TJS S5E1 A portrait of American Jewry, circa 1974
The changing culture of American Jewry after the Yom Kippur War in Israel and the Vietnam War meant leaving old neighborhoods, a surge in Zionism and new developments...
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TJS S5E2 Let My People Go - the ongoing fight for Soviet Jewry
Rav Mike Feuer talks about Russian Jewish refuseniks, why they were denied exit visas to immigrate to Israel, and how the Communist regime eventually let them go. Learn...
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TJS S5 Interlude Crowning the King 5782
Sometimes a simple question sparks the deepest thoughts. This episode is in answer to a simple question - what is the story of Rosh Hashanah. It explores the...
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TJS S5E3 Feminism and American Judaism
The feminist movement and Jewish American life came together in the 1960s and 70s - each influencing the other. In this episode we touch on Betty Friedan's Feminine...
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TJS S5 Interlude - Sukkot 5782 Seeking joy
Sometimes its seems that joy is the most desirable and least available aspect of human experience. In this episode Rav Mike seeks out some insights from Sukkot, the...
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TJS S5E4 -Zionism is Racism
If Israel is meant to be a light to the nations, then how they see us offers illuminating insights. In this episode we meet the Non-Aligned Movement, Israel's...
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TJS S5 Interlude - interview with Gil Troy
Historian and author Gil Troy joins me for a follow up to the 'Zionism is Racism' episode. We talk 'Moynihan's Moment,' the rise of the PLO, the mental...
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TJS S5E5 - Gush Emunim
Many things within Israeli society were threatened with collapse in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, and perhaps the most profound danger was a loss of spirit....
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TJS S5E6: Yitzhak Rabin's first term
When most people think about Yitzhak Rabin as Israel's Prime Minister they focus on the Oslo Accords and his tragic murder, but many are unaware that Rabin's assassination...
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TJS S5E7 Yitzhak Rabin's first term - part II
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in the 1970s faced conflicts on all three fronts of Jewish history - within Am Yisrael, between Israel and the nations, and as a...
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TJS S5E8 Yoni Netanyahu and the Raid on Entebbe
Heroism is a precious quality, and one strong enough to change the world. Here is the story of the Israeli mission to free hostages held by Arab terrorists...
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The Jewish Story: Interlude - Hanukkah: Who Knows Eight?
Have you ever wondered why exactly Hanukkah lasts eight days? You may be familiar with the 'jar of oil' answer, but this interlude will give you a lot...
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TJS S5 Interlude: Empires come, empires go
Many people look at the world today and feel the foundations of American power shaking - and most are afraid. Here is an episode about empires, made in...
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TJS S5E9 The Upheaval Election of Menachem Begin in 1977
There are few events in the history of Israel's democracy which have had a greater impact than the elections of 1977. When all the votes were counted three...
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TJS S5E10 Menachem Begin 1977 election aftershocks
Menachem Begin's upheaval victory in the 1977 Israeli elections was the beginning of revolutionary change for the Jewish State, not the end. Some who rejoiced will be bemused,...
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TJS S5E11 - The Camp David Accords
The domestic political upheaval of the Menachem Begin victory in 1977 was followed quickly by an international earthquake in 1978 when Israel and Egypt agree to make peace....
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TJS S5 Interlude - Don't lose the thread
Is anyone else feeling a little frayed around the edges? Here is an interlude where I give some insight on how to avoid snapping under the pressure of...
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TJS S5 Interlude - Interview with Settler Leader Daniella Weiss
It is rare that someone who begins a movement is still leading strong fifty years later. Daniella Weiss was part of the original settlement of Judea and Samaria...
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TJS S5E12 The Jewish Underground part I
In politics as in physics - for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Prime Minister Menachem Begin's signing of the Camp David Accords with Egypt's...
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TJS S5E13 - Settler Violence? The Jewish Underground of the 1980s part II
Today the media loves to discuss "settler violence," but it is rarely interested in its historical origins. This episode picks up the story of Yehuda Etzion and Menachem...
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TJS S5 Interlude - A conversation on violence with Rabbi Yehuda HaKohen
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...
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TJS S5E14 - The Evacuation of the Sinai Peninsula
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...
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TJS S5E15 - Bombing of the Iraqi Nuclear Reactor
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...
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TJS S5 Interlude Purim 5782 In search of joy
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...
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TJS S5E16 - Lebanon War part I
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...
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TJS S5E17 - Lebanon War part II
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...
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TJS S5 Interlude: What Makes Someone a Jewish Leader?
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...
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TJS S5 Interlude: interview with Ambassador David Friedman
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...
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TJS S5E18 Lebanon War part III - the invasion
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...
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TJS S5E19 Lebanon War part IV - Sabra and Shatila
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...
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TJS S5 Interlude Historical Obligations Yom Ha'atzmaut 5782
The RRG Bet Midrash Torah Cafe hosts Rav Mike Feuer for a live word of Torah on Yom Haatzmaut - Israel Independence Day. How does history create obligations,...
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TJS S5 Interlude Interview with Daniel Gordis
Menachem Begin has been part of our exploration of the Jewish Story since the uprising against the British back in 1944, and the Lebanon War was the last...
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TJS S5 Interlude - Jerusalem Day with Rav Aaron Leibowitz
Jerusalem Day (Yom Yerushalayim) is a time when past and present come sharply together, and have the potential to define our future. Social activist and former Jerusalem city...
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TJS S5E21 American Jewry circa 1984
As we circle in toward the end of season five, it is time to check back in with American Jewry. The 1980s were a time of economic and...
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TJS S5E22 Soviet Jewry - the end game
Here is the third and culminating episode in a story that we have been following since season four. The Eighties saw a welding together of American Cold War...
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TJS S5E23 The Jonathan Pollard affair
The 1980s saw many seismic shifts in the fabric of American Jewish society, and among them was the earthquake of the Jonathan Pollard affair. The 1985 arrest of...
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TJS S5E24 Meir Kahane and the memory of the Holocaust
American Jewry in the Eighties were as safe and comfortable as a Jewish community had ever been - and yet the shadow of the Holocaust still loomed large...
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TJS S5 Interlude 80s conversation with Rav Yehuda HaKohen
Here is a talk with Rav Yehuda HaKohen of the Vision Movement, the first in couple of conversations which will close our exploration of American Jewish life in...
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TJS S5 Interview with Dr. Zhenia Fleisher
A second wrap up interview for season five. Dr. Zhenia Fleisher lived in all three of the 20th century's major centers of Jewish life - USSR, Israel and...
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TJS S5 Conclusion - an end and a beginning
All things good things must come to an end, so here is the concluding episode of season 5. In it you will find an exploration of how to...
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