Jewanced

Israel’s 4th (yes, 4th!) elections in 2 years are nearly here. 

Like with every election in the world’s only Jewish democracy, Israel’s elections come with tons of questions. What are they about? Who’s running? Why are there always so many new parties running in every election?!  What do polarizing terms like ‘left’ and ‘right’ mean in Israel anyways?!

Are you new to Israeli politics? A veteran observer or participant? Find the situation confusing? (don’t worry, so do we!) Need a primer to Israeli politics circa 2021? 

Worry no more. This episode with the one & only Shmuel Rosner goes a long way in answering all your questions!

Shmuel Rosner is a Tel Aviv-based commentator, columnist, editor, and senior think tank fellow. He is a senior fellow at The Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI) and the non-fiction Editor for Israel’s largest Publishing House, Kinneret-Zmora-Dvir. Shmuel is Senior Political Editor for the Jewish Journal and writes the popular blog Rosner's Domain as well as a weekly column for The International Herald Tribune/New York Times and Israel’s Maariv daily.

Rosner was previously a columnist for The Jerusalem Post and was Chief U.S. Correspondent, Head of the News Division and Head of the Features Division for the Israeli daily Haaretz. He wrote for many magazines, including Slate, Foreign Policy, Commentary, The New Republic, The Jewish Review of Books, and others. Rosner’s book “Shtetl Bagel Baseball, on the Wonderful Dreadful State of American Jews” became a bestseller and his most recent book (co-authored with Camil Fuchs), “#IsraeliJudaism, Portrait of a Cultural Revolution” proves that Israel’s Jews reinterpret Judaism by mixing tradition and national identity, making questions of continuity obsolete. 

In 2021, Rosner joined Kann-News (Israel TV’s channel 11) as news commentator. He also recently founded and is the editor in chief of a data-research website, Hamadad, that investigates and reports on Israeli politics, society, identity, and culture.

For one year (1995), Rosner took a leave from journalism and has volunteered to work as an educator in the Jewish community of Kitchener, Canada.

An American history buff, in the last twenty years Rosner has written numerous pieces about U.S. policy and politics and traveled across the United States covering all American elections since the year 2000.

He is a frequent guest on Israeli television and radio as an analyst of American policy vis-à-vis Israel and the Middle East. When he lived in the US Rosner has lectured in many Universities and Think Tanks around the country - among them Yale, Berkley, Boston University, The Hudson Institute, The Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, American University, The Army War College - and also in many Jewish gatherings and communities.

He was raised and educated in Jerusalem, and he now lives in Tel Aviv with his wife and their four children.

Links:

Rosner’s Domain at the Jewish Journal

Rosner’s Domain Podcast

Shmuel’s articles in the New York Times

Shmuel Rosner’s website

Shmuel on Twitter @rosnersdomain

The Jewish People Policy Institute website

Buy Shmuel’s latest book, #IsraeliJudaism: Portrait of a Cultural...

IS IRAN HEADED TOWARDS THE BOMB?

With President Biden at the helm, will the US reenter the JCPOA (the ‘Iran Deal’)? If so, would that be good or bad? Would it be good or bad for Israel? 

What should Israel do? Are all options really on the table? 

With all the back and forth taking place over the past decade + about ‘the Iran deal’ and its politics, it’s easy to lose sight of what’s going on. It’s understandable, too. There are just so many moving parts to keep track of and so much noise the news cycle can make before reality gets drowned out. Do you want to make sense of it all?

Maj. (Res.) Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz is a Senior Research Fellow at the prestigious Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy. A Senior Intelligence and Middle East expert with extensive expertise in SIGINT collection, analysis methodologies, and systems, Danny is one of Israel’s foremost experts on Iran.  He served for over 25 years in several capacities in the Israeli Military Intelligence Directorate, including positions in the prestigious Unit 8200 and as Deputy Intelligence Attache in Washington, D.C.

Links:

The Abba Eban Institute of International Diplomacy website

A selection of Danny’s articles and blogs at the Times of Israel

Policy articles by Danny at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Danny’s publications at the DC-based Middle East Institute

Danny Citrinowicz on LinkedIn

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan & Benny sit down with Rabbi Alon Meltzer, an amazing Sydney-based Jewish community builder and leader to learn about the Jews of Australia and New Zealand. On the way, they discuss some of the unique challenges and features of life that come with being part of the world's furthest-most’ Jewish community, and wrap up with a fascinating conversation on the origins of Purim.

Alon Meltzer is a community builder. Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand he was involved in most aspects of the community. Now living in Sydney, Australia he is the Rabbi of Or Chadash Synagogue, Director of Programs at Shalom, a cultural education organization, a doctoral student, and most importantly, dad to three daughters. An expert in medieval Jewish history, he is a graduate of both the University of Auckland and Yeshiva University. Rabbi Meltzer is dynamic, outgoing, and driven to create a relevant, engaged, and educated global Jewish community.

 Links:

 Rabbi Alon Meltzer’s website

Or Chadash synagogue’s website

The website of Shalom, one of Australia’s leading Jewish cultural education platforms

Blog posts by Rabbi Meltzer on 929, one of Israel’s leading online portal for Jewish religious commentary

A selection of Rabbi Meltzer’s blogs at the Times of Israel

Follow Rabbi Meltzer on Facebook

A virtual tour of the history of the Australian Jewish community

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan & Benny sit down with Steven Shalowitz, real-life explorer and host of The One Way Ticket Show & JNF-USA’s IsraelCast podcast to talk about podcasting, radio, the power of travel, Israel, NYC, and so much more. 

“If I gave you a one-way ticket to anywhere, past, present, or future, where would you go?”  That’s the question that Steven Shalowitz asks all of his guests at the start of his captivating podcast, The One Way Ticket Show where he hosts celebrities and luminaries from across a variety of fields, including: art & design, business, communications, entertainment, travel, and world affairs. 

Born and raised in Chicago, Steven worked for a major international advertising agency in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, and New York City. While producing and hosting a radio show in Singapore, he conceived the idea for The One Way Ticket Show which he launched after moving to New York.

An exhibited photographer with a penchant for travel to rogue nations, Steven’s adventures have taken him from North Korea to Libya, Iran to Burundi, and Syria to Burkina Faso.

Steven earned his B.A. in Chinese Language & Literature from Washington University in St. Louis, and his M.A. in International Relations from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D.C. 

He is also the producer and host of the IsraelCast podcast, which is powered by the Jewish National Fund USA, and the host of JNF’s monthly reading series which features author interviews.

Links:     

The One Way Ticket Show website     

Listen & Subscribe to The One Way Ticket Show on Spotify        

The One Way Ticket Show on Twitter @towtshow        

The One Way Ticket Show on Facebook       

The website of IsraelCast, JNF-USA’s premier Israel podcast       

Listen & Subscribe to IsraelCast on Spotify        

Steven’s Twitter, @stevenshalowitz       

Steven’s Facebook

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

Ruth Wasserman Lande is a Member of Knesset from the Blue & White party. Raised in South Africa, she is the founder and CEO of Ruth – Global Innovative Advisory, a diplomat, lecturer, columnist, and social activist particularly focused on the Arab population in Israel.  She is also a Middle East affairs expert and commentator for various media outlets around the world. Wasserman Lande served as an advisor to the late President Shimon Peres, as the de-facto Deputy Ambassador at the Israeli embassy in Egypt, and for almost a decade as the Deputy Director-General for International Affairs at the Israeli Federation of Local Authorities.

Ruth was born in Israel and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. After arriving in Israel, she graduated, cum laude, in International Relations and Communications from Bar Ilan University. She completed, Magna cum Laude, her Master of Arts in International Relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 2006, she was awarded a Wexner Fellowship to study for a Masters’ Degree in Public Administration at Harvard University, from where she graduated, cum laude in June 2007.

Ruth served for three years as an analyst in Israeli Defense Force intelligence, rising to the rank of Captain. Ruth continues to do reserve duty as an analyst in the IDF. Professionally, Ruth served as an Israeli diplomat for 13 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was appointed to serve for three years, as the political and economic advisor in the Israeli embassy in Cairo, completing her service there as the de facto deputy Chief of Mission. After graduation from Harvard, Ruth was appointed as Foreign Affairs and World Jewish Affairs’ advisor to former President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres.

She served for almost a decade as the Deputy Director-General of the Israeli Federation of Local Governments, working with all Israeli Mayors, both Jewish and Arab, throughout the country. Ms. Wasserman Lande worked, voluntarily, on the promotion and development of one of Israel’s poorest, mixed Jewish-Arab cities in Israel, Lod, where she also lived for a decade with her husband and three children. She has also founded (2018) and continues to chair the "Hagshama" initiative, a non-for-profit and non-political NGO, for creating real impact on Israeli society, via a country-wide initiative to transform one of the Bedouin villages in the North of the country into a model for emulation. That is, in coordination with its elected leadership, government ministries, philanthropists, business people, and the local community.

In July 2019, Ruth established her own strategic local and global consultancy which assists a wide variety of bodies and/or individuals -both Israeli and foreign- in identifying their needs, creating policy, establishing objectives, and accompanying their accomplishment and fulfillment. She is also a columnist in one of Israel’s leading dailies, in Hebrew, “Maariv”, and in the English-language “Jerusalem Post”. Ruth also often commentates on Regional and Arab-Israeli Affairs on local and international television channels.

Links:

MK Lande’s official Knesset webpage

Ruth Wasserman Lande on LinkedIn

‘Meet Ruth Wasserman Lande, Blue and White’s new MK Raised in Cape Town’ article in the Jerusalem Post

Articles by Lande in the Jerusalem Post

‘MK Ruth Wasserman Lande, Israel’s Force for Economic Equality’ article in

Laura Kelly is a reporter for The Hill in Washington D.C. where she writes about the politics and policy surrounding U.S. foreign affairs, covering Capitol Hill, the White House, and the State Department. Laura began her journalism career in Israel in 2012 working for The Jerusalem Post and lived in the country until 2016. Her reporting has taken her all over the world covering conflict, culture, and natural disasters. This includes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Syrian Civil War, the fight against ISIS, and Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, to name a few. She is a graduate of Fordham University and originally from Cutchogue, Long Island, New York. 

Laura covered the protests on Capitol Hill earlier this month and has a front-row seat to what is happening in Washington as the Biden Administration has come in.

We chatted with her about what is happening in Washington, what we can expect as far as US foreign policy, and Laura's own story as a journalist, including being a war correspondent.

Links:

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at The Hill

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Jerusalem Post, where she is a former Magazine editor. The publication frequently highlighted social issues in Israel such as Gay rights, Arab-Jewish relations, societal trends, high-profile interviews, cultural highlights, and international stories and conflicts. 

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Jewish Insider, where she is a former Capitol Hill reporter.

A selection of articles by Laura Kelly at the Washington Times, where she is a former health reporter.

Laura Kelly on Twitter @hellolaurakelly

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

Join us on Jewanced for a very special BONUS EPISODE of Jewanced – MEET THE EMIRATIS - where Benny and Dan host a panel of truly amazing Emiratis to learn about life in the UAE and their feelings about their country’s new normalization with Israel under the Abraham Accords. 

This episode of the podcast was produced as a Jewanced LIVE! event, co-sponsored by the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and the Jewish Agency for Israel Partnership2Gether Rehovot-Minneapolis.

Together with our Emirati panelists, we dive into the normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE which occurred under last year’s monumental Abraham Accords and explore what we can anticipate for the people of Israel, the UAE, and Bahrain, as well as for the broader Middle East.

Topics covered include:

-A day in the life of the average Emirati

-Emirati culture and cuisine

-Household economics and the cost of living in the UAE

-The business environment in the Gulf

-Islam in the UAE and its integration with a dazzlingly modern society

-The significance of the Abraham Accords for the young generation of Emiratis

-Emirati values of tolerance and how they relate to Israeli and Jewish visitors and residents in the UAE

-Emirati excitement to learn about Israel and the Jewish People

-And more!

About our panelists:

Dr. Majid Al Sarrah, DBA

A true Emirati patriot, Majid uses his strong, dynamic activist voice to build bonds between young Gulf Arab and Israeli leaders to strengthen peace, trust, and cooperation between our societies. He believes this is crucial to create a brighter future for our nations and all the peoples of the region.  Majid recently participated in the first-ever delegation of young Gulf Arab leaders to Israel where he had a chance to experience the country and meet with Israelis from all walks of life.  He is a founding Board Member of Sharaka, a platform connecting young leaders from Israel and the Gulf to turn the vision of people-to-people peace into a reality.  He is also a legal adviser specializing in international law and a public policy expert trained at the London School of Economics. Follow Majid on Twitter @DrAlsarrah and on Instagram @dralsarrah

Sumaya Harib

Sumaya is a Dubai-based electrical engineer.  Actively engaged in peace and co-existence dialogue, she participated in the first-ever delegation of young Emirati leaders to Israel in December, 2020 facilitated by Sharaka.  Sumaya is passionate about people-to-people connections between Emiratis and Israelis and is learning Hebrew.

Al Anoud Al Hashmi

Al Anoud Al Hashmi is an entrepreneur working in the field of innovation, business, media and events. She is the Founder and CEO of 'The Futurist Company' established after putting together a team of experts in innovation and technology from all around the world to consult, research and execute future facing projects in MENA. Al Anoud is also the Marketing & Events Manager for Dubai Media City. A passionate film enthusiast and filmmaker herself, she has directed short films, several TV shows, advertisements, and campaigns in the region. Follow Al Anoud on Twitter

Dan and Benny engage in a candid discussion with Professor Gil Troy, one of the world’s leading US Presidential historians, about the critical moment facing the United States, the world, and democracy as we transition from the Trump to the Biden White House. No less important, we also talk about American Jews and Zionism, the state of Israeli democracy, and co-authoring his most recent book with Natan Sharansky, Never Alone - Prison, Politics, and My People.

A Distinguished Scholar of North American History at McGill University currently living in Jerusalem, Gil Troy is an award-winning American presidential historian and a leading Zionist activist. Recently designated an Algemeiner J-100, one of the top 100 people “positively influencing Jewish life,” Troy wrote The Age of Clinton: America in the 1990s, and ten other books on the American presidency.

He appears as a featured commentator on CNN and has been interviewed on most major North American TV and Radio networks. Troy regularly publishes essays in the American, Canadian, and Israeli media, including for the New York Times the Daily Beast, and the Jerusalem Post.

Links:

Prof. Troy’s official website

Buy Never Alone – Prison, Politics, and My People, co-authored by Natan Sharansky and Gil Troy on Amazon

Learn about and buy Gil Troy’s books on the American Presidency and Zionism here

Articles by Gil Troy in The Jerusalem Post

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Jerusalem Post, “Trump, Capitol riot show dangers of violating invisible values – opinion”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Hill, “Joe Biden should help Americans rediscover the ‘Four Freedoms’”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Hill, “Why Joe Biden should pardon Donald Trump”

Link to Gil’s recent article in The Jewish Journal, “Fragilience: When Temples are Desecrated – and Rededicated”

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

On this episode of Jewanced, Dan and Benny sit down with Dr. Natan Davidovics, Ph.D., Director of R&D at the game-changing Jerusalem-based biotech firm BrainQ and Covid-19 data scientist and dig through the data to better understand the trajectory of Coronavirus in Israel and the United States. Dr. Davidovics breaks it down for us and provides a bit of much-needed positivity about the impact of the vaccine, as well as raises some serious red flags and dire warnings about where things might be headed in the USA. Later in the show, we get our minds absolutely blown as we sink into the confluence of brain science, AI, and the applications of cutting-edge tech in medicine.

Dr. Natan Davidovics is the Director of R&D at BrainQ, a Jerusalem based biotech company developing a wearable device that helps patients recover from stroke and other neurological disorders using a combination of brain monitoring, artificial intelligence, and electromagnetic brain stimulation. He grew up in New Jersey and has been active in the medical device field for 15 years. Dr. Davidovics has worked on several cutting-edge medical devices including the world’s first vestibular prosthesis that is designed to communicate with the brain to help patients recover from extreme dizziness and imbalance disorders. He has also been using his data science skills to model COVID-19 spread throughout Israel and has been posting insights and forecasts in concise and easy to understand form.  

Links:

Visit the BrainQ website

Dr. Natan Davidovics on Facebook, where he regularly posts charts and graphs of Covid data

Dr. Davidovics's recent post about the British mutation variant of Covid, including charts and graphs

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at http://www.jewanced.com

In this episode of the podcast, Benny & Dan have perhaps one of their freest flowing conversations yet with visual artist and illustrator Roy Margaliot in which they embark on a deep journey into an artist’s mind.  On the way, they explore the philosophy of the physical, metaphysical, and spiritual realms – including the source of creativity inside us, how to be ok with the uncertainty of our times, the fragile nature of the world, Jewish consciousness, Hasidic teachings, UFO’s and the possibility of extraterrestrial life and sources of energy.  Last but not least, Roy guides Dan and Benny through a selection of some of his artwork, breaking down his creative process and interpreting the possible meaning behind each piece. 

Roy Margaliot is an Israeli visual artist and illustrator.  Born in 1982, he is a Master of Visual Communication, having studied at Jerusalem’s prestigious Bezalel Academy of Art & Design.  Roy’s stunning work is influenced by themes and narratives of the Jewish cultural and Israeli societal context, and has been featured in exhibitions in Israel and abroad, is included in private collections, and in magazines like Juxtapoz (the largest art publication in the US), Communication Arts (the largest international trade journal of visual communications) and more. 

Links to the artwork featured in the episode:

Slide Away

Always Home

You Started

Heal Your Heart

Untitled #1       

Untitled #2      

Untitled #3

Other Links:      

Roy’s official website, roymargaliot.com       

@humusjan, Roy’s Instagram       

For inquiries and to purchase Roy’s artwork, visit his website, DM on Instagram, or email [email protected]

As always, make sure to subscribe to Jewanced on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

For more information, visit us at