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For Heaven's Sake: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Shalom Hartman Institute
For Heaven’s Sake is a weekly podcast presented by Ark Media and the Shalom Hartman Institute, hosted by Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi. The podcast draws its name from the Jewish concept of machloket l’shem shemayim, “disagreeing for the sake of heaven,” which is exactly what takes place each week as Donniel and Yossi discuss the moral aspects of topics affecting Israel, world Jewry, and the future of Zionism.
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- 2 days ago32 min
When the Israel Day Parade is More Than a Parade
Can American Jews define themselves through love of both Israel and America? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack a parade transformed by October 7, Mamdani's boycott, and how a historically innocuous parade has transformed into a profound act of defiance and vulnerability. They explore America as a "nation of nationalities" and its special place in Jewish identity, and Israel's obligation to celebrate world Jewry rather than simply demand its support. Ultimately, they challenge the Jewish community to reclaim an unmediated sense of pride, refusing to let enemies dictate the terms of their joy and connection. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Join the Hartman Beit Midrash for America at 250. Learn more about and register for Hartman's summer programs in Jerusalem.
- 1 weeks ago43 min
Who's In Charge? Israel's Angst
Can a country recover its sense of agency when every front — external and internal — refuses to stay resolved? In this episode, recorded just as Prime Minister Netanyahu issued another emergency call-up of exhausted reservists, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi wrestle with the deepening Israeli loss of control. They dissect the gap between the Prime Minister's promise of "absolute victory" and the reality of an enemy that has emerged stronger since its recent conflicts, and trace how the trauma of October 7 still haunts a society that thought it had moved past helplessness. Looking ahead to the coming election, they explore why "who's in charge?" may once again become the defining slogan — and why the answer this time will determine far more than a coalition. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Learn more about and register for Hartman's summer programs in Jerusalem.
- 2 weeks ago52 min
Why We're Losing the War Over Israel's Legitimacy
Is it possible to win every battle and still lose where it matters? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront what may be the most dangerous front Israel faces today — the narrative. They lay bare the forces converging against Israel’s legitimacy: the collapse of Western institutions and the global spread of antisemitism amplified by social media and a systematic anti-Zionist campaign decades in the making. They reflect on the way this has reframed every chapter of Israel's story — from founding to present — as settler colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and genocide — and the psychological toll of this multi-front narrative war. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Watch the full Guidelines for Jewish-Democratic Policy Conference featuring Yair Lapid, Avigdor Lieberman, and Yair Golan. Learn more about the Hartman Institute’s Center for Shared Society.
- 3 weeks ago40 min
In the Wake of Kristof and the Times: What's There to Say?
What do you say when defending yourself only makes things worse? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi respond in real time to Nicholas Kristof's New York Times column accusing Israel of systemic sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees — an article that dropped on the same day Israel's Civil Commission released its report on Hamas's use of mass rape on October 7. They assess the latest barrage of allegations leveled against Israel, examine the deep disconnect between the mainstream Jewish story and international media narratives, and confront the troubling realities of prisoner abuse in an environment lacking moral guardrails. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Read the Kogod Research Center’s new White Paper, Building Communities of Belonging: Jewish Identity, Conversion, Intermarriage, and Adjacency.
- 3 weeks ago0 min
Scheduling Note on this Week's Episode: May 13, 2026
A brief update from For Heaven's Sake on the release schedule for this week's episode. Make sure you are subscribed to or following the show on your preferred podcast app so new episodes download automatically as soon as they are released.
- 4 weeks ago49 min
Hilltop Youth and Israel's Moral Crisis
Can an army of the people maintain its ethical compass when a faction of the public it protects and consists of embraces ideological lawlessness? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the IDF Chief of Staff's urgent warning regarding military discipline, examine the ideological evolution of the Hilltop Youth and the government and public responses to it. Together, they confront the dangerous "Torah of dominance" taking root and ask what it will take to reclaim the soul of Zionism for future generations. From the episode: IDF chief said to order investigation into claims of widespread looting by troops in south Lebanon, Times of Israel, April 24, 2026 Entire Villages Razed – Report Reveals Scale of Destruction Israel Unleashed on South Lebanon, Haaretz, May 5, 2026 Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Learn how Hartman is building the pipeline of young Jewish leadership.
- Apr 29, 202637 min
Re-Release: Bennett 2026
In light of Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid recently announcing the launch of a unified party for the Knesset elections, we are re-releasing our episode Bennett 2026, recorded on January 6, 2026. Donniel and Yossi will be back with a new episode next week. Is former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett a right-wing ideologue or Israel's great national healer? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi grapple with this paradox as they examine the only candidate currently ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in national polling. They explore Bennett's extraordinary transformation from an ideological conservative to national unifier, discuss his brief but transformative year as Prime Minister, and consider what his return might mean for Israel's future. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. If you read our journal Sources, complete our reader survey by January 15. Learn more about the Kogod Research Center, whose scholars develop the ideas of the Hartman Institute.
- Apr 22, 202638 min
Hopes for Israel's 78th Birthday
What do you wish for a country you love that is still learning to love itself? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi mark Israel's 78th Independence Day with a meditation on eulogies, blessings, and the distance between the two. They dissect the growing divide in world Jewry over Israel's future and the stranglehold of an "October 7 consciousness" on Israeli political imagination. Between the grief of Memorial Day and the joy of Independence Day, they articulate their wishes for a society desperate to heal, demanding a return to hope and the courage to envision a thriving Jewish future. Watch the video version of our podcast on our Youtube channel. Past episodes of this show, and other podcasts from Ark Media can be found at arkmedia.org. For more ideas from the Shalom Hartman Institute, visit shalomhartman.org, or JOIN OUR EMAIL LIST. Sponsor an upcoming episode of For Heaven’s Sake. Click here to learn more. Here’s more from the Shalom Hartman Institute this week: Register to join Yossi Klein Halevi in Vancouver, Detroit, and Palo Alto and Yehuda Kurtzer in Toronto!
About For Heaven's Sake
For Heaven’s Sake is a weekly podcast presented by Ark Media and the Shalom Hartman Institute, hosted by Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi. The podcast draws its name from the Jewish concept of machloket l’shem shemayim, “disagreeing for the sake of heaven,” which is exactly what takes place each week as Donniel and Yossi discuss the moral aspects of topics affecting Israel, world Jewry, and the future of Zionism.
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