Tel Aviv Review

This episode originally aired on Feb. 20, 2015.

Dr. Jonathan Rubin, a historian of the Medieval Levant at Tel Aviv University, specializes in the production of knowledge in the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th and 13th centuries.

He talks to host Gilad Halpern about how the Crusaders' encounters with local societies - beyond the initial indignation - led to theological, economic, and scientific developments.

With a severe humanitarian and economic crisis, another Gaza war could well be on its way. But Gaza is not only the packed, imprisoned and impoverished strip of misery. It is a place where high school students learn Shakespeare, whose residents have been to hell and kept their pride. Why isn't it a Singapore by the sea, and is there any hope or route to improvement? Veteran journalist Donald Macintyre brings years of firsthand reporting to his deeply informative and equally colorful book Gaza: Preparing for Dawn.

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

With a severe humanitarian and economic crisis, another Gaza war could well be on its way. But Gaza is not only the packed, imprisoned and impoverished strip of misery. It is a place where high school students learn Shakespeare, whose residents have been to hell and kept their pride. Why isn't it a Singapore by the sea, and is there any hope or route to improvement? Veteran journalist Donald Macintyre brings years of firsthand reporting to his deeply informative and equally colorful book Gaza: Preparing for Dawn.

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

This episode originally aired Feb. 13, 2015

Dr. Ephraim Chamiel, a lecturer and scholar of Jewish thought in the modern era, explains who were the Jewish philosophers who sought to harmonize modernity and tradition.

His book, "The Middle Way: The Emergence of Modern Religious Trends in Nineteenth-Century Judaism," is available in English.

This episode originally aired Feb. 13, 2015

Dr. Ephraim Chamiel, a lecturer and scholar of Jewish thought in the modern era, explains who were the Jewish philosophers who sought to harmonize modernity and tradition.

His book, "The Middle Way: The Emergence of Modern Religious Trends in Nineteenth-Century Judaism," is available in English.

Michael Broyde, professor of law at Emory University and former rabbinical judge, discusses the constitutional, legal and societal implications of track two arbitration in the contemporary United States, which are the topic of his new book Sharia Tribunals, Rabbinical Courts and Christian Panels: Religious Arbitration in America and the West.

This episode comes with bonus material for patrons only: www.patreon.com/telavivreview

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

Michael Broyde, professor of law at Emory University and former rabbinical judge, discusses the constitutional, legal and societal implications of track two arbitration in the contemporary United States, which are the topic of his new book Sharia Tribunals, Rabbinical Courts and Christian Panels: Religious Arbitration in America and the West.

This episode comes with bonus material for patrons only: www.patreon.com/telavivreview

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.

This episode originally aired Feb. 6, 2015

Prof. Anita Shapira, one of Israel's most eminent historians of Zionism, discusses her biography of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister.

This episode originally aired Feb. 6, 2015

Prof. Anita Shapira, one of Israel's most eminent historians of Zionism, discusses her biography of David Ben-Gurion, Israel's founding prime minister.

Rise and Kill First reveals Israel's deadliest secrets. The history of targeted assassinations precedes the establishment of the state and continues to the present. Israel has killed terrorists, political figures, nuclear scientists, former Nazis and a UN negotiator; questions still swirl around the death of Arafat.

When does Israel strike, and when does it abort a mission? Ronen Bergman's exposé obtains material never before released, and he talks with people who never talk. Here he discusses why and how Israel imposes the death penalty outside of any courtroom, based entirely on its own rules.

This season of the Tel Aviv Review is made possible by The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, which promotes humanistic, democratic, and liberal values in the social discourse in Israel.