Tel Aviv Review

Prof. Roberta Ronsethal Kwall, a legal scholar and the founding director of the DePaul University College of Law, has just authored a new book entitled The Myth of the Cultural Jew – Culture and Law in Jewish Tradition. She explains to host Gilad Halpern why even the most secular Jews have imbibed the halakha, whether they like it or not.  

Saudi Arabia has always seemed an ultraconservative society, with a clear hierarchy and a coercive leadership.

Dr. Susan Nashman Fraiman, an art historian at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, tells host Gilad Halpern about her recent research, which focuses on the emergence and evolution of candle-lighting practices – namely, the Shabbat Lamp – among the Jews of Ashkenaz.

Prof. Meir Amor, an Israeli sociologist teaching at Concordia University in Canada, has been a Mizrahi activist for decades, as well as a long-time researcher of the Mizrahi question. Prof. Amor talks to host Gilad Halpern about the principles of the Mizrahi struggle, theoretical as well as practical.

Dr. Michal Aharony, political philosophy and Holocaust studies professor at Beit Berl Academic College, recently authored Hannah Arendt and the Limits of Total Domination: The Holocaust, Plurality and Resistance. Dr. Aharony talks to host Gilad Halpern about her work, which evaluates the Jewish-German philosopher's theories on totalitarianism through testimonies of Holocaust victims and survivors.

Dr. Avi Bareli, a historian of Zionism at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, recently authored Authority and Participation in a New Democracy: Political Struggles in Mapai, Israel's Ruling Party, 1948-1953. Dr. Bareli talks to host Gilad Halpern about opposition to Ben-Gurion's leadership from within the party, and how Israel's first prime minister was much less of a power-hungry, dictatorial leader than often thought.

Evaluating the Jewish-German philosopher's theories on totalitarianism through testimonies of Holocaust victims and survivors.

Prof. Lev Grinberg, a sociologist at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, joins host Gilad Halpern to discuss his new book Mo(ve)ments of Resistance: Politics, Economy and Society in Israel/Palestine 1931-2013. He gives a fresh analysis of power relations between the political hegemony and the people, exploring seven instances in the history of Israel.

Dr. Adia Mendelson-Moaz of the department of Literature, Language and the Arts at Israel's Open University joins host Gilad Halpern to talk about her exploration of literary works written by four Israeli groups - Arabs, Mizrahis (Jews of Middle Eastern origin), Russians, and Ethiopians - focusing on the tension between collective and particular identities.

The birth of a Zionist myth Dr. Ofer Nurdheimer Nur of Tel Aviv University talks about the inception of a prominent Zionist myth – the establishment in the early 1920s of the settlement of Upper Bitania by a highly ideological group of immigrants from central Europe. Hillel House: Key player in identity politics Ella Ben Hagay, a social psychologist at University of California in Santa Cruz, talks about her current research, which focuses on the circulation of narratives associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict among the US diaspora.   Music: Ester Rada - Four WomenEviatar Banai - Samti Li PudraTame Impala - Feels Like We Only Go Backwards

Terrorism in Cyberspace: The next generation Prof. Gabriel Weimann of the department of Communication studies at the University of Haifa has been studying terrorist communication on the Internet for almost two decades. He takes host Gilad Halpern through its evolution. How Jews in the Jim Crow South labored to be white Dr. Caroline Light of Harvard University talks about her recent work with host Gilad Halpern. It analyses the circumstances that led to the establishment of a sizable Jewish charity network in the American South in the post-Reconstruction period.   Music: Eifo Hayeled - Rak Bishvil Lekabel ChibukJamiroquai - Virtual InsanityRay Charles - Georgia On My Mind

Zion and the Diaspora in 20th century Jewish thought Prof. Yossi Turner, who teaches modern Jewish philosophy at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, explores the evolution of Zionism, and the integration and growing political power of Jewish communities around the world. The Jew who defeated Hitler Peter Moreira discusses his book, The Jew who Defeated Hitler: Henry Morgenthau Jr., FDR, And How We Won The War. Its protagonist was instrumental in financing what was then the most expensive human endeavor to date: WWII.   Music: Blur - There Are Too Many of UsLenny Kravitz - Fly AwayTom Waits - Day After Tomorrow

Protecting Jews in interwar Europe Prof. Carole Fink, a historian at Ohio State University in the US, tells us about how Europe's Jews fit into the numerous minority protection schemes that emerged on the continent in the interwar period, and about the road to their catastrophic breakdown. The individual and the social in psychoanalysis Prof. Uri Hadar of the School of Psychological Sciences at Tel Aviv University talks about his book Psychoanalysis and Social Involvement: Interpretation and Action, which seeks to address an ongoing tension between psychoanalysis and fellow social sciences.   Music: Duffy - Warwick AvenueNeil Sedaka - Oh! CarolMika Karni and Idan Refael Haviv - Shtei Dakot Me Ha-Chayim

The birth of the cosmopolitan Jew Prof. Sander Gilman, who teaches history at Emory University in the US, is an extremely prolific academic with a vast spectrum of fields of expertise. He discusses his latest study, cleverly entitled "Aliens vs Predators: Cosmopolitan Jews vs Jewish Nomads." The unwitting standard-bearers of Judaism Prof. Renee Levine Melammed, a senior faculty member at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, shares with us her insights from her momentous study about the history of crypto-Jewish women in Spain under the Inquisition.   Music: Radiohead - JustHaBiluim - Hazman Ha'acharonMGMT - Time To Pretend

Tues. 9-11PM (Israel); 3-5PM (EST); 12-2PM (PT) Join TLV1 anchors Ilene Prusher and Gilad Halpern for LIVE coverage of Israel's election madness as the exit polls come out and the votes begin to be counted. We'll have TLV1 & Haaretz correspondents at the major campaign headquarters and special reports on the issues facing Israeli voters. Weds. 7AM (Israel); 1AM (EST); 10PM (PT) Listen to our special LIVE election panel of Noah Efron, Debra Kamin, and Gil Troy putting together the pieces of the jigsaw as the Israeli election results come in - that's when the political game really begins in the race to form a coalition.   Tune in LIVE at www.tlv1.fm

More than moneylending: The economic history of the Jews Economist Zvi Eckstein of the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya offers an original and compelling explanation of the demographic meanders of the Jewish people in the common era.   Israeli conscientious objectors: Torn between values and struggle for survival Dr. Erica Weiss, Tel Aviv University anthropologist  and author of Conscientious Objectors in Israel: Citizenship, Sacrifice, Trials of Fealty, tackles the concept of conscientious objection in Israel – a democratic society that honors the freedom of conscience while fighting for its survival.   Music: Liron Amram - HashacharBlues LaHofesh Hagadol Cast - Lo RotsimTiny Grimes Quintette (with Charlie Parker) -Romance Without Finance (Is a Nuisance)

The story of Jerusalem's legendary headmistress Prof. Laura Schor, a historian at Hunter College and author of The Best School in Jerusalem: Annie Landau's School for Girls, discusses the character of Annie Landau, a high-profile public figure in Jerusalem during one of its most tumultuous periods. The Old Testament in early American political thought Dr. Eran Shalev of the University of Haifa, author of American Zion: The Old Testament as Political Text from the Revolution to the Civil War, traces the theological and ideological origins of the special relationship between Israel and America.   Music: The Stone Roses - Love SpreadsLulu - To Sir With LoveCarly Simon - Let The River Run

Israel's Bedouin and the line between tradition and modernity Dr. Sarab Abu Rabia-Queder, a researcher at Ben-Gurion University, specializes in the impact of higher education on Bedouin women. Herself of Bedouin origin, she talks about the nomadic people of Israel who straddle the line between tradition and modernity. Who owns the media in Israel? Prof. Amit Schejter, head of the Department of Communication Studies at Ben-Gurion University, recently completed a study, soon to be published, about electronic media concentration in Israel between 1984-2013.   Music: Faith No More - EasyItzchak Klepter - Shir Ahava BeduiFortis - Red Me'al Masach Hatelevisia Sheli

What did the Crusaders ever learn from us? Dr. Jonathan Rubin, a historian of the Medieval Levant at Tel Aviv University, talks about how the crusaders' encounters with local societies - beyond the initial indignation - led to theological, economic, and scientific developments. Ramle remade: The Israelization of an Arab town Dr. Danna Piroyansky, author of the recently published 'Ramle Remade: The Israelisation of an Arab Town 1948-1967,' talks about the very Israeli concept of 'mixed cities' - the result of government-sanctioned mixing of Jewish and Arab populations.   Music: Bombino - AmidineNeil Young - Heart Of GoldRodriguez - I Wonder

Middle-of-the-road Judaism Dr. Ephraim Chamiel, a lecturer and scholar of Jewish thought in the modern era, talks about his book, The Middle Way: The Emergence of Modern Religious Trends in Nineteenth-Century Judaism. Which Jewish philosophers sought to harmonize modernity and tradition? Don't mention the 'A' word Dr. Sonja Narunsky-Laden, a research fellow in the Department of Communication at the University of Johannesburg, discusses to what extent the legacy of Apartheid is evoked in the contemporary Israel-Palestine debate in South Africa.   Music: Berry Saharof & Re'a Mochiach - Ma Lach YechidaUzi Navon VeMakarim feat. Efrat Gosh - Im Ze Moocrach Liheyot HasofThe Specials - Free Nelson Mandela