For Heaven's Sake

When a word carries history, burden, and identity all at once, can the Jewish people afford to let it go?  In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the internal Jewish debate over the term Zionism, examining its classical promises of empowerment, the push to abandon it in the face of progressive critique, and why the term means something different in Israel and the Diaspora. Ultimately, they ask what it would take for Zionism to become not only defensible but inspiring again for world Jewry.  Read Nadine Epstein's article cited in the show, “The Word Zionism Is Dead” here.  Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

How do you celebrate the holiday of liberation when the reality of war, grief, and political division feels heavier than ever?  In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront the growing exhaustion in Israel with the conflicts in Iran and Lebanon, the profound grief interrupting daily life, and the internal fractures exposed by new government legislation. As they navigate these challenges, they reflect on what liberation means today, and grapple with the moral and spiritual questions of how to hold onto hope when the Jewish state is tested from both within and without.   Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:  Read the newest issue of Sources and subscribe to the print edition. 

Is Israel destined to have its wars stopped by its closest ally just before the finish line?  In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the rumors of a potential negotiation to end the current conflict with Iran and ask whether this moment reflects a recurring pattern in the U.S.-Israel relationship. They explore America’s role in pressing for de-escalation at pivotal moments in Israeli military campaigns and what that pressure means for Israel’s long-term security.  Watch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Register for our summer programs for lay leaders, rabbis, and educators! Watch Masua Sagiv on Get Your Phil exploring the bonds between Israel and American Jewry.

What is the hidden cost of Israeli resilience?  In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi move beyond strategic analysis to examine how the war is reshaping daily life in Israel, why the polls haven't budged despite a popular and militarily successful war, and what the Lebanon ground operation reveals about Israel's most stubborn patterns. They also confront the growing divide in American Jewry over Israel's place in Jewish identity — a rift that goes far deeper than policy disagreement.  You can watch the remarks by Israel's Consul General to the Midwest Elad Stromhayer to Temple Israel in West Bloomfield, Michigan here. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:  Register for our summer programs for lay leaders, rabbis, and educators!  Secure your spot at the Florida Leadership Conference this Sunday! 

Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ If this war with Iran is self-evident to Israelis, why does it feel so different to North American Jews?  Starting with that blunt question, in this special live episode of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi assess endgames, regime change, public legitimacy, and the possibility that military success could come with growing political isolation -- the deep fear that Israel could win this war with Iran and still lose something essential in its relationship with North American Jewry. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Learn more about our Giving Society and Wellspring Family Circle.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ Why do 93% of Israelis support a war that much of the West condemns as a violation of international law?  In this special episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the profound disconnect between Israeli moral instincts and Western liberal sensibilities. They analyze the "unconscious pacifism" of the West, the reality of a 45-year ongoing conflict with the Iranian regime, and the challenge of separating leadership motives from national survival.  Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:  Watch Donniel Hartman and Abby Pogrebin’s conversation on the war with Iran.  Apply or refer a teen you know to the Hartman Teen Fellowship.  Register for our virtual day of learning,In the Face of Cruelty: Jewish Responsibilities to Neighbors and Strangers on March 12.  Join Donniel for the Florida Leadership Conference, a meaningful day of learning and conversation to process the fear and confusion of this moment and think together about what lies ahead for Israel and the Middle East.

Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ Why does this experience of war with Iran feel entirely new and eerily familiar in the arc of Israeli life? In this emergency episode of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reflect on the strange, exhausting routines of life spent rushing in and out of shelters and the realization that these rituals have become a recurring feature of Israeli life.  Together, they explore what this moment reveals about Israeli vulnerability and resilience: the way decades of conflict have blurred the boundary between home front and front line, the existential anxiety stirred by Iran’s ideology, and the moral and spiritual questions that surface when war unfolds during the week of Purim. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  

Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ How do you go about daily life — bar mitzvahs, trips, work — when every two hours the news cycle shifts, every Israeli with a cousin in the Air Force has a take, and even seasoned analysts can't say what comes next?  In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi take us inside the strange collective experience of Israeli life: suspended in waiting, saturated with rumors, and bracing for a military confrontation that could reshape the entire Middle East — before anything has happened yet. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.   Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.  For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.  Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:  Register for this summer’s Community Leadership Program or Rabbinic Torah Seminar.  Educators, apply now to the Wellspring Summit for Educators!  

Can a country survive when tribal loyalty overwhelms collective responsibility? This week on For Heaven's Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine something unprecedented: while Israel defends its borders from external threats, it's losing the ability to govern within them. From ultra-Orthodox attacks on IDF soldiers to epidemic crime within and against Arab communities to ministers contradicting national policy—Israel faces a sovereignty crisis from within. - 01:35: Not Iran — Israel’s Internal Sovereignty Collapse- 04:15: Bnei Brak: When the IDF Can’t Enter an Israeli City- 06:00: Murder, Mayhem, and Government Retreat- 08:20: The Draft Revolt Goes Mainstream- 16:00: Governing vs. Surviving: The Coalition Choice- 22:00: From “Who’s Sovereign?” to Sovereignty Lost- 27:30: Tribes, Territory, and the Fracturing StateWatch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Listen to “America Betrays the Stranger” on Identity/Crisis.  

Antisemitism is everywhere in Jewish conversation. But what are we missing? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi zoom out to examine the assault on the Jewish story, the cost-benefit calculus of Jews around their identity, and the abuse of antisemitism discourse within Israel. An exploration of what antisemitism is doing to us—beyond the fear. 02:00 – A New Era of Antisemitism? Old Threat or New Reality06:00 – Anti-Zionism and the Assault on the Jewish Story13:00 – Jewish Identity as Choice: Will Antisemitism Push Jews Away?19:00 – Defiance or Drift? Lessons from Soviet Jewry22:30 – Are We Letting Antisemitism Define Jewish Identity?26:00 – The Internal Danger: “Weaponizing” Antisemitism in Israel34:00 – What Does Persistent Hatred Say About the Jewish People? Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.  Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Register for this summer’s Community Leadership Program or Rabbinic Torah Seminar. Educators, apply now to the Wellspring Summit for Educators! 

Israel is headed toward elections again, but can either side form a stable government? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi take a step back to examine the current political climate: the politics of exclusion, the historic unification of Arab parties around domestic issues, and the stalemate that could leave Israel stuck in another cycle of deadlocked elections. They offer a clear-eyed look at where Israeli politics stands—and where it might be headed. 00:00 - Elections in the Shadow of War05:00 - The New Fault Line: Ultra-Orthodox vs. Arab Parties14:30 - Arab Politics Recentered on Personal Security18:45 - A Jewish–Arab Civic Moment in Tel Aviv26:30 - Israel’s Returning Political Stalemate30:00 - Interim Governments and Uncertain EndgamesWatch the video version of our podcast on our YouTube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. 

The hostage clock stopped at 843 days, 12 hours, and 6 minutes. But did the healing begin?Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reflect on the return of the body of Ran Gvili—the last hostage from October 7th—and what this moment reveals about Israel's wounds, its divisions, and its desperate need for goodness. A meditation on trauma, ritual, and the human need for moments of grace—even when the underlying problems remain.Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:Learn more about Rabbanut North America, our three-year rabbinic ordination program, and the newest cohort!

What can Israel do when unpredictability becomes U.S. policy?In this episode of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reckon with what it means for Israel to live in “Trump’s world”—where unpredictability isn’t just a style, it’s a strategy that can have life-and-death consequences. They explore how Israel’s political drift and Netanyahu’s lack of a “day after” plan have left a political vacuum the U.S. is now filling, and what it would take for Israel to reclaim a measure of self-determination in an unsteady new order.Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Listen to young Israeli changemakers from our Hazon program on the Canadian Jewish News's North Star podcast.

Iran's regime is under pressure—and so are the assumptions that have shaped Western policy for decades. In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore the "conceptia" behind the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Jewish theology of power, and the strange silence from progressives as Iran's uprising escalates. For Israelis, this isn't abstract: it's about once again stocking shelters and praying, this time for the Iranian people.  Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Listen to young Israeli changemakers from our Hazon program on the Canadian Jewish News's North Star podcast.

Is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a right-wing ideologue or Israel's great national healer? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi grapple with this paradox as they examine the only candidate currently ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national polling. They explore Bennett's extraordinary transformation from an ideological conservative to national unifier, discuss his brief but transformative year as Prime Minister, and consider what his return might mean for Israel's future. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.

Did we learn anything useful about the future of Israel from the Trump-Netanyahu Mar-a-Lago summit?  In this episode, recorded just hours after the summit concluded, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi wrestle with the disconnect between Trump's optimistic assurances—"everything's going to be fine"—and the hard realities facing Israel in 2026. They debate whether Iranian regime change is achievable, if Gaza represents an existential or spiritual threat, and what it means when the second stage of victory—the political solution—remains elusive. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Learn more about and apply to the Hevruta Gap-Year Program.Learn more about and register for our 2026 Rabbinic Torah Seminar.

For 60 years, Israel has counted on the United States. Is the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel now in jeopardy—not from the left, but from the MAGA right? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack Vice President J.D. Vance's recent troubling statements, the rise of "America First" isolationism, why Israel may need to rethink its dependence on American aid, and what this means for Jews on both sides of the Atlantic. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Learn more about and register for our Community Leadership Program.

What does the horrific attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach mean for the future of Diaspora Jewish life?Australian Jews have built one of the most vibrant, cohesive, creative Jewish communities in the world. Shaped by Holocaust survivors and a deep sense of Zionism, it has become a model for Jewish life in the Diaspora. In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore whether small Diaspora communities can thrive in the current environment, and if the post-Holocaust era of Jewish immunity has definitively ended.Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more.Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:Learn more about and register for our Community Leadership Program.

With elections less than a year away, Israel's political center faces an existential test. What does it stand for—and can it beat Netanyahu?In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi analyze the state of Israel's center and center-left. They trace the historical collapse of the left, the rise of centrist politics under Ariel Sharon, and the post-October 7 reality where moral discourse about Palestinians has disappeared from mainstream Israeli conversation.Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org.For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST.Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week:Read the newest issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas and subscribe to our print edition.

Can Israel's right-wing reclaim its principles? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the mainstream Israeli right's evolution from Jabotinsky's ideals of security and dignity to today's personality-driven politics.  They explore the critical divide between Prime Minister Netanyahu’s loyalists and principled conservatives, identifying three challenges facing the next right-wing government: articulating affirmative policies, healing internal divisions, and rejecting the false choice between security and morality. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel.  Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Join Pathways to Hope and meet young Israeli changemakers.Learn more about positions available at Hartman North America.If you read Sources, complete a brief reader survey.