For Heaven's Sake

The debate around the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was one of the most acrimonious in recent American Jewish history. Since then, much has changed in both America and the Middle East. The Trump administration suspended the deal and reinstituted massive sanctions against Iran; now, the Biden administration seems intent on returning to the deal. In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss how the Jewish community can reopen the debate with greater civility and mutual respect, and explore what Jewish tradition teaches us about navigating our most intractable disagreements.

What is the connection between Yom Hashoah, Yom Hazikaron, and Yom Ha'atzmaut? Why do we mark these Israeli holidays in this order, and what does it feel like to move between them? In this very personal episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss their own experiences of Israel’s “high holidays” and the annual national experience of moving, in the space of a few hours, from a day of mourning to a night of celebration.

As the dust settles from Israel's fourth election in two years, the direction of the country's political movements has evolved and changed in ways worthy of reflection and evaluation. In the first part of this special, two-part election series, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi define and discuss Israel's political center and its right wing as two 'tribes' shaping the national discourse.

The decision by Israel’s Supreme Court recognizing Reform and Conservative conversions performed in Israel has reignited attention around issues of state and religion, especially in the eve of what has become a bi-annual national election.  In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain analyze this landmark decision - discussed in the Supreme court for over a decade - which recognizes that perpetuating Orthodox authority over issues of personal status violates Israel's legal commitment to human freedom and dignity for all of its citizens, regardless of nationality, religion, ethnic, or sexual identities.

When does a joke stop being funny and become offensive and even dangerous? Many in the Jewish community are asking this question after Saturday Night Live comedian Michael Che chided Israel's claim to 50% vaccination success saying, “I’m going to guess it’s the Jewish half.” In this episode, Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi and Elana Stein Hain discuss whether Jews are being overly sensitive, or whether we need to recognize that with attention will come criticism, and possibly jokes.

Anger is growing among Israelis across the political spectrum over Haredi or ultra-Orthodox behavior in response to Corona, with massive disobedience to government health regulations despite soaring Haredi infection rates.  But why has Haredi society failed so badly to meet the Corona challenge? What are the conflicting values at the heart of the Haredi dilemma? And what does it mean for the coming elections and, more profoundly, for the future of Israel? In the latest episode of “For Heaven’s Sake,” Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi and Elana Stein Hain unpack one of the most vexing challenges facing Israel. 

The complex relations between Arab Israelis and Jewish Israelis are at a turning point. A convergence of events – Corona, the Abraham Accords and Israeli political gridlock – has created an unprecedented opportunity for opening the Israeli mainstream to 20 percent of Israeli citizens on the periphery. Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore the possibility of a new social compact between Israeli Jews and Arabs and what that means for Israel's future. 

Israel is on track to become one of the first immunized countries, and its public health system is among the best in the world. It has also entered its third lockdown amidst skyrocketing Covid rates. Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain explore how the pandemic is bringing out the best and worst of Israel and discuss the cultural shifts required to establish a sustainable social contract. 

For millennia, the threat of antisemitic persecution has made an acute sense of vulnerability one of the defining features of the Jewish experience. More recently, the stability and belonging--the "at homeness"--that the American Jewish community enjoys has largely supplanted this crisis narrative. Today, rising antisemitism in the United States has North American Jews increasingly defining their existence through a lens of crisis. Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain discuss the impetus and ramifications of this perceptual shift on Jewish identity and Zionism in North America. 

Why and how do we, as Jews, remember the Holocaust today? Is "never again" a universal rallying cry against dehumanization, or is it an affirmation of Israel's Jewish sovereignty? In this week's episode, Netanyahu's controversial nomination of Brigadier General Effi Eitam as chairman of Yad Vashem sparks a passionate discussion between Donniel Hartman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Elana Stein Hain about the core lessons of the Holocaust and Judaism's ancient emphasis on remembering evil.