The Two Tall Jews Show

On this week's episode we host Eli Kohn - a Jewish social media star who combats antisemitism online with wit, humor, facts, and responses that will place any Jew-hater rightly in their place. On deck for this interview:

- Eli's work on documenting her grandfather's Holocaust survival story using his own diaries 

- Challenges of fighting antisemitism on each individual platform 

- How to best approach the complex discourse around the I-P conflict 

- A conversation on whether or not Judaism is sexist towards women 

We hope you enjoy this episode. Follow Eli on TikTok and Instagram @judeaneli and Twitter @EliKohn. You can likely find her on Clubhouse on a daily basis going deep on many of the topics covered in this episode. 

WELCOME TO SEASON 2 OF THE TWO TALL JEWS SHOW. 

Brooke is a lawyer, author and human rights activist. In this episode, we break down the recent spate of violence both in Israel and on Jews around the world while trying to understand where it's coming from and what we can do to properly act on moving forward.

Born and raised in Toronto, Brooke received her undergraduate degree from McGill and her law degree from Cardozo. In 2010, Brooke founded the Lawfare Project, a nonprofit legal organization and think tank for which she serves as Executive Director, dedicated to the protection of Jewish and Zionist communities all over the world. As a litigation fund, the Lawfare project provides financial backing to protect free speech and civil rights by applying challenges to discrimination and antisemitism experienced by Jews. She also heads the #EndJewHartred grassroots movement that helps Jews and allies anywhere demand direct consequences for blatant discrimination and hatred of Jews - a main topic of this conversation.

In 2011 Brooke co authored the book Lawfare: The War Against Free Speech: A First Amendment Guide for Reporting in an Age of Islamist Lawfare which serves as guide for journalists to combat the weaponization of the law in an effort to silence writers who speak out against Islamist militancy.

A driven legal scholar whose grandfather battled the Nazis as a Polish Partisan against the tyranny of Hitler’s Europe, Brooke Goldstein has dedicated her life to helping oppressed Jews everywhere, giving voice to the forgotten. Whether its aiding in the humanity of Palestinian teenagers or fighting the discriminatory label of Israeli products in France, Brooke is on the front lines. Whether its in the courtroom, in print, or on-screen, railing against the world of Jewish hatred one case at a time.

DEVELOPING SITUATION: As everyone knows Israel is currently under attack from Hamas / Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Arab-Jewish cities are in disarray and social media has been flaming the firestorm of misinformation that is only worsening the situation. As of this release, most Israelis regardless of their background are in bomb shelters and under threat of being killed by extremists in Gaza who have taken advantage of a legal housing dispute and incendiary lies to wage indiscriminate attacks on Israeli civilians. To be clear: What they're doing is not about Palestinian rights, this is about eliminating the State of Israel. We pray and hope that the violence ends and that no more innocent lives are lost. Pray for Israel, Pray for Palestinian freedom from Hamas/PIJ.

Please take a moment to say the Psalm 121 that we recite at the end of this episode and consider donating to Magen David Adom (Israeli emergency services) as they deal with the ongoing terror: https://linktr.ee/otdjewishistory

Today is an incredibly special special: The Lag Ba’Omer Special featuring Avidan and Elio, aka the Two Chassids from Two Chassids in a Pod, live from Tzfat, Israel.

Aside from being a minor yet important and fun Jewish holiday, Lag Baomer has ane extra extra special special significance for the Two Tall Jews Show as Lag Ba’Omer marks the anniversary of our project: On This Day in Jewish History from which our podcast emerged. I guess you could say with confidence that a bonfire was lit on Lag Baomer 5780 that is still very much lit with a lot more wood on the pile.

For those that know a little bit about the story of Lag Ba’Omer, they’ll know that the holiday actually finds its roots in this very holy city that Avidan and Elio are talking to us from today. More on this special day to come in our interview

Avidan and Elio both of grew up in the West and made Aliyah to Israel. They are both on a spiritual journey based on Torah principles growth. Broadcasting from the mystical city of Tzfat, Israel.

The Two Chassids are here to share thoughts, speak to interesting people, and spread the light of Hashem and the Tzadikim!

Check them out on Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/twochassidsinapod/

Check them out on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZBAXOYs6A7akXCWH79GajQ

Neal Karlen, longtime journalist and author whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Minneapolis Star Tribune.  He is the author of such books as Take My Life, Please, Babes in Toyland, Slouching Towards Fargo and Augies Secrets. Neal has also written two books about Judaism, Shanda: The Making and Breaking of a Self Loathing Jew and The Story of Yiddish: How a Mish Mosh of Languages Saved the Jews. Neal has also taught at the University of Minnesota and Augsburg College.

Before becoming an author, Neal was a staff writer for Newsweek and Rolling Stone Magazine where he became friends with Prince while writing about him, which serves as the subject of his most recent book, and our focus in today’s conversation, This Thing Called Life: Prince’s Odyssey On and Off the Record.

Find out more about Neil on his website: https://nealkarlen.com/ and check out his latest must-read book on Prince, This Thing Called Life: Prince’s Odyssey On and Off the Record on Amazon. 

{DISCLAIMER} As of the recording and release of this episode, Natan had to unfortunately back out of his UFC debut vs Austin Hubbard. Throughout the conversation, we speak with certainty that the fight was happening, but for the sake of Natan's overall career, he decided not to fight on April 17th. On this week's episode we host the only (current) Israeli UFC fighter. Out of Herzliyah, Israel - Natan remains undefeated in his professional fighting career with a black belt background in karate, kung fu, and JewJitsu. Natan currently calls Las Vegas home as he trains and recuperates from an injury that will hold him back from debuting as planned. Check him out on Instagram @natan_levy and tune in to see his progress as his trains his way back to the octagon!

On the 5781 Pesach Special we are humbled to be joined by Rabbi Daniel Bortz aka @millennialrabbi. He is the host of the “Beneath the Surface” podcast (also the title of his book you can find on Amazon), founder of Jteen of San Diego, an organization dedicated to educating and empowering teenagers, and then created SOUL X, an organization offering experiential events for adults to foster deep soul connection. Rabbi Bortz is truly a Millennial Rabbi - he loves sports and music, practices Brazilian “Jew” Jitsu, and lives everyday with the mission of infusing ancient Jewish wisdom with today’s culture, viewing every moment as an opportunity for personal growth and the elevation of our surroundings for a greater Divine purpose.  In this episode we talked to Rabbi Daniel Bortz about his story in the social media game, future of online Jewish education, What is Pesach all about?, How can we all feel as if we, ourselves are, “leaving Egypt”? and internalizing the trust essence of Freedom during this particular Time of Freedom.

On the 21st Episode (not including our holiday specials), we are psyched to host Debbie Lechtman aka Roots Metals - everyone's favorite Instagram Jewish educator and jeweler. On this episode we speak about Debbie’s story from Jewish Educator to Jeweler Back to Jewish Educator (and Jeweler), the dangers of antisemitism from the Left & the Right, what is “internalized antisemitism”, how anti-Zionism is inherently antisemitic, future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and everything wrong with the term “Judeo-Christian”.

You can also find Debbie at

www.rootsmetals.com

www.patreon.com/rootsmetals

As the old joke goes, one can sum up most Jewish holidays into: "They tried to kill us, we survived, let's eat" and in the case of Purim, that's exactly what happened. Check out our Purim Special to hear Meyer give over the Purim story, some follow-up questions Isaac has, and a bit on customs / commandments (mitzvot) that all Jews have on Purim. Purim Sameach and an easy fast to those fasting for Ta'anit Esther! 

Our first recurring guest is the one and only Ben Freeman, Holocaust Educator and Jewish Rights Activist. This past Monday, Ben released his first book titled, "Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People" and in this episode we took a deep dive into the contents of the book. What does it mean to have Jewish Pride? What inspired Ben to write the book? Why did he write it the way he did? We answered all of these questions and so much more. Get your own copy of Jewish Pride: Rebuilding a People on Amazon today! 

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We are also happy to announce the launch of our merch store jewishoriginal.com/merch. Here, you can find shirts, sweaters, hats, mugs, canvases of beautiful sights in Israel and so much more. Send us a screenshot of a review and 5 star rating of our podcast and we will send you a discount code for 15% off the entire store.