Teller From Jerusalem

After Israel's stunning and unpredictable victory (especially from the Arab perspective) in the War of Independence, there was a colossus of bruised pride in the Arab World. To answer the heretofore imponderable, "How could Israel have been victorious?" a narrative emerged, "We did not lose because Israel was strong, but rather because our leaders were weak." The search began for strong military men who could restore Arab dignity, and the undisputed rising star was Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt. Nasser was a pan-Arabist who maintained that Arabs were born for greatness and should have had one of the most enduring empires, had they not been victims of colonialism. A Soviet shift in the 1950s pushed them from allies of Israel to adversaries. President Eisenhower, with the very strong support of his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, decided to be stronger aligned with the Arab side in the conflict. Credits One For Israel "DAVID DANCED"  Snare Drum Solo Larry Salzman "Legionnaire" by Scott Buckley AP Archive April 23, 2003 Saddam Walk Around 
Yasuichi Kobayashi Radio Cairo Sound Effects for Free: Goal !!! Norwegian Baron: Russian Federation (1991-) Military March "To Serve Russia" Framesticker: The Benny Goodman Orchestra - Sing Sing Sing (With a Swing)   Syria 1949 – How the CIA Rewired a Nation Historical Documentaries: Nasser: Power, Pan-Arabism And Legacy Of A Leader  The War for Control of the Suez Canal | History of Israel Explained | Unpacked Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc  

Life throws curveballs all the time, and not everyone has the consistency or the disposition to turn lemons into lemonade. Rabbi Dovid M. Cohen, previous pulpit rabbi in Manhattan, is currently the CEO of the Algemainer Jewish Media outlet. Everyone is different and everyone copes differently. Rabbi Cohen, a licensed therapist, shares with us how he has dealt with his own challenges and some of the counsel he has offered others. Credits: Shifting Great Expectations: Parenting a child with Down Syndrome | Lito Ramirez | TEDx Columbus Dr. Jordan Peterson, Why Confronting Challenges Makes you Brave. Dr. Phil with Rachel Goldberg-Polin Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

As already explained in an earlier episode (Season Five Episode 6) the Fedayeen terrorist raiders would sneak into Israel, murder, sabotage, set fire, steal, and slip back across the border to Egypt and Jordan. This was death by a thousand cuts to Israel. And then things deteriorated precipitously when in September of 1955, Nasser announced that Egypt has signed a massive arms deal with Czechoslovakia (read: Russia) which will give Egypt an enormous military edge over Israel and enable the Fedayeen to be backed by tank brigades. Nasser openly states that he intends to destroy Israel and he will soon have the weaponry to enable this. Israel is running out of time. And just then Nasser nationalizes the Suez Canal, antagonizing and threatening the British and the French. A surreptitious international pact is formed to undercut Nasser, which will come to be known as the Sinai Campaign of 1956.   Credits: Middle-Eastern Duet Worship Song "David Danced" Unidentified Arabic Radio Station on 36.96 MHz 1940's Newsreel Music, George Streicher Epic Military War Themes 2025, Aggressive Battle Music Collection Arab Crowd Cheers to Palestinian Leader   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Stories of Heroism During the Holocaust Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc  

Resistance during the Holocaust; Breaking the myth that Jews went to their death like sheep to the slaughter.  Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc  

Rabbi Aharon Zulberg, and the other people he credits, was still scratching his head as to what significant thing South African Jewry might do on behalf of their brethren affected by the war. His synagogue, "The Bais" teamed up with the Jewish National Fund of South Africa to offer respite for hostages released from the terror tunnels of Gaza and in urgent need of relaxation and tranquility. What better place could there be than the beautiful country of South Africa and an initiative was launched uniting Jews, and in the process learning about the inestimable good there is in people. Credits First group of Israeli hostages released from Gaza MSNBC Israeli woman held hostage by Hamas for 55 days shares story of survival ABC 7 Chicago "They Are Us, We Are Them" – Bring the Hostages Home American Jewish Committee Shai Abramson and the IDF religious military choir Motty Steinmetz Dirshu Rachel Polin speaking Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

 Rabbi Aharon Zulberg from Johannesburg, South Africa, like so many other Jews worldwide (and other very fine people, think of Dr. Julie Snyder from Beaufort, SC who jumped into action when she heard that knee pads were needed for soldiers – featured in our podcast "An Outpouring of Kindness" at the time the October 7 War broke out) wish to contribute to those affected by the war in Israel. Rabbi Zulberg is a pragmatist and he realized that South African Jewry, with a weak currency could not compete with North American and European communities. Still, he and so many others wished to help and do something, so a collection of items to be sent to those most-impacted in Israel was assembled and dispatched. But this was just the catalytic enzyme of what would become a project totally unique to South Africa. Credits South African rand tanks, VOA Africa   How Did October 7 Change Israel, Unpacked   The Nation Builders: Israelis and Palestinians who Stepped up After October 7, Time Magazine           Israel-Hamas: Charities Work Around the Clock to Send Medical Aid to Those on The Ground, Global News It Starts With a Vision – Jewish National Fund USA   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Popular self-help author and speaker Sara Pachter, shares her best insights to make life more enjoyable and rewarding. All of her suggestions are wise and easily implementable.    Credits Od Yishama Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach Ben Azadi The Brain Coach Easy Ways to Calm Down When you are Angry, Witapedia Thomas Mulligan Do Doorways Actually Make us Forget Things SciShow Psych Vincent (Starry, Starry Night) Don McLean Jingle from the Happy Hour, Dennis Prager Show Children's Music Danyvin Instrumental Music for Kids What a Wonderful World Louis Armstrong   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

The assault on Jews in college campuses and even in front of synagogues mandates a firm reaction, especially in light of the fact that the government national and local has been quick to condemn, but has offered no other relief. Some bright Jewish minds have rallied on behalf of those under threat, relying primarily on title six of the Civil rights Act of 1964. So far these suits have not borne a huge harvest. Rabbi Dr. Moshe Goldfeder of the National Jewish Advocacy Center – and so much more – explains in this episode how he has expanded the tool box of ways to effectively protect Jews on and off campus.  Credits: The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 Explained | This Day Forward | msnbc What Is Title VI Of The Civil Rights Act? - CountyOffice.org Rights groups slam Trump's anti-Semitism executive order Al Jazeera Live NOW  FOX  Trump threatens Harvard's tax status after $2B funding freeze New York Post Trump to take away Harvard's tax-exempt status: 'It's what they deserve!' Yeladim Sharim, Rebbe Alter   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

  Rabbi Mark Goldfeder is a rising meteor on the world scene because of his personal academic and legal achievements and the work that he has done - initially checking - and at this point defeating antisemitic initiatives. He is also the founder and director of National Jewish Advocacy Center. The rise in antisemitic incidents has become an urgent crisis, which requires a bold new approach. The NJAC has instituted litigation that holds individuals, institutions and corporations accountable when they cross the line from free expression into illegal, harmful actions whereby antisemitic violators face severe financial consequences. In the first of two interviews Rabbi Goldfeder explains what he is doing and what can be done to defeat the scourge of antisemitism and anti-Israel advocacy. Credits: Representative Debbie Wasserman, U.S. Department of State, Ancient Hatred, Modern Medium: Conference on Internet Antisemitism, IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism News 12 "Jewish Federation launches media campaign to battle rise of antisemitism in New Jersey" AP: Rabbi Dr. Mark Goldfeder testifying at House Judiciary Committee hearing on antisemitism at colleges Adam Savit on Webinar: Qatar's Shadow War: How Qatar Built an Outsized Influence in American Politics AP, CNN, NYT, Reuters, photographers embedded with Hamas terrorists on Oct 7 i24 News English, 34th day of the War Inside Edition: Photo of Hamas Hostage Sparks Outrage After Winning Award Testimony of Shabbos Kestenbaum at House Judiciary Committee hearing on antisemitism at colleges   Real Time with Bill Maher "New Rule: From the River to the Sea"   CBN NEWS "Activist Mahmoud Khalil Accused of 'Siding with Terrorists', Deportation Blocked"  Comments by Presidential spokesperson Karoline Leavitt CBS NEWS "Harvard University hit with funding freeze after rejecting Trump administration's demands"   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Israel's Arab neighbors were also her declared enemy. Accordingly, they had no interest in respecting a border regarding which they had signed an armistice. Infiltrators, that were called fedayeem would sneak into Israel to tend unmanned farmland, to loot border villages, or to carry out violent and often deadly attacks and then return across the border where they would be commended rather than condemned for the mayhem and murder which they had committed. In the early 1950s there were thousands of attacks each year resulting in the murder of several hundred Israelis. Something had to be done, resulting in the IDF forming Special Forces Unit 101. After the murder of Susan Kanias and two of her children in a fedayeem raid in 1953, Unit 101 carried out their first reprisal in the West Bank village of Qibya. Overnight everyone learned that the rules of engagement had radically changed. Credits: Euro News: Qibya village sheds no tears for Ariel Sharon Politics and Prowess: Meir Har Zion: A National Hero Edward Sturm: The Man in the Hathaway Shirt Ad Made David Ogilvy Famous Unpacked, History of Israel Explained: Moshe Dayan: Iconic Military Leader Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Having already explained in our previous podcast on this subject (S5 E1) that there are people who "give in order to take," which is far from the ideal, in this episode we explore the concept proposed by Joseph Telushkin of "Imaginative Kindness." When implemented – which is a cinch – it enables one to harvest so much more mileage from one's kindness. Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Why Four, and why not a peace treaty? All of this will be explained in this episode that details the difference between an armistice and a peace treaty. Israel's warring neighbors were battered and humiliated in Israel's War of Independence, which they were so confident would result in Arab triumph. Exhausted and losing ground by the day they wished to conclude the war, but how do you arrive at an agreement with an enemy that you do not recognize. Ultimately, that is what an armistice can accomplish. Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

A vast program of public works was initiated by the Israeli Government to provide employment opportunities for the refugee immigrants who were mainly unskilled. Likewise, the Jewish National Fund embarked upon a nationwide forestation project that totally transformed the landscape of the country. After figuring out how to absorb the greatest number of immigrants the world has known, Prime Minister Ben Gurion had to deal with other burning issues such as how to deal with the deeply religious residents of Israel referred to as "Haredim." Critical attention also had to be devoted how to secure Israel's borders when each neighboring country was hostile and sought Israel's destruction. This resulted in the Army Reserves for every able-bodied soldier. Audio Credits: What Happened to Mizrachi Jews of Arab Countries | The Jewish Story |Unpacked Golda Meir – The Matriarch of Israel Documentary | The People Profiles Transforming Israel's Barren Terrain into Green Forests | Greening Israel The Official Documentary | The Israel Guys Hareidim and the IDF | Center for Israel Education | Whiteboard Video IDF Band - Machar i24 News | Insight – IDF Reservists: Citizen Soldiers Why Don't Ultra Orthodox Jews Serve in the IDF | Today Unpacked Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

In 1950 the Israeli Parliament passed a dramatic and symbolic law known as The Law of Return. This would finally bring an end to the description of "The Wandering Jew." The Law also brought a formal end to the execrable White Paper of 1939 (by the British Government) and a symbolic overturning of the Nuremberg Laws which the Nazis employed to determine who was Jewish. The Law of Return employed the same (non-halachic) status: if you were Jewish-enough to be condemned to death by the Nazis, then you were Jewish enough to be deserving of the protection of the State of Israel. Jewish refugees from Arab countries had to flee for their lives (and not everyone was so fortunate) to the State of Israel, resulting in the arrival of 850,000 desperate refugees. Israel cared for her brethren and saw to it that they would not be referred to or be looked upon as refugees. And yet, the primitive conditions in which they were originally housed in transit camps or ma'abarot was appalling. Audio Credits:  What Happened to Mizrachi Jews of Arab Countries | The Jewish Story |Unpacked Untold Exodus of Jews From Arab Land | Stand With Us Jewish Refugees From Arab Countries | Stand With Us Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

Teller From Jerusalem takes an emboldening look at the compulsion of moral sensitivity to engage in kindness. We break down and analyze with stories (as usual) what it does for the recipient and what it does for the giver. Why is it that kindness matures a person and strips them of self-centered instincts? Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

When the second truce in Israel's War of Independence went into effect on July 18, 1948, Israel was militarily in a far better position than it had been at the outbreak of the War. Still, work was still very much cut out for the nascent IDF as Egyptian forces had pressed so deep into the Negev that they were able to menace the key artery linking Tel Aviv to the southern towns and Jewish settlements. Israel's innovative, young commander of the Negev campaign was Yigal Allon. In order to break the Egyptian hold, he would have to get his troops to the south undetected. Allon's soldiers discovered an ancient route built by the Romans 2000 years earlier, known as the Ruheiba Trail. The Egyptians logically expected an Israeli assault from the conventional route and were totally unprepared for an enemy that materialized out of nowhere from a trail that was concealed and provided natural cover. Audio credits: Trailer: To Cast a Giant Shadow Pacific Front Untold – Flying the Hump vs The Burma Road Kings and Generals – The First Arab-Israeli war 1948 The Armchair Historian – Brutal Urban Combat - Battle for Fallujah 2004 Fox News – Fallujah General details the True Challenges of Gaza Invasion Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

After the first truce was called in Israel's War of Independence, the United States and Britain, acting through the United Nations, wished to secure a lasting peace in the region. The United Nations mediator was Count Foke Bernadotte, who unabashedly viewed himself as a soon-to-be Nobel Prize laureate and assumed many liberties that succeeded in making himself extremely unpopular to both sides of the conflict.  Bernadotte's scheme for achieving regional peace entailed amputating the Negev region from Israel and limiting Jewish immigration.  With pressure mounting upon Israel to make concessions that it could not afford, the prudent option Ben Gurion concluded was to take the Negev by force. Young and brilliant commander Yigal Allon was responsible for this campaign and employed some innovative techniques that would become the hallmark of Israeli military strategy. Audio Credits Audiology 1948- Arab-Israeli War Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

TFJ invited eloquent and dynamic Alex Traiman, CEO of Jewish News Syndicate, to explain the current situation in the Middle East. Alex Traiman is a go to for accurate news analysis and uncensored perspective on what lay behind current events. In this eye-opening interview (recorded On November 25, 2024) Mr. Traiman provides a fascinating understanding of Prime Minister Netanyahu who is constantly reviled by the Left and the Media without ever acknowledging the man's incredible fortitude and leadership. The JNS Jerusalem Bureau Chief also lucidly explained how recent events have shattered myths and conceptions such as, "The devil we know is better than the devil we do not know," "Good fences make good neighbors," "Our enemies care more about their economic well-being than they do about killing Jews." With trenchant examples, Traiman explains how each one of these concepts was faulty and has proven to be a notion that misled policy with tragic consequences. There was also the military misconception that believed that troops on the ground were not necessary if there was the proper monitoring and surveillance in place. In his hallmark way of looking at the positive, Traiman recognizes the current war as an opportunity to repair the false concepts which will enable Israel to emerge stronger and smarter. For up to the minute news analysis by competent experts one is advised to check out JNS.com and JNS TV. Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2025 Media Education Trust llc

TFJ takes a serous look at cheerfully greeting others and smiling. From explaining the origin of the smiley emoji to the classic, true story of how a life was saved thanks to a cheerful greeting, this podcast (as always) gives substantial background to a rarely considered matter. More significantly, it will awaken dormant and atrophied friendliness muscles which should be a part of the daily fitness of every respectful and caring human being.   Learn more at TellerFromJerusalem.com Don't forget to subscribe, like and share! Let all your friends know that that they too can have a new favorite podcast. © 2024 Media Education Trust llc