Jewish History Moment

06/08/2025

Interview with musician Yativ Leucher on the Aharit Hayamim festival (taking place August 7, 2025), a “Jewish indie rave festival” held every year in Gush Etzion.

He tells the story of his grandparents who helped found Kibbutz Masuot Yitzhak and both taken hostage by the Jordanians during the War of Independence in 1948. His grandmother Rachel Doron was separated from her infant son when she stayed behind to broadcast the code “Malkah naflah” -- the queen has fallen, a code for the Kfar Etzion massacre, allowing others to escape.

Today, the family hosts the annual Aharit Hayamim festival, which this year features Din Din Aviv, Tomer Yosef, Laivy Miller, Bini Landau, Nissim Black, Nuriel, Sinai Tor, Muna Camuna and more.

Yativ Leuchter talks about how his grandparents lost their kibbutz and the family’s eventual return where they now host the Aharit Hayamim festival.

25/07/2025

Learn about the picturesque agricultural community of Beit Zayit, just north of Jerusalem, founded by hard working Jewish immigrants, one of whom discovered ancient fossilized dinosaur tracks.

Learn about the struthiomimus, a two-legged dinosaur that once roamed the land. These are the only dinosaur track fossils discovered anywhere in Israel or the Middle East and one of the only such finds of this period in the entire world.

Meet Prof. Moshe Avnimelech who moved to Israel to become a paleontologist after serving in the Polish army in World War I and forming a Zionist group there.

Meet Mordechai “Motke” Sofer a veteran of the Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) who was arrested by the British and later became a tour guide in Beit Zayit.

And the Schwarzwald family of Beit Zayit who only wanted to clean the land by the shed and dug up a breathtaking a scientific discovery.

History of Beit Zayit and the dinosaur tracks discovered in a family’s back yard.

10/07/2025

PODCAST: Interview with Nili Salem on her new book Awesome Blast: 40 Days of Shofar Intentions, Soul-Healing, and Spiritual Return. She discusses the history of the ram’s horn in Jewish tradition and spiritual religious ritual. Plus her adventures as a Jewish educator in remote places including having her shofar confiscated by the authority in Peru, slaughtering a lamp with the Bene Efraim community of India, celebrating Passover seder with the Lemba tribe in Zimbabwe, and singing in Hebrew on an island in Indonesia.

Nili Salem, author of a new book on the ram’s horn, wants to “trend shofarage for the coming of Moshiach.”

25/06/2025

Travel with me to a picturesque harp workshop to meet the husband-and-wife team of Micah and Shoshanna Harrari who build hand-crafted wooden harps based on the Bible. Learn about the history of the ancient Megiddo lyre, King David’s harp, the secret of the Psalms and hear music from one of the 10-stringed instruments. Plus, the snow-storm story of how the Harraris ended up in Israel. https://benbresky.substack.com/p/biblical-jewish-harps-make-a-comeback

05/06/2025

PODCAST: Col. David “Mickey” Marcus gave his life defending Jerusalem during the War of Independence.

Find out how a Jewish kid from the rough streets of Brooklyn ended up a West Point graduate and part of the D-Day invasion of Normandy in World War II. His work with Holocaust refugees inspired him to join the fledgling Israel Defense Force.

The film Cast a Giant Shadow is based on his legacy, starring Kirk Douglas, who saw the role as a personal reflection.

Plus, his work standing up to New York mobsters like Tough Joey Rao and Lucky Luciano.
Lilit Marcus

https://open.substack.com/pub/benbresky/p/jewish-war-hero-david-mickey-marcus

28/05/2025

Dr. Ido Lahav Noy was an art historian specializing in medieval Jewish art. But when COVID-19 hit, he rediscovered his childhood passion for Garbage Pail Kids and found others who grew up in the 1980s felt the same.

Released in Hebrew as Havurat HaZevel, this fad continues to have a lasting impact on Israeli politics in election campaigns satirizing politicians from both the right wing and left wing. The pop culture phenomenon led to multiple spin-offs from secular, religious Zionist and haredi communities with rabbi cards and more.

Plus, learn about how Art Spiegelman, award-winning writer of the Holocaust memoir Maus created the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards and Wacky Packages. And the story behind Bazooka Joe.

Interview with Dr. Ido Noy on Havurat HaZevel (Garbage Pail Kids in Hebrew) and their continuing legacy in Israeli society.

22/05/2025

https://benbresky.substack.com/p/the-man-who-saved-safed-earthquakes
Interview with Rabbi Mordechai Gershon on the first ever English translation of the seminal Hasidic work Bat Ayin.

Find out how this forgotten treasure of Kabbalistic thought has grown in popularity in recent years. Today thousands attend the annual memorial of Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber Auerbach of Avritch (circa 1760 – 1840) who left a prominent career in Ukraine to return to the land of Israel and live in Tzfat (Safed).

Hear the story of how he survived the great Safed earthquake and then led the efforts to help the victims and rebuild the city. Also, his miraculous rescue from kidnappers and how he fell in love with the land where stones shine like precious gems.

Rabbi Avraham Dov Ber Auerbach of Avritch, author of the Bat Ayin and his miraculous story of survival.

15/05/2025

Interview with living legend Moshe “Musa” Berlin on klezmer music from its roots in Ashkenazic Yiddish-speaking shtetels to its development at Lag BaOmer celebrations in Israel where it fused with Sephardic and Mediterranean traditions.

The famous clarinetist talks about his childhood, life as a Jewish musician, his influences which include Shlomo Carlebach and Artie Shaw, and thoughts on modern Hasidic music in Israel.

https://benbresky.substack.com/p/history-of-klezmer-music-in-israel

30/04/2025

https://benbresky.substack.com/p/history-of-israeli-fighter-jets

The history of Israeli fighter jets starting with the Nesher, which was developed because France imposed an embargo on sending Israel the Dassault Mirage during the Six Day War.

Learn about Holocaust survivor Marcel Dassault, the secret blueprints provided by a Swiss ally, and the innovative weapons developed by the Jewish State.

Then there was the Kfir, the high-tech plane of the 1970s pioneered by Air Force hero Benny Peled. And finally, the cutting edge Lavi, which promised to revolutionize the Israeli aircraft industry, until it was cancelled. Find out why, and listen to rare audio from the people that created Israeli air superiority in the face of war and economic hardships.

Plus, the new age of Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles and drones.
The

15/04/2025

Interview with Leona S. Green, author of the New Traditional Egalitarian Haggadah which adheres to the authentic Jewish text while making it inclusive for all to enjoy the seder.

Learn about her Orthodox upbringing from immigrant parents, her involvement with Zionism, and how a father’s love for his daughter inspired her create this unique and user-friendly Haggadah.

Interview with Leona S. Green on the New Traditional Egalitarian Haggadah.

08/04/2025

A diverse collection of Passover stories about leaving communist Russia, slaughtering the Pascal lamb in India, Sephardic Ladino traditions, fake blood for the ten plagues and more funny, moving memories.

A diverse collection of memories from leaving communist Russia, to slaughtering the Pascal lamb in India, Sephardic Ladino traditions, and fake blood for the ten plagues.

05/04/2025

WANTED: your Passover seder stories.
To be used in my podcast.
What was your earliest Passover memory?
Who did you have seder with?
Who led it?
What hagaddah did you use?
Any special or unique foods?
Did you have a fourth mazah or empty seat for a specific cause?
Ever do a seder in an exotic country or unusual location?
Fond memories?
Funny stories of Eliyahu HaNavi or hiding the afkoman?
Unusual customs?
Send me a voice note.