By Ari Weinstein
Mishy Harman uses his voice, almost ironically, to listen.
As a creator and host of the podcast Israel Story, Mishy presents the narratives, opinions, and thoughts of Americans and Israelis alike about their connections to Israel. Inspired by his exposure to and work with NPR’s This American Life podcast, Mishy sought to create a platform from which people could share their personal stories about how Israel plays (or once played) a role in their lives. The podcast, which started as a Hebrew-only production broadcast in Israel and now includes a second, unique English-language podcast for non-Israeli audiences, makes an important statement about the ways in which we discuss Israel.
I think that debates on Israel are particularly poignant examples of talking without listening in a “conversation.” In my experience, it seems that it’s rarer to find a conversations in which we actually stop, listen, and internalize what the other person is saying to us, rather than constantly thinking how to respond to (or, in certain situations, undermine) their claim that we listened to halfheartedly. I don’t think that this is a fault of only the left or the right; of one organization but not another. Nor do I think that there is no place for debate, protest, and demonstration about Israel. I do think, however, that we spend so much time talking over one another about Israel that we only hear what someone believes without learning why they may believe that. Personally, I’m often much more interested in the why of someone’s, well, “Israel story.” Do they have family that lives or has lived here? Do their values (whether Jewish, political, personal, familial, etc.) inform the way they see the conflict? Have they personally been here? Do they have interest in seeing Israel firsthand? Did they ever question the things they learned about Israel, and did something or someone inspire that?
Mishy’s collection of “Israel stories” yields a solution to the interpersonal polemic that seems to characterize most Israel conversations. What struck me from his talk with us was his emphasis on humanizing one another by simply listening. The landscape of an Israel conversation can be radically different if we listen, understand, process, and then respond, giving ourselves the opportunity to learn from and about the other person in the conversation. I appreciated the perspective that Mishy has, and actively regenerates with each podcast, regarding the ways that we talk about Israel with one another, and I hope to find ways that I, too, can use my voice to make for more listening.
