A few months ago Tel Aviv celebrated Pride month with a glorious parade. This annual event has already become a tradition and attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over Israel and from across the globe to this tiny Mediterranean city. Indeed, Tel Aviv is known as the Pride capital of the world, but that status was not bestowed upon it, but rather earned. When you come to think of it, it’s not obvious that in a religious, conservative country like Israel, such a vivacious sub-culture ...
Oct 23, 2017•46 min
It can be safely said that Benjamin Netanyahu is one of the most controversial figures in Israeli politics. He’s seen by many as the savior of the Jewish people while many others consider him the antithesis to everything democratic and Israeli. He’s worshiped, he’s cursed. He’s praised and he’s ridiculed. One thing is for sure, no one is indifferent to Bibi. It’s only fitting that such a leader would be embroiled in corruption charges for most of his political career. Most recently, the cases ni...
Oct 16, 2017•54 min
Palestinian Arabs are 20% of Israel’s population. They have the same rights and obligations like every Israeli: they vote, pay taxes, they get social support and medical insurance, and their children go to public schools funded by the state. But what do Israeli arabs really think about Israel? If you ask the Arab members of parliament, the answer will be contempt: contempt from the discrimination which they claim goes way back to the beginning of the state, from the fact that Israel is occupying...
Oct 09, 2017•52 min
When people talk to journalists, they tend to be extra careful as to what comes out of their mouths. It takes a whole new level of journalism to penetrate into the depths of the soul of a person - you have to smoothen your way in, create intimacy, have a drink or two together, and then, and only then - maybe you’ll get a glimpse into the what someone really thinks. Tuvia Tenenbom has made this practice an art. Tuvia was born as Haredi in Israel to a German speaking family, but eventually moved t...
Oct 02, 2017•49 min
Merav Ben Ari became a Kenesset member in 2015, as part of the Kulanu party. Before that she served at the Tel Aviv city council and took charge of the portfolio for promoting youth. But the fame came long before that, when she participated in the Reality Show “In Search of a Leader” and won the first prize, 5 million NIS. In late 2016 MK Ben Ari publicly revealed her decision to give birth to a child on her own, with the assistance of a friend, and thus exposed Israeli society to the concept of...
Sep 25, 2017•41 min
Anyone who’s visited Tel Aviv has walked down the famous, sometimes infamous, Allenby Street. It’s hard to miss this road that crosses Rothschild Blvd, runs by the entrance to the Carmel Market and leads to the Beach Promenade. Today, it’s a must see tourist attraction. But not so long ago, Allenby was still on the social fringes of Tel Aviv. Gadi Taub’s best-selling novel “Allenby”, named after the street itself, sheds light on the gritty underground scene of Tel Aviv - from its shadier dance b...
Sep 18, 2017•46 min
Today we have the privilege to talk with Miri Ben Ari, aka the Hip Hop Violinist, and probably one of the most famous and influential Israelis to hit the contemporary international music scene. Miri was born in Tel Aviv and where she grew up playing classical music since the age of 5. Her encounter with world renowned violinist Isaac Stern brought her towards the violin, and ever since then her romance with this instrument flourished. Following her military service in the IDF string quartet, she...
Sep 11, 2017•49 min
Today we’re joined by Assaf Hanuka, co-author of “The Divine” together with his brother Tomer and Boaz Lavie. “The Divine” received the prestigious International Manga Award in Japan. Assaf’s work has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time and Rolling Stone and his most recent graphic novel “The Realist” was awarded the 2016 Eisener Prize. He joins us today to talk about his inspirations, his career and his successes, which weren’t reached without a fair share of str...
Sep 04, 2017•41 min
Before becoming a Knneset Member in 2015, Rachel Azaria got her BA in Psychology and Humanities and a Master’s in conflict resolution and peace studies. Her master’s thesis dealt with how the first israeli settelers percieved themselves. After graduating, she committed to various social causes - in Green Course, where she acted against polluting plants, and other social organisations, where her activity focused on aiding women who struggle to receive a gett, the state's religious and only divorc...
Aug 28, 2017•52 min
Exactly one year ago today episode one of 2NJB was released. Eytan and Naor reflect on favorite past episodes, tell nice stories from behind the scenes and discuss future endeavors. We also played bits from the following episodes: Episode 21 – 2001: A Lebanese Odyssey with Jonathan Elkhoury Episode 32 – Forever Pure: Between Sports and Racism in Jerusalem’s Soccer Team with Maya Zinshtein Episode 13 – Giuseppe Giordano of “Da Peppe” – Tel Aviv’s Godfather of Pizza Episode 20 – Putting Holocaust ...
Aug 16, 2017•42 min
"The interesting thing is that Jews in the States, [...] in Canada and in Europe, are the ethnic group that is most prone to hate crimes and racially motivated attacks... They are by far the most persecuted against ethnic group in the west. [...] Far more than the black community, far more than Muslims." Beside for being the production designer for the 2009 MTV show Dj & the Fro, Roy Iddan writes a political column for NRG, one of Israel’s leading news outlets. He’s written for Israeli film ...
Aug 09, 2017•57 min
"I'll tell you what I know for a fact: [...] in the last couple of years, social media has been a very important element in any election around the world, in any political process around the world and in the past year [...] security researchers have uncovered that there are many ways to subvert digital and social media, by creating Twitter bots, armies of Twitter profiles that are fake and actually help create an echo chamber of messages which are, maybe, pro one candidate..." -Keren Elazari, ha...
Aug 02, 2017•49 min
"If thinking is the most important thing you have, then what you want to feed to your machine, that does the thinking, are facts - not lies. Lies are distortions, anti-facts; they disrupt the function of the human mind. [...] The idea of a post-truth era would be her [Ayn Rand's] idea of the end of the world." -Dr. Yaron Brook, Director of the Ayn Rand Institute Ayn Rand. As you read that name, half of you are thinking about Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged and how much it changed your life and th...
Jul 26, 2017•57 min
"When Game of Thrones aired last year, I went to L.A [...] and I met the casting team for Genius. And she told me: Listen, I have an audition for you. And I taped for Mileva, for his [Einstein's] wife. Then, a week after, I got a phone call: come to London to meet Ron Howard. [...] I met with Ron and I read for him and I didn't get the part. I cried for a month... Maybe two." Not too many people can write Game of Thrones on their acting resume, and probably only one Israeli. Anya Bukstein grew u...
Jul 19, 2017•44 min
"We would get them to smile. And obviously every few years we had a war. There were times that we performed 4-5 times a day, either it was a place where there were 8 or 10 soldiers, and sometimes even 1000. And in my time, we never used microphones. We screamed. When I finished my service I had a neck wider than my head." Long before Gal Gadot, Topol was the first and only Israeli international superstar. His path to fame started in 1964, when he starred in Kishon’s film Sallah Shabati, the firs...
Jul 12, 2017•42 min
“You have this city, it’s called Tacloban, it had about 250 thousand people. And a small wave hit it. Small, i say because the Japan tsunami [...] was about 130 feet high but here we’re talking about a small wave, about 15 feet, came in and the first thing it did is kill about 5,000 people in the city and leave their bodies throughout. But people don’t think about the aftermath. The aftermath is where you get a multiplying effect [...] the ripples. [...] Then to make it better, the cherry on the...
Jul 05, 2017•45 min
Since its foundation in 2001 IsraAID has provided emergency assistance and long-term national infrastructure rehabilitation in many disaster-stricken countries around the world. What distinguishes IsraAID from other NGOs, is that while they help these traumatized countries rebuild their communities, they place an emphasis on strengthening the national entities rather than providing direct assistance. Ophelie Namiech really wanted to make Aliyah but that wasn’t her only dream. Ophelie also longed...
Jun 28, 2017•49 min
Everybody who comes to Israel adores the food - it's colorful, diverse and multi-cultured. As Israelies, we grow up eating Tunisian, Romanian, Iraqi and Italian food, and many other cuisines - sometimes all in the same week. And for us it's quite normal. So normal, perhaps, that we rarely stop to ask ourselves: Is there even such a thing as Israeli cuisine? To try and answer this question, Two Nice Jewish Boys called upon the master of Israeli food, Gil Hovav. Every Israeli household has been ea...
Jun 21, 2017•48 min
For most Israelis, innovation means high-tech, angel investors, an exit and boatloads of cash. Truth is, though, Innovation can come in many forms. Startups make profit out of innovation, by identifying problems and offering solutions. But what if innovation were to be used not as a means to make profit, but rather a tool to achieve social goals? Irad Eichler chose this path exactly, by establishing a relatively large non-profit organization, Shekulu Tov, that works with the state and offers reh...
Jun 15, 2017•1 hr 1 min
Gili Dolev wasn’t especially studious as a young kid growing up in Binyamina. However, one of his teachers saw his potential and helped him pave his way to a successful career in animation. The road was not so easy. There were ups, downs, twists and turns but eventually, at 40, against all odds, Gili sold the first Israeli kids animation series to an international TV network, Nickelodeon. Two Nice Jewish Boys had the privilege to sit with Gili and talk about his work, his career and the deal tha...
Jun 07, 2017•1 hr 1 min
This month we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War - a war, it seems, that shook the Middle East and reshaped Israel forever. In Israel the war is spoken of almost as a legendary tale, whereas for the Palestinians it's remembered as the event that brought upon the occupation. For that reason, and many others, it is still one of the most controversial events in Israel's short history. Deputy Minister Dr. Michael Oren has a rich biography. He was an historian teaching in Harvard, Ya...
May 31, 2017•59 min
Dr. Shmulik Hess was only a 13-year-old Haredi Jew when he stumbled upon the piece of literature that would change his life. As he was walking down a street in his hometown of Tzfat, Shmulik found a book about the history of World War II. This sparked a chain of events which led Shmulik to become Dr. Hess, a secular medical entrepreneur who eventually started a company that helped millions of Chinese fight Diabetes. Dr. Shmulik Hess is the CEO of Valin Technologies and he joins 2NJB to talk abou...
May 24, 2017•56 min
During April 2017 a record breaking of 349,000 tourists visited Israel - the highest number per month since the establishment of Israel. From the vast Negev desert to the vivacious cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to the Tuscanesque hilltops of the Galilee, indeed, the land of Milk and Honey has a lot to offer the world traveler. Yet for the traveler coming here, the country's small size can be misleading - there is so much to do and to see, that even a two weeks trip is hardly enough. Gal Mor,...
May 17, 2017•51 min
Progress entails change. However, the establishment generally rejects change. This is the challenge that pioneers face in all fields and this was the challenge that Professor Dan Shechtman faced upon his discovery of quasiperiodic crystals, or quasicrystals. Ultimately, this discovery would lead Dr. Shechtman to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2011 but not before a long and often arduous journey. Professor Dan Shechtman was kind enough to invite 2NJB to his home to talk about his life, his caree...
May 10, 2017•54 min
Yom HaShoah, Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Day, commemorates the 6 million Jews who perished in the genocide. However, in order to prevent the crimes of history from repeating themselves, we cannot simply remember, we must learning from them. We must study the past and compare it to the present. Professor Dina Porat does exactly that at the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry. Every year on the eve of Yom Hashoah, the Kantor Center at Tel Aviv University publishes its Report...
Apr 24, 2017•57 min
Meretz, one of Israel’s left-wing, social-democratic parties, was formed in 1992, winning 12 parliamentary seats in that year’s election. Over the years the party has sat on both sides of the aisle, even joining the ultra-orthodox Shas party in Yitzhak Rabin’s 1992 Labor-led coalition. Today, Meretz is part of the opposition and holds 5 seats, one of which is held by Tamar Zandberg. MK Zandberg was elected to the Tel Aviv city council in 2008 as a member of Meretz. She was a key figure in the 20...
Apr 19, 2017•59 min
The words ‘Germany’ and ‘Israel’ probably raise many differing connotations in various people’s minds but one probably stands out among them all: the Holocaust. Germany-Israel diplomatic ties began in 1952 when Germany finally offered to pay reparations to the survivors of the Holocaust. For obvious reasons, this relationship was not without its fair share of trials and tribulations. Over the years the challenges have persisted, often exacerbated by events such as the massacre of the Israeli ath...
Apr 12, 2017•1 hr 1 min
The year is 2012 and Beitar Jerusalem, the favored soccer team of Israel's right wing, is on its way to its first national title in years. Quickly climbing the rankings from week to week, the team can almost taste the sweet flavor of victory and national pride. However, Beitar’s owner, Arkady Gaydamak, has other plans for the team - plans that will shock the players, the fans, the entire Israeli soccer community and the nation as a whole. Stretched to its limits along racial lines, the story of ...
Apr 05, 2017•1 hr 2 min
To many of us, Japan is still a mystery wrapped in an enigma. Mysterious of all is the Yakuza, Japan's notorious crime organization, which has been growing and spreading dread for decades. When Jake Adelstein, a nice Jewish boy from Minnesota, decided to leave everything behind and follow his passion and fascination to Japan, he didn't know much about the Yakuza either. But soon enough, he learned more than he'd ever imagined he would. Pursuing a career as a Tokyo investigative crime reporter, h...
Mar 29, 2017•54 min
The Refugee crisis in Europe, though seemingly distant and even sometimes obscure, is now actually more severe and relevant than ever. Every week thousands of immigrants are rescued from the Mediterranean, as many more enter from the east by any means possible. In Turkey, millions of refugees, held back by Erdogan, await the opportunity to cross the border. As Europe is divided by the question of how to handle this influx of millions of immigrants, the situation in the refugee camps continue to ...
Mar 22, 2017•1 hr 4 min
