Masada: The Making of a Myth (Part 2)

Unpacking Israeli History

Unpacked

Judaism, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did an ancient story of mass suicide become the cornerstone of Israeli national identity? In Part 2, Noam traces Masada's unlikely revival, from forgotten footnote to rallying cry in the shadow of the Holocaust. But the story rests on a single source: Josephus, a man who surrendered to Rome and wrote under Roman patronage. That's the power of myth. And Noam explores: should Masada remain a national icon?" Masada – In the Light of Halakhah by Dov I. Frimer Ari Shavit, My Promised Land Yael Zerubavel, Recovered Roots: Collective Memory and the Making of Israeli National Tradition This episode of Unpacking Israeli History is generously sponsored by the Zalik Foundation Junior Board. To sponsor an episode or to be in touch, please email noam@unpacked.media. 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, friends in the New York and New York area. What are you doing on Tuesday, May 19th?
0:04.2	It's really soon. Want to hang out with me? You're Dennis Schwartz, scholar, and past guests on unpacking Israeli history?
0:10.8	Well, we'll be doing a live event with the illustrious David Ingber at 92 NY on the upper east side of Manhattan.
0:18.3	We're going to be talking about the Middle East, the power of historical memory, and the urgent
0:23.5	need to rethink how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is taught in both Jewish and
0:29.6	non-Jewish spaces.
0:31.4	We just finished prepping for the event, and I think it's going to be an exciting and
0:35.3	insightful evening.
0:36.7	It's going to be great.
0:37.3	It's going to be awesome. It's going to be
0:37.6	awesome. So get tickets at the link in the description of this episode, and I will see you there.
0:42.6	Yala. Let's do this. Hey, I'm Nolm Weissman, and this is Unpacking Israeli History. The podcast
0:48.0	that takes a deep dive into some of the most intense, historically fascinating, and often
0:52.5	misunderstood events and stories linked to Israeli history.
0:56.5	This episode of unpacking Israeli history is generously sponsored by the Zalik Foundation Junior Board.
1:02.5	Let me just say I love when young people are not just consumers of this sort of content, but investors in this sort of content.
1:09.3	That's really, really special.
1:11.0	So huge shout out to the Zalik Foundation Junior Board. Really, really incredible what you're doing.
1:16.4	Thank you. And if you want to sponsor an episode of an Backings really history, meaning you
1:20.7	listening, or if you just want to say what's up, be in touch with me at noam at unpacked.
1:26.1	Dot media. As always, check us out on all the places, at all the places.
1:31.2	I don't know which preposition is correct there.
	...

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