Judaism

TJS S3E3 Mass Immigration and Ingathering the Exiles – part I

In the first two years after Israel’s independence, the Jewish population doubled. Such massive immigration put almost fatal stress on the resources and social fabric of the young state. Before we can discuss the practical implications we need to consider the meaning of kibutz galuyot – the ingathering of the exiles. Help me make history…

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TJS S2 E39: Pre-Independence 1948 – The Battle for the Roads and the birth of the War of Narratives

1948 was a year of Biblical proportions, which means the stories told about what happened often have more power than the events themselves. This is part one of a two-part treatment of this momentous time with which we will close season two. Listen in for the civil war which precedes the War of Independence and…

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After the Hanukkah Miracle: 3 Disasters that Wiped Out the Maccabees and How Israel Can Avoid Them

One could say that the Maccabees won the battle but lost the war. How is it that the heroes of the Hanukkah story went from the heights of spiritual power to the depths of corruption in less than 100 years? Here is an analysis of the three disasters that brought down the Hasmonean kingdom, and…

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JS S2:E35: Jewish Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto

By 1942 there was no escape from Europe for the Jews, and even if they had managed to run – who would take them in. This second episode on the Holocaust explores the message of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and finally brings American Jewry into the picture of the Jewish Story.

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JS S2:E 34: The Holocaust

There are things which need to be spoken about no matter how difficult and questions which need to be asked, no matter how unanswerable. Here is the first of two episodes which engage the role of the Holocaust in the Jewish Story.

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Season 2: Episode 33 – The Arab Revolt

The 1930’s saw the hate triangle of Arabs, British and Jews explode into an unprecedented scale of violence known as the Arab Revolt. The revolt brought on yet another cycle of repression and political concessions, and it split the Jews of the Yishuv over the question of whether restraint or retaliation was the proper response…

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Season 2: Episode 32 – Under Pressure

In the 1930’s the ideological divides between the Revisionist and Labor Zionists grew, and cracks began to appear within the community of the Yishuv. Meanwhile, pressure on European Jewry was increasing with the rise of Nazi Germany. When you put these two processes together, the potential is nothing short of explosive. Want to help tell…

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Season 2: Episode 31- Interwar Jewry

Though the land of Israel is the hinge around which the Jewish Story turns, there are many Jews whose future does not lie in Zion. This episode widens the scope of our story to consider the life of European Jews in the interwar period, and how they contributed to the nature of Jewishness outside of…

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Season 2: Episode 30 – Stories of Blood and Fire

Patterns are hard things to break, and we can learn much about ourselves by how they come about. Here is a look at the cycle of riots which rocked the Yishuv in the 1920’s, and set the mold for Arab/Jewish relations for decades to come. Want to help tell the Jewish Story? Become a Patron:…

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Season 2: Episode 29 – The Conflict Within

Each successive wave of immigrants that came up to the land brought with them their blessings, and their challenges. As the population grew, so did the nature of power politics. In the 1920’s two leaders emerged whose opposing visions define many of the political conflicts in our State today. Here is an episode on David…

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