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Send us a textEp 369: The Israeli Bond — David Black (Part 2)In Part Two of this powerful conversation on The Israeli Bond, host Gal Swisa Cohen continues her in-depth discussion with David Black, former Executive Director of the C. Jacobson JCC and founder of the Randy Wobo-Melinsky Center for Israel on Long Island.David shares the thinking, instincts, and partnerships that led to the creation of one of the most influential Israel engagement models in North America. He explores the concept of Jewish peoplehood, the importance of authenticity in connecting American Jews with Israelis, and why Israel belongs at the heart of a Jewish Community Center.The conversation also traces the organic growth of the Center for Israel—from a single Israeli emissary to a region-wide hub that bridges synagogues, organizations, and generations. David further reflects on the formation of the Jewish Coalition on Long Island and why collaboration, not siloed leadership, is essential in today’s complex Jewish landscape.This episode offers insight, honesty, and a behind-the-scenes look at how listening, trust, and community-building can turn vision into lasting impact.🎧 Stay tuned for Part Three, where the conversation turns to the current challenges facing Jewish communities in America today.Support the show

Send us a textEp 368 – The Israeli Bond | David Black (Part 1) Hosted by Gal Swisa Cohen | hmTvWhat does it mean to be Jewish first as a people—and only then as a faith? And how does Israel shape that identity for Jews living in the diaspora?In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, host Gal Swisa Cohen sits down with David Black, recently retired Executive Director of the Sid Jacobson JCC of Long Island, to explore the formative moments that shaped his Jewish identity, his lifelong connection to Israel, and his philosophy of community building.David reflects on growing up during the Six-Day War, discovering the difference between minority and majority Jewish life, and how his year living in Israel changed his understanding of freedom, belonging, and peoplehood. He also shares insights from an extraordinary career spanning Jewish communal leadership, cultural diplomacy as CEO of the French Institute Alliance Française in New York, and international human-rights work uncovering Holocaust mass graves in Eastern Europe.This episode lays the foundation for a deeper discussion on the inseparable bond between Israel and the Jewish diaspora—why each needs the other, and what happens when that connection is neglected.🔹 Jewish identity vs. Judaism 🔹 Israel as lived experience, not symbolism 🔹 Culture as a bridge between communities 🔹 Leadership, peoplehood, and purpose👉 Stay tuned for Part 2, where the conversation continues with an in-depth look at Israel engagement, the creation of the Center for Israel, and building sustainable bonds across continents.Support the show

Send us a textEp 367 – The Butterfly EffectWith Gilad Avrahami & Bernie Furshpan | hmTvIn this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Gilad Avrahami and Bernie Furshpan explore the powerful idea of the Butterfly Effect—the notion that small actions can ripple outward in ways we may never fully see or predict.Beginning with its scientific roots in chaos theory and moving into lived human experience, this episode examines how words, choices, and moments of kindness shape individuals, communities, and even history itself. Drawing connections to education, Holocaust remembrance, moral responsibility, and everyday decision-making, the discussion reminds us that no action is ever truly insignificant.Recorded at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, The Butterfly Effect invites listeners to reflect on their own impact in the world—and to recognize that change doesn’t require grand gestures. Sometimes, it starts with a single choice, a single voice, or a single act of care.Listen, reflect, and become part of the ripple.Support the show

Send us a textOrdinary Heroes – Episode 366 | Frank Pesce Host: Bernie Furshpan | hmTvIn this powerful episode of Ordinary Heroes, Bernie Furshpan sits down with faith leader and bridge-builder Frank Pesce, founder of Swords into Plowshares (S2PS), for a deeply personal and forward-looking conversation about hope, responsibility, and action in uncertain times.Frank shares the vision behind S2PS — a global movement rooted in shared values, reconciliation, and turning conflict into constructive purpose. Together, Bernie and Frank explore the spiritual and human pull of Jerusalem, the urgency of educating young people in a world saturated by misinformation, and the importance of building real relationships across faiths, cultures, and nations.The conversation touches on the Abraham Accords, agricultural and humanitarian initiatives in Israel, the power of the arts to heal, and why investing in the next generation isn’t optional — it’s essential. This episode is about choosing hope over despair, building bridges instead of walls, and proving that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.A timely, heartfelt dialogue for anyone who believes the future is still worth building.Support the show

Send us a textEp. 365 – Habits of a Whole Heart with Arnie Herz & Cantor Shlomi Rabin A Hanukkah & Yud Tes Kislev Special — Lighting the Inner and Outer WorldIn this heart-warming holiday episode, host Arnie Herz welcomes Cantor Shlomi Rabin back to Habits of a Whole Heart for a spirited exploration of two luminous celebrations — Yud Tes Kislev, the “New Year of Chassidus,” and Hanukkah, the festival of light.Together, they unravel the spiritual drama behind the Alter Rebbe’s historic liberation, the heavenly “trial” over whether humanity was ready for the inner teachings of the soul, and why those teachings were ultimately released to ignite transformation from within.Shlomi sings the haunting Chassidic melody Pada B’Shalom Nafshi and reflects on its message of partnership — we trust God, and God trusts us. From there, the conversation flows into Hanukkah rituals, the symbolism of the Shamash candle, why light grows one night at a time, and how Jewish practice turns metaphors into lived spiritual reality.The episode dips into music, theology, laughter, jelly donuts, dreidels, and heartfelt reminders that service, joy, and inner light are renewable forces — the more we share, the more we shine.This is an episode full of warmth, wisdom, and melody — a perfect listen for anyone seeking meaning, connection, or a little light in uncertain times.Tune in, lift your heart, and pass the flame forward. Happy Hanukkah — and happy Chassidus New Year.Support the show

Send us a textEpisode 364: The Dana Download with Jen AksIn this uplifting episode of The Dana Download, host Dana Arschin welcomes coach, author, and TEDx speaker Jen Aks, founder of The Power of Gesture, for a conversation that blends intuition, healing, Jewish identity, and the courage to rewrite your life.With Dana’s six-year-old daughter Maya co-hosting from her lap, the episode takes on a refreshingly human tone—equal parts heart, humor, and hard truth. Jen breaks down her pioneering “bodyset” practice, where emotional awareness moves from the head into the hands, and shares how her new book, Your Body Is Speaking, helps people listen to the intelligence their bodies have been trying to share all along.The two dive into:• How movement, gesture, and embodiment can unlock clarity • Turning fear into excitement and anxiety into action • What dance taught Jen about confidence, storytelling, and purpose • Jewish identity, family legacy, and generational responsibility • The life-shaping choice of ending a 20-year marriage—and what growth looks like on the other sideThis episode reminds us that intuition is not mystical—it’s biological—and that true leadership starts from the inside out. Whether you’re a parent, a seeker, a creator, or someone standing at your own crossroads, you’ll find wisdom here and a relatable nudge toward self-trust.Tune in for a warm, thoughtful, empowering talk that leaves you thinking long after the mics are off.Support the show

Send us a textEp. 363 The Past Has an Afterlife with Gilad Avrahami & Guest Trevor Stern (Part 2) on hmTvIn this powerful continuation of their conversation, host Gilad Avrahami welcomes back Trevor Stern for an honest, unvarnished look at Jewish student life across three countries and three elite universities. From Haverford to Oxford to Edinburgh, Trevor traces how his casual expectation of “showing up for holidays” evolved into leadership, advocacy, and resilience in the face of rising hostility.The episode journeys into the realities students rarely talk about openly:the campus climates that make Jewish spaces feel like sanctuaries,the ideological tensions that dismiss anti-Semitism as yesterday’s news,the strange double standard of being seen as “too white” to suffer and “not white enough” to belong, andthe emotional toll of building community while navigating polarized environments.Trevor shares personal experiences — from Shabbat tables filled with curious classmates, to spitting attacks on UK streets — and reflects on his years leading one of the world’s oldest Jewish student societies through turbulent times. Together, Gilad and Trevor tackle questions of collective memory, identity, belonging, and whether Jewish student groups should stay apolitical or speak out.The episode closes with grounded advice for young Jews entering college today: how to choose a campus wisely, why Jewish community matters even when you think it won’t, and why stepping in — not stepping back — can be transformative.This conversation isn’t just about student life; it’s about continuity, courage, and the quiet revolution of Jewish youth refusing invisibility.Tune in — your assumptions might shift, and your hope might grow stronger.Support the show

Send us a textEpisode 362 — The Past Has an AfterlifeGuest: Trevor Stern | Host: Gilad Avrahami | hmTv / HMTC**In this inaugural episode of The Past Has an Afterlife, Programs and Development Coordinator Gilad Avrahami sits down with scholar Trevor Stern for a riveting dive into the world of collective memory — how we inherit it, how we shape it, and how it shapes us.Trevor, a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, traces his unusual upbringing as “the only Jewish kid in town” through life in Egypt and India, revealing how identity is formed in unlikely places. From there, the conversation explores the difference between individual and communal remembrance, how stories from the past become narratives we live by, and why certain histories rise to prominence while others disappear into silence.Together, they confront challenging questions:• Who gets represented in Holocaust memory — and who is missing? • How does society decide which events to remember? • What happens when the past is used as a tool in today’s political and cultural debates?Timely, layered, and thought-provoking, this episode sets the tone for a series dedicated to examining how memory isn’t static — it’s alive, contested, reshaped, and deeply consequential for how we understand our world.Subscribe, listen, and join the conversation as hmTv explores how history lives beyond history — and why it matters more than ever.Support the show

Send us a textEpisode 361 — Legacy ChroniclesGuest: Sharon Feder | Host: Donna RosenblumIn this deeply human episode of Legacy Chronicles, Director of Education Donna Rosenblum sits down with second-generation survivor Sharon Feder to explore the extraordinary arc of one woman’s journey — from a 14-year-old Hungarian girl deported to Auschwitz to a resilient mother who rebuilt her life in America.Sharon shares her mother’s harrowing experiences: deportation, separation from siblings, forced labor, death marches, liberation, displacement, and the painful silence that followed. But she also reveals something unexpected — how her mother’s survival became a blueprint for gratitude, meaning, and choosing kindness over bitterness.As Sharon reflects on discovering her mother’s full story through Steven Spielberg’s Shoah Foundation testimony, she uncovers how trauma shaped her childhood — and how understanding it transformed her into a storyteller, educator, and bridge-builder for the next generation.This episode is not just about history — it’s about the legacy of resilience, the cost of silence, the healing power of truth, and the sacred responsibility of remembrance.A moving conversation about survival, identity, forgiveness, and the profound impact a single story can make on students, families, and the world.Listen, share, and carry forward the lesson Sharon’s mother lived by: Kindness should always be your first choice.Support the show

Send us a textEp. 360: Inheriting Memorywith Rebecca Sparacio & guest Aaron Sokolov**In this powerful episode of Inheriting Memory, host Rebecca Sparacio sits down with high school student Aaron Sokolov — a young voice learning what it means to inherit trauma, resilience, and responsibility from a Holocaust survivor in his own family.Aaron recalls the moment he first learned his great-grandmother survived the camps — a moment of shock that reshaped how he thinks about history, antisemitism, and identity. He shares how participating in the “Names Not Numbers” oral history program deepened his awareness, why October 7th was a turning point in his understanding of vulnerability, and why speaking out matters now more than ever.Together, Rebecca and Aaron explore the silence many families carry, the gaps in memory young people struggle to fill, and the urgent role of education in confronting today’s rising antisemitism. Aaron’s honesty — about confusion, pride, fear, and determination — gives listeners a raw, heartfelt view of what it means to grow up Jewish in this moment.This episode is a reminder that memory is not just inherited — it must be learned, asked for, carried, and spoken aloud so history is neither forgotten nor repeated.Support the show