What Matters Now to Mishy Harman: 3 'postcards' from wartime Israel

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now.

This week on What Matters Now, we're again handing the mic to Mishy Harman, the co-founder of The Times of Israel’s podcast partner, Israel Story, the premiere narrative English-language podcast from Israel.

Since the October 7 massacre across southern Israel by Hamas of some 1,200 individuals, mostly civilians, Harman and his team at Israel Story have pivoted from their long-form, carefully nurtured episodes to producing almost daily Wartime Diaries.

We at The Times of Israel asked the Israel Story team to compile a few episodes and after much deliberation, together we selected three:

Wartime Diaries: Shira Masami

More than 200,000 Israelis – from both the South and the North – have been forced to leave their homes since the start of the war. Some have relocated to hotels or kibbutzim, others have opted to move in with family or friends, or else even rent apartments in entirely new surroundings. In today’s episode we get a glimpse of what that reality feels like. Shira Masami is one of nearly 30,000 residents who have left the southern city of Sderot – a city that suffered a horrendous attack on October 7 – and who are now dispersed around the country.

Wartime Diaries: Charlene Seidle

Upwards of $1 billion in donations have been sent to Israel since the start of the war.

For years, Charlene Seidle, the Executive Vice President of the San Diego-based Leichtag Foundation, has been at the forefront of the Jewish philanthropic world.

While the Leichtag Foundation supports various causes in the States and in Israel, their main local focus is bridging social and economic gaps in Jerusalem. Leichtag has given life to hundreds of grassroots initiatives and has created the ‘Jerusalem Model’ – a diverse network of social entrepreneurs, activists and leaders from all sectors around town – Jews, Muslims, Christians, religious, secular, etc.

Since Charlene and her team have been nurturing and cultivating these relationships for so long, they were particularly well-situated to understand the needs on the ground in the immediate aftermath of October 7th.

Wartime Diaries: Omer Ohana

The war has brought many new people into the limelight: For nearly three months we’ve been hearing countless stories of casualties, hostages, survivors and family members, many of whom have entered our hearts and never left. In some cases we feel like we’ve gotten to know these unsung heroes personally.

One of the first big stories of the war, in that initial crazy week after October 7, was that of 30-year-old Sagi Golan from Herzliya – a decorated officer in an anti-terrorism unit who was killed in action in Be’eri in the early hours of October 8. His story made headlines because Sagi was supposed to have married his partner, Omer Ohana, two weeks later, and his death brought to the fore – once again – the matter of the army and LGBTQ rights.

Though the IDF has recognized same-sex partners of fallen soldiers as eligible for full financial and emotional support since the mid-1990s, the matter had never been enshrined in law. So in the weeks after Sagi’s death, Omer led a successful campaign to legally secure the rights of same-sex and common-law partners of fallen soldiers.

So this week, we ask Mishy Harman, what matters now?

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.

IMAGE: (Clockwise from top right) Shira Masami; Sagi Golan (left) and Omer Ohana; Charlene Seidle (courtesy Israel Story) See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.