The Jewish Story

TJS S4E4 The early struggle for Soviet Jewry

It is a truism that struggle brings out unexpected powers from within us, and what’s true in life is true in history as well. The struggle to liberate Soviet Jewry will be a formative element of our story for decades to come, so here is the first chapter. Learn about Jacob Birnbaum and the Student…

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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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Season 2: Episode 28 – The Challenge of Jewish Power

The return of the Jewish people to the tools of political and military power was bound up with their return to the land of Israel. This episode explores the rise of the military model within the Zionist movement and the power of the martyrdom of Joseph Trumpeldor as an inspiration for further struggle. Want to…

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Season 2: Episode 27 – The Anglo-Zionist Alliance

World War One brought massive destruction and great change. When the smoke cleared from this great conflagration, the British Empire was left in control of the land of Israel. This seemed to be good news for the Jews, except that Her Majesty’s government had promised this particular piece of Ottoman territory to three different parties….

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Season 2: Episode 26 – Rumors of War

The world is starting to shake with the rumbles of the the coming world war. The destruction which is to come will sweep away much of the old, and open new horizons for the budding Zionist project. But the pioneers must be willing to fight for the land which they long to redeem. Want to…

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