Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and wunderkind critic Ohad Zeltzer-Zubida discuss three topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week.   --Big Government-- Israel’s new government is the largest in history, with 36 ministers. But can we expect big things from it?   --Court TV?-- When Supreme Court hearings are broadcast on TV, does it humanize the justices, or just make them look small?   --God TV?-- An Evangelical cable TV channel cheeses people off when it tries to convince Israeli Jews to accept Jesus in our hearts. But isn’t that the sort of things we want to have in a “marketplace of ideas”?   --Worrying About Our Loved Ones-- For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra segment, we talk about (following a great article by Allison in Haaretz) what it is like to worry about loved ones living in the US, where the corona-news is so scary, at the moment when here in Israel things seem so much better.   All that and songs by Frube, four talented kids from Sde Boker!

The “Small Screen, Big Government” Edition

An inside view of how Israel can warm your heart and make your blood boil. It’s a show by a journalist, a professor and an NGO professional who live in and love Israel even though it drives them crazy, and who each week discuss the latest in Israeli politics, culture, and society.

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News Commentary

Linda Gradstein and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. —Going Too Farsi? (Or, the Persian Incursion)— We — with the help of the US, UK, Jordan and other capable allies — buffly rebuffed the biggest missile and drone attack on Israel ever. But what does it tell us about the past and augur for the future? —Passover, 5784— How is this Passover different from all other Passovers? Plus, a bereaved father on solidarity, flower-girls, fruit bats and more music of our times.

The “Unsmote, but Smitten Nonetheless” Edition

Marking six months since the massacres and the start of the war, Miriam Herschlag and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Us, Here— Whether and how we Israelis have changed, in light of all that has happened. Are we different than we were six months and one week ago? —Us, There— Whether and how we Jews around the world have changed, in light of all that has happened. Are we different than we were six months and one week ago? —Iran’s Promised “Persian Incursion”— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Are we losing sleep over Iran’s promised “Persian Incursion”? Plus, the presence of October 7 around the Seder table.  And, more music of our times.

The “Here and There” Edition

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Don Futterman and Noah Efron discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Families 2.0— The organization of the families of the hostages has decided to change strategies, linking its campaign to bring the hostages home to the campaign for “elections now.” Is the fight to get the hostages home entering a new phase? —Sidelocks & Sidearms— A Supreme Court injunction cuts off, cold-turkey, funding for army-aged, ultra-Orthodox Yeshiva students who learn instead of serve. Couldn’t they have let the turkey get to room-temperature? —Snap Judgement— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Should a photographer who watched and snapped his shutter while people were being killed, raped and kidnapped get a prize for a picture he took? Plus a farewell to one of the country’s greatest novelists and activists. And, more music of our times.

The “Sidelocks & Sidearms?” Edition

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and newly-minted Doctor of Thinkology Gilad Halpern discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Abstention Dissension— There seems to be a very fast decline in US-Israel relations, after the Americans abstain on a UN Security Council resolution that Israel expected them to veto. Are Israel and America, like Ross and Rachel, on a break? —Standard Deviation— An expert in urban warfare says Israel is more careful to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza than any other army in history. But even if that is true, does it matter? —The Great Rupture in American Jewish Life— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Is Peter Beinart right that there is a “great rupture in American Jewish life”? If he is, should we worry? Plus a farewell to a man who spent decades rebuilding violins that survived the Holocaust, often when the musicians who played them did not.  Plus more music of our times.

The “(Feels Like) Sumpin’ Gonna Give” Edition

Allison Kaplan Sommer, Noah Efron and ubermensch writer Bradley Burston discuss two topics of incomparable importance and end with an anecdote about something in Israel that made them smile this week. Hear the Extra-Special, Special Extra Segment on Patreon   —Despite It All, Peace?— Is all we are sayin’, just give peace a chance? —Amalek— Is it like reverse anti-Semitism? —The End of Israel— For our most unreasonably generous Patreon supporters, in our extra-special, special extra discussion: Kafka said, “A book must be an ice-axe for the frozen sea within us.” This one is. Order Bradley Burston’s new book, The End of Israel: Dispatches from a Path to Catastrophe, here! Plus a glimpse into the worlds of ultra-Orthodox parents of kids who grew up ultra-Orthodox and were murdered at the druggy, dancy, free-lovey Nova festival.  Plus more music of our times.

The “Small Screen, Big Government” Edition

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