For Heaven's Sake

Can a country recover its sense of agency when every front — external and internal — refuses to stay resolved? 

In this episode, recorded just as Prime Minister Netanyahu issued another emergency call-up of exhausted reservists, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi wrestle with the deepening Israeli loss of control. They dissect the gap between the Prime Minister's promise of "absolute victory" and the reality of an enemy that has emerged stronger since its recent conflicts, and trace how the trauma of October 7 still haunts a society that thought it had moved past helplessness.  

Looking ahead to the coming election, they explore why "who's in charge?" may once again become the defining slogan — and why the answer this time will determine far more than a coalition. 

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Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

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Learn more about and register for Hartman's summer programs in Jerusalem.

Is it possible to win every battle and still lose where it matters? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront what may be the most dangerous front Israel faces today — the narrative. They lay bare the forces converging against Israel’s legitimacy: the collapse of Western institutions and the global spread of antisemitism amplified by social media and a systematic anti-Zionist campaign decades in the making. They reflect on the way this has reframed every chapter of Israel's story — from founding to present — as settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide — and the psychological toll of this multi-front narrative war. 

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: 

Watch the full Guidelines for Jewish-Democratic Policy Conference featuring Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Golan. 

Learn more about the Hartman Institute’s Center for Shared Society. 

What do you say when defending yourself only makes things worse? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi respond in real time to Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column accusing Israel of systemic sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees — an article that dropped on the same day Israel's Civil Commission released its report on Hamas's use of mass rape on October 7. They assess the latest barrage of allegations leveled against Israel, examine the deep disconnect between the mainstream Jewish story and international media narratives, and confront the troubling realities of prisoner abuse in an environment lacking moral guardrails. 

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: 

Read the Kogod Research Center’s new White Paper, Building Communities of Belonging: Jewish Identity, Conversion, Intermarriage, and Adjacency.

A brief update from For Heaven's Sake on the release schedule for this week's episode. Make sure you are subscribed to or following the show on your preferred podcast app so new episodes download automatically as soon as they are released.

Can an army of the people maintain its ethical compass when a faction of the public it protects and consists of embraces ideological lawlessness? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the IDF Chief of Staff's urgent warning regarding military discipline, examine the ideological evolution of the Hilltop Youth and the government and public responses to it. Together, they confront the dangerous "Torah of dominance" taking root and ask what it will take to reclaim the soul of Zionism for future generations. 

From the episode: 

IDF chief said to order investigation into claims of widespread looting by troops in south Lebanon, Times of Israel, April 24, 2026 

Entire Villages Razed – Report Reveals Scale of Destruction Israel Unleashed on South Lebanon, Haaretz, May 5, 2026 

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: 

Learn how Hartman is building the pipeline of young Jewish leadership.

In light of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid recently announcing the launch of a unified party for the Knesset elections, we are re-releasing our episode Bennett 2026, recorded on January 6, 2026. Donniel and Yossi will be back with a new episode next week. 

Is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a right-wing ideologue or Israel's great national healer?  

Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi grapple with this paradox as they examine the only candidate currently ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national polling. They explore Bennett's extraordinary transformation from an ideological conservative to national unifier, discuss his brief but transformative year as Prime Minister, and consider what his return might mean for Israel's future.  

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

If you read our journal Sources, complete our reader survey by January 15. 

Learn more about the Kogod Research Center, whose scholars develop the ideas of the Hartman Institute.

What do you wish for a country you love that is still learning to love itself? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi mark Israel's 78th Independence Day with a meditation on eulogies, blessings, and the distance between the two. They dissect the growing divide in world Jewry over Israel's future and the stranglehold of an "October 7 consciousness" on Israeli political imagination. Between the grief of Memorial Day and the joy of Independence Day, they articulate their wishes for a society desperate to heal, demanding a return to hope and the courage to envision a thriving Jewish future. 

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:  

Register to join Yossi Klein Halevi in Vancouver, Detroit, and Palo Alto and Yehuda Kurtzer in Toronto! 

How do we observe national days of mourning when the nightmares of the past feel like the realities of the present?  

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect Israel’s "10 Days of Awe," the intense period between Holocaust Memorial Day and Israel’s Independence Day, and how this year it demands a spiritual and moral readjustment for Jews everywhere. They consider the impact of October 7 on Jewish consciousness, confront the resurgence of modern blood libels, and contemplate the tension between mourning powerlessness and responsibly celebrating sovereignty.

This episode is sponsored by the IDF Widows and Orphans Organization. Learn more and support their work at idfwo.org.

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

When a word carries history, burden, and identity all at once, can the Jewish people afford to let it go? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the internal Jewish debate over the term Zionism, examining its classical promises of empowerment, the push to abandon it in the face of progressive critique, and why the term means something different in Israel and the Diaspora. Ultimately, they ask what it would take for Zionism to become not only defensible but inspiring again for world Jewry. 

Read Nadine Epstein's article cited in the show, “The Word Zionism Is Dead” here. 

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

How do you celebrate the holiday of liberation when the reality of war, grief, and political division feels heavier than ever? 

In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront the growing exhaustion in Israel with the conflicts in Iran and Lebanon, the profound grief interrupting daily life, and the internal fractures exposed by new government legislation. As they navigate these challenges, they reflect on what liberation means today, and grapple with the moral and spiritual questions of how to hold onto hope when the Jewish state is tested from both within and without.  

Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  

Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. 

For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. 

Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: 

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