What Matters Now

The Times of Israel•www.timesofisrael.com

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A weekly exploration of one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World right now.

Last refreshed: May 28th, 2026 at 3:11 PM ⓘ

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Episodes

What Matters Now to Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove: What binds US Jews to Israel post-Oct. 7

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World with host Amanda Borschel-Dan. This week, we're joined by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove , a leading voice in Conservative Judaism, who has served as head rabbi of New York’s Park Avenue Synagogue since 2008. We speak about his soon-to-be-published book, " For Such a Time as This: On Being Jewish Today " (Harper Collins), which was written after the October 7 Hamas massacre of 1,200 and abd...

Sep 12, 2024•31 min

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Israel's Sophie's Choice on hostages

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. This week, Israel was shattered by the news that six hostages, all previously thought alive, were discovered dead in a Gaza tunnel. The six hostages whose bodies were recovered over the weekend — Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Eden Yerushalmi, Ori Danino, Alex Lobanov, Carmel Gat, and Almog Sarusi — were killed jus...

Sep 05, 2024•35 min

What Matters Now to Bret Stephens: Where North American universities went wrong

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World with host Amanda Borschel-Dan. This week, as campuses across North America open their doors for their fall semester, we speak with New York Times Opinion columnist Bret Stephens. The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer recently wrote a column called, “ What I Want a University President to Say About Campus Protests, ” in which he channels a university president presenting his foundationa...

Aug 29, 2024•37 min

What Matters Now to Dr. Aron Troen: Dispelling claims of intentional famine in Gaza

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan. This week, we speak with Hebrew University in Jerusalem Prof. Aron Troen for a deep dive into two powerful issues facing him since October 7. One draws upon his professional expertise: Troen is a professor of Nutrition Science and Public Health. His most recent research is dealing with whether or not there is a state of famine in the Ga...

Aug 23, 2024•1 hr 5 min

What Matters Now to Yossi Klein Halevi: Will Israeli society survive this war?

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan. This week, we speak with Israeli thinker Yossi Klein Halevi for a deeply intense probe into what it means to be part of the existential Israeli struggle. We discuss how, as the war in Gaza continues, the different forces in Israeli society are caught up in a destructive push-pull dance even as Israel is losing its moral capital during t...

Aug 15, 2024•44 min

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: How to relax in your bomb shelter

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan and speaking with senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. Israel awaits an expected retaliatory attack from Iran and Hezbollah for the assassinations of Hamas head Ismail Haniyeh in Teheran and Hezbollah chief of staff Fuad Shukr in Beirut. We don’t know what’s going to happen: The potential strike could be tonight, could be tomorrow -- or coul...

Aug 08, 2024•20 min

What Matters Now to Prof. Gerald Steinberg: Hypocrisy of human rights groups on Israel

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan. "Ex astrophysicist now Hobbesian realist." Not many people can pull off that social media profile moniker. In fact, there’s likely only one: Prof. Gerald Steinberg, the founder of NGO Monitor. Today, Steinberg is an emeritus professor of Political Studies from Bar Ilan University. Among his realms of interest, he is an expert in human r...

Aug 01, 2024•35 min

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: At the Olympics, Israel is a 'pariah state.' Who cares?

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan, speaking with ToI senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. Israel’s national anthem, "Hativkah," was loudly jeered before its soccer team kicked off play at the Paris Olympics against Mali on Wednesday night. To the relief of all, the game passed without major security incidents as the match ended in a 1-1 draw. Since the 1972 Munich Games, Tea...

Jul 25, 2024•34 min

What Matters Now to economist Eugene Kandel: How to change Israel's trajectory

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan. Will Israel survive until 100? And if so, which Israel will remain: A democratic Jewish state or a Jewish state, with a side of democracy? These are questions posed by Prof. Eugene Kandel, who served as the Head of the National Economic Council and Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister of Israel from 2009-2015, and is today the co-foun...

Jul 18, 2024•42 min

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Israel’s poignant, powerful protest culture

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World. This week, The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan speaks senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur. Since Wednesday afternoon, 100s if not 1,000s of Israelis are marching in support of the hostages in Gaza and their families from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. They’re meant to finish their march at the end of Shabbat, Saturday night, with a massive protest in Jerusalem. We look at wh...

Jul 11, 2024•32 min

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