Rabbi Kaufman's Understanding The World

Had a great conversation with Rachel Laser and Barbara Weinstein of the Religious Action Center RAC. We talked about what the RAC is, what it does, about a number of issues of concern to the progressive community and about the upcoming URJ Biennial in December. Rachel Laser is the RAC's Deputy Director. Ms. Laser has a diverse background in policy advocacy, coalition-building, message development and political strategy. She served as Senior Vice President at Hattaway Communications and as Director of the Culture Program at Third Way, a Washington, DC progressive think tank specializing in understanding and reaching moderates. Barbara Weinstein is the Religious Action Center's Associate Director. She directs legislative policy and oversees the RAC's Eisendrath Legislative Assistant program - a one year fellowship for recent college graduates focusing on Jewish values and social justice. Barbara is also the Director of the Commission on Social Action of Reform Judaism, a joint body of the Central Conference of

The Jewish Federations of North America's William Daroff joined Mark Finkelstein and I on Understanding the World today. We talked about social issues like SNAP and ACA as well as Iran, the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, the Sharansky proposal for the Holy Basin in Jerusalem and much more.

Catherine Swoboda and Megan Forgrave from the World Food Prize joined Mark Finkelstein and I in the studio to talk about the World Food Prize, Hunger in Iowa, GMOs and much more.

Great interview with Dr. Phyllis Chesler. Phyllis Chesler is an Emerita Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies at City University of New York. She is a best- selling author, a legendary feminist leader, a psychotherapist and an expert courtroom witness. Dr. Chesler has published thousands of articles and, most recently, studies, about honor-related violence including honor killings. She has published many classic works such as Women and Madness, Mothers on Trial. The Battle for Children and Custody, and Woman's Inhumanity to Woman. She published her fifteenth book in October, 2013, titled An American Bride in Kabul.

We talked Syria, Iran, and much more with Jonathan Spyer, columnist for the Jerusalem Post, senior researcher for the GLORIA Center and fellow for the Middle East Forum. If you want to know everything that is going on in Syria and the Middle East, listen to this show!

Mark Finkelstein and I talked Iran, Rouhani specifically, Netanyahu, Syria, the Peace Process and Israel-Diaspora relations with one of the Jerusalem Post's leading columnists.

45 minute interview with Dr. Zuhdi Jasser. We discussed Syria, Egypt, the Arab Awakening, Islamists, the Muslim Brotherhood and so much more.  Biography of Dr. Jasser: M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D. is the Founder and President of theAmerican Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD).  A devout Muslim, Dr. Jasser founded AIFD in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the United States as an effort to provide an American Muslim voice advocating for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state.  Dr. Jasser is a first generation American Muslim whose parents fled the oppressive Baath regime of Syria in the mid-1960’s for American freedom.  He is leading the fight to shake the hold that the Muslim Brotherhood and their network of American Islamist organizations and mosques seek to exert on organized Islam in America.

Discussion of options related to the use of Sarin gas by the Assad regime in Syria.

Dr. Walid Phares, expert on global terrorism and the Middle East. Discusses the situation in Syria at length as well as helping us to understand the situation in Egypt and the broader situation of the Middle East in relation to American foreign policy.

Mark Finkelstein and Rabbi Kaufman discussed the moral and ethical imperatives related to addressing the situations in Syria and Egypt. What does it mean that Syria used genocidal weapons, weapons designed to kill every man woman and child exposed in an area? What does it mean that the Muslim Brotherhood has systematically attacked Coptic communities throughout Egypt? What must the US do? Can it simply sit back and watch it all unfold? We discussed it all in detail as well as the day's Ketusha rocket attack in the north of Israel.

Tzafnat Mor, the Des Moines Jewish Federation's new Israeli Shelicha, joined Mark Finkelstein and I. We discussed Israel, the peace process, Egypt and what it means to be a Shelicha.

I discussed the Supreme Court decisions on the Voting Rights Act, Defense of Marriage Act, and Prop 8 including articles addressing the impact of each juditial decision. These three significant decisions will affect how states in the South conduct elections and affect the lives of LGBT individuals, couples, and families throughout the United States. For information about the impact of Same Sex Marriage on Children and Families, I encourage you to read http://www.aamft.org/imis15/content/consumer_updates/Same-sex_Parents_and_Their_Children.aspx

Jonathan Tobin of Commentary Magazine shared his thoughts on the Iranian Presidential Election, the situation in Syria, Turkey's relations with the United States and Israel, prospects for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians and more. A great interview with one of the leading political commentators.

A conversation with Rabbi Arthur Waskow about Jewish Renewal, the Environment, Social Activism and much more. Since 1969, Waskow has taken a leadership role in the Jewish Renewal movement. In 1971, he helped found the Fabrangen Havurah in Washington, DC. The Torah discussions at Fabrangen inspired Waskow's book Godwrestling (NY: Schocken, 1978). He founded The Shalom Center in 1983 and serves as its director. In its inception the Shalom Center primarily confronted the threat of nuclear war from a Jewish perspective, emphasizing the story of Noah and the imperative to save the world from "a flood of fire". As the Cold War abated, the Shalom Center turned its focus toward ecology and human rights issues. From 2002 to 2008, it pursued shared action among Jews, Christians, and Muslims; opposition to attacks on American Muslim life and opposition to the US War in Iraq. From 2005 on, it has especially focused on the dangers of "global scorching" and the climate crisis. Waskow's best-known books include Godwrestling

Mark Finkelstein and I were joined by Aden Finkelstein who just finished a semester in Israel on the Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim TRY program. Aden shared thoughts about his experience. Mark and I also discussed the situation in Syria and efforts to restart the peace process.

Interview with Arnold Roth an Israeli corporate leader who lost his daughter in the Sbarro Pizza bombing and has since spoken out about terrorism and terrorist organizations. Roth also founded Keren Malki, the Malki Foundation, named after his daughter, which aids Israelis of all religious backgrounds and ethnicities in keeping their special needs children at home. Truly a mensch, Roth is someone to whom we all should listen.