Ask Haviv Anything

Haviv Rettig Gur

"Ask Haviv Anything" is a podcast about history, a podcast you, dear listener, will help to shape and direct, focusing not just on what I want to talk about but on what you want to learn and discuss. Nothing is off limits. We're going to talk about big and painful things, and also beautiful and fascinating things, wars and identities and painful history. And also more light-hearted things. Humor matters, especially when facing tough subjects. Join me on this journey. A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

  1. -4 H

    109: The crisis no one is talking about in Canada, with Dr. Casey Babb

    Canada has long imagined itself as one of the safest, most tolerant societies on earth. For generations of Jews, it felt that way too. But something has changed, suddenly and profoundly. Synagogues have been shot at. Jewish schools targeted. People are hiding their identities, looking over their shoulder, taking down mezuzahs. In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Casey Babb to ask a question few outside Canada are even aware needs asking: what is happening to Canadian Jews? From the history of Jewish life in Canada to the shock of October 7 and its aftermath, we trace how a quiet, integrated community is now grappling with fear, isolation, and a growing sense that the country they helped build may no longer fully accept them. This isn’t just a story about Jews in Canada. It’s a story about what happens when a society loses the ability to confront its own realities -- and what that means for its future. -- This episode was sponsored by Josh Sheptow and dedicated to the memory of Amnon Zilberspitz. Amnon was taken to the extermination camp at Auschwitz at age 20 with his brother and sister. Only he survived. After the war, he arrived at Kibbutz Dorot in 1947. On the Kibbutz he met Sara, the love of his life. Shortly after the War of Independence broke out, Amnon enlisted to fight. Amnon, the last of his family, fell in the Battle of Beit Guvrin at age 24. May we be worthy of Amnon and of all those who gave the only life they had to make the miracle of Israel possible. You can learn more about Amnon in a video by Ofer Winter and Shimon Engel produced by Dov Abramson Studio for the Beit Avi Chai memorial project. The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDOj-C4mq3E&list=PLv2rnAORLiVBbV9uGbYC0ZdPq23pg2xPW -- If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that help us choose our topics, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live. If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠. Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

    1 h 8 min
  2. 15 AVR.

    106: After October 7, can Israeli politics be rebuilt? A conversation with Dr. Einat Wilf

    A new Israeli election is coming -- and it may reshape everything. In this opening episode of our election series, I sit down with former MK and political thinker Dr. Einat Wilf, now leading the new Oz party, to ask a fundamental question: Has October 7 broken Israeli politics as we knew it? We dive into voter realignment, the possible collapse of old “tribes,” the Haredi draft crisis, and whether a new political vision can emerge, or whether the system is too entrenched to change. -- This episode is sponsored anonymously in memory of Jack Rose and his son, Paul Lawrence Rose, and dedicated to the themes of Jewish survival, renewal, and education. Jack Rose’s parents and siblings were gassed in Nazi death camps. After serving with the Allies, he rebuilt his life in the UK, becoming president of Blackburn College of Technology and a robotics pioneer and publishing over fifty books. Honored by the Queen and UNESCO, Jack eventually reconnected to Israel, traveling often to the Jewish homeland. His son, Paul, transformed that legacy into scholarship as a leading historian of German culture and antisemitism. Before his 2014 death, Paul was editing a definitive manuscript, Antisemitisms, tracing the evolution of antisemitism. Both men were known for their warmth, generosity, and marvelous humor. In the spirit of renewal through education, we invite you to learn about Gan Condesa in Mexico City. After decades of Jewish life migrating to the gated suburbs, Gan Condesa is reclaiming a presence in the city’s walkable, cultural heart. Through its thriving Montessori and expanding community center, it is reconnecting unaffiliated families to their Jewish heritage. Visit ganmexico.com to donate or invest in this permanent Jewish home in North America’s largest city. -- If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live. If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠. Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

    54 min
  3. 28 MARS

    102: Freedom under missile fire, the Passover story, with Rabbi David Stav

    Passover is just around the corner. So we sat down with the ever-wise Rabbi David Stav to dig into the inexplicable contradictions at the heart of the holiday's traditional Seder meal -- and of Jewish life writ large. In the Seder's text, the Hagaddah, we are commanded to declare that “now we are slaves, but next year we shall be free” -- even if we live in freedom and prosperity. And we are commanded to thank God for "taking us out from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, and from mourning to a festival" -- even in generations past when we were crushed beneath the yoke of oppressors and tyrants, and even in our own day when we must run to a bomb shelter to be safe. So which is it? Are we free? Are we still slaves? Rav Stav takes us through stories of Natan Sharansky, Hasidic rebbes in the ghetto, and Rav Kook’s wisdom to reveal Passover's deepest teaching -- that true freedom is an inner consciousness and moral choice, not mere political circumstance, and that the experience and remembrance of slavery teaches us how to value, safeguard and properly use our liberty. And that is why on the evening of April 1, in this time of war and sirens, violence and fear, Jews all over the world will once again affirm, as they have done for three millennia, that “next year we shall be free.” -- This episode is sponsored by an anonymous listener who asked to share this note. "Many thanks to Haviv, for all his insights. This episode is dedicated to Barbara S. from New Mexico on the occasion of her second Bat Mitzvah, with love from her kids and grandkids. Am Yisrael Chai." -- If you like what we do here, please consider joining our Patreon community at https://www.patreon.com/c/AskHavivAnything. There you can ask the questions that guide the topics we cover on the podcast, join our great discussions where listeners share news and valuable resources, and take part in our monthly livestreams where Haviv answers your questions live. If you would like to sponsor an episode, please email us at haviv@askhavivanything.com⁠. Musical intro by Adam Ben Amitai.

    43 min

À propos

"Ask Haviv Anything" is a podcast about history, a podcast you, dear listener, will help to shape and direct, focusing not just on what I want to talk about but on what you want to learn and discuss. Nothing is off limits. We're going to talk about big and painful things, and also beautiful and fascinating things, wars and identities and painful history. And also more light-hearted things. Humor matters, especially when facing tough subjects. Join me on this journey. A podcast by Haviv Rettig Gur

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