Advertise on podcast: Ask a Jew

Is Halloween a wholesome American childhood tradition or a deeply weird celebration of skeletons and graves? What’s it like to go to High Holiday services that just feels a little…different? And when someone demands that you defend Israel, do you owe them an explanation of Netanyahu—or a defense of the Jewish people’s right to exist? In this subscriber-only edition of The Group Chat (we’re sticking with the name for now), we answer your questions about Halloween, Jewish history, Israel, and what happens when an Israeli tries to do Yom Kippur in New York. 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲: - We debate whether Orthodox Jewish kids are missing out on Halloween—and why ChayaLeah has strong feelings about rich progressives who flee town instead of giving (full size) candy to the neighborhood kids. - If you could have coffee with anyone in Jewish history, who would it be? We consider Maimonides, Golda Meir, Irving Berlin, Eve from the Garden of Eden, and Sam Harris. - - One of us would also like a guided meditation. The other would like to scroll Twitter. - Do Jews outside Israel have a responsibility to defend Israel’s government? We get into why defending Israel is bigger than defending Netanyahu, why you shouldn’t have to apologize for your Jewish identity, and why “I don’t support Bibi” isn’t always the answer people are looking for. - What does Yom Kippur look like when you’re a secular Israeli visiting New York? Yael recounts a holiday of synagogue hopping, YouTube sermons, security guards, and a last-minute search for somewhere to sit until the fast ends. ___ Thank you for being an Ark+ subscriber. Do you have something you want to ask us? Don’t worry, we won’t judge you. Submit your questions at: http://arkmedia.org/ask/cpp ___ 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗸 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: Listen to: Call Me Back Listen to: Ark News Daily Listen to: For Heaven Sake Listen to: Chosen People Problems Sign up for our weekly newsletter 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹:: Facebook I Instagram I X I TikTok 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on THE FOLD, our private moderated community for Ark Media listeners. The Fold is where you can dig into all of the issues Jews around the world are facing. There you can ask questions, hear other takes, keep talking about it with people who care as much as you do. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮.𝗼𝗿𝗴/𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀: Beth Pearlman, Mindy Schaper, Ava Weiner, Andrej Todorovski, Martin Huergo, Karina Logiohio, and Ignacio Herbojo.

You think American politics are complicated? Israeli elections are so confusing, even the people explaining them aren’t sure anyone’s going to win. So we brought in two of Israel’s leading political journalists, Amit Segal and Nadav Eyal, both Call Me ...

In this subscriber-only edition of The Group Chat (yes, we’re still workshopping the name), we answer your questions about everything from Marco Rubio’s unexpected hotness to the difference between Satmar and Neturei Karta. We also get into the harder stuff: finding out about October 7th on Shabbat despite not having a phone, navigating the constant stream of anti-Zionist hate, and why Jewish history might be the best antidote to despair. In this episode: - We ponder the very Talmudic listener question: Who is the hottest friend of Israel? - Why the distinction between Satmar and Neturei Karta matters — and why we have strong feelings about people who use anti-Zionist Jews to score political points. - What happens when you’re observing Shabbat and the world is falling apart? Chaya Leah tells us how she found out about October 7th — and how friends make sure she doesn’t miss the big news. - Is taking a break from your phone the secret to staying sane? How do you keep your faith when anti-Zionist hate seems to be everywhere? We talk Jewish history, the people who give us hope, and why we’re confident the Jewish people will be okay. ___ Thank you for being an Ark+ subscriber. Do you have something you want to ask us? Don’t worry, we won’t judge you. Submit your questions at: http://arkmedia.org/ask/cpp ___ 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝗸 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮: - Listen to: Call Me Back https://open.spotify.com/show/3btft3E1KPwj0yCOcOvqhR - Listen to: Ark News Daily https://open.spotify.com/show/3btft3E1KPwj0yCOcOvqhR - Listen to: For Heaven Sake https://open.spotify.com/show/79j7N0DUYHOgrt3GUjiCzb - Listen to: Chosen People Problems https://open.spotify.com/show/1kJ4K907e9FuRcJQU4Pdjf?si=c472ecd26b334733 - Sign up for our weekly newsletter https://arkmedia.org/newsletters 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹: - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Ark-Media-61576391075039/ - Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/arkmediaorg/?hl=en - X: https://x.com/ArkMediaOrg - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@arkmediaorg 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on THE FOLD, our private moderated community for Ark Media listeners. The Fold is where you can dig into all of the issues Jews around the world are facing. There you can ask questions, hear other takes, keep talking about it with people who care as much as you do. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘁𝘁𝗽𝘀://𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮.𝗼𝗿𝗴/𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝘀: Beth Pearlman, Mindy Schaper, Ava Weiner, Andrej Todorovski, Martin Huergo, Mariangeles Burgos, Karina Logiohio, Leonardo Erhardt, and Ignacio Herbojo

You know the Righteous Among the Nations Michael Moynihan from the Fifth Column Podcast, The Free Press, Vice, Bill Maher, his show “The Moynihan Report”, but most importantly - he is a dear friend of the Jews and our emotional support guest. He is our...

Today we are joined by some guy named Dan Senor for a wide-ranging Ask Me Anything. We tackle questions about the state of Jewish education, why we should stop calling everyone an antisemite, how Fauda is shaping perceptions of Israel globally, and wha...

What happens when two very different Jews answer your most personal, random, and serious questions? We open up our chat for a mostly fun, sometime serious conversation about how we became friends and podcast partners, how an Orthodox matchmaker really ...

Which is more important for Israel–winning the war or the PR battle? The one and only Douglas Murray is with us today, to talk Israel, poetry, and…true crime? We start off by accidentally insulting him, but don’t worry, he still likes Jews! Also: Why d...

Guys, we have big news. Really big. Like, Dan Senor Big. We are thrilled to announce we are joining Ark Media! Yes, Dan Senor bought us (actually, his company), and we now belong to him. Don’t worry, though; he hasn’t spent as much time with us as you ...

Who knew that you could blame evolutionary biology for doom scrolling, binging on donuts or getting seasick? In this episode, we talk to Dr. Rob Kurzban, an evolutionary psychologist, about how human feelings and behaviors are shaped by evolution. He e...

This week, we’re joined by the one and only Dara Horn ( https://www.darahorn.com ) to discuss her new book, The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living ( https://a.co/d/03XFtiB3 ). It’s an incredible book that will make you b...

Ilya Shapiro ( https://manhattan.institute/person/ilya-shapiro?shown=10 ) is a senior fellow and director of constitutional studies at the Manhattan Institute and briefly, but not insignificantly, the executive director of the Georgetown Center for the...

Dear Jews and regular people, Rosh Hashana is upon us, which means it’s time to reflect on the past year, take a hard look at our behavior, ask forgiveness from the people we’ve wronged, and then immediately start judging everyone again. What a year it...

25 years ago, we told people to never forget September 11th, and how’s that going for us? On this special episode, we are happy to interview Larry Wein, a tribe member, former NYPD Homicide detective, and 9/11 first responder. We heard what that day wa...

Aaron MacLean ( https://x.com/AaronBMacLean ) is host of the ( https://www.youtube.com/@SchoolofWarPodcast )School of War ( https://www.youtube.com/@SchoolofWarPodcast ) podcast, a National Security Analyst at CBS, a columnist at the Free Press ( https...

Warren Kinsella wears many hats: a lawyer hat, a punk-rock musician hat, an author hat - and our favorite - a pissed-off Canadian hat. We chat with him about his new book, The Hidden Hand: The Information War and the Rise of Antisemitic Propaganda. Aft...