Israel Story
232 episodes - English - Latest episode: 10 days ago - ★★★★★ - 1.2K ratingsIsrael Story is an award-winning podcast that tells true stories you won't hear on the news. Hosted by Mishy Harman, the bi-weekly show brings you extraordinary tales about ordinary Israelis. The show is produced in partnership with The Jerusalem Foundation. For Hebrew episodes, see סיפור ישראלי, or go to our website: israelstory.org
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
31: Dear Lord Rothschild
November 02, 2017 10:04 - 1 hour - 95.6 MBOne hundred years after a single-page letter boosted the Zionist cause and changed the course of Jewish history, we go out in search of Balfour, and his declaration, in modern-day Israel. On November 2, 1917, Arthur James Balfour – Britain’s mustached Foreign Secretary – signed his name at the bottom of a short, typed letter addressed to a shy banker-turned-zoologist by the name of Lionel Walter Rothschild. “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a natio...
30: Food Fight
October 04, 2017 06:51 - 46 minutes - 90.2 MBForget politics, forget territorial disputes, forget religion. Our new episode explores the real Middle Eastern battleground - food. Food, it turns out, is a serious business. And as we recently came to appreciate, it can lead folks to embark on all kinds of unlikely crusades. In today’s episode we tell two stories, from almost diametrically opposed perspectives, about the ways in which recognition and pride matter, especially when it comes to what we eat and drink. The first, about a Jerus...
29: A Better Place?
September 08, 2017 04:55 - 49 minutes - 96.2 MBNot that long ago, an Israeli vehicle was about to change the world. But it didn’t. In today's episode, we find out why the Better Place electric car generated such excitement and inspired such devotion, and why its ultimate demise was so devastating. In 2007, long before Tesla and Elon Musk became household names, a thirty-nine-year-old Israeli tech entrepreneur by the name of Shai Agassi came out with an announcement that rattled the world: He was going to revolutionize transportation, ma...
28: On the Outs
August 25, 2017 07:35 - 56 minutes - 68.3 MBThere are a zillion ways of being an outsider. That, of course, we all know. But what does it mean to belong, why do we want it so badly, and just how far are we willing to go in order to be on the 'inside'? Eli Amir, Eliyahu Rips and Eliezer Sonnenschein couldn’t be more different: the first is a celebrated Baghdad-born author, the second is a brilliant mathematician from Latvia, and the third is the enfant terrible of modern Israeli art. But they are all, in their own unique ways, outside...
27: Jarab
July 28, 2017 04:43 - 35 minutes - 82.1 MBThey're enemies and cousins, neighbors and rivals, lovers and haters, and at times even one and the same. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the complicated world of Israel's Arabs and Jews. More often than not, we think of Jewish-Arab relations in Israel as being adversarial. We frequently hear tales of hatred, violence, animosity and discrimination. But reality is, of course, much more complicated: Not only are some Jews actually Arabs, and vice-versa, but there is a tremendous amount of in...
26: Oath of Blood
July 06, 2017 21:19 - 45 minutes - 102 MBImagine getting the worst news possible, learning it isn’t true, and then realizing it is after all — in the span of a single day. That’s what happened to the Harels of Jerusalem, in the chaotic frenzy of the First Lebanon War. In the early summer of 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. The First Lebanon War — as it would later be called — would ultimately lead to thousands of casualties, an eighteen-year-long Israeli presence in Southern Lebanon, and growing political disillusionment around the r...
25: Peace Now. Almost.
June 05, 2017 20:51 - 31 minutes - 40 MBIn the immediate aftermath of the Six-Day War, a Palestinian lawyer and two Israeli reservists nearly brokered a peace agreement. Just imagine how history would have unfolded had they succeeded. Though few people grasped it at the time, the Six-Day War put the young state of Israel on an entirely new trajectory. Some see the war’s outcome as a historic triumph and almost messianic return of the Jews to their ancestral lands. Others, of course, view it as the start of a downward spiral that ...
24: Losing My Religion
May 15, 2017 08:42 - 48 minutes - 92.4 MBFrom secret bathroom texting all the way to negotiating a divorce in Venice (of all places...), we bring you heart-wrenching tales of lost faith. In 1991, REM’s Michael Stipe famously sang, “That’s me in the spotlight, losing my religion, trying to keep up with you, and I don’t know if I can do it.” Just over a quarter-century later, we set out to explore what happens when religious couples no longer see eye to eye. Do you follow your heart? Do you tell your partner? And can the package sta...
23: A Severe Case of Second Generation
April 21, 2017 16:52 - 25 minutes - 32.4 MBLizzie Doron always felt there was an invisible ghost in her life. She wasn't wrong. Early next week we will mark Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day. There are just about 160,000 Holocaust survivors still living in Israel, but they are rapidly vanishing. More than forty survivors die each day. And that means that the memory of the Holocaust, and the stories we tell and hear about the Holocaust are also changing. There are fewer and fewer first-hand testimonies, and more and more tales –...
22: And in the End…
April 19, 2017 12:05 - 47 minutes - 93.8 MBOur season opener takes us right to the end... An episode full of surprising stories that explore how we die, and what comes next. It’s springtime in Israel and renewal is in the air: Wildflowers are blooming, short pants make their first appearances of the year, and – most importantly – we are back with the start of our third season. But of course, it wouldn’t be Israel Story if there wasn’t a twist, and indeed our season opener takes us… right to the end. So tune in for an episode full of...
21: 68 and Counting- Part II
May 31, 2016 03:57 - 48 minutes - 35.3 MBIn the second installment of this two-part series (and our season two finale), we pick up where we left off last week: Presenting small stories – one per decade – that took place on Israel’s Independence Day, Yom Ha’Atzmaut, and that, in some way, reflect their era. Part I, took us from 1948 to 1978. In today’s episode, which begins in 1988 and brings us all the way to the present, we encounter a Soviet ‘refusenik’ celebrating his first Yom Ha’Atzmaut in Israel; an American couple building a...
20: 68 and Counting- Part I
May 25, 2016 17:05 - 50 minutes - 43.9 MBThis is the first in a two-part series that takes us through Israel’s short but dramatic history. Over the last few months, we’ve spent many hours, in all kinds of archives, learning all we could about Yom Ha’Atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day. The result is a mosaic of stories that took place on Yom Ha’Atzmaut itself, in ten year intervals, and that in some way reflect their era. Part I will take us from 1948 to 1978: We’ll visit Israel’s first makeshift national radio studio, we’ll ride a...
19: Of Numbers and Names
May 05, 2016 17:20 - 48 minutes - 35.9 MBThis Thursday, May 5th, Israelis observe Yom HaShoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day. At 10 a.m., according to custom, an air raid will sound and the country will fall quiet for two long minutes. Silence won’t do for a podcast, so instead we bring you two stories. Act I, “B-1367,” is about an elderly father and his 53-year old son, and the inked number that binds them. In Act II, “Herr Eichmann,” we meet up with a group of men for whom Eichmann is not a symbol of Nazi evil, but a gaunt, baldi...
18: Thicker Than Water
April 18, 2016 13:37 - 59 minutes - 38.6 MBOn Today’s show, we delve into the messy territory of family bonds—how they’re formed, challenged, and change over time. We’ll meet three families who are all, at the end of the day, happy, but are not (contrary to Tolstoy’s claim) in any way alike. First we hear from Mishy’s family—Dorothy, David, Danna and Oren—who like to talk to each other. A lot. In Act I, “The Missing Moms,” producer Shoshi Shmuluvitz introduces us to Tali Griffel, a thirty-six-year-old physical therapist from Jerusa...
17: Stop That Bus!
March 25, 2016 13:40 - 53 minutes - 38.8 MBIsraeli buses regularly make international headlines, be it for suicide bombings, fights over gender segregation or clashes concerning Shabbat schedules. On today’s episode of Israel Story, we delve into the world of lesser known bus-related conflicts. In Act I, “The White Elephant,” Yochai Maital walks us through the history of Tel Aviv’s ‘New’ Central Bus Station — a derelict eight-story behemoth and modern day Tower of Babel — which mirrors much of modern Israeli history, with its grand ...
16: Over and Out
March 10, 2016 10:53 - 1 hour - 49.1 MBIn the last episode of Israel Story, we met couples in love. But for every story of love found, there are, of course, piles and piles of broken hearts. So today on our show, “Over and Out.” We’ve got three stories of relationships that have ended, and the things (the often slightly nutty things) that people do once they no longer see eye to eye. We’ll journey back to the early dates of the State of Israel, and then travel all around the world, to London and New York, even to Beijing. Stay c...
15: Love, Revisited
February 17, 2016 14:13 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBThree couples look back at their time together—on a kibbutz, in verse, and in a hospital. The stories in today’s episode come from our most recent live show, “Israel in Love.” We’ll meet three couples looking back at their love affairs from very different vantage points. Zvi and Regina Steinitz’s romance has been going on the longest—in fact, it’s been going on since the very birth of the state of Israel. Danna Harman shares their story in Act I, “Like A Stone.” Act II, “There’s a Wall Be...
14: Besties
January 27, 2016 13:55 - 43 minutes - 81.1 MBHow Moshe Dayan’s wife and Yasser Arafat’s mother-in-law became bosom buddies, and other tales of unlikely friendships. When Raymonda Tawil met Ruth Dayan in 1970, they seemed well-primed to be enemies. Ruth, the then wife of Israeli war hero and Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan, was visiting a hospital in the Palestinian city of Nablus to deliver dolls to children. Tawil, of Palestinian aristocracy, was there to witness this exercise in diplomacy. She was not impressed. Today, these elder s...
13: Sacred Plants
January 13, 2016 03:48 - 54 minutes - 88.8 MBHow we change nature and nature changes us, from wildflower picking in Israel to ayahuasca retreats in Peru. There have already been a few sightings of anemones in Israel, and that means it’s the start of wildflower season. Many Israelis track wildflowers with a passion. There are traffic jams near popular flower-carpeted hills and even websites that tell you what’s popped up where. But what Israelis (or at least the vast majority of them) don’t do is pick those flowers. That restraint does...
12: Now Boarding
December 30, 2015 04:49 - 50 minutes - 30.8 MBFor the year’s heaviest week of travel, Israel Story brings tales of love and interrogation at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport The first place travelers to Israel encounter is usually Ben Gurion Airport. What they’ll remember of that experience depends in part on their relationship to the country. Are they coming home? Arriving to a place they’ve always dreamed of visiting? Passing through, with fear or wariness, en route to someplace else? In this week’s episode of Israel Story, we hear fro...
11: Herzl 48 Live
December 16, 2015 00:50 - 37 minutes - 21.4 MBIsrael Story producers crisscrossed the small country, visiting every 48 Herzl Street and collecting stories from whomever they encountered. There is nothing inherently special about the people who live at 48 Herzl Street, an address that shows up in big cities, small outposts, and everything in between throughout Israel. But symbolically, it’s about as freighted an address as they come. Theodore Herzl was the father of modern Zionism, and there are 54 streets named after him in Israel—more...
10: Birthstory
December 02, 2015 02:21 - 1 hour - 60.4 MBIn this very special episode, Israel Story teams up with Radiolab to tell the story of Tal and Amir-- an Israeli couple who went to Nepal to pick up their three babies from two surrogates and then discovered that the transaction is not so straightforward. How many people does it take to start a family? Well, if you are a gay Israeli couple, both men, and you’d like your children to be biologically related to you, it may take the two of you, plus a Ukrainian egg donor, an Indian woman to ser...
9: Man, I Feel Like a Woman
November 18, 2015 04:26 - 40 minutes - 94.4 MBWhat do you do when you realize that in order to be true to yourself, you have to shatter everything around you, including the lives of those you love most? Yiscah Smith lives in Nahlaot, in Jerusalem. But her journey to this Orthodox-meets-hipster neighborhood took her through what seems like four lifetimes. She was born in Long Island, as Jeff Smith, to a Conservative Jewish family. Jeff married a woman, they became more religious, and moved to Israel. Jeff became Yaacov, a Chabad Rabbi, ...
8: Rabin Is…
November 04, 2015 02:26 - 1 hour - 54.7 MBRabin is a symbol. An icon. But in Israel of 2015, twenty years later, it isn't so simple to understand what he really stands for anymore. Who is Yitzhak Rabin today, twenty years after his murder? In this episode, we discover that for many Israelis, he represents completely different – and often conflicting – things: Rachel Rabin remembers her older brother as a shy kid, who forced her to be the goalie in neighborhood soccer games. His ‘fixer,’ Me’ir Palevsky, tells how a crude joke might ...
7: Out of Africa… And Back Again
October 20, 2015 21:02 - 44 minutes - 32.1 MBTwo journeys - in very different directions, and taken for very different reasons - out of, and then into, Africa. Israel is embroiled in Middle Eastern geopolitics. That, at least, everyone knows. We also aspire to be part of Europe, and never miss a chance to reiterate our “special relationship” with the US. But what about Africa, our next door neighbors? Our history stretches all the way back to the earliest hominids leaving Africa and marching through what is today Israel. Since then th...
Promo
October 09, 2015 17:36 - 1 minute - 3.42 MBA look back and a peek ahead. Starting October 21st, we’ll be releasing a new episode of Israel Story every two weeks. A new reason to love Wednesdays! For more, head to our site. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
6: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
February 11, 2015 20:52 - 56 minutes - 53.3 MBTales of love, romance, and the pursuit thereof. Valentine’s Day is not native to Israel, but the country does not lack for tales of love, romance, and the pursuit thereof. In this, our sixth episode, we bring you stories of love and all the ways it’s got to do, got to do with it. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by signing up for our newsletter at israelstory.org/newsletter/. For more, head to our site or Tablet Magazine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy ...
5: Holy Cow!
January 12, 2015 21:07 - 1 hour - 73.9 MBAn episode all about sacred bovines! The stories of four featured moo-ers: a red heifer that some think will bring the messiah, a cow that’s become the symbol of radical Israeli veganism, buffalos that hold the future for a self-described “Israeli redneck,” and the golden calf that was biblical big-business. Cowabunga! Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by signing up for our newsletter at israelstory.org/newsletter/. For more, head to our site or Tablet Magazine. ...
4: A Man on a Mission
December 12, 2014 21:06 - 55 minutes - 81.9 MBThe stories of three Israelis who are not religious but have pursued unusual hobbies with missionary zeal. In this, our fourth episode, we introduce three Israelis who are not religious but have pursued unusual hobbies with missionary zeal. One is a hitman-for-hire, another collects a highly specific classification of autographs, and the third is a professional whistler. This has earned them, variously, animus, accolades, and celebrity in far-flung places. Stay connected with us on Faceboo...
3: People of the Book
October 27, 2014 21:06 - 1 hour - 57.4 MBThree stories revolving around people who rescue books, chase after books, or otherwise allow books to determine their destiny. Are Jews still “the people of the book”? Are Israelis? What does that even mean today? In the third episode of Israel Story, we’ve got three stories that all revolve around people who rescue books, chase after books, or otherwise allow books to determine their destiny—from a Yiddish book collector based in the Tel Aviv central bus station to a lonely college studen...
2: Love Syndrome
September 22, 2014 20:05 - 57 minutes - 54.2 MBChaya Ben Baruch grew up as Enid, in a Conservadox Jewish family in Far Rockaway, NY. Midway through college, she left that world behind to study sea otters in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fast-forward a decade: Enid is now married to a nice Catholic salmon fisher named Stan. She’s just given birth to her sixth child, and discovers he has Down syndrome. Many parents in her position would be devastated. Some might place their baby in an institution, or put him up for adoption. For Enid, the birth of A...
1: Faking It
August 18, 2014 20:03 - 58 minutes - 35.5 MBFrom our relationship with Ira Glass to priceless antiquities all the way to coveted sick passes – Israeli stories that are anything but real. In our very first episode, the Israel Story team delves into the realm of fakes, forgeries, and mimicry. Three stories, from different periods and places, of people pretending to to be something they are not. Stay connected with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and by signing up for our newsletter at israelstory.org/newsletter/. For more, head to o...