The assassination of Christian Lebanese Phalangist leader Bashir Gemayel was an explosion which rocked the region, and the massacres at Sabra and Shatila which followed in its wake horrified the world. This episode touches on a rabbinic debate over the morality of war, the political struggle over its consequences and sets the stage for a…
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Crossing into Lebanon to destroy PLO started as a successful mission, and when the IDF destroyed the Syrian SAM belt in the Bekaa Valley through Operation Mole Cricket 19 it looked like victory was assured. Nonetheless as Defense Minister Ariel Sharon pursued Yasser Arafat of the PLO (and his dreams of a peace treaty) into…
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We are all actors in the Jewish Story, and part of the art of becoming a main character is knowing how to seize the moment. Here is an interview with former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman which explores how he came to be in his position, the contributions he made and his vision for…
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Sometimes a listener question can cause a whole interlude. Here is an exploration of Jewish leadership and its roots in the Jewish story. Along the way we touch on Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. There is also an opening attempt at defining leadership and a chance to ask…
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Operation Peace for the Galilee begins with Israeli jets pounding Yasser Arafat’s PLO bases in southern Lebanon, but there is always a backstory. In this episode learn about the complicated history Lebanon’s civil wars fought between Christians, Moslems and Druze. Meet Ariel Sharon in his new role of Defense Minister, ever the bulldozer and now…
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Before we can discuss the outbreak of war between Israel and the PLO in Lebanon, we must lay out the political context. As Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian liberation army were massing troops along the border, and the city of Kiryat Shmona was facing bombardment, Prime Minister Menachem Begin visited US President Ronald Reagan in…
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Adar is the month when we increase our joy. The question is, in an increasingly bewildering world, where is it to be found? Learn about the Jewish holiday of Purim, the Book of Esther, and how it applies to us today.
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Israel’s leadership came to be part by never forgetting the principal of “when one comes to kill you, rise early and kill first.” Israel Prime Minister Menachem Begin’s 1981 bombing of the Iraqi reactor Osirak on the distant banks of the Tigris gave birth to the “Begin doctrine” of absolute opposition to enemy possession of…
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People like to talk about the price of peace, but they rarely define what peace actually means. This makes evaluating the price impossible. In April of 1982 Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula and for the first time destroyed established Jewish homes in the name of peace. This episode explores the price. Learn about the…
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There are some conversations which Am Yisrael is just not having. As a follow up to some of the issues raised in the last few episodes Rav Mike is joined by Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen of the Vision Movement for a conversation on power and violence in the State of Israel.
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