Ambassador Ido Aharoni on Pesachim 116b – “Survivability and Continuity Through Storytelling”

Mark is delighted to welcome Ambassador Ido Aharoni to the podcast today. Currently the Global Distinguished Professor for international relations at New York University’s Graduate School of Arts and Science, Ido is a 25-year veteran of Israel’s Foreign Service, a public diplomacy specialist, founder of the Brand Israel Program, and a well-known nation branding practitioner. He has been Israel's longest serving Consul-General in New York and the tri-state area to date, holding that position with the rank of Ambassador for six years. The passage he has chosen to discuss with Mark is The Pesach Narrative. Their conversation begins with Ido reciting the passage in both Hebrew and English, describing his personal connection to it, and its significance during Pesach. He goes on to describe Zionism and the shared destiny of the Jewish people, maintaining survivability and continuity through storytelling, others’ perspective of the Jewish collective, and the play, ‘A Happy End’. He and Mark also explore the notion of the personal Exodus, the complementary national and psychological implications of the passage, the documentary ‘Children of the Inquisition’, and the impact of discovering one’s Jewish heritage. Ido concludes the episode with his belief in welcoming interested people into the Jewish collective, and the lessons he has learned about humankind. Ido’s wisdom, experience, and enthusiasm shine forth brilliantly in his analysis of this seminal passage here today, as he reveals both its relevance and guidance for all in our modern world. Episode Highlights: · Ido’s reading of the passage in both Hebrew and English · His personal connection to the passage · This significance of this passage during Pesach · Zionism and the shared destiny of the Jewish people · Maintaining survivability and continuity through storytelling · Others’ perception of the Jewish collective · Iddo Netanyahu’s play, ‘A Happy End’ · The personal Exodus · The complementary national and psychological implications of this passage · Joseph Lovett’