The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
Continuing in our decade-by-decade comedy viewing, this week's featured Schmooze film is 2007's "Knocked Up."
Written, produced and directed by Judd Apatow, the romantic comedy about an unplanned pregnancy stars Seth Rogen, Katherine Heigl, Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Jason Segel and Martin Starr.
Almost 20 years after the unlikely hit flooded cinemas, Hoffman explains how these were breakout performances for some of the now-famous crew.
We learn about "This is 40," a "side-quel" starring Rudd and Mann, who is Apatow's real-life wife. According to Hoffman, the on-screen Rudd-Mann relationship is a portal into the Apatow household. (The world still awaits "This is 50.")
Movie maven Hoffman also reprises the 2007 argument that the film was hidden conservative anti-abortion -- or schmabortion -- propaganda. We get thoughts from mother-of-seven Borschel-Dan.
Let’s hear who gave this film an “oy,” “meh” or the prized “not bad” this week on The Reel Schmooze.
The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
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Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
In this episode of the new series, we speak with Emory University Prof. Deborah Lipstadt, the former US Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
Lipstadt is in Israel to accept Bar-Ilan University's Jonathan Sacks Institute Prize for Outstanding Achievement as a Public Intellectual, in Memory of Samuel Gewurz z”l.
In an era of rising global antisemitism, Borschel-Dan has received dozens of emails pointing fingers at Israel and the war in Gaza as the sources of the hatred.
In a no-holds-barred conversation, Lipstadt assesses the nature of contemporary Jew-hatred and weighs in on whether Israel's actions indeed may be contributing to its rise.
We hear her thoughts on whether "anti-Zionism" is a new form of antisemitism or its own distinct hatred and what the proverbial Venn diagram looks like.
But to start with, we return to 1967, when university student Lipstadt was here in Jerusalem during the Six Day War and hear her firsthand account of life in the newly unified capital.
A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Lazar Focus. Each Friday, join host and diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman for a deep dive into what's behind the news that spins the globe.
The African-American and Jewish communities were once allies in the civil rights struggle in the US.
Julius Rosenwald, the Jewish businessman and head of retailing giant Sears, Roebuck, with Booker T. Washington to help fund nearly 5,000 schools for Black children across the Jim Crow South.
Jews made up a significant percentage -- by some estimates the majority -- of non-Blacks marching in the South and organizing voter drives.
Many leading rabbis, including Abraham Joshua Heschel and Joachim Prinz, marched with Dr. Martin Luther King.
Dr. King was planning to bring hundreds of Black pastors and community leaders to Israel in 1967, but that historic visit was derailed by the Six-Day War. He was planning to lead the mission in 1968, but was tragically cut down by an assassin's bullet in Memphis before he could.
Five hundred African-American and African pastors visited Israel this week to fulfill MLK's vision, and to work on rebuilding the Black-Jewish alliance, which has frayed in recent decades, characterized as often as not by mutual suspicion and ignorance.
Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis began working with Dr. King at the age of 14 in North Carolina. He rose to prominence in the civil rights movement, and was wrongly convicted for a 34 year sentence for fighting for racial desegregation.
After having his conviction overturned, Chavis became head of the NAACP and the Million Man March.
Chavis, who has been active in fighting antisemitism and anti-Zionism, said that the downturn in Jewish-Black ties was the result of the deaths of the leaders who brought the communities together in the 1960s.
He stressed that there would not have been an effective civil rights movement without the support of the Jewish community, and that is one of the reasons the two communities must work on the relationship.
"Blacks and Jews are stronger together than separate and apart," said Chavis. "I think Blacks have to speak out more against antisemitism. I think Jews have to speak out more against racism against Blacks and other communities of color."
If Dr. King was alive, he said, he would say the key to a democratic Middle East is a strong Israel, not a weak Israel.
Lazar Focus is available on all podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Gabriella Jacobs and video edited by Yitzchak Ledee.
https://youtu.be/GDCJX-GCh1g?si=f4lv788_T_lbc_11
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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Diplomatic correspondent Lazar Berman joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
An Israeli precision strike on a hospital in southern Gaza overnight targeted a Hamas brigade commander, the military said Thursday morning, after medics in the Strip reported six killed, including a surgeon, and at least 20 wounded in the attack. As winter approaches, Berman speaks about the Board of Peace's recent efforts to restart the Trump peace plan, even as Hamas still cynically hunkers down in Gazan hospitals and shows no signs of disarming.
Next we turn to Iran. US Vice President JD Vance said he is weighing direct talks with a top Iranian security official, according to a report on Wednesday that said President Donald Trump empowered him to resume negotiations on ending a war they have cited as a key reason for the Republicans’ steep losses in the midterm elections. Berman explains how diplomacy is only one of three options the US could pursue on Iran and lays out the other two.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has recently moved from his Washington, DC, residence to a US military base due to Iranian threats against his life. We delve into the recent cloak-and-dagger operations attributed to Iran and what they may mean.
Iran is producing 50 ballistic missiles a month, about half its prewar capacity, according to Western intelligence estimates reported on Wednesday, shortly before Iran unveiled a new underground “missile city.” The Houthis, meanwhile, are being restocked by China. Will China now enter the fray?
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Report: Vance weighing direct talks with Iran, Trump sees June MOU as blunder
US treasury chief Bessent moved to military base amid Iranian threats, sources say
Iran said producing up to 50 ballistic missiles a month, as IRGC unveils underground ‘missile city’
IDF targets top Hamas commander in strike on south Gaza hospital; 6 said killed
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yitzhak Ledee filmed and edited this episode.
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Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
After three years of war, Fabian discusses the IDF's efforts to handle its additional deployments and desire to relieve the reserve army by expanding the Nachal and Golani infantry brigades with an additional battalion each.
After the Board of Peace issued a statement pressing Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza following tremendous rainfall, Fabian discusses responses from the IDF and COGAT, the Defense Ministry agency overseeing aid into Gaza, which allowed tents and trucks with winter gear into the war-torn area, but not prefabricated homes, which Israel says will end up being used by Hamas.
A Defense Ministry delegation is on an official trip to Morocco to inaugurate the official defense attaché office, as Fabian notes the significance of having an Israeli military representative in an Arab country in North Africa.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
IDF to establish new reconnaissance-strike battalions in Golani, Nahal brigades
Israel says winter supplies delivered to Gaza amid flooding; Board of Peace says it must do more
Under criticism, PM’s office insists winter supplies entering Gaza but Hamas must disarm before reconstruction
Israeli defense officials visit Morocco to deepen ties, inaugurate attaché office
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
IMAGE: Military correspondent Emanuel Fabian appears on the Daily Briefing with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
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