Welcome to Times Will Tell, The Times of Israel weekly podcast. This week we're speaking with author and scholar James McGrath, a professor in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis.

We'll speak about his new book, “What Jesus Learned From Women,” a project that was spurred by a curious graduate student's question. 

The book is an interesting hybrid of classical historical/theological scholarship and imaginative historical fiction as McGrath works out just how a selection of women influenced Jesus’s thinking. 

His previous books include, "Theology and Science Fiction" and "The Only True God: Monotheism in Early Judaism and Christianity."

IMAGE: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1655 by Johannes Vermeer.

Welcome to Times Will Tell, The Times of Israel weekly podcast. This week we're speaking with author and scholar James McGrath, a professor in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis.
We'll speak about his new book, &ldquo;What Jesus Learned From Women,&rdquo; a project that was spurred by a curious graduate student's question.&nbsp;
The book is an interesting hybrid of classical historical/theological scholarship and imaginative historical fiction as McGrath works out just how a selection of women influenced Jesus&rsquo;s thinking.&nbsp;
His previous books include, "Theology and Science Fiction" and "The Only True God: Monotheism in Early Judaism and Christianity."
IMAGE: Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1655 by Johannes Vermeer.

A weekly exploration of one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World right now.

A weekly exploration of one key issue shaping Israel and the Jewish World right now.

What Matters Now

Busting myths, scholar explores how women influenced Jesus' teachings

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.

Police cleared 30 to 40 people from inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night after protesters against Israel occupied the administration building in New York earlier in the day. Hundreds of New York Police Department officers acted after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus and sought help from the police.

The confrontation occurred more than 12 hours after the demonstrators took over Hamilton Hall shortly after midnight Tuesday, spreading their reach from an anti-Israel tent encampment elsewhere on the grounds that’s was there for nearly two weeks.

This week we speak with two Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, Eden Yadegar, the president of Columbia's chapter of Students Supporting Israel, and Elisha H. Baker, a senior editor at the Columbia Political Review.

We speak about the pro-Palestine encampment that has sparked a wave of copycat protests throughout campuses in the United States. But we also set the scene on the Columbia campus, which led up to these protests and hear about an atmosphere in which latent antisemitism was released from its cage after the October 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel in which terrorists massacred 1,200 and took 253 individuals hostage.

We also hear about how Yadegar, after speaking at a congressional roundtable about on-campus antisemitism organized by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce alongside students from eight other universities, returned to campus to face derision.

So this week, we ask Columbia University students Eden Yadegar and Elisha H. Baker, what matters now?

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Columbia University students Eden Yadegar and Elisha H. Baker lead songs in support of Israel on October 12, 2023 at the Columbia University campus in New York. (courtesy)

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.
Police cleared 30 to 40 people from inside Columbia University’s Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night after protesters against Israel occupied the administration building in New York earlier in the day. Hundreds of New York Police Department officers acted after the school’s president said there was no other way to ensure safety and restore order on campus and sought help from the police.
The confrontation occurred more than 12 hours after the demonstrators took over Hamilton Hall shortly after midnight Tuesday, spreading their reach from an anti-Israel tent encampment elsewhere on the grounds that’s was there for nearly two weeks.
This week we speak with two Jewish student leaders from Columbia University, Eden Yadegar, the president of Columbia's chapter of Students Supporting Israel, and Elisha H. Baker, a senior editor at the Columbia Political Review.
We speak about the pro-Palestine encampment that has sparked a wave of copycat protests throughout campuses in the United States. But we also set the scene on the Columbia campus, which led up to these protests and hear about an atmosphere in which latent antisemitism was released from its cage after the October 7 Hamas onslaught on southern Israel in which terrorists massacred 1,200 and took 253 individuals hostage.
We also hear about how Yadegar, after speaking at a congressional roundtable about on-campus antisemitism organized by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce alongside students from eight other universities, returned to campus to face derision.
So this week, we ask Columbia University students Eden Yadegar and Elisha H. Baker, what matters now?
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/times-will-tell/id1067953235?mt=2">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hqgs4Cy5VkdXB51eW2jjd">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnR6FOcOvFdMHmmVLVJUNrE198zXKQWna">YouTube</a> or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by <a href="https://thepodwaves.com/">the Pod-Waves.</a> 
IMAGE: Columbia University students Eden Yadegar and Elisha H. Baker lead songs in support of Israel on October 12, 2023 at the Columbia University campus in New York. (courtesy)

What Matters Now to two Jewish student leaders at Columbia: 'Intifada' on campus

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.

This week, we speak with The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur about the controversial Netzah Yehudah battalion that is on the docket for blacklisting by the United States under the 1997 Leahy Law.

In August 2022, Israeli troops from the religious Netzah Yehuda battalion were filmed beating two Palestinian detainees in the West Bank in a video posted to the TikTok video-sharing site. Three soldiers were seen repeatedly kicking two Palestinian men near Ramallah as a fourth soldier stands nearby. They were suspended and investigated.

This well-publicized beating came months after the death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.

As Washington is increasingly clamping down on extremist Jewish settler violence in the West Bank, the State Department probed Netzah Yehuda and several of the other units in the Israeli security forces for well over a year due to alleged human rights violations.

While the State Department looks into thousands of allegations of Leahy Law violations each year, it created a special panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum that exclusively vets allegations against the IDF and Israel Police due to the political sensitivity of the issue.

So this week in which an IDF unit may be defunded by the United States, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now? 

With contributions from Jacob Magid. 

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.
This week, we speak with The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur about the controversial Netzah Yehudah battalion that is on the docket for blacklisting by the United States under the 1997 Leahy Law.
In August 2022, Israeli troops from the religious Netzah Yehuda battalion were filmed beating two Palestinian detainees in the West Bank in a video posted to the TikTok video-sharing site. Three soldiers were seen repeatedly kicking two Palestinian men near Ramallah as a fourth soldier stands nearby. They were suspended and investigated.
This well-publicized beating came months after the death of Omar As’ad, a 78-year-old Palestinian-American who died after being detained, handcuffed, blindfolded, and later abandoned in near-freezing conditions by soldiers of the battalion.
As Washington is increasingly clamping down on extremist Jewish settler violence in the West Bank, the State Department probed Netzah Yehuda and several of the other units in the Israeli security forces for well over a year due to alleged human rights violations.
While the State Department looks into thousands of allegations of Leahy Law violations each year, it created a special panel known as the Israel Leahy Vetting Forum that exclusively vets allegations against the IDF and Israel Police due to the political sensitivity of the issue.
So this week in which an IDF unit may be defunded by the United States, we ask Haviv Rettig Gur, what matters now? 
With contributions from Jacob Magid. 
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/times-will-tell/id1067953235?mt=2">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hqgs4Cy5VkdXB51eW2jjd">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnR6FOcOvFdMHmmVLVJUNrE198zXKQWna">YouTube</a> or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by <a href="https://thepodwaves.com/">the Pod-Waves.</a> 
IMAGE: Israeli soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion patrol near the Israeli-Gaza border, October 20, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

What Matters Now to Haviv Rettig Gur: Is it wise for US to blacklist IDF unit?

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.

In a post-October 7 Israeli reality, is any new security threat outside the realm of imagination?

This week, when over 300 projectiles were sent from Iran to Israel, we pose this question to journalist and hit Israeli drama "Fauda" co-creator Avi Issacharoff.

Legions of fans around the world know of Issacharoff’s fiction writing from the popular television series, loosely based on his experiences in the IDF’s elite Duvdevan unit, that is written alongside "Fauda" star Lior Raz. (We'll hear a story of their post-October 7 real-life bravery during our conversation.)

But Issacharoff is first and foremost a long-time, die-hard journalist and analyst of the Arab world -- one who has put his life on the line in the past to cover a story.

We pick Issacharoff’s brain as we unpick the knotty situation Israel is currently facing with enemies on our borders, and Iran as a puppet master who is coming increasingly closer to a nuclear bomb.

So this week, we ask journalist Avi Issaharoff, What Matters Now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Mideast analyst Avi Issacharoff, one of the co-creators of the Israeli TV drama 'Fauda,' (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring one key issue currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, hosted by deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan.
In a post-October 7 Israeli reality, is any new security threat outside the realm of imagination?
This week, when over 300 projectiles were sent from Iran to Israel, we pose this question to journalist and hit Israeli drama "Fauda" co-creator Avi Issacharoff.
Legions of fans around the world know of Issacharoff’s fiction writing from the popular television series, loosely based on his experiences in the IDF’s elite Duvdevan unit, that is written alongside "Fauda" star Lior Raz. (We'll hear a story of their post-October 7 real-life bravery during our conversation.)
But Issacharoff is first and foremost a long-time, die-hard journalist and analyst of the Arab world -- one who has put his life on the line in the past to cover a story.
We pick Issacharoff’s brain as we unpick the knotty situation Israel is currently facing with enemies on our borders, and Iran as a puppet master who is coming increasingly closer to a nuclear bomb.
So this week, we ask journalist Avi Issaharoff, What Matters Now.
What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/il/podcast/times-will-tell/id1067953235?mt=2">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5Hqgs4Cy5VkdXB51eW2jjd">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnR6FOcOvFdMHmmVLVJUNrE198zXKQWna">YouTube</a> or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by <a href="https://thepodwaves.com/">the Pod-Waves.</a> 
IMAGE: Mideast analyst Avi Issacharoff, one of the co-creators of the Israeli TV drama 'Fauda,' (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Busting myths, scholar explores how women influenced Jesus' teachings

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