Committing High Reason

The January 6th insurrection at the nation's capital that resulted in the impeachment of Donald Trump depicted the characteristics of a religion more than a political position. Prof. Gloria Moran discusses American civic religion from a legal and historical perspective, tracing its roots to its the Roman Empire.

Lee Stranahan, Republican radio host, journalist and former Breitbart reporter once thought that his peers at Breitbart - Joel Pollak and Ben Shapiro - are typical of observant Jews’ attitude toward Israel, and that anti-Zionism was “a leftist thing,” directly tied to one’s position in the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Then one day, Lee watched a video of Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro and close to 20,000 Orthodox Jews opposing Zionism as wholly un-Jewish and rooted in anti-Semitism. Judaism to these devout Jews is a religion, not a nationality, and there is no such thing as a “nation-state” of the Jews, or Jewish nationalism (aka Zionism). This struck a chord with Lee and led him as a journalist to investigate further into the masses of mainstream Orthodox Jews who reject Zionism, and whose anti-Zionist activity is ignored by the mainstream media. His search led him to astounding revelations about the origins and ideology of Zionism, and to the discovery of a whole world of Orthodox Jews, who, independent of Israel’s politics, refuse to tie their Jewish identity to any political construct – and certainly to a foreign country. This is Lee’s story, Part 1. 

Rabbi Shapiro, an expert in protecting oneself from manipulation and propaganda, explains how to resist psychological manipulation used by politicians, advertisers, and salesmen. The podcast explores how our perception of time and numbers can be manipulated, the impact of statistical presentation on decision-making, assessing probabilities individually and collectively, and understanding the difference between fractions and percentages in conveying information.

Reuven and Esther Guttman of Long Island arrived in Egypt for what they expected to be a routine vacation.  But when the border guards ran Esther's passport, which had her maiden name, Maimon,  on it, they discovered that she was a descendent of Maimonides (1135-1204), the revered rabbinic head of the Egyptian Jewish community in the 12th century, and personal physician of the first sultan of Egypt.  In this podcast, they describe how they were given the royal treatment by the Egyptian government as, for the first time in centuries, a family member of the revered Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon had set foot on Egyptian ground.

In February 2020 an anonymous article appeared in the Forward by a teacher in several Zionist Hebrew Day Schools, claiming they teach dual loyalty to Israel and that they need to stop. The article was met with derision, condemnation, and even denial of the author's existence. Meet the author, who no longer teaches in such schools and is safe from reprisals,  as he tells us his full story.SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODEI’ve taught at six Jewish day schools. They’re preaching dual loyalty to Israel | Forward Jonathan Greenblatt’s Response | ForwardThe meaning of Israel as the state of the Jewish people | Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Jewish Leaders Denounce “Dual Loyalty” While Demanding Fealty to Israel | Forward Peter Beinart and Deborah Lipstadt Discuss Anti-Semitism in America Today | Forward (podcast) Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress | videoNetanyahu’s Speech to Congress | transcript“Prime Minister of the Jewish people” | Times of Israel"The leader of the Jewish state and the entire Jewish people” | ReutersNetanyahu is ‘the leader of the Jewish world,’ says top aide | The Times of IsraelWhy Jonathan Pollard is still in Prison | The Jewish WeekThe NY Radio Stars Who Blamed 9/11 On The Jews–And Went Unpunished | The Jewish Press"Mike and Mad Dog Exposed as Frauds"| NY PostWe Listened To One Of The "Lost" Mike And The Mad Dog 9/11 Tapes | Deadspin