The Pluralist Podcast - with Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg

Where Israel’s hardest questions meet Jewish values. This podcast brings Israeli lived reality and Diaspora perspective into honest conversation about religion and state, democracy, pluralism, and Jewish responsibility. Hosted by IRAC Executive Director and attorney Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg, Vice President for Israel and Reform Zionism at the Union for Reform Judaism, each episode creates space for thoughtful dialogue — without slogans, and without simplifications.

The Pluralist Podcast - with Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg is a education podcast hosted by Orly Erez-Likhovski and Josh Weinberg, with 38 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Orly Erez-Likhovski and Josh Weinberg hosts The Pluralist Podcast - with Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg, a education show with 38 episodes published.

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  Episode #4

  How Jews Can Organize Without Walking Away: Rabbi Jonah Pesner on Democracy and Israel

  Sep 23, 20261h 3mS3

  What does it take to organize liberal Jews at a moment when democracy is under pressure, political alliances are strained, and many people are exhausted? As 5787 begins, Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg sit down with Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, to explore how Jewish values can be translated into political action — and how progressive Jews can stay engaged with both democracy and Israel in a deeply polarized time. Support the work of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) https://apzprxtx.donorsupport.co/page/IRAC5787 A Call to Shared Responsibility Ahead of Israel's National Elections A Diaspora statement supporting Israel as the Jewish homeland and affirming peace, democracy, pluralism, and the rights and dignity of Palestinians. Sign the letter here : https://bit.ly/4jdYQAc Subscribe to The Pluralist Podcast and share this episode with someone who should be part of the conversation. The conversation looks at what it takes to organize liberal Jews at a moment of democratic strain, political exhaustion, and growing polarization in both the United States and Israel. Together, they examine why democracy can be understood as a Jewish responsibility, how effective organizing turns broad concern into focused action, and how progressive Jews can remain in coalition with people who disagree sharply about Israel. They also explore Israel’s changing place in American politics, the strain in the relationship between liberal American Jews and Israel, and what meaningful partnership between Jews in Israel and the Diaspora should look like in the year ahead. In the conversation, they discuss: Why democracy is not just a political system, but a Jewish responsibility What successful organizing actually looks like — and why movements need to choose battles they can win How to keep people engaged when fear, anger, and exhaustion start to take over What the upcoming U.S. and Israeli elections reveal about the political moment facing liberal Jews Whether political change in Israel could begin repairing Israel’s standing in America How Israel and AIPAC became flashpoints in U.S. campaigns — and when political criticism crosses into antisemitic tropes What it takes to stay in coalition with people who strongly disagree about Israel Why “calling in” can sometimes accomplish more than calling out How liberal Jews can remain deeply connected to Israel without defending everything Israel does And what Israelis and Diaspora Jews should actually expect from one another in 5787

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  Episode #3

  What Happened to Religious Zionism? Tomer Persico on Fundamentalism, Power, and Jewish Extremism

  Sep 17, 202655 minS2

  What does it mean to reckon honestly with extremism when the threats are coming from very different directions? Just before Yom Kippur, Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg sit down with Dr. Tomer Persico—scholar of religion, liberalism, Jewish identity, and fundamentalism—to explore the rise of Jewish extremism in Israel, the crisis facing liberal Jews, and whether these trends can still be reversed. Support the work of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) Subscribe to The Pluralist Podcast and share this episode with someone who should be part of the conversation. ✍️ Read and subscribe to Tomer Persico’s Substack Buy In God’s Image: How Western Civilization Was Shaped by a Revolutionary Idea As Yom Kippur approaches, Tomer argues that liberal Jews are being asked to hold several difficult truths at once: to confront racism, Jewish fundamentalism, and violence carried out in the name of Judaism, while also pushing back against antisemitism, the justification of terrorism, and efforts to delegitimize Israel entirely. That tension is challenging, but this is precisely where our Jewish values should help us navigate complexity with honesty and nuance. In our conversation, we discuss: What Israeli society should be reckoning with as Yom Kippur approaches. How Religious Zionism changed—and how fundamentalist currents within it gained political influence. Why Tomer distinguishes mainstream Religious Zionists from Kahanists, Hilltop Youth extremists, and other fundamentalist movements. How the theology of Rav Kook, the Six-Day War, and the 2005 disengagement from Gaza shaped the Religious Zionist movement. Why Jewish terrorism in the West Bank has been tolerated—and whether the state can still confront armed extremist groups. How liberal Jews can acknowledge serious Israeli wrongdoing without abandoning Zionism or Israel’s right to exist. Why parts of the progressive left have come to view Islamist terrorist organizations as liberation movements. Whether political change can repair Israel’s international standing and reverse deeper trends within Israeli society. Why Tomer remains hopeful about liberalism despite its current global crisis. And whether liberal Jews can reclaim Judaism itself from those who present racism and fundamentalism as its most authentic expression.

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  Episode #2

  Beginning Again From Where We Are: Rabbi Dalia Marx on Rosh Hashanah 5787

  Sep 10, 202650 minS3

  What does it mean to begin a new year when we are not starting over? Just before Rosh Hashanah, Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg sit down with Rabbi Professor Dalia Marx—scholar of Jewish liturgy, author, and one of the leading voices in Israeli Reform Judaism—to explore what teshuvah, prayer, and hope can mean in this moment. Support the work of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) Donate to IRAC Subscribe to The Pluralist Podcast and share this episode with someone who should be part of the conversation. Buy From Time to Time: Journeys in the Jewish Calendar http://time.ccarpress.org/ Listen to “Adaraba,” discussed in the episode https://youtu.be/JFlGge5Dtjw After years of war, political division, religious extremism, protest, and trauma, Dalia argues that Rosh Hashanah does not ask us to forget what has happened or abandon justified anger. Instead, teshuvah begins with a deeply optimistic Jewish idea: that there is something good within us to return to—and that we must allow ourselves to believe that things can be different. In our conversation, we discuss: What Rosh Hashanah means when the calendar changes but the problems around us do not. Why October 7 pushed so many Israelis to search for prayer, ritual, and spiritual meaning. What Israelis should carry with them into 5787—and what they should leave behind. How Havdalah became part of the language of protest and what Jewish ritual offered that politics alone could not. Why Dalia believes liberal Jews must offer a compelling Jewish alternative to religious extremism. Whether a society can do teshuvah—and what accountability, repair, and changed behavior would actually require. Why justified anger should be channeled rather than simply abandoned. The difference between teshuvah and forgiveness. And what Dalia would say from the pulpit as we enter a new Jewish year.

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  Episode #1

  Goodbye 5786: Looking Back to Go Forward

  Sep 3, 202649 minS3

  As Israel prepares to enter 5787 — with national elections just weeks away — Orly Erez-Likhovski and Rabbi Josh Weinberg return for a new season of The Pluralist Podcast: From Both Sides of the Ocean to look back at an extraordinarily difficult year and ask what Israelis and Diaspora Jews should be working toward next. In this episode: What Israeli and North American Jewish teens learned from one another this summer — and what those encounters reveal about Israel today. If Israel elects a new government, how long will it actually take to repair its relationship with Diaspora Jewry? Looking back at 5786: where did we actually make progress — from bringing the hostages home to long-running IRAC struggles entering the Israeli mainstream? The darkest developments of the past year — from religious extremism and violence in Israel to attacks on Reform congregations in Israel and North America. What rising antisemitism in North America means for Israel and the Diaspora. Looking ahead to 5787: where Orly and Josh see opportunities for change, what worries them most, and whom they are asking for forgiveness — or willing to forgive. The elections may change Israel’s political direction, but rebuilding trust, strengthening democratic and pluralistic Jewish life, and repairing the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry will take much longer. For Orly and Josh, that is also the meaning of hope: not assuming things will get better, but continuing to work toward the society we want to see. Upcoming Israeli Election Webinars In partnership with Israel Policy Forum , join the “Everything You Want to Know About the Israeli Elections” series: September 9, 2:00pm ET — Israeli Elections 101 — Register September 16, 2:00pm ET — Security Issues & Geopolitics — Register September 23, 2:00pm ET — Religious Pluralism — Register And on October 11 at 1:00pm ET , join IRAC and global Reform Movement partners for a special webinar on what the election could mean for the Israeli Reform Movement, religious pluralism, and democracy. Register here All election webinars and shareable materials: arza.org/webinars

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  Episode #28

  Why Liberal Zionists Cannot Abandon Israel’s National Institutions with KKL-JNF's Eyal Ostrinsky

  Aug 6, 202650 minS2

  Liberal Zionists cannot influence Israel’s national institutions by abandoning them. In this episode of The Pluralist Podcast, Rabbi Josh Weinberg and Orly Erez-Likhovski speak with Eyal Ostrinsky, Chair of KKL-JNF, the youngest person to hold the position and the first Reform Jew to lead one of the Zionist movement’s most powerful institutions. KKL-JNF is known around the Jewish world for blue boxes, forests, and tree planting. But it is also a major political institution whose decisions affect land, education, environmental policy, the rebuilding of Israel’s north and south, and the relationship between Israel and Diaspora Jewry. Eyal explains how participation in the World Zionist Congress elections enabled Reform and liberal Zionist representatives to gain real influence over those decisions. He discusses KKL-JNF’s investments in communities devastated since October 7, its approach to community-led memorialization, and his commitment not to purchase land in the West Bank during his leadership. The conversation also examines the decision to stop support for agricultural farm outposts where programs presented as education for at-risk youth were contributing to settlement expansion, as well as KKL-JNF’s responsibilities toward Bedouin, Druze, and other non-Jewish communities. At a time when many liberal Jews feel alienated from Israel’s government, this episode asks whether national Zionist institutions can offer a different path: neither disengagement nor uncritical support, but organized participation capable of shaping policy, budgets, and the future of Zionism itself. Subscribe to The Pluralist Podcast for conversations from both sides of the ocean about Israel, democracy, Jewish life, religious freedom, and pluralism. Please share this episode with someone who believes liberal Jews should have a meaningful voice in shaping Israel’s future. Support IRAC’s work to defend democracy, equality, religious freedom, and pluralism in Israel: https://apzprxtx.donorsupport.co/page/FUNKCDJMHLM

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