Recorded January 13, 2026  

Photo: Liora & Circus Smirkus courtesy photo

Miki describes himself as a circus performer, specifically, an acrobat and clown. It was in that capacity that he had his first encounter with Palestinians in a Jewish/Palestinian collective in the Galilee when he was in 5th grade. Today he provides an Israeli perspective on America – and an American perspective on Israel. We spoke while he was back in Norwich, Vermont, on break from his last year as an undergrad at New York University.

Notes:

• Circus Smirkus Miki’s circus alma mater
• Roth Center for Jewish Life: home of the Upper Valley Jewish Community
• Kolot Chayeinu New York City temple where Miki and Mamdani attended Yom Kippur services this past fall.
• Standing Together is a joint Palestinian/Israeli movement that seeks ““A society in which we all enjoy real security, adequate housing, quality education, good healthcare, a liveable climate, a decent salary, and the ability to age with dignity.” See also their podcast, The Long Answer.
• Silent protests: where Israelis lined up insilence carrying poster-board sized photos of Gazan children killed in the war, documented in the Oscar-nominated short film Children No More (link goes to trailer and it’s streaming now). You can read aboutthe protests in this story from NPR and this article Don’tpress the button: A peaceful protest against Gaza bombings from the Vatican News.
• Unapologetic: The Third Narrative (UTTN): Was this quote on taking a train from Haifa to Beirut in Season 2,Episode 8, the conversation with Sally Abed? I asked the creators and they replied that at 1:22:34 of Episode 8! Sally Abed mused: "How does our life look like? Will we have like, I don't know, a train to like Beirut again?" And continues to say, "We need political imagination."
• It’s Time They are “…over 60 peacebuilding and shared society organizations, working together with determination and courage to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement that will ensure both peoples' right to self-determination and secure lives. “Because it’s time. Now, amidst our anger, griefand pain, after long years of fear and violence, of struggle, of occupation and of terrorism. The war that broke out on October 7th must be the last war, and it can be: the war after which will come peace.”

Recorded December 20, 2025   Photo: Shendi Copitman

“ So I got an accordion, I put it on my back, and I went to Europe ... “ Do tune in to hear how Alan’s story intertwines music and speech with creativity, compassion, and being Jewish in today’s world. Listen in to hear how the “other” in Other Music Academy is not what you might think and how transcultural work is more about mycelium than bridges.

Alan and I met in the courtyard of Etz Hayyim Synagogue and this episode was recorded in the city of Chania on the island of Crete. It is the first of this  3rd “season” with the tagline of“voices from afar (and not so far).” 

Give yourself a treat by checking out Alan's work in Weimar and selected music, linked below.

Projects:

·      The Other Music Academy: “…an open and inclusive society which invites the most diverse kinds of people to help actively create our common culture and our roles within it.” 

·      Yiddish Summer Weimar: “YSW is guided by a four-part mission: to research, teach, create and present traditional and new Yiddish culture in an intercultural context… In recent years, YSW has increasingly focused on creating new Yiddish culture projects with young people and renowned artists.”

Music: short bites

·      The Semer Ensemble Trailer: Forgotten music recorded by Jewish artists in Berlin in the 1930s on the Semer Label brought back to life for today by an all-star, 8-person ensemble.

·      The Other Europeans Trailer: What happens when 14 musicians from 8 countries join forces to recreate the unique musical synthesis of Jewish and Roma music that once animated all weddings and celebrations in Romania and Moldova?

·      The Kadya Girls Choir – Shtern Faln (Stars are Falling): A truly unique project that brought together Jewish, Christian and Muslim girls from Israel and Germany to sing new Yiddish choir songs composed by Alan Bern based on the touching poetry for young people by Polish Jewish poet Kadya Molodovsky.

Music: full feasts

·      Glikl Oratorio: A Her-Story: A full-length New Jewish Music oratorio composed  in 2023 by Alan Bern, with a libretto by Diana Matut, based on the incredible life story of Glikl of Hameln, a Jewish woman who lived in Hamburg at the turn of the 18th century and left behind candid, fascinating memoires about her life.

·      The Kadya Trio: Alan Bern’s new songs based on the poetry of Polish Jewish poet Kadya Molodovsky, arranged for and exquisitely performed by a world-class trio with Sveta Kundish (voice), Mark Kovnatskiy (violin) and Alan Bern (piano,accordion) recorded live in concert at the 33rd Jewish CultureFestival in Krakow, Poland.

·      Brave Old World – Reunion!: From 1990 to the mid-2010s, Brave Old World expanded the horizons of New Yiddish Music throughout the world. This online reunion, recorded in 2021 byToronto’s Ashkenaz Festival, looks back on 30 years of unparalleled music making and friendship.

About Alan:

·      Wikipedia: “In recognition of his leadership of YSW, Alan Bern was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany … in 2022, the Thuringia Order of Merit in 2017 and the Weimar Prize in 2016.”

·      See also Facebook,Instagram

References from the interview:

·      New Israeli historiography “The New Historians[a] area loosely defined group of Israeli historians who have challenged traditional versions of Israeli history and played a critical role in refuting some of what critics of Israel consider Israel's foundational myths,[1] including Israel's role in the 1948 Palestinian expulsion and flight and Arab willingness to discuss peace.” While subject to criticism today, their work punctured the myth that Palestinians themselves, along with Arab nations, were responsible for the Nakba. [Wikipedia]

·      Martin Buber, I and Thou, 1923, English translations in 1937 (Smith) and 1970 (Kaufman), 36th edition, Charles Scribners, 1970.

Recorded December 1, 2025   Photo: courtesy Fran Miller

Fran moved up to Vermont from New York City in the fall of2019 to work at the Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems. Outside her professional work she is active in pro-Palestinian causes including as a member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). In this interview, she discusses her turnaround from seeing Israel in an ideal light to upholding the social justice ideals of her father who supported Israel yet impressed on her the Jewish value of working on behalf of the underdog.

S2 E4 Notes:

• The Farmland Access Legal Toolkit , is a project of the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems housed at Vermont Law and Graduate School.      Jewish Voice for Peace in New York City and Jewish Voice for Peace Vermont/New Hampshire
• The New Alliance Party is no longer active. Fran recommends this C-SPAN piece to hear directly from some of the party's leaders regarding its views.
• Timing of the First and Second Intifadas: The First started in December, 1987 and lasted six years, roughly until the signingof the Oslo Accords in September, 1993. The Second started in September, 2000 and lasted until February, 2005.
• Palestinian House of Friendship is a “non-profit, non-governmental, politically independent humanitarian ommunity organization in the West Bank city of Nablus, dedicated to serving the needs of children, adolescents, and their families.”
• Voices from Palestinian Israel and from Palestinians and Jewish Israelis:

GroundWork 

The Long Answer  

Unapologetic: The Third Narrative

• J Street on Israel’s Nation-State Law per Google AI Overview: “JStreet strongly opposed Israel's 2018 Nation-State Law, expressing deep sadness, anguish, and concern that it prioritized Jewish identity over democratic equality, downgraded Arabic's status, and promoted Jewish settlement at the expense of minorities, undermining Israel'sfoundations as a democracy for all its citizens.”  For another  example, see The Two-Way Street: Reflections for Rosh Hashanah.
• “1948: Creation & Catastrophe”, a 2017 documentary produced by Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb and Andy Trimlett.  Here’s a link to a review by The Jerusalem Fund which praises aspects of the film yet criticizes reliance on still-limited Israeli archives, to the exclusion of direct Palestinian testimony. A more recent film, “1948: Remember, Remember Not” – has not yet aired although it was produced in 2023 by Kan 11 in Israel and has had festival showing. According to Ha’aretz (gift link), this film by Neta Shoshani relies on oral histories from both Jews and Palestinians, addressing the perceived failing of the earlier film.
• Fran’s other references: Noura Saleh Erekat, Linda Sarsour, MPower Change, Adalah Justice Project  
• Liora’s references: JStreet (above), New Israel Fund, Alliancefor Middle East Peace (AllMEP) – and more across other show notes and the to be published Substack.
• Peter Beinart, author of Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, 2024, mentioned across several podcasts. Here’s a link to the author’s substack where he talks about the book.

Recorded November 20, 2025   Photo: Sandy withbook, by Liora

Among her many role, Sandra Gartner has been co-producer of Vermont Actors’ Repertory Theatre for 20 years, an actor with the company, and is co-producer with filmmaker Nora Jacobson on her latest project. Sandra also writes for RutlandMagazine and other publications. Not surprisingly, she has a wonderful way of telling stories. In this conversation she picks up threads of her life in Vermont and New York City; her life in theatre, journalism, and the Rutland, VT Jewish community.  

• Sandra was a Youth Ambassador to Israel in 1966, at 16 years old, and “came back a changed person”. She maintains great affection for the land and people not withstanding that the current situation “doesn’t sit well” with her. The book she is holding in this photo is To Life: A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women, based on an oral history project she undertook with Ann Zinn Buffum and which was contributed to the Jewish Women’s Archive. S2 E3 Notes:       NFTY (NationalFederation of Temple Youth) is based on the tradition of European youth movements and pursues “tikkun olam [repair of the world], personal growth, youth empowerment, and deep connections, all rooted in Reform Judaism.”
• AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is the heavy weight political lobby for Israel maintaining unwavering support for the Israeli government.
• Peace Now, established in 1978 by 348 Israeli senior reserve army officers is “the largest and oldest movement in Israel that works to promote peace through a two-state solution for two peoples”.  Three years later, Americans for Peace Now (APN) was established to support it. With century old ties to labor movements and progressive causes, Ameinu, (Our People) “was founded in 2005 to reimagine the role of a progressive Zionist voice in the American Jewish community.” Ameinu perceived the need to strength ties with their Israeli counterparts via The Third Narrative. While Peace Now remains active in Israel, in 2024, APN and Ameinu merged forming the New Jewish Narrative promoting peace, justice, and a progressive Israel.
• Jewish Women’s Archive/To Life: A Celebration of Vermont Jewish Women Follow the link to see Sandy’s work.

Recorded November 12, 2025 Courtesy Photo: Irit

Irit Librot takes us through her early years in Haifa immediately following the creation of the State and the subsequent move to the US where “the streets are paved with gold” (spoiler: didn’t turn out that way). We get a strong andinspiring picture of Irit’s mother, Rachel Dziecholska Rotkovitch, who lived, studied, and worked in Poland, Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and the US. You can read aboutRachel in the alumni magazine of the American University in Beirut, photos p.51, write up p.64.

Irit’s own experience of October 7 and the war is temperedby her time in Israel and the reactions of those in her close community here, where, as you can see from the show notes, her life is infused with music and dance.

S2 E2 Notes:       

• UVJC Healing Circles, discussed in Season 1 Episode 4: Gene Kadish.

• Mussar: The book Irit refers to is Everyday Holiness, by Alan Morinis, Trumpeter, 2007, and the course is from the Mussar Institute.
• Vivian Silver: Here’s a link to the GroundWork episode “Vivian Silver’s Legacy: From Grief to Action”, an interview with her son, Yonatan Zeigen.
• Holding Liat, the film referenced on the captivity and release of Liat Beinin Atzili.
• The orchestra referenced is Firqat Alnoor (“Orchestra of Light/Fire”) “an Arabic classical music orchestra composed of Jewish and Arab musicians from diverse social and geographical backgrounds across Israel.” Enjoy.
• Umm Kulthumm. Can’t say enough. Check her out on Wikipedia and I dare you not to listen to The Voice.
• The singer Irit references is Ziv Yeheskel and here’s a link to him singing Sawaah with The Jerusalem Orchestra East & West.       And the dance is the Dabka. Looks simple enough. And then… (first link is Wikipedia, second one is a lesson) 
• Times of Israel is, indeed, both a publication and a podcast. I’ve heard it critiqued from more than one perspective, so, maybe it is, as Irit, claims, presenting all sides.

Recorded November 7, 2025  Courtesy Photo: Keshaand baby, VT Statehouse

Kesha Ram-Hinsdale, as we establish at the outset, is ourVermont Senate Majority Leader, and yet here, she is not talking state politics – she’s just an ordinary Jew. Her story, as a self-proclaimed HinJew, is awash with streams of migration and displacement on both sides of her family. Looking at the origins of Israel, we focus often on the fallout from the mid-century dissolution of the British Empire. At the same time, Kesha’s family was uprooted by the divisions left on the Indian subcontinent by the British exit.

She speaks movingly about the legacy of her grandfather, Sir Ganga Ram, the role of art in giving her a sense of place in Israel, and how her dual legacy has shaped her thinking on democracy and human rights.

Hi! I’m happy to be back with a second season of OJT. Here, in Episode 0, I have a few words about the "why” of the podcast and some thoughts on this season in the short S2E0 audio.

And let me tease Episode 1 – we start out with a great conversation with VT Senator Kesha Ram-Hinsdale.

I’ve been asked a few times why I’m doing this podcast and I'd be glad to tell you. I felt from the beginning of the Gaza War that I needed a better connection with other Jews. I had been part of the Upper Valley Jewish community, and then I wasn't.And it was, and still is, such a fraught time and so confusing with the rise in antisemitism, the rise in pro-Palestinian sentiment, and no end to conflict in sight. I was trying  to sort out my own history and my own feelings, and I started going back to the UVJC and what I realized was that it wasn't just me – a lot of people just really needed to sort things out.

And it’s not because there is a shortage of analysis andexpertise. There's great stuff online, really knowledgeable people from a historical perspective, theological, social perspective. But I feel that it isn’t just the experts who need to have these conversation – it’s also us ordinary Jews. Moreon this topic, including online resources, with a soon-to-be-linked Substack.

Happy listening, and please, do, subscribe! Thank you.

Recorded September 3, 2025  Courtesy Photo: Roberta Berner, with her husband, Rich Abel

Roberta has accomplished so much, one would think she lived three lives rather than lived in three places: the deep South, Midwest, and for 27+ years, here in the Upper Valley.  She didn’t mention, but I will, that she was awarded a Shem Tov award this year from the NH Jewish Federation. Roberta is a Board Trustee and the immediate past President of the Upper Valley Jewish Community (UVJC) where she leads the Caring and Chesed (loving kindness) Committee and reportedly makes the best Saturday morning coffee. Her remarks on Israel and being Jewish at this moment are touching, difficult, and central to what so many of us are experiencing.

For my part, I’m taking a pause here after Episode 6 to reflect on where OJT can go from here, line up a new season of guests, and enjoy the glorious Vermont fall. Happy New Year, Shanah Tova u’Metuka – an even better year and a sweeter year – to you all.

Episode 6 Notes:

•   DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution): According to an AI Overview on Google, “The DAR has evolved to be open to all races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds.” Roberta’s reference reflects what was a truism for us growing in mid-century – that Jews need not apply.  
• Shir Shalom, Woodstock VT A Reform Congregation       The Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF) Israeli Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace. “Those who have paid in blood cry out: WE MUST end this war. …there is no other way. Stop the killing. Stop the cycle of revenge…It is time to choose peace and reconciliation.”
• Dr. Meron Medzini, Professor Emeritus at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, gave classes at Shir Shalom;his son was a tour guide when Roberta visited in 2019.
• “Israel: A Lesson in Democracy” taught by Hanan Miron about Israeli “judicial reform” in 2024.
• Military leaders on the conflict in Gaza, mid-2025. See also Episode 5.
• It’s Time, seealso reference in Episode 3.
• UVJC Healing Circles, discussed in Episode 4:Gene Kadish.

Recorded August 6, 2025

Ilsa Pinkson-Burke and Briane Pinkson grew up going to “shula”, a Cooperative Jewish Children’s School teaching Jewish history, ethics, art, music, and politics – everything except Hebrew, liturgy, or religion. The school was in the tradition of their parents and grandparents, Yiddish-speaking “left-wingers from the twenties and thirties”. Most weekends they all went to political demonstrations, andonce – once – they made a field trip to a synagogue. Today, both sisters feel a need to reenforce their sense of Jewish community and to learn more about the history of Israel, while distancing themselves from Zionism.Episode 5 Notes:

·      Rabbi Dov Taylor leads Chavurat ki-tov and canbe reached at [email protected]  

·      Jewish Voice for Peace, New Hampshire/Vermont Chapter: “We envision a world where all people — from the U.S. to Palestine — live in freedom, justice, equality, and dignity.”

o  Organizational responses to the suffering andstarvation in Gaza:

• Statement from the Reform Movement
• Statement from the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly
• Statementfrom 80 Orthodox Rabbis (unlike the other statements, this one was international and signed by individuals)
• Israeli military and security leaders strongly denounce government-directed military action in Gaza, demand an end to pointless death and destruction, and a deal to return the hostages
• Artists and intellectuals: much reporting on statements, overt or covert boycotts, and reactions from within Israel. Hard to trace back to the statements by artists and intellectuals.

Camp Kinderland “Summer camp with a conscience since 1923”

Recorded August 12, 2025  Photo: by LA

Being a Jew is central to Gene’s identity. He seeks to be abetter Jew as a way to be a better person, practices kyudo, goes to sabbath services as a way of meditation, and attends to the little things. In this interview, he contrasts what was worth dying for prior to the nation state, and what is so valued today. Gene is also one of the organizers of the Healing Circles held by the Upper Valley Jewish Community since October 7.

Episode 4 Notes:

Peter Beinart appearing on Jon Stewart show

Books referenced:

• Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza, by Peter Beinart, 2024. Here’s a link to the author’s substack where he talks about the book.

• The Necessity of Exile: Essays from a Distance, by Shaul Magid, 2023. Here’s a link to a discussion with Magid at Harvard Divinity School.
• Impossible Takes Longer – Israel at 75, by Daniel Gordis, 2023. Here’s a link to a discussion on the book. See also Gordis’s Substack where he surfaces media from across the Israeli spectrum that reflect the national discourse: Israel from the Inside  including this 22 minute standup routine on PTSD by Udi Kagan.

Newspapers:

• Ha-aretz, English Edition
• Times of Israel

Organizations supporting a shared future: (just those mentioned in this Episode)

• New Jewish Narrative
• Standing TogetherNew Israel Fund