Jews You Should Know

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Yehudit Abrams would have been a most unlikely candidate to be living and working in Jerusalem, but nothing about her life journey has been ordinary. Born to a devoutly Quaker mother in Idaho, as early as age ten Abrams began her restless search for spiritual truth. An astounding series of events led her to a Boise synagogue, and to Jewish mentors who nurtured her burgeoning int...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Miriam Schwab's life story reflects that of many olim (immigrants): ambivalent, halting beginnings eventually give way to a mature and successful Israeli life, filled with professional accomplishment and the pursuit of big dreams. Growing up in Toronto, Canada, Miriam was always enamored with "tech" - early computers and the various coding languages that powered them. Eventually...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE It was 3 AM on an otherwise ordinary Thursday night when Racheli Fraenkel and family received a knock at their door that would change their lives. Their eleventh-grade son, Naftali, had been returning home from his boarding school along with a friend, Gilad Shaar, but never showed up. Within hours authorities realized that these two boys, along with a third - Eyal Yifrach - had...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE In our final of the journalism mini-series in the Israel Live Podcast Tour, we encounter Zvika Klein, Diaspora reporter for Makor Rishon. Zvika has spent years covering the Jewish world that exists beyond the Holy Land's borders, and bringing those stories to its denizens within. Zvika gained notoriety - and a viral YouTube credit - when he filmed himself walking for ten hours t...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE In his own words, Gil Hoffman was "made in America with all Israeli parts." A Chicago native with Israeli parents, Gil always knew he would return to his homeland, and fell in love early on with journalism and political coverage. He is now one of the most senior reporters working out of the Knesset, covering the intriguing world of Israeli governance for the Jerusalem Post, the...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Growing up as a teenager in Toronto, Nechemia Coopersmith was always a truth-seeker. So when his older brother Eric went off to study in Israel, he naturally determined to learn more, and ultimately discovered a similar path, counter-cultural for its time but authentic in its fidelity to ancient roots. The Internet era dawned as Coopersmith was in the middle of a career in Jerus...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Eli Paley grew up with rich family history - the son of a survivor and a long-standing scion of Jerusalem aristocracy. Early love of Torah story fused with business interests, and Eli found himself at the helm of the fledgling Mishpacha Magazine, which he ultimately  catalyzed into a media empire. In more recent years, he founded the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, a multi-...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Few individuals have made the impact on Israeli society - and in particular on healing the divisions between the religious and secular populations - than has Tzili Schneider. Born into a Chassidic family in the ultra-Orthodox enclave of Mea She'arim, Tzili nevertheless grew up amidst incredible warmth and inclusiveness, in an open home that often found guests sleeping in her own...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Moshe Kaplan took a circuitous route to the Land of Israel: an acclaimed physician and medical author specializing in complementary medicine in San Francisco, CA, he eventually found his way back to both Judaism and the Jewish Homeland. In the years since, he has championed unity among Jews, and written several books aimed at this goal. Now, he runs the Be A Mentsch project, a s...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Israeli society comprises many different constituencies, and the complexities that emerge are legion. Religion and state issues, conflicting values around the army and the Zionist project in general. All of this and more often silos the population, and fractures a nation that could benefit immensely from solidarity. Since the 1970s Gesher has stepped into this breach, creating i...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE With a rich family background of survivors and passionate Jews, the backdrop for Shlomo Ra'anan's revolution in Israeli society was set decades ago. Drawing on this heritage, Ra'anan has made it his life mission to supply every Israeli kibbutz, moshav or town with Jewish resources and infrastructure. Placing rabbinic families in communities, building synagogues, and establishing...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Menachem Bombach was raised in an extremely religious neighborhood in Jerusalem, but jokes that he "immigrated" to Israel at the age of 20, which is when he first began speaking Hebrew, in addition to his native Yiddish! A lover of people, and frustrated by a perceived lack of educational opportunities in Israeli ultra-Orthodox society, Bombach became the ultimate reformer from...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Joseph Gitler grew up as a nice Jewish boy, and a Zionist, in Manhattan, NY and later Teaneck, NJ. His career path as a lawyer, first in the U.S. and then, after making aliyah, in Israel, was proceeding nicely, until he noticed a gaping void in the Israeli charitable sector: the absence of a food bank or food rescue and recovery program, which exist all over the world. Leaving h...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Avraham Leventhal was a Torah teacher and a technical writer before entering the charity world. But shortly after making aliyah twelve years ago, he assumed the directorship of one of Israel's most unique charitable organizations. L'maan Achai promotes a vision of "Smart Chessed" - creating sustainable models of self-sufficiency, and ending the poverty cycles in families, transf...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE While still living in South Africa, Issie Shapiro was already an activist for people with special needs, raising funds for their housing and care. When he realized a lifelong dream to make aliyah - following his daughter Naomi, who had married an Israeli and settled in the Holy Land - he intended to perpetuate that passion in his new home country. However, tragedy struck, and Is...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE As an innocent Jewish youth in Vancouver, Canada, and later as a rabbinical student and aspiring scribe in Israel, Kalman Samuels could never have imagined the life-changing events that awaited him. When he and wife Malkie welcomed their second child, Yossi, to the world forty-one years ago, they looked forward to a bright and normal future; but after a tainted batch of vaccine...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Doron Almog hunted the Munich Olympic terrorists, was the first soldier to land in the raid on Entebbe, and ultimately rose to head the Southern Command in the Israel Defense Forces. But nothing in his storied military career could prepare him for the birth of his severely impaired son, Eron, in 1984. After mourning the loss of what he had always expected and hoped for, Almog ev...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Few individuals can juggle a high profile legal career and one of the most consequential lay positions in the Jewish community, but Mark (Moshe) Bane does precisely that. As both Chairman of the Corporate Restructuring division of Ropes and Gray and President of the Orthodox Union, Bane synthesizes his roles as a professional and activist with sophisticated aplomb. Enjoy his uni...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE As a young girl growing up in Rockland County, NY, and as a student at the University of Michigan, Meredith (Englander) Polsky never imagined she would one day be running a national organization advocating for and training about children with disabilities. But after a chance encounter with one special child on the first day of Camp Ramah one summer, she had a "light-bulb moment"...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Izzy Ezagui grew up in a regular Jewish family in Miami, Florida. But his adult life has been anything but "regular"; while serving in the IDF, a rocket attack destroyed Izzy's arm. He knew, however, that his life would not be derailed, that he would not only resume living but would return to once again serve his country. After intensive rehab and quite a bit of persuasion, Izzy...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Sarah Stern considers herself shy and unassuming, but when it comes to Israel she is a fierce warrior for truth and righteousness. A lifelong Zionist, who worked in major pro-Israel organizations, ultimately determined to strike out on her own to promote messages she wasn't hearing elsewhere. Along the way, she has encountered great defenders of Israel both within and without th...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE A product of mainstream Jewish schools on New York's Lower East Side, Marvin Hier was an unlikely candidate to launch a global movement memorializing the Holocaust and combating anti-Semitism. But after a promising career in synagogue rabbinics and high school education, an empty building and a call from Frank Sinatra changed it all. Hear Rabbi Hier's riveting tale of growth and...

Listen here for information about the Jews You Should Know Summer 2018 Israel Podcast Tour. Support the tour here: https://www.gofundme.com/manage/jysk-israel-podcast-tour And recommend guests by contacting the show: jewsyoushouldknow@gmail.com .

ABOUT THIS EPISODE Ruchie Freier's conventional religious background did not foreshadow the activism and professional achievements of her adult life. But to hear her passionately describe her life and community, it is precisely those values that have galvanized her in these activities. As the first female chassidic judge elected in New York - and perhaps worldwide - she has been a trailblazer for...

ABOUT THIS EPISODE As a student at UCSB in the 1990's, David Cygielman would never have dreamed he would one day be running one of the most active young Jewish organizations in the world. But a "chance" encounter with then-80-year-old psychiatrist, inventor and philanthropist Morris Squire (OBM) altered his trajectory and set in motion a revolution in young adult Jewish programming. Moishe House c...