Category: Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I decided to renew the podcast under a new name, with a new dedication and sponsor that obligates me to keep it up on at least a weekly basis. That, and the downside of new ideas.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

If you want to know about Hasidism, shouldn’t you talk to Hassidim?

I was struck by the JTA’s article, “Rabbi Art Green says the Hasidism that lasts finds sparks of holiness everywhere.” I understand that the real focus of the article is Rabbi Green and his life of service to the Jewish community. I’ve never met nor, to my recollection, even heard of Rabbi Green before, so this certainly is in no way about him or even his scholarship.

But if the Jewish Telegraphic Agency wants to know about Hasidism, especially a “Hasidism that lasts,” shouldn’t they ask a Hassid? Why is it that Hassidism is seen as something to be studied from the outside, rather than encountered? YouTuber Peter Santenello visited Borough Park, Williamsburg and Crown Heights, and learned more about the Hassidic community — and how Hasidism is realized in practice — that one could hope to get from a conversation with a non-Hasidic, non-Orthodox Rabbi who is deemed “one of the world’s leading experts on Hasidic Judaism” in a world with over 100 actual Hassidic Rebbes that one could ask.

It’s astonishing. Please listen for more.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Anti-Israel isn’t the “new Anti-Semitism” — it’s the same old hate using its latest facade.

We talk about intersectionality, progressivism, and the endorsement of the Anti-Semitic hate group, Students for Justice in Palestine. And we talk about helping young Jews to understand their heritage, and the truth behind why they are hated.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I paid no special attention to the 20/20 interviews with either President Trump vs. Leslie Stahl or former VP Biden taking softballs from Norah O’Donnell, until someone commented on Twitter with a 2-minute clip. What I soon learned is that the left can only agree that Orange Man Bad, but not why. It’s fascinating.

Also, a Princeton alum offered a series of events proving the decline of racism in America as proof of racism. He may claim to be “Seeking a New Anti-Racist Normal in Theater,” but if he keeps up his current practices and ideology, he will only make matters worse.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

ARZA and Mercaz USA were unable to motivate even 2% of their claimed memberships to vote in the World Zionist Congress elections. So they did the next best thing: try to upend the results and disenfranchise the new Charedi slate, in order to retain power.

All of what I say here is documented for those who wish to verify.

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The way the left has tried to go after Amy Coney Barrett, an extremely well-qualified woman to serve as a justice on the Supreme Court, defies all standards of the Senate’s role of advice and consent. It even defies the “no religious tests” clause of the Constitution itself.

Neither ObamaCare nor abortion will define a fraction of Barrett’s time on the court, which could span nearly 40 years should her lifespan be that of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Yet the Democrats on the Judiciary Committee seem to care only about these issues. And when it comes to abortion, this is simply pushing judges to determine policy, rather than decide what the lawmakers intended — which is their role.

An article in USA Today even provides a completely dishonest caricature of the pro-life movement — while claiming it is the pro-life movement that offers “caricatures” of those needing abortions. Approached honestly, the pro-life movement’s descriptions are not “caricatures” at all, but those pregnancies that most Americans agree should not end in the taking of an innocent life.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I realize this sounds crazy — perhaps that’s why the title caught you. But it’s actually true: because the beliefs for which she is being condemned come from Judaism, and Antisemitism is rooted in hatred for Jewish moral beliefs, the condemnation of Barrett is a form of Antisemitism.

It is also anti-science, and projects the secular mixture of moral beliefs into secular jurisprudence onto Barrett. If you’re confused, you’ll have to listen to my explanation!

I refer to an article I wrote a few months ago that appeared in Newsweek: Judaism Is Emphatically ‘Pro-Life’.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

“Your Country?” Of course it is.

It’s why Israel Bonds has raised tens of billions of dollars from American Jews.

It’s why Israel is the refuge for persecuted Jews.

It’s why the same liberal groups that refused to be on the call, and now condemn the President, interfere in Israel on both religion and security.

And it’s why both the UAE and Kosovo made gestures towards the global Jewish community in conjunction with their new agreements with Israel.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I see myself doing more conversations than monologues in the future. This was very enjoyable, and Allen West is a brilliant thinker and cogent speaker on the phone as well as before a large audience.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This was an interview about the CJV press release, Rabbis to Biden: Restoring Terror Funding “Morally Repugnant” — but we also got to talk about Lag B’Omer and bonfires.