Chosen People Problems

Happy Nowruz!

Is Iran winning? Do the people support the regime? Are the Arab countries mad at us? Beni Sabti has no time for your nonsense.

Born and raised in Iran, Beni is one of Israel’s top war commentators and a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University. We were honored to catch him for a bit (albeit after a few glasses of wine…) to get the real story behind the headlines. Shots were fired, and narratives sunk like the Iranian Navy. Follow him on X.

Much more on Substack!

To our Iranian listeners - we love you guys! Show 'em what you got.

Also:

* The Iranian regime only knows how to do one thing - take hostages

* love to waste Time, Money and Lives.

* The weight of responsibility when Trump listens to your interviews

* Wait Ahmadinejad is still alive? And he’s not Mossad??

* The Ayatollah is still around…in a refrigerator.

* Launchers can be rebuilt - leadership cannot

* 21:20 half a million wounded people

* Reza Pahlavi is totally a thing

* Maybe if we controlled the world the Oscar’s would be better.

* The Saudis aren’t playing

* Are the Arabs mad at us?

* Iranians love pride!

* No to Gaza, no to Lebanon! I live only for Iran.

* How are the Jews doing?

* America and Israel together = tears of joy.

* It’s not about Israel, stupid!

* Take the hope from the Iranian regime and give it to the people

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Today on Ask A Jew, we fly into the future to talk to Claire Lehmann, the founder and editor-in-chief of Quillette, a fantastic Australia-based online publication. We talk about the state of the nation in the land down under, how Australians are grappling with the rise of antisemitism and radical Islam, and which Australian celebrities are secretly based (looking at you, Bluey). Before we kick that off, we spenD about 30 minutes catching up, talking covid, hugs, and the Manosphere. We obviously recorded this before the two horrific terrorist attacks in the US yesterday, and who knows what will happen in the coming days to make this episode seem out-of-date, or even more timely. If you’re Jewish, go to synagogue tonight. If you’re not, stop by and say hi.

And either way, thank a police officer if you see them! xx

TONS OF LINKS, VIDEOS AND FUN ON SUBSTACK!!

Follow Claire on X, Facebook, and check out her writing at Quillette (right here on Substack too!)

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These are trying times for the United States, Israel, and the good people of Iran. Thankfully, we gathered on a Substack Live with our community to talk sh*t about Malala Yousafzai!

Also: funny memes from Israel, we love the USA, Hashem trolls Chaya Leah through Uber Eats, and more….

Enjoy, and Happy Purim!

Video of this episode as well as photos and videos of the wonderful Iranian celebration in NYC on askajew.substack.com.

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Behnam Ben Taleblu is senior director of the Foundation For Defense of Democracy’s Iran Program, and a senior fellow specializing in Iranian security and political issues.

We ask this noted scholar the burning questions of the day like, “Do you lose weight on Ramadan?” and “What’s it like to have a fatwa on your head?”

We also discuss the potential for an American (and Israeli?) strike on Iran, the incredible resilience of Iranian society, how Ayatollah Khamenei is playing us all, where Behnam is more hawkish than his Israeli colleagues.

Follow Behnam on X and check out his writing at the FDD.

Happy Purim, Ramadan and Nowruz to all!

Also:

* No one has done a better job at secularizing Iranian society than the Islamic republic itself.

* What is Iran?

* We’re all from Malta now.

* Is Ramadan intermittent fasting?

* I’m sorry I can’t come to your event, the Iranianss are after me.

* Where is Hezbollah now?

* Iranian society deserves a collective Nobel Peace Prize.

* Bumbling idiot or 7D chess player?

* The knife and the handshake.

* The JCPOA created this mess.

* This is a war of choice, and Iran chose it.

* Khamenei needs to thank Trump, instead he’s leaving him on “read”.

* Tucker Carlson didn’t like the Ben Gurion Airport McDonald’s.

* No one and everyone has a right to exist.

* Benham has a favorite Hamentaschen flavor.

* Persian food with a Shmear.

* Kebab and Chinese

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Happy almost-Iran war day! On this solo pod, we discuss our respective Valentine’s Days, whether or not the US should start executing Olympic athletes who don’t bring home medals, and Chaya Leah’s near Holocaust experience at a fancy kosher restaurant in LA.

We also finally take some listener questions! We help a listener explain to her Goyfriend why she wants to raise their kids Jewish even though she’s not a huge Jew herself, and advise another listener facing her new role at work as the token “tell us about antisemitism” employee.

You can send yours to [email protected].

No questions is stupid, as you can clearly see by Yael’s question about a drunk encounter with a Big Mac.

Want to help us grow? Consider rating us 5 stars and leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify!

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Lahav Harkov is the Senior Political Correspondent for Jewish Insider, formerly of the Jerusalem Post, and most importantly - a repeat offender on AAJ. She’s here to answer all our current affairs questions, and some of our stupid questions too. We cover the potential of a war with Iran, an upcoming election in Israel (If you think American politics are crazy…), and the notorious Blue Square Superbowl ad that will save us all from antisemitism.

🟦 🟦 🟦 Shield against mean comments 🟦 🟦 🟦

Follow Lahav on X, check out her writing on Jewish Insider, and listen to her podcast, Misgav Mideast Horizons.

Also:

* What’s the difference between Donald Trump and a reform rabbi?

* Ehud Barak is the Mandy Patinkin of Israel.

* Kosher pizzagate.

* What are Trump and Bibi gossiping about?

* What’s the verdict on the Iran attack from June?

* War or no war?

* Think American politics are crazy? That’s cute. Listen to what’s going on in Israel.

* Hostages on Dancing With the Stars.

* The Robert Kraft Blue Square question… what do you think about the ad? and the ADL, while we’re at it?

* What’s the relationship between Israel and Russia?

* Putin bought what in Tel Aviv???

* The (orthodox) Jewish question.

* Haredi Bridgerton.

* The dairy wars.

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What’s this?? Is it your birthday? Or are you just getting two episodes in one week because we love you so much?? As Jews around the world gather to celebrate Tu B’Shvat and the New England Patriots, we caught up to discuss everything that’s on our mind.

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* We make it 1 minute and 25 seconds before talking about Mandy Patinkin.

* A brave conversation about the things that everyone agrees about.

* Uterus shaped challas.

* Our grandparents didn’t survive Auschwitz to eat sourdough bread.

* I could climb that tower.

* An exciting day at 770.

* Stop condemning antisemitism when it’s easy.

A conversation about morals on edJEWcation

* Hashem is a Patriots fan.

* In defense of vaping.

* Wait what is Tu B’Shvat again?

* Everyone is home…now what?

A reminder to join us in the Substack chat, and leave us a 5 star review and comment on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Last one to do it is an antisemite!

Chaya Leah’s adorable cousings Moishe and Luigi (please don’t sue, Nintendo)

Thanks for reading Good for the Jews! This post is public so feel free to share it.

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Eylon Levy is a former Israeli Government Spokesman and one of Israel’s most recognized faces on the global stage since October 7th. A graduate of Oxford and Cambridge (which is like Harvard in the UK - ybt), he founded the Israeli Citizen Spokesperson Office, a grassroots campaign which gives citizens an opportunity to take part in the global information war. He also hosts the new show “Eylon The Record” which you should definitely check out, and you may even recognize some of the guests from previous AAJ episodes!

Find Eylon on X, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

We talk to Eylon about the reasons Israel is losing the media war, why not everything is a PR problem, what messages actually work, and his relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu (never met him).

MUCH MORE ON SUBSTACK

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Yassine Meskhout is a public defender, a Moroccan, an anarchist, a liberterian, a cyclist (*shudder*) and now, our new best friend. We’ve become obsessed with his writing since his viral November 2023 essay “The Jewish Conspiracy To Change My Mind” and the banger, “Why I write About the Jews”. We talk to Yassine about working with criminals, trying to figure out why some of his friends were celebrating on October 7th, why ICE shouldn’t shoot Mandy Patinkin, and how his father, who believes Israel created ISIS, also believes the Jews should have their own state.

Check out substack for a fun Israeli-Moroccan inspired Spotify Playlist!

Also:

* First things first - would an ex-Jew fool Hitler?

* Escaping the lack of McDonalds in Morocco through the diversity lottery.

* DJ Smack-that-ass, Esq.

* The life of a public defender - eleven magic words.

* The system works, mostly.

* Minnesota, ICE, and what expectations we should have from law enforcement.

* Trying to understand the celebrations of October 7th.

* Doubling down on Islam as a kid

* This amazing story about Yassine’s father:

* Western leftists - please find meaning elsewhere.

* The hard truth Jews need to hear - not everyone is an antisemite, some of them are just stupid.

* How to protest well.

* Everyone needs to stop being so confident.

* Leave a white woman, take a white woman.

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Much more on Substack!

Iran, Lebanon and Syria, Oh My!

Hussain Abdul-Hussain is a fellow at the The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), hailing from Beirut via Baghdad and all the way to Washington DC. We talk about how he learned Hebrew by chatting with Israeli soldiers on the lebanese border, why he was wrong about the new leader of Syria, and why peace with Israel can only help the Arab and Muslim world.

Follow Hussain on X and keep up with his work at the FDD!

Also:

* Does everyone in Lebanon hate us? Only 3 out of 4 people.

* Seeing Israel beyond the F-16s, through AM radio and pop culture.

* The most dangerous thing Hussain ever did - read an Israeli newspaper on the Columbia campus.

* Holding our breath for Iran.

* But don’t hold your breath for Syria.

* Some advice for dealing with idiots.

* Coming soon - Hussain’s book, The Arab Case For Israel!

* The are only three Christians left in Baalbek, Lebanon - and that’s bad for Muslims.

* The uselessness of the UN Peacekeeping Force.

* Can Israeli and Saudi Arabia make it work?

* Bring in George Clooney!

* Our $7,000 aren’t a match for Qatari money.

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