“The Wall” Part III – The Invisibles
We shift gears to more abstract walls, both new and old, that you might have a harder time finding on the ground but nevertheless show who we are
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
This story originally aired in August 2019.
Walls are something you can see. Something you can touch. Something you can run into and get a nasty bump on your head. Or… are they?! In Israel Story’s episode today – part three of the “The Wall” miniseries – we tell the stories of three walls that won’t appear on your typical map. Three walls you’d probably miss unless you heard about them, well… here. But don’t think that makes them less significant or present in daily Israeli society. Not at all. In fact, they help us trace our history all the way from its earliest beginnings to its menacing future.
In the prologue, Mishy Harman talks to Yoram Arbel, Israel’s quintessential sportscaster. Together they go back in time to Ramat Gan, 1989, where – in the middle of a pivotal World Cup qualifying match between Israel and Australia – an unimaginably iconic catchphrase was born.
When Yochai Maital tried to send a text message with some good news to his friends and family, he discovered that Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp had all simultaneously collapsed. That got him thinking. How much of his life, he wondered, relied on web-based platforms? What would happen if they all crashed at once? And what, really, was protecting our ever-expanding digital presence? Luckily, he knew just the man to ask: for act two, he sat down with Gil Shwed, an enthusiastic computer geek from Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem who – among many other things – is widely considered to be the inventor of the modern computer firewall. Gil recounts how, from his start at a local Orthodox community center, he went on to found and run Check Point, one of the world’s most influential software giants.
In act three, Mishy Harman asks what happens when an internationally renowned artist stands in front of his inspiring muse? The tale began when, in November 1957, one particularly prominent New Yorker opened his Sunday morning Times and read about an astounding biblical discovery halfway across the globe.
The original music in this episode was composed, arranged, and performed by the Israel Story band led by Ari Jacob and Dotan Moshonov, together with Ruth Danon, Eden Djamchid and Ronnie Wagner-Schmidt. The new lyrics to Leonard Bernstein’s “Maria” (or “Moriah”) were written by Ari Jacob, who also sang it. The end song is our band’s cover of Shomer HaChomot (“The Keeper of the Walls”), written by Dan Almagor, composed by Benny Nagari and originally performed by Zevet Havay Pikkud HaMerkaz.
About Israel Story: Israel Story is the award-winning podcast that tells extraordinary tales about ordinary Israelis. Often called “the Israeli ‘This American Life,’” we bring you quirky, unpredictable, interesting and moving stories about a place we all think we know a lot about, but really don’t. Produced in partnership with The Times of Israel.
Subscribe to Israel Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Times of Israel Community.