeutics are right around the corner.  But does this new reality translate to a new roadmap as far as public health policy is concerned? How is the world h...

Hi friends!  This episode of the show was recorded as a Jewanced LIVE! discussion, sponsored by the Orange County Community Scholars Program (CSP).  CSP is dedicated to bringing the best Jewish thinkers, writers, artists and musicians in the world to Orange County, California, the greater USA and the world! Rabbi Tamar Elad-Appelbaum  is co-founder of the Beit Midrash for Israeli Ra...

Much like an onion, sometimes life seems to be made up of layers upon layers of complexity.     Our guest this week, Jonathan Elkhoury , definitely embodies a life of many such layers. Jonathan Elkhoury is a gay Christian Lebanese refugee who now lives in Israel. In 2000 when he was 8 years old, he and his family were forced to leave Lebanon for Israel after the Lebanese Civil War f...

EXTRA! EXTRA! DAVID HOROVITZ – THIS WEEK ON JEWANCED In today’s media landscape where it’s increasingly difficult to tell facts from fiction and where finding a trustworthy news source seems as challenging as running a marathon (fake news anybody?), The Times of Israel’s founding editor David Horovitz truly is an anchor of authenticity and a real source of stability for our times.  Listen to...

…So Much Trouble in the World… It isn’t just one of the greatest Bob Marley songs, it’s the truth.  We live in a wild place during a crazy time.  But, it helps to remember that ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire’…things have by and large been ‘burning since the world’s been turning.’  Only now, we have the added benefit of social media, a decentralized media landscape, echo chambers, clickba...

So, there’s a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas…now what? In this special live episode of the show, we sat down with IDF military affairs expert Col. (Res) Reuven Ben-Shalom (nickname ‘Rabash’) to discuss the aftermath of Operation Guardian of the Walls (שומר החומות), the cease-fire, and how we move forward from here.  What transpired was a fascinating, nuanced discussion about the nature o...

Decisionmaking for the future depends on anticipating change. And anticipating change is becoming increasingly difficult. How does a person make good decisions in the face of mounting uncertainty? What if that person is a CEO, legislator, prime minister, military general, or even the President?  This week’s guest on the show, Dr. Steven Popper, Ph. D. is a Senior Economist at t...

Ariella Steinreich is a senior vice president at Steinreich Communications overseeing the firm’s global corporate / issues practice and its Middle East division. On this episode of the show, we talk to Ariella about all things PR, the Arab Gulf, and what makes her (and us) so excited about the opportunities ahead for our region.  Ariella brings over a decade of experience at major public rela...

This episode of Jewanced with Chaim Davids was recorded live as a special culinary show at Prohibition Pickle - quite possibly THE BEST deli in Israel – where Chaim is the proprietor and pickle master extraordinaire.  We tuck into how the Baltimore native has gone from running the Judean Hills greatest bootlegging operation since the 2nd Temple period to leading the country’s delicatessen ren...

“Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.” – Rambam To us, it seems that the Rambam might have been a guy who knew how to appreciate nuance! On this week’s episode of the podcast, we sat down with Dr. Guy Matalon and dived right into the Rambam, the Talmud, the mystifying world of Jewish philo...

Wouldn’t you like to predict the future?  Dan Libenson , gets up each and every day and does just that – for the Jewish world.  Dan Libenson is founder and president of the Institute for the Next Jewish Future, co-host of the popular Judaism Unbound podcast, and co-creator of jewishLIVE, where he co-hosts the weekly live-streaming video series “The Oral Talmud” with Benay Lappe. He’...