A Mandatory Listen

The Times of Israel
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The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people

  1. 2d ago

    Deborah Lipstadt: Is Israel really the cause of surging antisemitism?

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. In this episode of the new series, we speak with Emory University Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, the former US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. Lipstadt is in Israel to accept Bar-Ilan University's Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual, in Memory of Samuel Gewurz z”l. In an era of rising global antisemitism, Borschel-Dan has received dozens of emails pointing fingers at Israel and the war in Gaza as the sources of the hatred. In a no-holds-barred conversation, Lipstadt assesses the nature of contemporary Jew-hatred and weighs in on whether Israel's actions indeed may be contributing to its rise. We hear her thoughts on whether "anti-Zionism" is a new form of antisemitism or its own distinct hatred and what the proverbial Venn diagram looks like. But to start with, we return to 1967, when university student Lipstadt was here in Jerusalem during the Six Day War and hear her firsthand account of life in the newly unified capital. A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Deborah Lipstadt: Is Israel really the cause of surging antisemitism?

  2. Nov 5

    Samah Salaime: The 'Arab vote' is an offer of trust. Why are Jews rejecting it?

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this seventh episode in the new series, we speak with Palestinian activist and writer Samah Salaime to hear why this past election was so significant for the Arab Israeli voter. Salaime is a longtime contributor to the +972 Magazine, where she focuses on feminism and Arab-Jewish relations.   She was born in the northern town of Tur’an located between Haifa and Tiberius and moved to the mixed Jewish-Arab oasis of Neve Shalom/ Wahat al-Salam in 2000, where she raised her three boys. Salaime, a social worker by education and training, was a fellow at the prestigious Mandel School for Educational Leadership and, among other accolades, was awarded the Rappaport Prize for Longstanding Achievement in 2020. In this post-election period, in which the Arab vote translated into an unprecedented combined 19 mandates for The Joint List and Ra'am, Salaime provides nuanced insight into what drew Arab Israeli citizens to the ballot box this time and the parties for whom they voted. In this tolerant, free-flowing conversation, the pair voice frustration with Israeli society's longtime status quo of mutual distrust and wonder aloud about another way forward. A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Samah Salaime: The 'Arab vote' is an offer of trust. Why are Jews rejecting it?

  3. Oct 26

    Sir Simon Schama: A howl against rising global antisemitism

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this sixth episode in the new series, we speak with historian Sir Simon Schama, who recently published a lengthy essay titled "Jew-Hatred: The Latest Edition." In this cry from the heart, the professor of art history and history at Columbia University gives a broad-strokes history of antisemitism and delves into reasons why it is rising globally. The award-winning author and cultural essayist for The New Yorker, who has written and presented more than 30 documentaries on topics including the Holocaust, brings forth recent examples from his own life in which Jews have experienced a new form of hatred, which he wryly labels "its latest edition." In this free-flowing conversation, we learn about the haters' misperceptions and how bias is being transmitted virally today. 'Jew-Hatred: The Latest Edition' by Sir Simon Schama is out now and available here. A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Sir Simon Schama: A howl against rising global antisemitism

  4. Oct 20

    Yossi Klein Halevi: Spiritually coping with this Israeli election

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this fifth episode in the new series, we speak with author Yossi Klein Halevi. A deep pre-election political conversation had been planned for this episode. However, in a conversation that could have been called "Mann tracht un Gott lacht" (Man plans and God laughs), Borschel-Dan and Klein Halevi firmly pivot away from the profane -- politics -- and veer toward the sacred. Spurred by questions on how he maintains equilibrium in the face of the fateful upcoming election, Klein Halevi, a longtime practitioner of meditation and Jewish spirituality, guides Borschel-Dan through his philosophical pillars. What is faith -- and in what God? What is the purpose of prayer, and who is it for? We hear some wisdom from Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook's teachings, as well as a mix of Eastern philosophies. How does the activist aspect of Klein Halevi -- which sounds the shofar and warns the people of Israel of potential evils -- reconcile with the man of faith in the eternal nature of that same people? A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Yossi Klein Halevi: Spiritually coping with this Israeli election

  5. Oct 13

    Nechumi Yaffe: An insider's dire prognosis for the Haredi world - and its cure

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this fourth episode in the new series, we speak with Prof. Nechumi Yaffe, an ultra-Orthodox woman running for Knesset for the Charedi Public Party (HaTzibur HaCharedi). A faculty member at Tel Aviv University since 2019, Yaffe is currently a tenured senior lecturer at the School of Public Policy and co-director of the Haredi Research Group at UCLA. Among other fields of interest, Yaffe delves into the issues of poverty and identity in Haredi society. We hear how the October 7, 2023, Hamas onslaught on southern Israel made Yaffe rethink the ideas of civil obligations and rights. While she believes that youths who are not fit for yeshiva can -- and should -- be conscripted into the IDF, she is deeply concerned with allowing the ultra-Orthodox community to remain strictly observant. How can a delicate balance between religious observance and national burden be forged? Only through education, says Yaffe. Over time, she relates, her friends and neighbors in the ultra-Orthodox world stopped accusing her of airing their dirty laundry in the secular public and began understanding the dire situation their community is in. But will this increased awareness lead to a gain in the polls? Perhaps through the Haredi world's overlooked weapon -- women. A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Nechumi Yaffe: An insider's dire prognosis for the Haredi world - and its cure

  6. Oct 6

    Bret Stephens: Israel regained deterrence. The US lost it

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this third episode in the new series, we speak with The New York Times columnist Bret Stephens -- also the editor of the SAPIR Journal -- who was in the country for a lightning reporting trip ahead of the Israeli election on October 27. Stephens, who both supports and criticizes Israel, is increasingly the minority voice at the Gray Lady, where the Jewish state has decidedly lost the battle for public opinion. But he thinks Israel shouldn't really care what others think about it. "Let me put it this way: Would you rather have won the battle for public opinion and lost the war -- or vice versa? If that's the choice, I would say that Israel was better off losing the battle for public opinion," Stephens says. Find out why he believes Israel couldn't have won both wars. We discuss why the United States, until now, has been judged on its wartime operations through a different lens. But has the Iran war changed all that? A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Bret Stephens: Israel regained deterrence. The US lost it

  7. Sep 30

    Micah Goodman: The one issue that unites America's radical left and right

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this second episode in the new series, who better to ask the big questions than a philosopher? We turn to author and public intellectual Micah Goodman for an in-depth conversation on the one burning issue that unites America's radical right and left. Spoiler: They hate Israel. But the reasons why the far left and the far right despise the Jewish state come from very different narratives, explains Goodman. Likewise, their "final solutions" for Israel would result in divergent conclusions. In the second half of the program, we turn the tables and ask: Are Israelis aware that the fate of the Jewish state is an election issue in the US? Why is this fissure in the essential US-Israel relationship trumpeted as a main existential issue on Israeli politicians' campaign trails? Israelis, says Goodman, need to wake up. But will they? A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Micah Goodman: The one issue that unites America's radical left and right

  8. Sep 23

    Haviv Rettig Gur: Is the IDF justified in picking off Hamas terrorists?

    Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people. For this inaugural episode, who better to ask "Is the IDF justified in picking off Hamas terrorists?" than The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. Last week, as headlines roiled world media condemning the IDF following the screening of "NAZA," which alleges Israel is using AI to commit genocide in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s determination to eliminate Hamas terrorists in the Strip. In the past several months, the IDF has conducted a series of strikes targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza. Since the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry claims 1,400 Gazans -- without differentiating between Hamas operatives and civilians -- have been killed by the IDF. Rejecting the notion that “Hamas is protected” within the area it controls in Gaza, Netanyahu asserted that “we are settling accounts with these murderers who murdered our people, our daughters, our women and our children on October 7,” adding: “There are not many left because we are dealing with them.” But is this manhunt moral? Rettig Gur sets the stage for his answer with a deep dive into history and the ideological underpinnings of the Hamas terrorist organization still ruling the Gaza Strip. We then turn to what Borschel-Dan calls a "spillover" effect, in which this manhunt may allow a kernel of far-right extremist settlers to perpetrate violence against their Palestinian neighbors in the West Bank. How can Israel rid itself of what Rettig Gur labels "Jewish terrorism"? A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    Haviv Rettig Gur: Is the IDF justified in picking off Hamas terrorists?
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The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people

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  • Creator
    The Times of Israel
  • Years Active
    2015 - 2026
  • Episodes
    100
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Times of Israel Podcasts
  • Show Website
    A Mandatory Listen

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