Maccabee Nation Podcast

About Maccabee Nation Podcast

Maccabee Nation is an unapologetically Zionist newsletter. We exist to help build and support a strong community of diaspora Jews, Israelis, and our allies around the world, who are united in fighting for Western Values. www.maccabeenation.com (https://www.maccabeenation.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Jason Crystal

Category

news · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

9 May 2024

Latest episode

6 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

45 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Apr 2026

   US Pilot Rescued in Iran Brings Some Partisan Reactions Back Home

   I’ve been relatively quiet while following the news these past weeks. Like most Americans and Israelis, I’ve hoped the heroic sacrifices in this war would lead to an expansion of the Abraham Accords and an era of peace and stability in the Middle East that benefits the world. Those hopes were tested when we learned a U.S. F-15E Strike Eagle was shot down over Iran. Fortunately, special operators carried out a risky nighttime rescue deep inside hostile territory and recovered both crew members successfully. One Air Force officer ejected, evaded capture while injured for nearly two days, and both are now safely back with their unit. This should be a moment of gratitude for the pilots, special forces, and all involved. Yet it’s hard not to notice something disturbing: segments of the media (https://www.thedailybeast.com/iran-blows-up-donald-trumps-annihilated-brag-by-downing-two-jets/) (and unfortunately some real life conversations) seemed to root for the airmen’s capture and exploitation on Iranian TV, not out of anti-military sentiment, but because it might damage Republicans ahead of the midterms. Years of intense partisanship have turned too many foreign crises into domestic score-settling. For some, partisan victory outweighs American success overseas. Iran remains the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, a direct threat to the West, and is still pursuing uranium enrichment while calling for death to America and Israel. Recent strikes set back their nuclear and military capabilities, but the regime endures. We should finish the job decisively so our forces aren’t forced to return later. To be clear, criticizing a war isn’t unpatriotic when it’s well-researched and principled. Americans have long debated conflicts from our Civil War, where brothers killed one another, to Vietnam’s often chaotic and violent protests. The real issue isn’t how we got here or lamenting lost unity. Our republic has always been fragile, but that doesn’t mean we abandon ideals. The most basic one is standing together for our survival against regimes that seek our destruction. We got our pilots home. Now let’s finish the mission abroad so we can focus on repairing and strengthening our home. After all, we have to live here together. Get full access to Maccabee Nation at www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe (https://www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   3 Jan 2026

   Mamdani's First Strike

   It’s been a not so happy New Year for many NYC Jews so far. On January 1, 2026, Zohran Mamdani took the oath as New York City’s mayor. To the surprise of no one who’s been following his campaign, he made clear his top priority was to immediately attack the Jewish community. Mamdani went right to work reversing a stack of executive orders, from the Adams era, intended to protect the Jewish community of New York (the largest population of Jews living outside of Israel). He revoked orders adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism, orders banning adoption of BDS, and orders that banned disruptive protests outside houses of worship, including synagogues. New York is on its way to becoming a hellscape for Jews. No less culpable in the current political disaster are the “progressives” like Bernie Sanders who’ve become experts at weaponizing their identities against other Jews, despite having no connections to Judaism. Let’s be clear, this isn’t just policy tweaking. By scrapping IHRA, Mamdani is deliberately blurring the line between legitimate criticism and outright hatred of Jews. He claims he’s protecting “free speech,” but in practice, this green-lights the vilification of Israel, and ultimately Jews, without consequence. Antisemitic attacks in NYC have skyrocketed since October 7. Jews make up only about 10% of the population NYC, but are the victims of more than half of all hate crimes reported by NYPD data. Worse still, lifting the holy site protest ban opens the door for mobs to scream blood libels at our community outside temples, for simply practicing their faith. Why when I look at holy sites around the country do we not see the type of the security that temples deem necessary? This should not be necessary in America, a nation built of freedom of worship and rugged individualism. Mamdani talks a big game about “affordability and abundance,” but these moves signal something darker, prioritizing radical activism over the basic safety of Jewish New Yorkers. We’ve seen this playbook before, appeasement of radical voices that ultimately leads to physical violence. So what’s the solution? Should Jews leave or stay and fight? I wish I could believe we could make a difference reversing the evil that plagues such an important and once great city, where I lived for many years. If Jews defend themselves the reality if they’ll be legally persecuted, even if it’s clear they are acting in self defense. Here’s the reality we must stop ignoring… Mamdani’s evil agenda will prioritize radical mobs that seek to do Jews harm over law-abiding citizens, it won’t change. Knowing that, it’s time for us Jews to pack up and leave. Let NYC devolve into a failed communist hellhole. We’ve rebuilt before, from Egypt to Europe. We must turn away from the trap of embracing victimhood (this is a road to nowhere) as a solution and embrace our nomadic traditions. Not just Mamdani, but NYC more broadly have delivered Jews a clear threat. Believe them that it’s real. Vote with you feet my friends. Not just clear eyed Jews, but anyone with a conscience. Do not pretend to be deaf and blind, take your skills and moral clarity somewhere you can live in peace. Then let’s see how much New Yorkers enjoy the intifada revolution without Jews to blame all their problems on. Get full access to Maccabee Nation at www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe (https://www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   29 Jun 2025

   Being liked is nice. Being alive is essential.

   The following is a post from https://x.com/AP_from_NY/status/1927071023339331715. Not sure the original authors name, but I wanted to share this perspective. I am not saying I share it, I think building bridges and communication with the other side is important, but I certainly understand and appreciate the sentiment. Let us know what you think in the comments. We, as Jews, need to stop trying to be liked. It’s a hard thing to say out loud, but it’s true. For generations we have held onto this idea that if we just explained ourselves better—if we were more open, more moral, or more patient—maybe people would finally understand us. Maybe they would stop hating us. Maybe they would come around. But they didn't and they won’t. Because the hate that we are up against isn’t logical. It’s not based on policy, politics, or misunderstandings. It’s older than any of that. It’s inherited, recycled, dressed up in new language, but it’s the same old hatred our grandparents and great-grandparents knew all too well.There are people who support us, and we should cherish them. But the people who don’t—they are not sitting around waiting for the perfect argument that will suddenly change their mind. If someone could look at what happened on October 7th—see women dragged through the streets, children butchered, people burned alive—and still say, “Well, it’s complicated,” then they’re not confused. They’re not on the fence. They have already decided we are not worth mourning. And that’s what makes this so painful. We still believe in the power of truth, because we know how much truth has mattered to us. We come from people of books, debate, ethics, and relentless questioning. We think if we just teach history the right way, if we show people what really happened, they’ll get it. But the world saw the Holocaust. Not just in hindsight—during. There were reports. Photographs. Eyewitnesses. And most of the world did absolutely nothing. The trains kept running. The borders stayed closed. The silence was louder than the screams.After the Holocaust, people said “Never Again,” and then promptly forgot almost everything. We remember six million names. The world remembers a handful. Anne Frank. Elie Wiesel. Maybe one or two more. Six million people turned into two or three acceptable symbols of Jewish pain. The rest were too Jewish, too messy, too difficult to include in the world’s moral story.So when people don’t care about Israeli Jews being massacred today, we shouldn’t be surprised. And we need to stop thinking it’s our fault for not explaining it well enough. The people who hate us aren’t looking for better explanations. Their hate is not built on logic, so it can’t be unraveled with facts. It’s built on stories they were raised with, a culture that normalizes suspicion of Jews, and a long history of blaming us for everything from plagues to power.I understand that It’s hard to accept that there are people who simply don’t care if we live or die. But that’s what history teaches us. People are perfectly capable of watching Jews suffer and moving on. In many ways, they’re more comfortable when we suffer. They know how to talk about dead Jews. They hold memorials and light candles. They feel righteous remembering us—once we’re gone. It’s living Jews who defend themselves that make them uncomfortable. So we need to stop seeking comfort in their approval. We were not put here to be liked. We were not put here to win anyone over. We were put here to survive, to protect our own, to build, to love, to outlast every empire and ideology that tried to erase us. That’s our legacy. And it continues—not because we convinced the world to accept us, but because we stopped needing their permission.We don’t need to justify our existence. We don’t need to apologize for defending ourselves. And we definitely don’t need to beg for sympathy from people who watched what happened on October 7th and kept scrolling. We should speak to our own. Strengthen each other. Teach our children who they are and where they come from. Remind them that being hated is not new. It’s not their fault. And it has nothing to do with how “good” or “moral” or “explained” we are.Being liked is nice. Being alive is essential. Let’s choose the one that matters. Get full access to Maccabee Nation at www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe (https://www.maccabeenation.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

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