Us Among the Israelis

Carrie and Aliza are taking this week off as they get ready to put the final touches on this season's last 3 episodes. Carrie has a message about the upcoming Summer Mailbox Episodes! She's asking you to write in with your burning questions about life in Israel.

Us Among the Israelis is a part of The Joshua Network, sign up for news about the show here.

How come Israel honors gay marriage but impedes gay couples from building families? Why can a single woman employ a gestational surrogate in Israel, but not a single man? And what are the real consequences of going abroad for surrogacy?

Carrie and Aliza speak with father, journalist, and media company owner Grig Davidovitz, who together with his husband made three babies ..... with a little help from a foreign surrogate.

Us Among the Israelis is a part of The Joshua Network, sign up for news about the show here!

Why are Israelis so outdoorsy? What roles do Israel's pioneer roots and citizens' army play in outdoor culture? And how does outdoor culture interact with larger dynamics in Israeli society, such as gender?

Carrie and Aliza speak with survivalist Maayan Berkovits, who specializes in building women and girls' confidence in the outdoors, to understand how Israelis have come to love Israel through their feet.

Us Among the Israelis is a part of The Joshua Network, sign up for news about the show here!

What is the IDF's Spokesperson's Unit? Is it weird that this unit exists? And does the way it sees its purpose match the international community's expectations?

Carrie and Aliza speak with Lt. Col. (Res.) Peter Lerner, former IDF Foreign Media Spokesperson, to understand how the IDF Spokesperson's primary role in selling the military to the Israeli public can come into conflict with the international community's expectations of a government mouthpiece.

Us Among the Israelis is a part of The Joshua Network, sign up for news about the show here!

We're off this week, but we wanted to present you another show from the Joshua Network, The Deal with Nissim Black

Educator and community builder Kylie Unell joins Nissim to talk about growing up in Kansas, building relationships in surprising places, and galvanizing her peers across Manhattan and the world. 

The Deal with Nissim Black and Us Among the Israelis are both produced by The Joshua Network.

What is "Sheikh Jarrah" and why is it important? What connection is there between this Jerusalem neighborhood and Israel's latest conflict with Hamas? And what do decisions (and indecisions) about this neighborhood reveal about Israeli policy in general?

For a deep dive into what influenced the recent Israeli/Gaza conflict, Carrie and Aliza speak with Shany Mor, Adjunct Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former member of the Israeli National Security Council, to understand how decisions made when Israel was a 19-year old conquering power in 1967 affect controversies on the ground today.

Us Among the Israelis is a part of The Joshua Network, sign up for news about the show here!

How does it feel to be caught outside by an air raid siren? What happens when the banal meets the bizarre, and our bubbles are burst? What is happening between Israel and Hamas, and why does it scare our hosts less than the riots breaking out across Israel?

In their most personal episode, Carrie and Aliza record audio diaries from Tel Aviv as they experience the escalation of tensions and attacks, finding their way from disconnection to bomb shelters. Join them to get a taste of the confusion of a rocket attack, and the anxiety of waiting for the next round to occur.

What is the Rabbinate and how does it dictate what is and is not "Jewish" in Israel? Why do some Israelis feel increasingly alienated from the Rabbinate? And how does a state-funded domestic institution affect world Jewry?

Carrie and Aliza speak with Rabbi Seth Farber, who works to reform Israel's Rabbinate through his organization Itim, to understand how top-down organization of the Jewish religion affects life - spiritual and practical - for Jewish Israelis.

How is it that Jewish Israelis are surrounded by Arabic, but can’t really speak it? What role did the military play in influencing civilian Arabic instruction? And how is the military-civilian interplay affecting relations between Israel’s Hebrew and Arabic speaking citizens?

Carrie and Aliza speak with Dr. Yonatan (Yoni) Mendel, who researches the interplay between Arabic language and Israeli society, to understand how academic treatment of Arabic in Israel has made the language a barrier, rather than a bridge, between Israel’s Arabic and Hebrew speaking populations.

Why do Israeli parents actively involve themselves in their adult children's military service? Why does the Israel Defense Forces put up with it? And why does the IDF need it?

Carrie and Aliza speak with Hanna Beit Halachmi, who runs a group of 30K+ parents of Israeli soldiers, to understand what the dynamic between the IDF, it's soldiers, and their involved families.