On the night of Aug. 12, Jews around the world will mark the holiday of Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av. It's considered the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. On this date, it's believed the First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

And nearly 500 years later, Roman Emperor Titus and his legions destroyed the Second Temple, in 70 CE, to stop a successful ongoing Jewish military revolt.

As we hold our breaths to see if—or when—Iran and Hezbollah decide to strike against the State of Israel, we thought it would be good to hear from one of Israel’s leading philosophers during this dark time.

Ellin Bessner is taking a two-week holiday starting today, so we're bringing you some of our favourite conversations instead. Here’s Ellin's conversation with Yossi Klein Halevi, scholar, journalist and podcaster with the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He visited Toronto earlier this year to speak about the impact of Oct. 7 on Jewish history.

Credits

• Host and writer: Ellin Bessner (@ebessner)
• Production team: Zachary Kauffman (producer), Michael Fraiman (executive producer)
• Music: Dov Beck-Levine

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