Jewish Crossroads: Jewish Identity in Times of Crisis

In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar Ish Shalom sits down with Rabbi Menachem Bombach, one of the most consequential voices to emerge from within Israel’s ultra-Orthodox world.

Over the past few years, he has founded and led educational institutions that preserve a Haredi identity while also teaching core subjects such as mathematics, English, and science, offering a different vision of how ultra-Orthodox life might engage with the broader fabric of Israeli society.

For some, he represents a model for the future. For others, a destabilizing presence. At a moment when questions of Haredi responsibility to work, to the state, to military service, and to Israeli society as a whole have become among the most contentious in Israel, Bombach’s approach stands apart. Rather than confrontational rhetoric, he is attempting to build an alternative from within.

Moving between questions of education and identity, belonging and anger, they explore whether gradual change can still keep pace with the urgency of the current Israeli moment. What does it mean to remain faithful to a community while challenging its assumptions? And is there still time for internal reform to succeed before the pressures from outside become overwhelming?

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In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar Ish Shalom sits down with Iranian-American author and journalist Roya Hakakian, a leading voice on Iran, exile, and the lived experience of life under the Islamic Republic.
Born into a Jewish family in Tehran, Hakakian left Iran at 19 in the years following the revolution, carrying with her both the memory of a vanished world and a deep understanding of the regime that replaced it. Her work, spanning memoir, journalism, and political analysis, has consistently illuminated the human realities behind Iran’s ideological machinery, tracing not only the repression within the country but also the broader influence of the regime beyond its borders.
Moving between past and present, personal memory and political reality, they explore how the current war reshapes our understanding of Iran’s trajectory. What has changed in the regime’s position, and what has not? How should we interpret the possibility of internal transformation? And what does it mean to speak about Iran not only as a geopolitical actor, but as a society still struggling under the weight of its rulers?
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In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar Ish Shalom sits down with Matti Friedman, one of the most perceptive and nuanced voices writing about Israel, war, and Jewish identity today.

A former Associated Press correspondent in Jerusalem and a longtime contributor to the New York Times, The Atlantic, and the Free Press, Friedman has built a reputation for clarity in moments of confusion and for resisting the easy narratives that so often dominate coverage of Israel. Born in Canada and having made Aliyah at 17, he occupies a rare vantage point, both fully Israeli and slightly apart. It is precisely this dual perspective that lends his work its depth, skepticism, and moral precision.

The conversation moves between biography and history, journalism and memory. What does it mean to choose Israel rather than be born into it? How does one write honestly about a society one loves? And what responsibilities does a journalist carry when covering a country so burdened by myth, projection, and misunderstanding?

They also discuss his forthcoming book, Out of the Sky, and the enduring challenge of telling Jewish and Israeli stories in a world eager for simplification.

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Matti's books: 
Out of the Sky: Heroism and Rebirth in Nazi Europe - https://a.co/d/01RVQU8r
Who By Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai -  https://a.co/d/06j2RmCI
Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel - https://a.co/d/02Oo5cf7

Articles: 
Israel Had a Disorienting 2025. What Comes Next? Read here: https://www.thefp.com/p/israel-had-a-disorienting-2025-what

An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth. Read here: 
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/israel-insider-guide

In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, Tamar Ish Shalom sits down with Jonah Platt, one of the most striking Jewish voices to emerge in American public life in the years since October 7.
Platt was well known long before this moment as a producer, writer, and cultural commentator, and as the son of legendary Hollywood producer Marc Platt and Jewish communal leader Julie Platt. Over the past few years, however, he has undergone a visible and consequential transformation. Through his podcast Being Jewish, Platt has become an unapologetic Jewish voice deeply engaged with the moral and emotional stakes of Jewish life right now.
Together, they turn to the present and a reckoning in American Jewish life. How should this moment be understood? What kind of leadership is being asked for now? And what responsibilities come with finding one’s voice when silence no longer feels possible?
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In this episode of Jewish Crossroads, journalist Tamar Ish Shalom sits down with Yair Golan, former IDF major general and one of the most prominent figures on Israel’s political left.
Golan reflects on a life shaped by decades of military service, including his role as deputy chief of staff of the IDF, and on his transition from the world of security into Israeli politics, where he now serves as leader of the Democrats Party. The conversation turns personal as Golan recounts the morning of October 7, when he drove south and joined efforts to rescue young people fleeing the attack near the Nova Music Festival.
From the battlefield to the Knesset, this episode traces the moral and strategic questions that animate Golan’s public life: the limits of power, the responsibilities of leadership, and the tension between security, democracy, and conscience in a country living under permanent pressure. Known for his blunt language and willingness to provoke uncomfortable debates, Golan speaks candidly about Israel’s present crisis and the choices he believes will determine its future.
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