Jewish Heroism Project

A second wrap up interview for season five. Dr. Zhenia Fleisher lived in all three of the 20th century's major centers of Jewish life - USSR, Israel and the USA. Tune in for her thoughts on past present and future.

Here is a talk with Rav Yehuda HaKohen of the Vision Movement, the first in couple of conversations which will close our exploration of American Jewish life in the 80s. We range from the personal to the political, touching on tough Jews, Soviet Jewry and what is was like growing up at a time when American Jewry flourished so well. graphic attribution: https://www.flickr.com/people/56639832@N03 htt...

American Jewry in the Eighties were as safe and comfortable as a Jewish community had ever been - and yet the shadow of the Holocaust still loomed large over their identity. Here is an exploration of how the political power and personal charisma of Meir Kahane intersected with this fear - and had explosive results. https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcn/46846447592 https://creativecommons.org/license...

The 1980s saw many seismic shifts in the fabric of American Jewish society, and among them was the earthquake of the Pollard affair. The 1985 arrest of the Navy analyst rocked the US/Israel relationship and accelerated the fragmenting of attitudes toward Israeli among Jews in the US. Whether you see Jonathan Pollard as a traitor or a prisoner of Zion, his story must be heard.

Here is the third and culminating episode in a story that we have been following since season four. The Eighties saw a welding together of American Cold War policies and the struggle for Soviet Jewry in a dramatic fashion. Super power summits, glasnost, the release of Natan Sharansky and the Freedom Sunday march all came together to achieve one purpose - let my people go!

As we circle in toward the end of season five, it is time to check back in with American Jewry. The Eighties were a time of economic and social security for the Jews of the US, and the overall growth of their religious communities was boosted by a surprise source - the kollel. It was a decade in which the assumption that Jews vote Democrat was first really challenged, and in which the early rumbli...

Jerusalem Day is a time when past and present come sharply together, and have the potential to define our future. Social activist and former city councilor Rav Aaron Leibowitz joins me to discuss the potential of the holy city and this momentous day.

Menachem Begin has been part of our exploration of the Jewish Story since the uprising against the British back in 1944, and the Lebanon War was the last chapter in which he took an active role. In order to give a fitting wrap up to such an important character, here is an interview with Dr. Daniel Gordis, author of the biography Menachem Begin: the battle for Israel's soul. picture credit: Yoram R...

Even if you only count until 1985, Lebanon was Israel's longest war and so it's no surprise that it left some of the deepest impressions. The birth of Peace Now, the murder of Emil Gruzweig and the personal struggles of soon-to-be famous Israelis like Avraham Burg and Donniel Hartman all illustrate how far Israel's social fabric was stretched by the conflict. Across the ocean in America Jews like...

The RRG Bet Midrash Torah Cafe hosts Rav Mike for a live word of Torah on Yom Haatzmaut. How does history create obligations, and why is it important to rejoice? If you want to discover the connection between gratitude and redemption, listen all the way to the end of this Yom Haatzmaut 5782 Interlude!

The assassination of Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayal was an explosion which rocked the region, and the massacres at Sabra and Shatila which followed in its wake horrified the world. This episode touches on a rabbinic debate over the morality of war, the political struggle over its consequences and sets the stage for a sea-change in Israeli society.

Crossing into Lebanon to destroy PLO started as a successful mission, and when the IDF destroyed the Syrian SAM belt in the Bekaa Valley through Operation Mole Cricket 19 it looked like victory was assured. Nonetheless as Defense Minister Ariel Sharon pursued Yasser Arafat (and his dreams of a peace treaty) into the Siege of Beirut, he discovered that his Maronite allies were not to be trusted and...

We are all actors in the Jewish Story, and part of the art of becoming a main character is knowing how to seize the moment. Here is an interview with former Ambassador David Friedman which explores how he came to be in his position, the contributions he made and his vision for where Israel might be headed.

Sometimes a listener question can cause a whole interlude. Here is an exploration of Jewish leadership and its roots in the Jewish story. Along the way we touch on Ukrainian president Zelenskyy, R' Chaim Kanievsky and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. There is also an opening attempt at defining leadership and a chance to ask the question - what exactly makes someone a Jewish leader?

Operation Peace for the Galilee begins with Israeli jets pounding Yasser Arafat's PLO bases in southern Lebanon, but there is always a backstory. In this episode learn about the complicated history Lebanon's civil wars fought between Christians, Moslems and Druze. Meet Ariel Sharon in his new role of Defense Minister, ever the bulldozer and now hoping to stabilize Israel's northern border together...

Before we can discuss the outbreak of war between Israel and the PLO in Lebanon, we must lay out the political context. As Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian liberation army were massing troops along the border, and the city of Kiryat Shemona was facing bombardment, Prime Minister Menachem Begin visited US President Ronald Reagan in Washington to solidify a US-Israel relationship - a goal made more...

Adar is the month when we increase our joy. The question is, in an increasingly bewildering world, where is it to be found?

Israel's leadership came to be part by never forgetting the principal of "when one comes to kill you, rise early and kill first." Menachem Begin's 1981 bombing of the Iraqi reactor Osirak on the distant banks of the Tigris gave birth to the "Begin doctrine" of absolute opposition to enemy possession of nuclear weapons - which is still being questioned today. Without doubt Begin's rising to strike...

People like to talk about the price of peace, but they rarely define what peace actually means. This makes evaluating the price impossible. In April of 1982 Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and for the first time destroyed established Jewish homes in the name of peace. This episode explores the price.

There are some conversations which Am Yisrael is just not having. As a follow up to some of the issues raised in the last few episodes Rav Mike is joined by R' Yehuda Hakohen of the Vision Movement for a conversation on power and violence in the State of Israel.

Today the media loves to discuss "settler violence," but it is rarely interested in its historical origins. This episode picks up the story of Yehuda Etzion and Menachem Livni who had set out to trigger redemption by any means necessary. As it turns out, events went in another direction and their actions continue to have consequences down to our day.

In politics as in physics - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Menachem Begin's signing of the Camp David Accords did not produce a singular response, but it did send shock waves through every aspect of Israeli society. Among the idealists of the settlement movement, it birthed an underground element which felt called to continue the revolution which Begin himself had helped...

Sometimes one man's story sits at the intersection of so many threads it becomes a horrible knot. By the same virtue its potential is boundless. Here is David Ben Moshe's story in his own words, please listen close and consider making his fight your own.

It is rare that someone who begins a movement is still leading strong fifty years later. Daniella Weiss was part of the original settlement of the Shomron in the early 70s, and remains a militant force within the settlement movement today. Here is an interview which touches on her experience of past and present, as well as her views of the future.

Is anyone else feeling a little frayed around the edges? Here is an interlude where I give some insight on how to avoid snapping under the pressure of our world, and even how to fray with grace. Send me an email at ravmikefeuer@gmail.com if you want to set up a counselling session about how to take these ideas deeper into your life. image by author Alan Levine, https://creativecommons.org/licenses...