Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with Guri Alfi, comic, actor and producer of "The New Jew."

Recorded before the conflict with Iran, Alfi speaks about his experiences filming the second season of "The New Jew," a series he first created with public broadcaster Kan 11 in 2021 that had him looking at the Jewish community in the United States.

For these latest episodes, Alfi traveled to the US to speak to Jews in the wake of October 7 and the intense antisemitism and anti-Zionism that exploded across college campuses and American cities.

Guri discusses his conversations with a range of Jewish leaders, including Reform Rabbi Angela Warnick Buchdahl, student leaders from Columbia and Harvard universities, and bereaved parents whose dual-citizen children became Israeli lone soldiers and were killed in the line of duty on October 7 and during the ongoing war.

Guri says he wanted to show the bonds between the Israeli and American Jewish communities, and to show the hope and future that still exist despite the terrible events and trauma of the last 21 months.

He also talks about one of his latest projects, “Speeches Against Despair” during the upcoming Israel Festival, in which he, along with actress Noa Koler, musician Noga Erez, actor Norman Issa, actress Maya Landsmann, screenwriter Galit Hoogi and others offer new interpretations to historical speeches.

And so this week, we ask Guri Alfi what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

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