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.

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What Matters Now to lobbyist Rachel Gur: Why Israel is so #₪@$! expensive

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish world — right now. On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his cabinet meeting with an announcement that his government will draft a decision to establish a new ministerial committee -- that he will head. In his remarks, Netanyahu stated, “The fight against the cost of living tops our government's list of national priorities. We will take determined and strong action to lower pr...

Jun 01, 2023•37 min

What Matters Now to Yair Zakovitch: Using 'Ruth' as a blueprint for creative halacha

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. This week, Jews all over the world will mark the holiday of Shavuot by reading from the Book of Ruth. In this biblical tale, disaster and famine strike and an elderly widow called Naomi loses her two sons. Childless, she tells her daughters-in-law to return to their parents’ homes in Moab and says that she will make her own way back to her family in Bethlehem. One daughte...

May 24, 2023•40 min

What Matters Now to historian Sara Hirschhorn: Extremism is now mainstream

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. On Thursday this week, tens of thousands of marchers -- including several government ministers and MKs -- marked the 1967 reunification of Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty with participation in the annual Flag March. While most of the masses sang, danced, and yes, caused a ruckus through the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, much like every year in the recent past, at times p...

May 18, 2023•36 min

What Matters Now to ToI analyst Haviv Rettig Gur: The political perils of conflict

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. Israel stands unified this week as hundreds of Gaza rockets rain on the country. Unusually of late, even Israel’s political echelon has put aside its differences to stand together during the IDF’s Operation Shield and Arrow. That’s really good news for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose own coalition has increasingly taken to covert -- and overt -- threats a...

May 11, 2023•41 min

What Matters Now to veteran journalist Biranit Goren: Media-made parallel universes

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. The Knesset reconvened this week and anti-judicial overhaul protestors ramped up their demonstrations with Thursday’s nationwide Day of Disruptions. While these protests were going on nationwide, a panel appearing on Israel’s Channel 14 talked about the upcoming protest outside former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak’s house that night. Barak, the panel agreed, is the...

May 04, 2023•44 min

What Matters Now to Prof. Gil Troy: 'Identity Zionism' to cure Diaspora's 'unJews'

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. National Resilience Minister Yitzhak Wasserlauf announced Wednesday that he will advance legislation to make Zionism a “guiding and crucial value” in government decision-making. But what exactly is Zionism? In this week of Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen and Independence Day, we invited Prof. Gil Troy to The Times of Israel’s Jerusalem office to discuss the nationalist m...

Apr 27, 2023•33 min

What Matters Now to past Justice head Emi Palmor: A stronger post-crisis Israel

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. This episode is being published during a uniquely Israeli window of time that occurs between Yom Hashoah — Holocaust Remembrance Day — and Yom Hazikaron — our Memorial Day for fallen soldiers. This is a liminal space naturally inhabited by our What Matters Now guest this week, former director general of the Justice Ministry Emi Palmor. A specialist in international human ...

Apr 20, 2023•49 min

What Matters Now to Yad Vashem head Dani Dayan: Warsaw Ghetto Jews were divided, too

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. This week, like every week, antisemitism has captured media headlines around the world, ranging from " 'Death to the Jews' chants heard at Berlin rally " to " Bone-chilling antisemitic display in Poland sparks condemnation ." These modern iterations of antisemitism are, of course, of concern to Israel’s national Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem. But it was yet another...

Apr 13, 2023•31 min

What Matters Now to archaeologist Prof. Yonatan Adler: The origins of Judaism

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — except this week. Ahead of Passover, as some Jews all over the world change sets of dishes, blowtorch their stoves and, of course, cover every last counter and corner with aluminum foil, we wonder: when did the practice of this crazy religion get its start? So I invited Ariel University's head of the Institute of Archaeology Prof. Yonatan Adler to our Jerusalem office to speak about...

Apr 04, 2023•39 min

What Matters Now to top Canadian jurist Irwin Cotler: Drafting Israel's constitution

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploration into one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World — right now. Suddenly, about three months ago when Justice Minister Yariv presented the judicial overhaul package, it seemed like everyone in Israel's pro-reform camp began speaking about Canada as a justification for the coalition's controversial bills. That made this week’s What Matters Now guest, former Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, take notice. Cotler joined me at The Ti...

Mar 30, 2023•34 min

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