Jew Oughta Know
Jason Harris
From ancient history to current events, take yourself on a journey through the story of the Jewish People, from someone who has led hundreds of Jewish young professionals on trips throughout Israel. From the beginning of creation to modern Israel, each short episode is geared to appeal both to someone looking for the Jewish 101, as well as to those looking to go a bit beyond the basic story they already know. Check out the website at https://jewoughtaknow.com/. Enjoy!
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 19, 2020 • 25min
86. Israel 1948-1967: The Sinai Campaign
Israel enters the world stage in 1956 as a country to be reckoned with. Israel provokes a war with Egypt in secret cahoots with Britain and France. It was a local conflict wrapped in a regional one wrapped in the Cold War struggle for power in the Middle East.
Mar 29, 2020 • 24min
85. Israel 1948-1967: Eulogy for Roi Rotberg
How should Israel respond to terrorism? The government was divided in its response to attacks from Jordan and Egypt: aggressive retaliation, or restraint and diplomacy?
Mar 22, 2020 • 21min
84. Israel 1948-1967: Sde Boker
Prime Minister David Ben Gurion abruptly quits and heads off to Sde Boker, a desert kibbutz. Meanwhile, the Israeli government is rocked by political scandal, and Ben Gurion ends up right back where he started.
Mar 15, 2020 • 25min
83: Israel 1948-1967: The Jewish State, Religious Version
Is Israel a theocracy? Or just a Jewish democracy that doesn't separate synagogue and state? And who gets to be counted as a Jew in the Jewish State? The second part of our look at how Israel put the "Jewish" in the Jewish State, this time through religion.
Feb 24, 2020 • 24min
82. Israel 1948-1967: The Jewish State, Secular Version
How do you put the "Jewish" in the Jewish State? One way is through secular Jewish culture: the Hebrew language, archaeology, and even the Hebrew Bible itself.
Feb 9, 2020 • 24min
81. Israel 1948-1967: Blood Money
West Germany offered to pay Israel reparations for the Holocaust, touching off a heated and violent debate over whether Israel should accept. Was it a critical windfall for a poor nation, or nothing more than blood money?
Feb 2, 2020 • 25min
80. Israel 1948-1967: The Law of Return
Who is a Jew, according to the State of Israel? And where do you put all the new immigrants when there isn't enough housing? And what is the impact on Mizrahi Jewish refugees and Palestinian land abandoned during the war?
Jan 26, 2020 • 23min
79. Israel 1948-1967: On Wings of Eagles
The Palestinians weren't the only refugees. Nearly one million Jews were pushed out of the Middle East and North Africa in revenge for the creation of Israel. Ancient Jewish communities were uprooted as hundreds of thousands of Mizrahi (Middle Eastern Jews) poured into Israel.
Jan 19, 2020 • 27min
78. Israel 1948-1967: The Nakba (Catastrophe)
For the Palestinians who left Israel -- whether by force or voluntarily -- Israel's War of Independence was a nakba (catastrophe). The war's end in 1949 left over 720,000 Palestinian refugees. Why they left, what happened to them, and how much responsibility Israel bears is the focus of today's episode.
Jan 13, 2020 • 26min
77. Israel 1948-1967: Narratives
The War of Independence left multiple narratives in its wake, from the Jews who lost 1% of their population to the war, to the Arab-Israelis who fell under martial law.
