My Nachlaot neighbour Barak Hullman joined me for an interview on various topics. He’s an interesting person who knows a lot about a lot of things. He has two podcasts, The Hasidic Story Project and Jewish People and Ideas, where he interviews A-list celebrities of the Jewish world. He is also the author of two books, and he blogs at Times of Israel. But what I appreciate most is that he invites me over for Shabbat lunch, where he makes the whole vegetarian meal, challah and sourdough bread, as well as the dishes they’re served on. He also rasises seven kids and in his free time, he has a job.
We sat down and talked about how he got to interview the smartest people, the Hareidim (incorrectly called “ultra-Orthodox”) in Israel, Nachlaot (a neighbourhood like Toronto’s Kensington Market,) today’s protests in Israel, why terrorism turns left-wing people right-wing (or at least confused,) how the army brings together the whole spectrum of Israeli society, miracles in Israeli wars, the eternity of the Jewish nation, people who saved Syrian refugees but would rather watch Palestinians die, and Shalom Bayit / peace in the home.
I found his quote, “נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר” (the Eternity of Israel is not a lie,) in I Samuel 15:29, as well as a similar prophecy in Parshat Balak, especially BaMidbar/Numbers 23:9.
Barak’s closing message is: “Try to find the thing that you’re good at, in bringing kindness to the world, and do more of that.”
Glossary
Niggunim - wordless melodies
Tzaddikim and tzaddikiyot - righteous men and women
Mashiach - the Messiah
Mitzvah - translated as “commandment” or “good deed,” includes things Jews are obligated to do, as well as kindnesses that connect people
shluchim - in a Chabad context, people dispatched around the world to spread love of Jewishness and bring Jews back into the community
tzedakah box - coin box for donating to charity
lighting candles - a mitzvah for Jewish women on Friday nights
putting on tzitziot (tzitzit) - a mitzvah for Jewish men to wear fringes on four corners of garments
kippot - men’s head-coverings (plural of kippah)
davening - Yiddish for Tefillah, translated as praying
“Thank you, tati” - tati is Yiddish for father
Shalom bayis/t - important Jewish concept of “peace in the home,” a focus on relationship harmony
Interview with Barak Hullman