Israel's Greatest Paradox with Micah Goodman

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why did Israel's enemies, Sinwar, Khamenei and Nasrallah, all believe Israel was on the verge of collapse? Israeli philosopher Micah Goodman joins Noam to reveal the deep misreading of Israeli society at the heart of that miscalculation. They unpack why Israel's hybrid of radical individualism and fierce collectivism is its greatest strategic asset, and why the world keeps getting it wrong. Here is a link to Micah Goodman's work: https://micahgoodman.com/en/books/ Note: This episode was recorded on April 7, 2026, one day before the region reached a fragile ceasefire. This episode was sponsored by Barbara Sommer & Alan Fisher and Andrea & Larry Gill. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media. Visit jewishlives.org to explore and buy books from the Jewish Lives book series. Use the discount code JLIFE to get a discount. Check out this episode on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠This podcast is brought to you by Unpacked, an OpenDor Media brand. ------------------- For other podcasts from Unpacked, check out: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jewish History Nerds⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Soulful Jewish Living⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Stars of David with Elon Gold ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Wondering Jews⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Noam Weissman and this is Unpacking Israeli History, the podcast that takes a deep dive into some of the most intense, historically fascinating, and often misunderstood events and stories linked to Israeli history.
0:12.5	This episode of Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by Barbara Summer and Alan Fisher and Andrea and Larry Gill.
0:20.6	If you want to sponsor an episode of Unpacking's early history, or if you just want to say hey,
0:25.6	be in touch at noam at unpacked.med.med.
0:28.2	I really love hearing from you each week. It's awesome.
0:32.6	Before we start, as always, check us out on Instagram, on TikTok, on YouTube.
0:36.4	All the places, just search Unpacking's Israeli history and hit the follow or subscribe button.
0:41.9	And make sure to share some content.
0:43.3	That's always a good thing.
0:44.6	Okay?
0:45.3	Yala.
0:46.0	Let's do this.
0:49.4	Anomachr zimba got off.
0:52.2	Al-harmat, Medina, Yudh, Israel, we, the people of Israel, are prepared and anxious to meet the representatives of our neighbors without any preconditions.
1:09.0	There are people in Israel and elsewhere say it's impossible to make peace between
1:13.6	the Arabs and Israel or the Jewish people.
1:16.6	I think they're home.
1:21.6	There are moments in history that don't just change what happens.
1:25.6	They change who people are.
1:28.3	October 7th was one of those moments.
1:31.2	Not just because of the scale of the violence or the shock or the trauma,
1:36.3	but because of what it did to something deeper,
	...

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