Teller From Jerusalem

Israel's Arab neighbors were also her declared enemy. Accordingly, they had no interest in respecting a border regarding which they had signed an armistice. Infiltrators, that were called fedayeem would sneak into Israel to tend unmanned farmland, to loot border villages, or to carry out violent and often deadly attacks and then return across the border where they would be commended rather than co...

Having already explained in our previous podcast on this subject (S5 E1) that there are people who "give in order to take," which is far from the ideal, in this episode we explore the concept proposed by Joseph Telushkin of "Imaginative Kindness." When implemented – which is a cinch – it enables one to harvest so much more mileage from one's kindness. Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't fo...

Why Four, and why not a peace treaty? All of this will be explained in this episode that details the difference between an armistice and a peace treaty. Israel's warring neighbors were battered and humiliated in Israel's War of Independence, which they were so confident would result in Arab triumph. Exhausted and losing ground by the day they wished to conclude the war, but how do you arrive at an...

A vast program of public works was initiated by the Israeli Government to provide employment opportunities for the refugee immigrants who were mainly unskilled. Likewise, the Jewish National Fund embarked upon a nationwide forestation project that totally transformed the landscape of the country. After figuring out how to absorb the greatest number of immigrants the world has known, Prime Minister...

In 1950 the Israeli Parliament passed a dramatic and symbolic law known as The Law of Return. This would finally bring an end to the description of "The Wandering Jew." The Law also brought a formal end to the execrable White Paper of 1939 (by the British Government) and a symbolic overturning of the Nuremberg Laws which the Nazis employed to determine who was Jewish. The Law of Return employed th...

Teller From Jerusalem takes an emboldening look at the compulsion of moral sensitivity to engage in kindness. We break down and analyze with stories (as usual) what it does for the recipient and what it does for the giver. Why is it that kindness matures a person and strips them of self-centered instincts? Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all you...

When the second truce in Israel's War of Independence went into effect on July 18, 1948, Israel was militarily in a far better position than it had been at the outbreak of the War. Still, work was still very much cut out for the nascent IDF as Egyptian forces had pressed so deep into the Negev that they were able to menace the key artery linking Tel Aviv to the southern towns and Jewish settlement...

After the first truce was called in Israel's War of Independence, the United States and Britain, acting through the United Nations, wished to secure a lasting peace in the region. The United Nations mediator was Count Foke Bernadotte, who unabashedly viewed himself as a soon-to-be Nobel Prize laureate and assumed many liberties that succeeded in making himself extremely unpopular to both sides of...

TFJ invited eloquent and dynamic Alex Traiman, CEO of Jewish News Syndicate, to explain the current situation in the Middle East. Alex Traiman is a go to for accurate news analysis and uncensored perspective on what lay behind current events. In this eye-opening interview (recorded On November 25, 2024) Mr. Traiman provides a fascinating understanding of Prime Minister Netanyahu who is constantly...

TFJ takes a serous look at cheerfully greeting others and smiling. From explaining the origin of the smiley emoji to the classic, true story of how a life was saved thanks to a cheerful greeting, this podcast (as always) gives substantial background to a rarely considered matter. More significantly, it will awaken dormant and atrophied friendliness muscles which should be a part of the daily fitne...

UNRWA was originally a small agency mandated to provide basic humanitarian relief for Palestinians, including a vote for renewal every three years. Seventy-five years and four generations later, it has mushroomed to having more than 30,000 employees and an annual budget of substantially more than  $1 billion , it has unjustifiably become one of the largest UN agencies. Revelations from the War in...

Professor Alan Dershowitz writes that the controversial battle in the Deir Yassin suburb of Jerusalem in 1948, "Stands out in the history of Arab-Jewish conflict in Palestine precisely because it was so unusual and out of character of the Jews." Arab armies massacred Jewish civilians avoiding any Jewish refugee problem. The Israelis did not kill Arab combatants, resulting in a burgeoning refugee p...

Israel's War for Independence resulted in three distinct refugee problems. The largest group of refugees were Jews who were forced out of their homes and threatened with severe violence and pogroms in the Arab and North African lands where they had lived for centuries. They received haven in Israel where they were welcomed by their brethren and were never referred to as "Refugees." The Arabs did n...

TFJ invites Motty Mendelowitz back to continue the story of how his family's project of visiting wounded soldiers has been life-changing for the visitors and those visited. Who'da thunk that brawny commandos who stormed into hornets' nests of terrorists, would be equally challenged by constructing a Lego set? The task is far more than just putting the right parts together, but patiently employing...

In the dialogues of today categories must be delineated so that they conform with: Critical Theory, Intersectionality and Identity Politics. What they all share in common is portraying Israel as the "Oppressor" or "Victimizer" and the Palestinians as the "Oppressed" or "Victims." This emanates from the claim that with the creation of the State of Israel one million (which is mathematically impossi...

Ambassador Daniel Taub, Israel's ambassador to the United Kingdom between 2011 – 2015 returns to TFJ to relate fascinating and intriguing anecdotes from the time that he represented Israel in Britain. Not since the time of Ambassador Yehuda Aviner, did Israel have an emissary that was so beloved by Anglo-Jewry. Under his watch Israel's relations improved and trade doubled, but already then, Muslim...

Britain was in favor of soliciting its Arab neighbors at Israel's expense. However, the economic realities of strapped Britain at the end of WW II ensured that she could not aggravate the United States. Hence Britain had no recourse but to comply with the arms embargo to the Middle-East.  The UN imposed a cease fire early in the War of Independence and Count Bernadotte was responsible for overseei...

This episode begins with some useful tips and matters of etiquette regarding the commandment to visit the sick. Motty Mendelowitz joins to detail the project he and his family have undertaken that has rewritten the book regarding this precept, constantly leaving the infirm markedly better after the visit. Team Mendelovitz is profoundly improving the lives of soldiers wounded, fighting in Gaza. The...

The vital support of the Soviet Union towards Israel's creation is an unknown chapter in Israeli history. Consequentially, too much credit is awarded to America who did nothing more in the critical first years than vote for her statehood and recognize its independence. Stalin was the most unlikely of Israel supporters, yet as it says in Proverbs, "The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord."...

This is an excellent question and a full-fledged mystery that will not be fully answered in this episode. Teller From Jerusalem continues to explore the various steps that occurred in the evolution of the Soviet support for nascent Israel. It was beneficial to Israel that the Soviets arrested the work of Count Folke Bernadotte, the Swedish aristocrat that was appointed by the United Nations Secret...

The title of this episode sounds inane, if not in fact Orwellian. Who can remember when the Soviets ever did anything beneficial to Jews or for the State of Israel? Alas, there was a window when the Soviets were determined to see a Jewish state arise and they were dependably reliable in the UN and allowing the transfer of weaponry that was to ensure that this would happen. Learn more at TellerFrom...

Rabbi Kelemer had the unique talent to empower whomever he encountered and always left them with a better feeling about themselves and their abilities. His sensitivity to the emotions and pain of others was legendary and a poignant example was when the Versailles Wedding Hall in Jerusalem collapsed in 2001. In this context TFJ expands upon the seminal role this catastrophe had upon the development...

One's first association of the IDF is that of a mighty army that secures Israel's borders and simultaneously prevents an Iranian hegemonic caliphate in the Middle East. But the IDF is very much also the platform and the wherewithal to enable Israelis – of every background – to live the Israeli dream.  The IDF presents an incredible educational opportunity for those who have been deprived of a high...

The casualty ambassadors of the IDF, like of any army, have the difficult job of informing of the passing of a loved one. Rabbi Steven Weil CEO of Friends of the IDF explains what is entailed in the role of these ambassadors and the caution they employ to make the hardest news a softer blow. Rabbi Weil also reveals what the IDF is doing to weed out potential victims of PTSD. Learn more at TellerFr...

The IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) has spread its tentacles all over the earth. Their greatest resource is the Hezbollah in Lebanon who probably possess 2000 precision guided missiles. These missiles have the capability of taking out Israel's most valuable assets within 14 inches of accuracy. Because of the existential threat that Hezbollah poses, when Israel called up its reservists aft...