The Times of Israel Daily Briefing

Welcome to The Reel Schmooze with ToI film reviewer Jordan Hoffman and host Amanda Borschel-Dan, where we bring you all the entertainment news and film reviews a Jew can use.
Hoffman starts off with two quick Jangles -- news with a Jewish angle- before we devote the program to the original 1927 "The Jazz Singer" and a technicolor 1991 The Simpsons parody episode, "Like Father, Like Clown."
Now in the public domain, a pristine digitally remastered version of the 99-year-old film can be viewed freely on YouTube. Although still primarily a silent film -- complete with hammy acting and text cards -- it features the world's first lines of synched dialogue and half a dozen songs.
Hoffman recounts how the story was written especially for its star, Al Jolson, who was born to a rabbinical family in Lithuania that moved to the United States when he was five.
The plot unfolds on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, and pits a fifth-generation cantor father against his entertainer son. The film is bookended by the Kol Nidre service and its famous melody.
Unfortunately, "The Jazz Singer" is likely best known for its controversial blackface scenes. In what is unimaginable today, Hoffman explains that Jolson's trademark act was incredibly popular in that era -- and especially among Black Americans.
In the final section of our program, we turn to 1991 The Simpsons comic riff on the film. After Krusty the Clown's past comes to light, Bart and Lisa learn rabbinic literature to help mend bridges with his rabbi father.
Let’s hear who gave this film and television episode an “oy,” “meh” or the prized “not bad” this week on The Reel Schmooze.
The Reel Schmooze is produced by Ari Schlacht and can be found wherever you get your podcasts.
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Welcome to "A Mandatory Listen," a new weekly podcast in which The Times of Israel deputy editor Amanda Borschel-Dan asks the big questions facing Israel and the Jewish people.
For this inaugural episode, who better to ask "Is the IDF justified in picking off Hamas terrorists?" than The Times of Israel's senior analyst Haviv Rettig Gur.
Last week, as headlines roiled world media condemning the IDF following the screening of "NAZA," which alleges Israel is using AI to commit genocide in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s determination to eliminate Hamas terrorists in the Strip.
In the past several months, the IDF has conducted a series of strikes targeting Hamas operatives in Gaza. Since the October 2025 ceasefire in Gaza, the Hamas-run Health Ministry claims 1,400 Gazans -- without differentiating between Hamas operatives and civilians -- have been killed by the IDF.
Rejecting the notion that “Hamas is protected” within the area it controls in Gaza, Netanyahu asserted that “we are settling accounts with these murderers who murdered our people, our daughters, our women and our children on October 7,” adding: “There are not many left because we are dealing with them.”
But is this manhunt moral?
Rettig Gur sets the stage for his answer with a deep dive into history and the ideological underpinnings of the Hamas terrorist organization still ruling the Gaza Strip.
We then turn to what Borschel-Dan calls a "spillover" effect, in which this manhunt may allow a kernel of far-right extremist settlers to perpetrate violence against their Palestinian neighbors in the West Bank.
How can Israel rid itself of what Rettig Gur labels "Jewish terrorism"?
A Mandatory Listen podcast episodes are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Ari Schlacht.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
US bureau chief Jacob Magid and NY correspondent Luke Tress join host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's combative speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Thursday included expected themes, such as the threat Iran poses to the world and the Jewish people’s determination to stand up to antisemitism as well as attempts to annihilate them. Magid was inside the room where it happened. We delve into which props were employed this year and the surprising amount of time devoted to the prime minister's brother, Yoni Netanyahu.
A few hours before Netanyahu's speech, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas delivered recorded remarks in which he railed against the United States' decision not to issue visas for the Palestinian delegation. We learn the reasons behind this and the thrust of Abbas's condemnations of Israel.
Tress has also had a busy week with over half a dozen protests for and against Israel outside the United Nations. He describes the multitudes that attended and how there was something for almost everyone.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
In fiery UN speech, Netanyahu blasts Iran, Qatar, Turkey, slams Gaza genocide accusation
Netanyahu’s UN speech: Israel prevented ‘the genocide Mamdani’s Hamas buddies would have done to us’
PA’s Abbas at UN: Israel trying to force Palestinians out with ‘genocidal war,’ ‘settler terrorism’
Anti-Zionist protesters put Netanyahu effigy in a noose outside UN headquarters
NYC’s Chevalier, Susan Sarandon arrested at anti-Israel protest outside UN
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
Israel’s Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter's son, Neria, is hospitalized in serious condition after a car-ramming attack mowed down the reservist soldier at a checkpoint in the central West Bank yesterday. This morning, Leiter updated reporters that doctors have stabilized Neria’s condition overnight. Horovitz tells us about the groundswell of support for the ambassador, who suffered the death of his son Moshe during the war in Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to address the United Nations General Assembly today at 9 pm Israel time. Horovitz describes the secrecy surrounding the premier's travel arrangements and what he is likely to focus on during his address. We also hear a sampling of the anti-Israel rhetoric and allegations from world leaders this week so far.
The Central Elections Committee voted Wednesday in favor of petitions to disqualify the Joint List slate — made up of Balad, Hadash, and Ta’al — altogether as well as Mansour Abbas’s Ra’am party from running in the October 27 election, effectively barring all majority Arab parties from running in the election. Horovitz weighs in on whether any of these disqualifications could be upheld by the High Court of Justice next week upon appeal.
It's only five weeks until the elections and Horovitz wonders: Why hasn't the Gadi Eisenkot campaign moved into high gear?
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Son of Israel’s US envoy, a soldier, seriously hurt in car-ramming attack in West Bank; assailant shot dead
Election panel disqualifies all Arab parties, in move likely to be overturned; Balad leader also barred
Eisenkot does not have this election sewn up. So why is he barely campaigning?
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon joins host Jessica Steinberg for today's episode.
After Bezalel Smotrich's far-right Religious Zionism party published a campaign platform calling for further, radical constraints on the judicial system, Sharon discusses the history and aspects of the finance minister's plans and his use of an AI-generated video to advertise the overhaul plan, depicting Supreme Court justices and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara getting dragged away from a protest rally.
Following the approval of the purchase of Channel 13 by a philanthropic group, funded by a group of entrepreneurs headed by anti-government tech titan Assaf Rapaport, Sharon reports on Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi's reaction, after months of attempting to circumvent the sale that he deemed "unlawful," given Rapaport’s outspoken criticism of the government.
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Religious Zionism launches plans for more radical judicial overhaul after election
Coalition scored successes in judicial overhaul, but High Court, elections, will decide its fate
Sale of Channel 13 to government critic approved; minister calls decision ‘unlawful’
Subscribe to The Times of Israel Daily Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by Yitzchak Ledee.
IMAGE: Legal correspondent Jeremy Sharon appears on the Daily Briefing podcast with host Jessica Steinberg (Flash 90)
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