The war has brought many new people into the limelight: For nearly three months we’ve been hearing countless stories of…
It’s a sad Christmas Eve in Jesus’ homeland. The alleyways of Jerusalem’s Old City, the streets of Nazareth, the churches…
More than 200,000 Israelis – from both the South and the North – have been forced to leave their homes…
Since the start of the military operation in Gaza, countless reports by journalists embedded with the IDF troops have appeared…
As has been said many times in the past, identity is like an onion: There are layers of family and…
As of today, more than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the war. Each one of those deaths, of…
Many of you have probably heard, or read about, Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin, the parents of 23-year-old Hersh Goldberg-Polin,…
Last week, our host Mishy Harman was interviewed by Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove for the Park Avenue Synagogue Podcast. And as…
This war is a humbling experience for us all. People — no matter who they are or what they normally…
Almost immediately after the start of the attack of October 7th, as rockets were being launched at Jerusalem, and sirens…
In the summer of 2005, the government of Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza. The roughly 8,000 residents of the 21…
53-year-old Hai Ashkenazi from Tel Aviv is an archeologist, but never imagined he would find himself excavating a 21st-century Kibbutz….
Normally Chavat Ronit – or Ronit Farm – is a high-end event venue north of Herzliya. Ra’anan Arizon’s seventy dunams…
Chaya Gilboa is a Talmud teacher, an activist, a flaming redhead, and was – for the last three years –…
Over the last five weeks we’ve spoken to many families of hostages. That’s how we met Faiz Abu Sabehan, whose…
Mishka Ben-David might seem – at first – like a harmless and cuddly grandpa, but the truth is that he’s…
77-year-old Agi Mishol is one of Israel’s most prominent, beloved and widely-read poets. Over the years she’s won practically every…
Israel is in the midst of a brutal war it didn’t want and didn’t initiate. And here at Israel Story…
Among the thousands of people who had the terrible misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time…
The nature of the attacks on October 7th, together with certain subsequent reactions around the world, have blurred the lines…
There’s a lot of Holocaust rhetoric in the air. ‘Never Again’ slogans have resurfaced, Netanyahu has said – on several…
45-year-old Ido Rosenthal from Moshav Ben Shemen served in an elite commando unit and was killed on the first day…
The war caught everyone by surprise, of course, and since it broke out at the tail end of the chagim,…
Many people sprung into action since October 7th. And yet, at the very same time, many Israelis feel… lost. Not…
During normal times Tomer Oshri – a 48-year-old history teacher from Jerusalem – works at JDC-Israel and runs an educational…
Even today, nearly three weeks after the devastating attacks of October 7th, there are still hundreds of people who are…
Israel has, of course, branded itself as the Start-Up Nation. And in many ways, Raz Newman is the classic Israeli…
For months Sivan Avnery – a physical therapist from Kfar Shmaryahu – was active in the demonstrations against the judicial…
There’s a long tradition of musicians and entertainers performing on the frontlines during times of war. And, indeed, almost immediately,…
Wars are often told through numbers – of the dead, the wounded, the missing, the misplaced. But behind each one…
This war has forced many people to reevaluate their identities and political sensibilities—not an easy task during these shocking and…
During this dark time, Israeli civil society has risen to the occasion. Hedai Offaim – a chef, farmer and social…
After the entire team of Kibbutz Kissufim’s dairy farm was murdered, Ofer Tamir from Nahalal rushed down south to rescue…
In 1956, Moshe Dayan – then the IDF’s Chief of Staff – delivered a eulogy for a fallen member of…
Despite everything, life continues amid the horror. For Katherine Leff, this meant going ahead with the day she’d been dreaming…
At age 50, Itai Kramer is no longer obligated to serve in the reserve forces, yet he volunteered anyway. Itai…
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been called up to reserve duty. But what about the families they leave behind?…
Everything in this corner of the world has changed since Saturday, October 7. All around us, friends, family, colleagues, people…
“When someone dies,” Gal Zaychner writes, “there are all kinds of things you have to take care of: You have…
In a series of heartwrenching essays, told over the course of two episodes, Gal Zaychner returns to the most painful…
Meir Argov was born as Meir Grabovsky in Rîbnița, Bessarabia, in 1905. At the age of 14, while his family…
Herzl Rosenblum was born in 1903, a year before the death of his namesake, Theodor Herzl, who – of course…
Rabbi Yitzhak Meir Levin was – in every way possible – Hasidic royalty. He was born in 1893 in the…
Moshe Kolodny, who’d later on change his surname to Kol, was born in 1911 in the heart of the Pale…
Pinchas Rosen, or Felix Rosenblüth (as he was called in his youth), was born in Berlin in 1887, and grew…
Sa’adia Kobashi was born in the small village of Khubesh, Yemen, in 1902. During Passover of 1909 his father Yihye,…
Daniel Auster was born in Galicia in 1893 and earned a law degree from the University of Vienna before making…
David Remez was born as Moshe David Drabkin in what is today Belarus, in 1886. As a boy he studied…
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” introduces us to all 37 signatories of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, through the recollections of their closest…
Rachel Cohen-Kagan was born in 1888 into the Zionist Lubarsky family of Odessa. Her father, Ya’akov, was one of the…
Mordechai Schattner was born in Eastern Galicia – then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire – in 1904. He was a…
Warhaftig was an important leader of the Mafdal – the National Religious Party. During WWII, he saved the lives of…
David Ben-Gurion, perhaps the most influential Jewish leader since Moses, needs no introduction. Here though are a few facts about…
“Signed, Sealed, Delivered?” looks at our founding moral compass – Megillat Ha’Atzmaut, or the Declaration of Independence. Through the descendants…
Israel’s Declaration of Independence was forged amid strife and turmoil. It was a birth that, everyone knew, would trigger war….
David taught his son, Mishy, life’s most fundamental lesson – one that is also the deep premise of Israel Story:…
On June 29, 2007, Apple released its first iPhone. Less than sixteen years later, our world is an entirely altered…
These are – it goes without saying – tumultuous times here in Israel. But especially now, we believe it is…
Wartime Diaries