The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 6: Boundary Issues Part II - The Intifada When the intifada erupted it caught the Israeli army and leadership unprepared. Part two of the series exploring the evolution of the separation barrier explores Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s “iron-fist” policy response as part of arc of government decisions that move from suppression to separation – all in avoidance of sovereignty.  

The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 5: Boundary Issues Part I Almost two thousand years ago the Sages determined that Am Yisrael was bound in exile by an oath not to go up to the land “like a wall.” Now two millennia later there is a wall built by the Israeli government running through the heart of our biblical homeland. Here is the introductory episode to a new series that aims to break down the evolution of Israel’s security wall.

The Jewish Story Season 6 Interlude: The Sukkot Interlude The Zohar calls the Sukkah “the shade of faith.” Here are some impromptu thoughts from me to you as I sit in the shade of my sukkah – inspired by these holy days, but relevant all year round.  

The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 4: Electoral Dysfunction Part III Here is the final installment in the series detailing the evolution of Israel’s electoral system. It brings us almost all the way to the present, touching on topics like the Oslo Accord, electoral reform and Israel’s Supreme Court along the way. If you want to have a better understanding of our current electoral dysfunction, then tune in now.

The Jewish Story Season 6 Interlude: Interview with Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi Here is an interview with Rabbi Aharon Ariel Lavi, of Hakhel: The Jewish Intentional Communities Incubator in the Diaspora, an expert on the biblical sabbatical year – shemitta. This is our first taste of a “future vision” for the Jewish people, as well as some stirring thoughts for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  

The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 3: Electoral Dysfunction Part II The unity government wasn’t born yesterday, it has a long history in Israel. Tune in to this ongoing exploration of the evolution of Israel’s electoral system to learn about the government shared by ex-underground fighter Yitzhak Shamir and Shimon Peres through the 80s, how it held together Mizrachi pride, religious tension and territorial confusion. A government that withdrew from Lebanon, tamed galloping inflation and...

Love learning Jewish history? Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 2: Electoral Dysfunction Part I Part I of an in-depth look at the historical sources of the present electoral issues facing Israel.

Love learning Jewish history? Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 6 Episode 1: Prologue: A New Perspective Season 6 of The Jewish Story has finally begun! Here is a prologue to help frame the chapter to come. In it I touch on the power of prophetic sight, the Biblical Book of Daniel and why in the Hebrew month of Elul we say that the King is in the field.  

Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 5 Conclusion: An End and a Beginning All things good things must come to an end, so here is the concluding episode of season 5. In it you will find an exploration of how to relate to the brokenness of the world, some thoughts on our present posture and even hints about what the future might hold. See you in the fall!  

Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 5 Interlude: From Russia to Jerusalem – Interview with Dr. Zhenia Fleisher Dr. Zhenia Fleisher lived in all three of the 20th century’s major centers of Jewish life – USSR, Israel and the United States. Learn about her background as a Soviet Jewish refusenik, what life in Russia was life for a young Jewish woman, how she got to Israel in the post Six Day War era, her religious awakening in America and finally her...

Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 5 Interlude: 80s Conversation with Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen Rav Mike Feuer talks with Yehuda HaKohen of the Vision Movement about growing up as an American Jew in the 1980s. Yehuda describes the difference between the rough neighborhoods of New York City and the suburban Jewish experience. plus his eye-opening childhood visit to Soviet Russia. What role did polarizing figures such as Rabbi Meir Kahane and Jonathan...

Join Rav Mike Feuer for the Jewish Story Live! The Jewish Story Season 5 Episode 24: Rabbi Meir Kahane and the Memory of the Holocaust American Jewry in the 1980s 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 Rabbi Meir Kahane intersected with this fear – and had explosive results.  

Don't miss out on the Jewish Story Live with Rav Mike Feuer, starting August 28! The Jewish Story Season 5 Episode 23: Soviet Jewry - The Jonathan Pollard Affair 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...

The Jewish Story Season 5 Episode 22: Soviet Jewry - The End Game The third and final episode in our series on Soviet Jewry in which Russian Jews are finally able to leave the Soviet Union. The 1980s 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 Russian refusenik Natan Sharansky and the Freedom Sunday demonstration all came together to achieve one purpose – let my people...

The Jewish Story Season 5 Episode 21: American Jewry Circa 1984 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 surprising source - the Kollel. It was a decade in which the assumption that Jews vote Democrat was first really challenged and in which the early rumblings of antisemitism in the...

The Jewish Story Season 5 Interlude: An Interview with Daniel Gordis 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. Help continue making Jewish history a...

The Jewish Story Season 5 Episode 19: The Lebanon War Part IV: Sabra and Shatila The assassination of Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayel was an explosion that 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, and the political struggle over its consequences and sets the stage for a sea-change in Israeli society. Help continue making Jewish history a relevant story...

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.

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 that it is easier to enter Lebanon than to leave.

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 with Maronite leader Bachir Gemayel. Hear also how Prime Minister Menachem Begin's personal...

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 complicated by Reagan's cabinet. American envoy to the Middle East Philip Habib will fight to...

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 first in Iraq was a testimony to the power of adhering to first principles. image from:...

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.