In 1755, a massive earthquake, firestorm, and tsunami devastated Lisbon and sent shockwaves through European thought. The catastrophe shattered old religious certainties, ignited debates led by Voltaire and Kant, and reshaped the fate of Iberian Jews and “New Christians” long-bound by the Inquisition. In this episode, we trace how one morning of destruction helped usher in modern ideas of reason, justice, and identity—and how Lisbon’s rebuilding reframed the Jewish story within Europe’s emerging Enlightenment.

Links for Additional Reading

The Earthquake That Changed History – BBC REEL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVLGo_SgRfs

The Jesuit and the Jew -The Lisbon Earthquake in Modern Perspective

Revista by Kenneth Maxwell, 30 December 2007

https://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/the-jesuit-and-the-jew/

Pombal and the Inquisition in Portugal

History Today by Richard Cavendish, 5 May 2001

https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/pombal-and-inquisition-portugal

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At Israel’s southern tip, where desert horizons stretch without end, Eilat and the Arava tell a story shaped by distance, daring, and the frontier spirit. Here, improvised flags, pioneering kibbutzim, and an ancient date seed reborn all reveal how life at the edge becomes a laboratory for reinvention. Join us as we explore a landscape where imagination meets isolation—and where the desert becomes not an end, but hopefully also a beginning.

Links for Additional Reading

“Lost in Eilat” at Segula, the Jewish History Magazine

https://segulamag.com/en/lost-in-eilat/

“My City – Eilat” at the Digital Archive of UCLA

https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog/ark:/21198/z1k716vn

The Arava Insitute for Environmental Studies

https://arava.org/

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Across Morocco’s historic cities, three synagogues trace a story carried on shifting currents—moments when Jewish life swelled with creative possibility and moments when it retreated behind quiet walls. From the hidden doorway of Ibn Danan to the open‑sky courtyard of Slat al‑Azama to the luminous modern hall of Beth‑El, each synagogue marks a different turn of the tide. Join us at J2 adventures ‘Wandering Jews’ as these sacred spaces reveal how Jewish life in Morocco moves in continual ebb and flow, leaving behind beauty, memory, and a rhythm all its own.

Links for Additional Reading

The Ibn Danan Synagogue, Fez, Morocco

ANU, The Museum of the Jewish People

https://dbs.anumuseum.org.il/skn/en/c6/e23554768/%D7%90%D7%95%D7%93%D7%95%D7%AA/The_Ibn_Danan_Synagogue_Fez_Morocco

Israeli, Moroccan Researchers Excavate Synagogue In Atlas Mountains

I24News, 24 December 2021

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/archeology/1640350989-israeli-moroccan-researchers-excavate-synagogue-in-sahara

Moroccan Jewry at the National Library of Israel

https://www.nli.org.il/en/discover/judaism/jewish-communities/jews-in-islamic-countries/moroccan-jews

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Journey with us to Ketef Hinnom, where a restless teenager, a collapsed tomb, and two tiny silver scrolls opened a window onto the oldest biblical text ever found—and a Jerusalem far more complex than skeptics imagined. This archaeological thriller reveals how memory, mystery, and the human need for blessing converge in a burial cave that bridges ancient faith and modern identity. Join as we uncover a story that proves some words - and some blessings - can survive.

Links for Additional Readings:

“In Memoriam: Prof. Gabriel Barkay, Dean of Biblical Archaeology (1944–2026)” – Armstrong Institute

https://armstronginstitute.org/1410-in-memoriam-prof-gabriel-barkay-dean-of-biblical-archaeology-1944-ndash-2026

“The Ketef Hinnom Scrolls: Earliest Biblical Text Ever Discovered!” – Armstrong Institute

https://armstronginstitute.org/1123-the-ketef-hinnom-scrolls-earliest-biblical-text-ever-discovered

“Priestly Benediction on Amulets,” Israel Museum

https://www.imj.org.il/en/collections/198069-0

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Step onto Berlin’s Museum Island, where the Enlightenment dreamed of a universal home for human creativity—and where Jews helped shape that vision with boldness, generosity, and imagination. Yet amid its temples of art and reason, the island also reveals the cracks: the shadows of exclusion, erasure, and the breaking of the very ideals it sought to enshrine.

Join J2 Adventures’ Wandering Jews as we explore a place that inspires the human spirit, even as it exposes the profound limits of the Enlightenment’s promise.

Links for Additional Readings:

The James-Simon-Galerie – Official Overview (Museumsinsel Berlin)

https://www.museumsinsel-berlin.de/en/buildings/james-simon-galerie/

Haskalah / Jewish Enlightenment – Jewish Museum Berlin

https://www.jmberlin.de/en/topic-haskalah-enlightenment

“James Simon: Art Collector & Owner of the Nefertiti Bust” – The Collector

https://www.thecollector.com/james-simon-a-generous-patron-of-the-arts-and-modest-social-benefactor/

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Our journey begins in Madrid’s Plaza de España, standing before the weathered bronze figures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza as Miguel de Cervantes watches from above. We explore why this "Impossible Dreamer" became a profound symbol for the Jewish experience, from the 19th-century Yiddish schlemiel to the "Prince of Dreams" in modern Israeli pop. From the shadow of the Expulsion to the stages of Broadway, we trace the knight’s journey and the "messianic yearning" that makes this 400-year-old character feel like a member of the Tribe.

Links for Additional Reading

The Secret Jewish History of Don Quixote by Benjamin Ivry (The Forward, 17 February 2014)

Why You Should Read ‘Don Quixote’? by Ilan Stevens (Ted Ed, 18 October 2018)

Don Quixote: An Honorary Wandering Jews – A Spotify Playlist

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Discover how the Israeli Supreme Court’s design serves as a "physical articulation" of the state’s democratic architecture and the values it aspires to uphold. From the "square" of human law to the "circle" of timeless justice, we explore a building rooted in Jerusalem stone yet open to the future. Join us as we discuss how this landmark translates the ancient command "Justice, justice shall you pursue" into a modern judicial shield for all inhabitants.

Links for Additional Reading

The Israel Supreme Court – A Virtual Tour

Jewish or Democratic? Israel’s Former Top Judge Reflects on Values, Aharon Barak, My Jewish Learning

The Israel Religious Action Center

The Israel Democracy Institute

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Greek music fills Israeli weddings, cafés, and stadiums — but why? Israel doesn’t just listen to Greek music; it needs it. Listen to ‘Wandering Jews’ as we uncover how a “foreign” sound became a cultural safe harbor, revealing the Israeli search for identity and belonging. Through stories of exile, trauma, and survival, Greek music became a borrowed and reimagined sound of a Mediterranean home. What we listen to, it turns out, tells us who we want to be.

Links for Additional Readings:

Rosa Eskenazi, The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women

Yehuda Poliker – My Eyes

The Mediterranean Israeli Identity, A.B. Yehoshua, the European Institute of the Mediterranean

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