The underdogs of basketball defeated the Soviet team in a dramatic game that led to the championship. Meet Tal Brody, the American Jew who made Aliyah and led the team to victory when he uttered the now famous words, “we’re on the map, and we are staying on the map – not only in sports, but in everything.” The dramatic reaction of Israel beating the Russian Soviet Union Red Army team led to cheering Israeli fans dancing through the streets.

Plus, coach Ralph Klein, the German-born Jew who survived the Nazi Holocaust and became a sports hero, Aulcie Perry, who found a new home in the Jewish homeland, Miki Berkovich, Lou Silver, Shuki Schwartz, Shmuel Machrovsky and the others that helped clinch the FIBA European Champions Cup.

NOTES:

• On The Map - The Big Reunion Maccabi Tel Aviv 1977

• Israelis Beat Russian Hoopsters - Feb. 1977, JTA

• Israel Beats Italy in Championship 78-77 - April 1977, JTA

• From Tal Brody to European Champions: the Golden Age of Israeli Basketball

• Interview with Aulcie Perry, 2020 Maccabi Tel Aviv Basketball

• Aulcie Perry coaches wheelchair-bound youth in Israel, 1998 - Channel 2 News

• 1977 FIBA European Champions Cup Final: Maccabi Tel Aviv vs Mobilgirgi Varese

• Ari Louis interviews basketball legend Tal Brody

• Maccabi Tel Aviv marks iconic 1977 title - Jpost

• Film on Israeli basketball’s ‘miracle on hardwood’ set to screen in the US - Times of Israel

Check out my podcast on the Jewish Olympics here.

The Hasidic Jews who founded Bnei Brak on an empty plot of land near Tel Aviv in 1924 left their middle-class homes and businesses to fulfill their dream of living in the Land of Israel. Meet Rabbi Isaac Gerstenkorn, the city’s first mayor, who describes the struggles with Polish authorities, desert raiders, and the harsh winds which threatened to blow out the Shabbat candles. Learn about the city’s origins as Rabbi Akiva’s home in the Passover Haggadah to becoming a thriving city and center for yeshiva life.

NOTES:

• The Founding of Bnei Brak on it’s 50th Anniversary from the diaries of Yitzchok Gerstenkorn translated by Miriam Margoshes - Jewish Observer, 1974

• Pioneers of Zion - Establishment of Bnei Brak by Moshe Nachmani

• From the Chason Ish to Rabbi Kook - the Founding of Tel Aviv - Kikar HaShabbat

• Poem written for Bnei Brak founder 90 years ago - JDN News

• Was Bnei Brak Jewish community's founding blessed by a Hassidic Rebbe? - Jerusalem Post

• The Agricultural Settlement On The Sand Dunes Near Tel Aviv

  By Faigie Heiman - Jewish Press

• Bnei Brak land purchased - May 1923 - Doar HaYom

• Bnei Brak at 75: City of Torah and Chassidus

• Feeling of Palestine Jewry: Calm and Confidence in Final Success - JTA, 1932

Interview with musician Yativ Leucher on the Aharit Hayamim festival a “Jewish indie rave festival” held every year in Gush Etzion.

He tells the story of his grandparents who helped found Kibbutz Masuot Yitzhak and were taken hostage by the Jordanians during the War of Independence in 1948. His grandmother Rachel Doron was separated from her infant son when she stayed behind to broadcast “Malkah naflah” -- the queen has fallen, a code for the Kfar Etzion massacre, allowing others to escape.

Today, the family hosts the annual Aharit Hayamim festival, which this year features Din Din Aviv, Tomer Yosef, Laivy Miller, Bini Landau, Nissim Black, Nuriel, Sinai Tor, Muna Camuna and more.

For tickets click here.

For my past coverage of the Aharit Hayamim festival including interview with Grammy-nominated musician Yossi Fine click here.

Notes:

• The 'Jewish indie rave' music festival returns to Gush Etzion - Jerusalem Post

• Biography of war hero Rachel Doron - Ynet

• Video interview (Hebrew) with Rachel Doron

• The Siege and Fall of Gush Etzion

• Aharit Hayamim (the band) on Spotify

• Jewish jams return - Jerusalem Post

• Aharit Hayamim festival Facebook page

Learn about the picturesque agricultural community of Beit Zayit, just north of Jerusalem, founded by hard working Jewish immigrants, one of whom discovered ancient fossilized dinosaur tracks.

Learn about the struthiomimus, a two-legged dinosaur that once roamed the land. These are the only dinosaur track fossils discovered anywhere in Israel or the Middle East and one of the only such finds of this period in the entire world.

Meet Prof. Moshe Avnimelech who moved to Israel to become a paleontologist after serving in the Polish army in World War I and forming a Zionist group there.

Meet Mordechai “Motke” Sofer a veteran of the Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) who was arrested by the British and later became a tour guide in Beit Zayit.

And the Schwarzwald family of Beit Zayit who only wanted to clean the land by the shed and dug up a breathtaking a scientific discovery.

Thank you to Beit Zayit tour guide Yishai Ferziger.

NOTES:

• Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Beit Zayit - HaBoker news, 1962

• Dinosaur footprints found - Beit Zayit History archive

• Biography of Mordechai (Motke) Sofer - Lehi Heritage Association

• Dinosaur Tracks in the Lower Cenomanian of Jerusalem by M. Avnimelech, 1962

• Dinosaur Tracks in the Judean Hills by M. Avnimelech, 1966

• Dinosaur Footprints Discovered in Israel - JTA, 1962

• History the dinosaur tracks - official Beit Zayit website

Meet Nili Salem, author of the new book Awesome Blast: 40 Days of Shofar Intentions, Soul-Healing, and Spiritual Return. She discusses the history of the ram’s horn in Jewish tradition and spiritual religious ritual.

Plus her adventures as a Jewish educator in remote places including having her shofar confiscated by the authority in Peru, slaughtering a lamp with the Bene Efraim community of India, celebrating Passover seder with the Lemba tribe in Zimbabwe, and singing in Hebrew on an island in Indonesia.

For more information visit:
https://awesomeblastbook.com/
and
https://www.nilibsimcha.com/

Israeli’s flourishing metropolis had humble beginnings as a barren sand dune. Learn about the seashell lottery which started the first Hebrew city and the personalities that built it such as Akiva Aryeh Weiss of the Ahuzat Bayit association, Rabbi Yehuda Margusa who settled Jaffa, Jacobus Henricus Kann, the assimilated financier, Yosef Eliyahu Chelouche, the interpreter, Zerah Barnett, the yeshiva student turned entrepreneur, and more.

This mix of men and women, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, joined to build a cosmopolitan, modern, democratic society over 110 years ago, that today is a hub of high-tech innovation.

Travel with me to a picturesque harp workshop to meet the husband-and-wife team of Micah and Shoshanna Harrari who build hand-crafted wooden harps based on the Bible. Learn about the history of the ancient Megiddo lyre, King David’s harp, the secret of the Psalms and hear music from one of the 10-stringed instruments. Plus, the snow-storm story of how the Harraris ended up in Israel.

For more information visit: https://www.harrariharps.com/

Col. David “Mickey” Marcus gave his life defending Jerusalem during the War of Independence. Find out how a Jewish kid from the rough streets of Brooklyn ended up a West Point graduate and part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy in World War II.

His work with Holocaust refugees inspired him to join the fledgling Israel Defense Force. The film Cast a Giant Shadow is based on his legacy, starring Kirk Douglas, who saw the role as a personal reflection.

Plus, his work standing up to New York mobsters like Lucky Luciano.

NOTES:

• 2014 Mickey Marcus West Point Memorial Service - The Jewish Channel

• Col. David Marcus Arrives in New York; Funeral Today - JTA, July 1, 1948

• Col. David Marcus Buried at West Point; Ceremony Held at New York’s City Hall

• West Point Rites Honor Hero Commissioner/Col. 'Mickey' Marcus

• Out of the Shadow and Into the Light: Col. David “Mickey” Marcus and U.S. Civil Affairs in World War II by Steven L. Ossad

• Colonel David D. “Mickey” Marcus - Distinguished Member of the Civil Affairs Regiment

• Memories of Uncle Mickey by great-niece Lilit Marcus

Dr. Ido Noy was an art historian specializing in medieval Jewish art. But when COVID-19 hit, he rediscovered his childhood passion for Garbage Pail Kids and found others who grew up in the 1980s felt the same.

Released in Hebrew as Havurat HaZevel, this fad continues to have a lasting impact on Israeli politics in election campaigns satirizing politicians from both the right wing and left wing. The pop culture phenomenon led to multiple spin-offs from secular, religious Zionist and haredi communities with rabbi cards and more.

Plus, learn about how Art Spiegelman, award-winning writer of the Holocaust memoir Maus created the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and Wacky Packages. And the story behind Bazooka Joe.

NOTES:

• Official website of Dr. Ido Noy, art historian

• Ido Noy’s Garbage Pail Kids history website

• Disgrace to the Knesset: On Garbage Pail Kids, Caricature and Political Satire in Israel by Dr. Ido Noy

• Video: Grossing Out | Setting a Bad Example: Garbage Pail Kids & Educational & Moral Values

• חבורת הזבל ואוספים נוספים - Havurat Hazevel & other collections - Facebook group

• Official Topps playing cards Garbage Pail Kids site

• The Jewish History of Bazooka Bubble Gum

• Maus: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

Interview with Rabbi Mordechai Gershon on the first ever English translation of the seminal Hasidic work Bat Ayin. Find out how this forgotten treasure of Kabbalistic thought has grown in popularity in recent years.

Today thousands attend the annual memorial of Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber Auerbach of Avritch (circa 1760 – 1840) who left a prominent career in Ukraine to return to the Land of Israel and live in Tzfat (Safed).

Hear the story of how he survived the great Safed earthquake and then led the efforts to help the victims and rebuild the city. Also, his miraculous rescue from kidnappers and how he fell in love with the land where stones shine like precious gems.

000

Rabbi Yisrael M. Mendelovits compiled and prepared the translation of Bat Ayin published by Mosaica Press in 2022. He has has personally heard many firsthand stories from numerous Yidden (Jewish individuals) who experienced profound salvations and even significant miracles—such as having children or finding a suitable marriage partner (shidduch)—through visiting and praying at the rabbi's synagogue or tziun (gravesite). These individuals also undertook a commitment to study from the rabbi's sefer (sacred book) at least once a week.

Bat Ayin expresses a unique and deeply insightful philosophy. At its core, it emphasizes the greatness of Hashem (God) and the essential humility a person must cultivate. According to the rabbi's teachings, a person must recognize and admit that no matter how much they accomplish or how much Torah they learn, Hashem does not owe them anything. Everything a person receives from Hashem is an act of chesed (loving-kindness), given freely and undeservedly. This perspective fosters profound gratitude, humility, and a deeper connection with the Divine.

The podcast concludes with a rare recording of the song Chasal Siddur Pesach composed by Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber of Avritch as recorded by old chasidim of Slonim and presented by Rabbi Ben Zion Reichberg at the Bas Ayin's Yahrzeit in Brooklyn.

NOTES:

• Bat Ayin (also pronounced Bas Ayin) - annotated and edited by Rabbi Yisrael M. Mendelovits, edited by Rabbi Mordechai Gershon - Mosaica Press

• “The spiritual head of the German [Ashkenazic] congregation [of Safed], the Rev. A. Dob, said that the money was divided amongst their congregation according to the amount of loss sustained by each individual [in the earthquake]. Nor did the German committee ever retain one penny more for themselves than for the other members of the congregation.” - Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore edited by Dr. L. Loewe, 1890. [Page 164]

• Listed in Encyclopedia Judaica as Abraham Dov Baer of Ovruch