PODCAST · religion
For Heaven's Sake
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.
Episodes
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Israel Votes: The Final Lap
Why is the most fateful election in Israel's history being met with an unprecedented absence of public passion and ideological fervor in the Israeli public square? In the last episode before the election, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore ...
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Israel Votes: World Jewry – The Invisible Stakeholders
Israel Votes: World Jewry – The Invisible Stakeholders Millions of Jews can't vote in Israel's election, yet so many feel their future is on the ballot. With 12 days to go, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi compare the election Israelis are voting...
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Scheduling Note on this Week's Episode: October 14, 2026
Hello For Heaven’s Sake listeners. We are adjusting our publishing schedule this week, and you won’t see an episode in your feed today. Please make sure you are subscribed to us wherever you get your podcasts, so new episodes download automatically as ...
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3 Big Changes at Ark Media
Dan Senor and Ark Media CEO Ilan Benatar announce Ark+, our expanded membership; The Fold, our new private community; and the network's newest show, Chosen People Problems.In the episode:0:00 Announcement1:41 Introducing Ark+2:29 Meet Chosen People Pro...
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It's Still October 7
When does October 7 stop feeling like the present? Three years to the day after the Hamas attack, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi face an uncomfortable truth: for Israelis, October 7 is not a memory but a lens. Starting from last week's foiled a...
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We Were Warned About October 7; Why Didn't We Listen?
Why did Israel, one of the most sophisticated military and intelligence powers in the world, repeatedly ignore explicit, urgent warnings about an impending national catastrophe? As the anniversary of October 7 approaches, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klei...
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Israel Votes: And What if it's Deadlocked?
Can a society battered by years of political polarization and existential war survive an election cycle where no political faction can achieve instant victory? As critical polling deadlines approach, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront the ...
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Naza: When a Film is the News
Can a provocative film transform into an unshakeable weapon in the global battle over Israel's moral legitimacy? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the intense cultural and political fallout surrounding "Naza," the award-wi...
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Israel Votes: New Year, New Hopes
How can a society deeply divided by electoral deadlock find the collective moral courage to choose democratic renewal over perpetual crisis? In this Rosh Hashanah episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi set aside the reactive mode of recent yea...
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Israel's Election: What Do Israelis Really Want?
Why does Israeli political life appear hopelessly frozen at the top even as tectonic shifts stir beneath the surface? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the looming Israeli elections, the persistent mathematical stalemate b...
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Israel’s Election Season: The Opening Shot (Re-release)
What do four political earthquakes in a single week – as the Knesset is on the brink of dissolving – reveal about the election that will define Israel's future? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi open Israel's election season by ma...
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Why are Young Jews Turning Against Israel? - with Yossi Klein Halevi and Sara Labaton
Can the Jewish people hold on to moral tradition in the era of Jewish power? In this special episode—recorded live in the courtyard of the Shalom Hartman Institute's Jerusalem campus on July 14, 2026, at the Institute's Wellspring Summit for Educators—...
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Humanness: From Mensch to Warrior
What happens to our humanity when fear takes hold? In this special summer episode, recorded live in the Beit Midrash of the Shalom Hartman Institute's Jerusalem campus during our Community Leadership Program, Donniel Hartman delivers a solo lecture on ...
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The Post October 7 Jew
How do the Jewish people reclaim our story when our very right to self-defense is under global assault? In this special episode, recorded live at the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Community Leadership Program in June, Yossi Klein Halevi sits down with aut...
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Israel's Elections: Judaism on the Ballot
How does a Jewish state navigate its future when the most fiercely contested issue at the ballot box is the definition of Judaism itself? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the profound ways religion is shaping Israel's upc...
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Iran and My Summer Vacation
What happens to a nation's psyche when the basic need to breathe is blocked by the geopolitical reality of an endless war? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore this dreamlike summer interlude where Israeli life appears suspen...
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Israel's Elections: The Change We Hope For
Is it possible to rebuild a shared national vision when a society remains deeply traumatized and divided over its own moral obligations? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the newly announced October election date and look ...
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Scheduling Note on this Week's Episode: July 15, 2026
Hello For Heaven’s Sake listeners. We are adjusting our publishing schedule this week, and you won’t see an episode in your feed today. Please make sure you are subscribed to us wherever you get your podcasts, so new episodes download automatically as ...
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Israel's Election Season: The Opening Shot
What do four political earthquakes in a single week - as the Knesset is on the brink of dissolving -reveal about the election that will define Israel's future? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi open Israel's election season by map...
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The Haredi Insurrection
Is Israel’s social contract breaking under the weight of the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the explosive civic and theological crisis surrounding the ultra-Orthodox draft exemption in Is...
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Israeli-American Relations at a Crossroads
What do American Jews owe Israel when their own political and moral worlds feel under threat? In this episode, recorded live from our Beit Midrash in Jerusalem as part of Hartman’s Community Leadership Program, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi co...
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Scheduling Note on this Week’s Episode: June 24, 2026
Hello For Heaven’s Sake listeners. We are adjusting our publishing schedule this week, and you won’t see an episode in your feed today because we will be livestreaming our show from the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Community Leadership Program in Jerusal...
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The Sum-of-All-Fears Election
Subscribe to Inside Call me Back. ____ Why is Israel’s next election being driven more by fear than hope? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi join Dan Senor to discuss the emotional forces shaping Israel's coming election. As Israelis prepare to vot...
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As the Missiles Fly and Then Stop
If Israel has successfully degraded the capabilities of Hamas and Hezbollah, why do so many Israelis feel less safe today than they did a year ago? In this episode, following a resumption of fire between Israel and Iran, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein...
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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 in...
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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 Yoss...
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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 Is...
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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 ...
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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.
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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 re...
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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 we...
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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 ...
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Israel’s 10 Days of Awe: From Holocaust Memorial Day to Independence Day
How do we observe national days of mourning when the nightmares of the past feel like the realities of the present? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect Israel’s "10 Days of Awe," the intense period between Holocaust Memorial...
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The Battle Over the Word Zionism
When a word carries history, burden, and identity all at once, can the Jewish people afford to let it go? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect the internal Jewish debate over the term Zionism, examining its classical promises...
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Passover Under the Shadow of War: The Challenge of Hope
How do you celebrate the holiday of liberation when the reality of war, grief, and political division feels heavier than ever? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi confront the growing exhaustion in Israel with the conflicts in Iran ...
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The War in Iran: The End?
Is Israel destined to have its wars stopped by its closest ally just before the finish line? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine the rumors of a potential negotiation to end the current conflict with Iran and ask whether thi...
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The Impact of the Iran War on Israel and the Jewish People
What is the hidden cost of Israeli resilience? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi move beyond strategic analysis to examine how the war is reshaping daily life in Israel, why the polls haven't budged despite a popular and militaril...
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Israel: Winning the Iran War, Losing the American Jews?
Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ If this war with Iran is self-evident to Israelis, why does it feel so different to North American Jews? Starting with that blunt question, in this special live episode of For H...
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The Case for War
Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ Why do 93% of Israelis support a war that much of the West condemns as a violation of international law? In this special episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi dissect ...
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Thoughts from the Shelter
Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ Why does this experience of war with Iran feel entirely new and eerily familiar in the arc of Israeli life? In this emergency episode of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Y...
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Waiting
Please take 5 minutes to fill out For Heaven's Sake’s LISTENER SURVEY ____ How do you go about daily life — bar mitzvahs, trips, work — when every two hours the news cycle shifts, every Israeli with a cousin in the Air Force has a take, and even season...
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Israel's Sovereignty Crisis
Can a country survive when tribal loyalty overwhelms collective responsibility? This week on For Heaven's Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi examine something unprecedented: while Israel defends its borders from external threats, it's losing ...
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The Hidden Challenges of Antisemitism
Antisemitism is everywhere in Jewish conversation. But what are we missing? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi zoom out to examine the assault on the Jewish story, the cost-benefit calculus of Jews around their identity, and the abuse of antisemiti...
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Election Currents
Israel is headed toward elections again, but can either side form a stable government? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi take a step back to examine the current political climate: the politics of exclusion, the historic unificatio...
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843 Days, 12 Hours, 6 Minutes
The hostage clock stopped at 843 days, 12 hours, and 6 minutes. But did the healing begin? Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reflect on the return of the body of Ran Gvili—the last hostage from October 7th—and what this moment reveals about Israel...
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Trump's World
What can Israel do when unpredictability becomes U.S. policy? In this episode of For Heaven’s Sake, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi reckon with what it means for Israel to live in “Trump’s world”—where unpredictability isn’t just a style, it’s a...
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Iran: When the Story Changes
Iran's regime is under pressure—and so are the assumptions that have shaped Western policy for decades. In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi explore the "conceptia" behind the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Jewi...
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Bennett 2026
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 ...
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Mar-a-Lago
Did we learn anything useful about the future of Israel from the Trump-Netanyahu Mar-a-Lago summit? In this episode, recorded just hours after the summit concluded, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi wrestle with the disconnect between Trump's opti...
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Vance
For 60 years, Israel has counted on the United States. Is the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Israel now in jeopardy—not from the left, but from the MAGA right? In this episode, Donniel Hartman and Yossi Klein Halevi unpack Vice President J...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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.
HOSTED BY
Shalom Hartman Institute
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does For Heaven's Sake have?
For Heaven's Sake currently has 224 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is For Heaven's Sake about?
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...
How often does For Heaven's Sake release new episodes?
For Heaven's Sake publishes regularly with 224 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to For Heaven's Sake?
You can listen to For Heaven's Sake on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts For Heaven's Sake?
For Heaven's Sake is created and hosted by Shalom Hartman Institute.
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