People of the Pod

This week, we engage Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) in conversation about the violence in Israel and Gaza and about Jewish American Heritage Month, with a special salute to another trailblazing Jewish congresswoman, Bella Abzug.  Then, as Israel comes under attack from Hamas-ruled Gaza, we hear from AJC CEO David Harris on the immense challenges facing the Jewish state, the importance of confronting misinformation, and the need for solidarity. __ Episode Lineup: (0:40) Debbie Wasserman Schultz (17:24) David Harris (30:35) Doreen Rosenblum (33:31) Manya Brachear Pashman (36:11) Seffi Kogen __ Show Notes: Urgent Briefing on the Situation in Israel - AJC Advocacy Anywhere PaleyImpact: Media's Role in Identifying, Explaining, and Combating Antisemitism (with AJC's U.S. Director for Combating Antisemitism Holly Huffnagle) Photo credit: Israel Police Spokesperson

Israel is under attack, with over 1,500 rockets fired from Gaza, millions of Israelis in bomb shelters, and the threat of further violence continuing in Jerusalem and throughout the country.  In this week’s episode, we bring you highlights from AJC’s live Advocacy Anywhere online event with AJC Jerusalem Director Avital Leibovich and i24news Senior Correspondent Owen Alterman. Hear their front-line report on the evolving crisis and AJC CEO David Harris’ inspiring closing message.  Then, AJC Director of Contemporary Jewish Life Laura Shaw Frank joins us to explain what we need to know about the Pew Research Center’s just-released Jewish Americans in 2020 report.  ____ Episode Lineup: (0:40) Avital Leibovich and Owen Alterman (19:32) David Harris   (26:31) Laura Shaw Frank (38:40) Avi Mayer (41:29) Manya Brachear Pashman (44:25) Seffi Kogen ____ Show Notes: Frontline Report: Escalation in Israel - AJC Advocacy Anywhere Pew Research Center: Jewish Americans in 2020 report More information on the May 20th Advocacy Anywhere program can be found here  

This week, we speak to Emi Palmor, former Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Justice and a current member of The Oversight Board, which makes binding policy decisions on Facebook and Instagram, to discuss the board’s ruling on Facebook’s indefinite ban of former President Trump and other recent decisions.  Then, leading American Jewish historian Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University and the author of American Judaism: A History and When General Grant Expelled the Jews, joins us to kick off Jewish American Heritage Month and reflect on what advocates can and should draw from the history of Jews in America. _____ Episode Lineup: (0:40) Emi Palmor (7:40) Jonathan Sarna (27:24) Holly Huffnagle (29:42) Manya Brachear Pashman (33:07) Seffi Kogen ___ Show notes: Music: “Hava Nagila” by Sam Bikov Translate Hate and Quiz

Earlier this month, six world powers reopened negotiations with Iran over the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which the United States withdrew in 2018. Washington Institute Director of Research Patrick Clawson, a longtime friend of American Jewish Committee, joins us to discuss the implications of those talks and the threat posed by Iran. Then, AJC Project Interchange Director Nisha Abkarian joins us to share her grandmother’s harrowing story of survival during the Armenian Genocide and the significance of President Biden’s recognition of the events of 1915. ___ Episode Lineup (0:40) Patrick Clawson  (21:51) Nisha Abkarian (26:00) Manya Brachear Pashman (29:06) Seffi Kogen

On April 27, 2019, in the middle of Passover, a white supremacist burst through the doors of a Chabad synagogue in Poway, California and opened fire, killing congregant Lori Gilbert-Kaye and injuring three others. As we approach the second anniversary of the shooting, we speak to Mayor Steve Vaus, a Grammy-winning country music singer, who was serving his first term as Poway’s mayor at the time.  Then we’re joined by AJC Paris Director Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache to talk about the case of Sarah Halimi, a 65-year old French woman who was murdered in 2017 because she was Jewish. France's highest court has ruled that her killer will not stand trial due to his “delirious state” from smoking marijuana. _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Mayor Steve Vaus (15:32) Anne-Sophie Sebban-Bécache (19:02) Manya Brachear Pashman (22:15) Seffi Kogen ____ Show Notes: Episode Transcript One Candle by Steve Vaus

Author and journalist Yossi Klein Halevi joins us to talk about the wisdom of the Israeli calendar in how Israel remembers the fallen on Yom HaZikaron, followed by celebrating its independence on Yom HaAtzma’ut the very next day.  __ Show Notes: A Conversation with Yossi Klein Halevi about His New Best Seller Orthodox Jewish Women Can’t Sing In Front of Men. Instagram Is Giving Them a Voice Music: Hatikvah (National Anthem Of Israel) - Beta Records - United States Navy Band

Elie Wiesel walked out of Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps in Germany, on April 11, 1945, the same day as the late father of journalist Howard Reich, the legendary former jazz critic for The Chicago Tribune. Reich never talked to his father or mother, both survivors, about their Holocaust experiences. But in 2001 Reich’s mother began to relive those experiences, and his quest to piece together the stories he never knew about led to his book and subsequent film, Prisoner of Her Past. Nearly a decade later, Reich sat down to interview Elie Wiesel and discovered an instant connection, which he wrote about in The Art of Inventing Hope. Reich joins us to discuss all this, plus how jazz helped him confront his family’s past. Then, in honor of Yom HaShoah, we’re joined by Lilli Platt, AJC Senior Development Director and Director of Women's Leadership Board, who was born in a Displaced Persons (DP) camp and is the child of Holocaust survivors.  _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Howard Reich (23:01) Lilli Platt (25:29) Manya Brachear Pashman (29:05) Seffi Kogen  _____ Show Notes: Prisoner of Her Past  The Art of Inventing Hope: Intimate Conversations with Elie Wiesel The Four Questions in Irish, and 4 More Great Moments from AJC’s 2021 Diplomatic Seders  

This week we hear from Martin Doblmeier, the director of Spiritual Audacity: The Abraham Joshua Heschel Story on the history of one of the most inspiring and preeminent scholars of the 20th Century. Doblmeier discusses Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s profound impact on the civil rights movement, the relationship between Jews and the Roman Catholic Church, and the “evil of indifference.” Then, Natalia Mahmud, AJC’s Associate Director of U.S. Muslim-Jewish Relations, speaks about the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act, ahead of its reintroduction in Congress, and in honor of baseball’s Opening Day, we dip into AJC’s Oral History Library to hear directly from one of the greatest Jewish baseball players ever, Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, also known as “The Hebrew Hammer.” Greenberg recounts what it was like to be a Jewish baseball player in the 1930s and 1940s and the level of antisemitism he had to endure.   _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Martin Doblmeier (16:55) Natalia Mahmud (19:36) Manya Brachear Pashman (23:00) Seffi Kogen  _____ Show Notes: Episode Transcript AJC’s William E. Wiener Oral History Library Learn more about the Jabara-Heyer NO Hate Act at AJC.org/TakeAction Music: Take Me Out to the Ballgame by Kevin MacLeod (Link; License)

This week we’re joined by Allison Kaplan Sommer, Ha’aretz journalist and panelist for The Promised Podcast, to discuss some of the headliners from the Israeli election: potential kingmaker and Ra’am Party leader Mansour Abbas and Rabbi Gilad Kariv, who will be the first Reform rabbi to serve in the Knesset. Kaplan Sommer also discusses how democracy plays out in Israel and the United States and what it’s like to live in Israel, a complex, multicultural society. Then, AJC CEO David Harris shares a moving Passover message about his first-hand involvement in the Soviet Jewry movement and modern-day exoduses.  _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Allison Kaplan Sommer (18:26) David Harris (20:27) Manya Brachear Pashman (23:34) Seffi Kogen ___ Episode Transcript

Ahead of the March 23rd elections in Israel, we’re joined by Haviv Rettig Gur, The Times of Israel's senior political analyst. Gur discusses the highly polarized sentiment around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the conflict within the Haredi community over pandemic restrictions, and the gap between the positions of the political parties that represent Arab Israelis and the concerns of Arab Israelis themselves.  Then, Dina Siegel Vann, Director of AJC's Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs, reflects on the anniversary of the 1992 suicide bombing attack on the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which left 29 dead.  _____ Episode Lineup:  (00:40) Haviv Rettig Gur (23:16) Dina Siegel Vann (26:23) Manya Brachear Pashman (29:45) Seffi Kogen ___ Episode Transcript