Call Me Back - with Dan Senor8 Dec 2025

Toga or Torah - with Rachel Goldberg-Polin

This episode was presented by UJA. Support UJA’s work at UJA.org

Subscribe to Inside Call me Back: inside.arkmedia.org/?utm_source=shownotes&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=inside

Gift a subscription of Inside Call me Back: inside.arkmedia.org/gifts

Listen to What’s Your Number: lnk.to/GsOESP

Subscribe to Amit Segal’s newsletter ‘It’s Noon in Israel’:arkmedia.org/amitsegal/

Watch Call me Back on YouTube: youtube.com/@CallMeBackPodcast

Check out Ark Media’s other podcasts:

For Heaven's Sake: https://lnk.to/rfGlrA
‘What’s Your Number?’: https://lnk.to/rfGlrA

For sponsorship inquiries, please contact: callmeback@arkmedia.org

To contact us, sign up for updates, and access transcripts, visit: arkmedia.org/

Ark Media on Instagram: instagram.com/arkmediaorg

Dan on X: x.com/dansenor

Dan on Instagram: instagram.com/dansenor

To order Dan Senor & Saul Singer’s book, The Genius of Israel: tinyurl.com/bdeyjsdn

Today’s Episode:

We are less than a week away from the beginning of Hanukkah. Keeping with recent Call me Back tradition, Dan was joined by Rachel Goldberg-Polin to discuss the timeless meaning of the Hanukkah story. What does it say about the conflict Jews face today? Can the few really defeat the many? And why are Jews so obsessed with counting?

(00:00) Introduction

(04:20) Dedicating the episode to Ran Gvili

(06:59) Setting the stage for the story of Hanukkah

(15:17) How the Jews responded to Hellenization

(19:00) Toga or Torah: the purest form of religion persecution

(24:57) So what’s the real story…

(27:57) Hanukkah is a time for Jewish PDA

(33:24) Lighting the menorah throughout Jewish history

(39:46) The message of Hanukkah: we have to draw a line

(46:29) Jewish polarization and our obsession with counting

CREDITS:

ILAN BENATAR - Producer & Editor

ADAAM JAMES LEVIN-AREDDY - Executive Producer

BRITTANY COHEN - Production Manager

MARTIN HUERGO - Sound Editor

MARIANGELES BURGOS AND PATTRICIO SPADAVECCIA - Additional Editing

MAYA RACKOFF - Associate Producer

GABE SILVERSTEIN - Community Management

YUVAL SEMO - Music Composer

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(522)

Who REALLY Made the Modern Middle East - with Simon Sebag Montefiore

How much of the Middle East’s history was actually shaped by the West? The story most of us learned about who created the modern Middle East is incomplete. Dan is joined by historian Simon Sebag Monte...

31 Aug 44min

Sneak Peek: Amit Segal on why Ben Gvir is a disaster for Israel

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Amit Segal to answer a listener question about the column he wrote calling Ben Gvir a ...

29 Aug 9min

The Turkey-Israel Proxy War in Syria - with Nadav Eyal

With a weaker Iran, do Turkey’s regional ambitions put it on a collision course with Israel? Dan and Nadav Eyal analyze the shifting dynamics in the Middle East, focusing on whether Turkey’s President...

27 Aug 42min

ISRAEL VOTES: How the Mizrahi-Ashkenazi divide still shapes Israeli politics - with Mijal Bitton

How will current issues or past discrimination against Mizrahi Israelis influence this election? Dan and sociologist Mijal Bitton discuss the history, identity, and political narratives of Mizrahi Jew...

24 Aug 50min

Sneak Peek: Jon Polin answers questions from young Jewish adults

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Jon Polin to answer questions from young Jewish adults and teenagers about how to reconcile personal Zionism...

22 Aug 10min

Will Liberal Democracy Survive? - with Jonah Goldberg

Why have the classical liberal ideas that helped emancipate the Jews become so vulnerable? Dan is joined by Jonah Goldberg of The Dispatch to ask why classical liberalism, which is the political tradi...

20 Aug 46min

The Hearing That Changed Everything - with Elise Stefanik

What will it take to confront antisemitism at America’s elite universities? Dan is joined by Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whose 2023 questioning of three Ivy League university presidents became a def...

17 Aug 38min

Sneak Peek: Nadav on what’s driving the wave of migration from Israel, and more…

This is a sneak peek from the members-only edition of Inside Call Me Back. Dan is joined by Ark Media contributor Nadav Eyal to answer listener questions about the growing number of highly educated Is...

15 Aug 8min