Jonah Does CNN and KIND Founder Daniel Lubetzky
Being Jewish with Jonah Platt
Jonah Platt
4.9 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jonah interviews Daniel Lubetzky, Mexican-American Jewish founder of KIND, Shark Tank investor, and longtime bridge-builder, about how his Holocaust-survivor father and Mexican Jewish upbringing shaped his commitment to connecting communities. Lubetzky describes mourning his father, saying Kaddish, and launching both KIND and the OneVoice Movement the same year, crediting prayer and purpose with keeping him grounded. He explains PeaceWorks, a trade-based social enterprise linking Israelis and Arabs (and later other conflict regions), which succeeded in sustaining relationships but never scaled and ultimately closed. He recounts OneVoice’s effort to empower moderates against media-driven extremism, mobilizing nearly a million Israelis and Palestinians, yet falling short of ending the conflict. Lubetzky outlines his latest project, the Builders Movement, and its “builders vs. destroyers” framework, its education, media, and civics work, and argues kindness is strong, honest action.
- Lubetzky reflects on the impact of reciting Kaddish after his father’s death and how Jewish ritual shaped his worldview.
- The founding story behind KIND Bars and why Lubetzky named the company after his father’s values.
- Lubetzky’s first social enterprise PeaceWorks, connecting Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Egyptians, and Turks through trade.
- How PeaceWorks also operated in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and Chiapas, Mexico to foster cooperation across conflict lines.
- The creation of the OneVoice Movement, which mobilized nearly 1 million Israelis and Palestinians around shared peace principles.
- Why Lubetzky believes media narratives often amplify extremists instead of moderates in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
- Launching the Builders Movement, a global initiative promoting cooperation over division.
- The Builders Movement framework built around the “Four Cs”: Curiosity, Compassion, Creativity, and Courage.
- Educational partnerships with institutions such as Stanford University to promote builder-mindset leadership programs.
- Collaboration with leaders like Van Jones to strengthen alliances between Jewish and Black communities.
Thank you to this episode's sponsor:
Mentioned In The Episode:
Three synagogue attacks in Toronto in one week.
Arrests made in Norway Synagogue attack
San Jose pedestrians attacked in hate crime
Police Arrest Suspect in Ramat Gan Stabbing
Man, Rams Truck Into Michigan Synagogue With Over 100 Children Inside
The Story Is with Exel Michaelson
The History, Significance, and Meaning of Kaddish
Al Jazeera Propagates Hatred. Is it also a Foreign Agent?
Annapolis Peace Conference (2007)
Kind Creates the Kind Foundation to Help Foster Kinder and Healthier Communities
Save Your Relationships! How To Talk to Antizionist Loved Ones About Israel - Jonah Platt’s 5 C's
Jewish Neighborhoods: Mexico City
Mexican school merger will expand ORT’s presence in Latin America
Jewish Nobel Prize Laureates
Sebastian Maniscalco - Italians at Passover (Aren't You Embarrassed?)
Red snapper with Veracruz-style sauce (huachinango a la Veracruzana)
The Rise and Fall of Eliot Ness
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Written and Hosted by Jonah Platt, Executive Producers: Steve Hein, Jonah Platt, Chief Business Officer: Kenyon Laing, Chief Marketing Officer: Katya Chen, Production Manager/Executive Assistant: Josie Rothschild, Research Associate: Samantha Greenwald, Production Associates: Rachel Stern, Charlie Zuker, Production Interns: Sasha Nelson, Emma Webb, YouTube Consultants: Jason Al-Samarrie & Zac Stein, Post Production by TIMEWEAVER, Creative Director: F. Brian Scofield, ACE, Lead Editor: Noam Klement, Editor: Gray Clevenger, Joe King. Graphic Designer: Noah Bell, Theme Music by Gabriel Mann, Performed by Jonah Platt
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Shalom, Kavarim, Banot, and welcome to another very special episode of the world's number one Jewish podcast. |
| 0:08.1 | I have to ask for a small favor. |
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| 0:30.0 | written review. I love seeing all of your thoughtful and generous feedback. Some of it has even |
| 0:35.0 | made it onto the show and may again. And as of this recording, |
| 0:38.7 | we are just eight ratings away from hitting 500 on Apple. Crossing that threshold would be a huge |
| 0:44.3 | milestone for us. It's a small mitzvah on your part, but it really is the fuel that allows us to |
| 0:50.0 | keep these amazing conversations going. So thank you in advance. Unless you don't leave a rating, |
| 0:56.1 | in which case you're a butthead. If you're a regular consumer of this show, I certainly |
| 1:03.2 | don't need to tell you that the past few years have been absolutely bat shit for the Jewish |
| 1:07.9 | people. And the past few days have been a microcosm for this experience |
| 1:12.1 | of endless crises. In addition to the barrage of Iranian and Hezbollah missiles raining down on |
| 1:17.7 | Israeli civilians day and night, there were three synagogue attacks in Toronto, one in Belgium, |
| 1:23.4 | one in Norway, Israelis assaulted on the streets of San Jose, a stabbing in Ramat Gan, |
| 1:29.4 | and an armed man ramming a car full of explosives into Temple Israel of West Bloomfield, Michigan, |
| 1:35.2 | where my cousins go to preschool and where I'm set to speak in a couple months. |
| 1:39.7 | Temple Israel, I got a big hug for you in June. As a result of these perilous times, I was asked to appear on |
| 1:45.6 | CNN twice, once on The Story Is with Alex Michelson, and once on the lead with Jake Tapper. |
| 1:51.9 | Both anchors are Jewish and deeply invested in the welfare of our community, as are some of their |
... |
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