The Beinart Notebook

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest today is Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller. He was the longtime Hillel Director at UCLA. He’s a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute , and was ordained by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik at Yeshiva University. He has opposed Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza for close to half a century, first with Breira, and more recently, with A Land for All and Smol Emuni . He has published two essays in the last year: A Zionism for the Future and ‘For the sins we have committed’: Reimagining Yom Kippur liturgy in a post-Oct. 7 world (with David N. Myers) I had him on to discuss Jewish statehood, a topic on which we disagree. But mostly, we discussed the idea of repentance, both individual and collective, and how he answers Jews who believe that Judaism itself has been fundamentally stained by the crimes committed in our people’s name. Topics include: Does Jewish religious observance make Jews behave better or worse? If there’s a non-chauvinistic way for Jews to see ourselves as “chosen” When does Zionism become idolatry?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com On the 25th anniversary of September 11, we discuss the enduring legacy of that day. Our guests are Spencer Ackerman, author of Reign of Terror: How the 9/11 Era Destabilized America and Produced Trump and the newsletter, Forever Wars , and Iyad El-Baghdadi, co-author of The Middle East Crisis Factory and Editor-in-Chief of Kulna . I can’t think of two better people to explain how 9/11 still haunts Americans, the Middle East and the entire world.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, the public relations liaison for Chabad Headquarters, as well as the founder of the Jewish Future Alliance and Director of Operation Survival. We discuss: The biblical mandate for human equality How West Bank settlements makes a two-state solution less likely Why did Chabad host Itamar Ben-Gvir?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is State Representative Chris Rabb, who recently won the Democratic nomination for the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s third congressional district, part of a wave of recent victories by members of the Democratic Socialists of America. Topics include: Whether multi-racial democracy will survive How Hillary could have won What it’s like to have to raise money Josh Shapiro, John Fetterman, and Democratic infighting Why so many black politicians aren’t on the side of equality when it comes to Israel-Palestine

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Rabbi Yaacov Behrman, the public relations liaison for Chabad Headquarters, as well as the founder of the Jewish Future Alliance and Director of Operation Survival. We discuss: The biblical mandate for human equality How West Bank settlements makes a two-state solution less likely Why did Chabad host Itamar Ben-Gvir?

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Rozina Ali, a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine and the author of the new book, just released this week, Seasons of Fury: Four Families and the Rise of Islamophobia in America . We discuss: Why anti-Muslim bigotry has become so prominent in America The various ways American Muslims navigate Islamophobia The different Islamophobic strategies employed against Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed, and their different responses Tensions between black and Muslim communities The difficulty of building coalitions between Muslims and Jews, given powerful Jewish organizations’ support of Israel

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Rabbi Asher Lopatin, the Director of Community Relations at the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and the Rabbi of Kehillat Etz Chaim in Oak Park, Michigan. I’ve known Rabbi Lopatin for a long time. He’s not only a great teacher of Torah, he’s also a mensch. Which makes his willingness to support Mike Rogers over Abdul El-Sayed even more distressing to me. Nonetheless, we had a respectful conversation. I’m grateful to him for having it. We discuss: El-Sayed’s condemnation of AIPAC El-Sayed’s views about Israel The allegation that El-Sayed is singling Israel out Mike Rogers’ refusal to say that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Norman Finkelstein, the longtime critic of Israel, and critic of the way the memory of the Holocaust—which both his parents survived—has been exploited to justify Israel’s actions. He has written a new book, titled Gaza’s Gravediggers . I talked to Norman about what it’s like—after decades as a political outcast—to see his views becoming mainstream. I asked him about his concern , which I share, that legitimate fury at Israel is fueling conspiracy theories that exonerate the United States. And I asked about his friend and mentor, Noam Chomsky, and what he thinks Chomsky might have said in response to October 7 and the Gaza genocide.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Rahm Emanuel, who has served as Chief of Staff for Barack Obama, a member of Congress from Illinois, mayor of Chicago, and US Ambassador to Japan. He recently gave a speech at Tel Aviv University that advocated US pressure on Israel, but also made claims about the history of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations with which I disagree.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Curt Mills , executive director of The American Conservative , and the subject of a recent profile in Jewish Currents . Curt is one of most influential thinkers in defining a conservative foreign policy that is skeptical of both war and unconditional support for Israel. We talked about why he supported Donald Trump in 2024, and what he thinks of Trump now, about the role of racism in conservative opposition to immigration, and about what J.D. Vance believes. We disagreed on a lot, but I found the conversation valuable.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Andy Levin, former Democratic congressman who represented Michigan’s 9th District until his 2022 loss to Haley Stevens. Stevens in turn appears to have lost to Abdul El-Sayed in yesterday’s Democratic primary for Senate. I invited Andy to analyze the race thus far and the general election to come.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit peterbeinart.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit peterbeinart.substack.com Our guest is Thomas Wright, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and frequent contributor to the Atlantic who served as senior director for strategic planning at the National Security Council during the Biden administration. Thomas is a smart guy who sees Israel-Palestine, and foreign policy more generally, very differently than I do. I think it was a valuable conversation.