Episodes

After debating Israel's new tactic of faking out Hizbullah with staged casualties, Alan, Mike and Benji weight the value of gap year Israel study. What role should it play in Israel education? Why are the number of gap year students so small outside of the Orthodox community? Are the Orthodox using the experience wisely? How has the experience changed over the last 30 years? What can we expect in the future? Interested in security on the northern border and Israel education? Join us! [This is t...

After debating Israel's new tactic of faking out Hizbullah with staged casualties, Alan, Mike and Benji weight the value of gap year Israel study. What role should it play in Israel education? Why are the number of gap year students so small outside of the Orthodox community? Are the Orthodox using the experience wisely? How has the experience changed over the last 30 years? What can we expect in the future? Interested in security on the northern border and Israel education? Join us! [This is t...

Israeli's are hardly focusing on the upcoming elections, but are watching the news from the Northern front very carefully. What was the Israeli attack in Syria about? Why are the public statements from Lebanon so belligerent? Why is Iran always at the center of this, and why is Bibi so focused on them? What role does religion play in this conflict? Alan and Mike lay out the facts and share their perspectives. Join us! Hezbollah on Wikipedia We are so thrilled to be back recording at the amazing...

Israeli's are hardly focusing on the upcoming elections, but are watching the news from the Northern front very carefully. What was the Israeli attack in Syria about? Why are the public statements from Lebanon so belligerent? Why is Iran always at the center of this, and why is Bibi so focused on them? What role does religion play in this conflict? Alan and Mike lay out the facts and share their perspectives. Join us! Hezbollah on Wikipedia We are so thrilled to be back recording at the amazing...

Are you as exhausted as we are? Between Omar and Tlaib's bad faith Israel trip, Israel barring congressional representatives and Trump questioning Jewish loyalty, its been a pretty crazy week. Alan, Mike and Matt try to find the teachable moments in the current political bruhaha. Welcome back, Matt! Thanks for bringing us a load of news from the States. Makom Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe,...

Are you as exhausted as we are? Between Omar and Tlaib's bad faith Israel trip, Israel barring congressional representatives and Trump questioning Jewish loyalty, its been a pretty crazy week. Alan, Mike and Matt try to find the teachable moments in the current political bruhaha. Welcome back, Matt! Thanks for bringing us a load of news from the States. Makom Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe,...

After this summer's protests, the Ethiopian Israeli community was a major topic of discussion. How did those clashes with police come to be?How far has the Israeli Ethiopian community come in their decades of aliya? How are they treated by their fellow Israelis? What is it like to be a minority among other Jews? What is yet to be accomplished? Pnina Agenyahu sat with Alan and Mike to discuss police profiling and the complexity of being Jew of color in Israel. She shared her views on the accompl...

After this summer's protests, the Ethiopian Israeli community was a major topic of discussion. How did those clashes with police come to be?How far has the Israeli Ethiopian community come in their decades of aliya? How are they treated by their fellow Israelis? What is it like to be a minority among other Jews? What is yet to be accomplished? Pnina Agenyahu sat with Alan and Mike to discuss police profiling and the complexity of being Jew of color in Israel. She shared her views on the accompl...

What's happening with the American Peace plan? Why is UNRWA losing money? Why is Israel permitting building 700 Arab homes in the West Bank but demolishing others in Jerusalem? Alan and Mike join guest contributor Calev Ben Dor of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre to get you up to date. Join us! Calev Ben Dor at BICOM Makom Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more e...

What's happening with the American Peace plan? Why is UNRWA losing money? Why is Israel permitting building 700 Arab homes in the West Bank but demolishing others in Jerusalem? Alan and Mike join guest contributor Calev Ben Dor of the Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre to get you up to date. Join us! Calev Ben Dor at BICOM Makom Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more e...

Ready or not, the September Knesset elections are coming! Alan and Mike are here to catch you up on the new parties that have formed, how things look in the polls, and what to expect this time around. Join us! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you think! We are happy to take topic requests and questions. And please rate and review us on Apple. R...

Ready or not, the September Knesset elections are coming! Alan and Mike are here to catch you up on the new parties that have formed, how things look in the polls, and what to expect this time around. Join us! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you think! We are happy to take topic requests and questions. And please rate and review us on Apple. R...

Sometimes, feedback to our podcast takes us by surprise. Several listeners couldn't understand why we listed problems with Israel's schools as something that troubled voters. Well, People of the Book have waited a long time to get our state back, and we need to get our national school system working right. So we decided to devote an episode to explaining the evolution, successes and challenges of our educational infrastructure. To do that, we invited an expert in the field of education and scho...

Sometimes, feedback to our podcast takes us by surprise. Several listeners couldn't understand why we listed problems with Israel's schools as something that troubled voters. Well, People of the Book have waited a long time to get our state back, and we need to get our national school system working right. So we decided to devote an episode to explaining the evolution, successes and challenges of our educational infrastructure. To do that, we invited an expert in the field of education and scho...

Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad oversee a toxic brew in the country that used to be called Syria. What does that mean for Israel? How did it become this mess? Why is it keeping Israeli generals up at night? What has Israel been doing about it? What will Israel do about it? What does the Israeli military slang, "Mabam" mean? How does citizen morale on the homefront affect the strategy? Alan, Mike and Matt go evaluate the messy status quo, and discuss what this means going forward. Joi...

Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and Bashar al-Assad oversee a toxic brew in the country that used to be called Syria. What does that mean for Israel? How did it become this mess? Why is it keeping Israeli generals up at night? What has Israel been doing about it? What will Israel do about it? What does the Israeli military slang, "Mabam" mean? How does citizen morale on the homefront affect the strategy? Alan, Mike and Matt go evaluate the messy status quo, and discuss what this means going forward. Joi...

In response to a listener request, Alan and Mike review the basics regarding the Palestinian refugee problem. Why is this an issue that's entering its eight decade? How did the problem begin, what has been done to address it? his episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you thin...

In response to a listener request, Alan and Mike review the basics regarding the Palestinian refugee problem. Why is this an issue that's entering its eight decade? How did the problem begin, what has been done to address it? his episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you thin...

Israel is a major exporter of military resources, including weapons and training. But should countries have to reach at least a basic level of ethical policy before Israel sells them implements of destruction? Rabbi Avidan Freedman thinks so, and he explains why to Alan and Mike. They discuss the issue with him, and what can possibly be done about it. Join us! This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced b...

Israel is a major exporter of military resources, including weapons and training. But should countries have to reach at least a basic level of ethical policy before Israel sells them implements of destruction? Rabbi Avidan Freedman thinks so, and he explains why to Alan and Mike. They discuss the issue with him, and what can possibly be done about it. Join us! This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced b...

Was the Bahrain peace conference a meaningful attempt to break the status quo of the Israeli Palestinian conflict? Or a cynical attempt to bribe Middle Easterners into acquiescence? Alan and Mike debate the pros and cons of the initiative, and what a sensible response should be from the Palestinian leadership. Join us! This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unter...

Was the Bahrain peace conference a meaningful attempt to break the status quo of the Israeli Palestinian conflict? Or a cynical attempt to bribe Middle Easterners into acquiescence? Alan and Mike debate the pros and cons of the initiative, and what a sensible response should be from the Palestinian leadership. Join us! This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unter...

Is there a culture war brewing in Israel over religion in the public sphere? If so, is it being driven by politicians and the media? Or is it much ado about nothing? Join Alan and Mike as they separate reality from hype. This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you think! W...

Is there a culture war brewing in Israel over religion in the public sphere? If so, is it being driven by politicians and the media? Or is it much ado about nothing? Join Alan and Mike as they separate reality from hype. This episode was recorded at the amazing Ben Wallick Studios. Ben is the best! JU Israel Teachers Lounge is a weekly podcast produced by Matt Lipman, and hosted by Michael Unterberg and Alan Goldman. Please subscribe, listen to more episodes, and let us know what you think! W...