On October 9, 2023, two days after the Hamas attack, Israeli trauma therapist Merav Roth visited survivors of Kibbutz Be’eri in the hotel they had been evacuated to. Some had seen family members murdered; others were raped or fled homes that were set on fire. Merav stayed and worked with them for weeks. She also helped organize hundreds of therapists to provide emergency aid to survivors. For the past two years, she has continued to work with survivors, with the families of hostages, and with hostages released in every round of agreements—including the most recent one. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Merav describes how some of the hostages coped in captivity, what she's hearing from Palestinian colleagues in Gaza, and what long-term recovery from trauma can look like. This episode contains descriptions of violence.

Two years after the October 7 attacks by Hamas, we speak with family members of Vivian Silver and Hayim Katsman, Israeli peace activists who were murdered that day. Hayim’s mother Hannah Wacholder Katsman and Vivian’s son Yonatan Zeigen share how they are carrying on their legacies.

Toronto R & B musician Erez Zobary was always proud of her Yemenite Jewish identity, but didn't explore it in her music - until now. Her new album, "Erez," is a soulful, personal collection of songs that draws on her family's stories of life in Yemen and Israel. In this episode of Can We Talk?, Erez helps us kick off Mizrahi Heritage Month, when we celebrate the cultures and contributions of Jews from the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Erez talks about her family story, the troubled history of Yemenite Jews in Israel, and her feelings about her identity—and we hear songs from her brand new album.

A year after Hamas’ brutal October 7 attacks on Israel, the war is far from over. Israel is fighting on multiple fronts—with Hamas in Gaza, with Hezbollah in Lebanon—while war threatens to explode with Iran. Hamas is still holding 101 hostages in Gaza, 33 of whom have been confirmed dead by the IDF.  In this episode of Can We Talk?, three Israeli women—Lee Hoffman Agiv, Stav Salpeter, and Ruby Russell—share thoughts about marking the first anniversary of the attacks in the midst of an ongoing and escalating war. We also speak with Dr. Melila Hellner-Eshed, Hebrew University professor of Zohar and Jewish mysticism, who discusses atonement and redemption and what her Israeli-Palestinian dialogue group has meant to her during the past year. 

In this episode of Can We Talk?, Jen, Nahanni, and Judith recap the past two seasons of the podcast, in which we entered the uncharted territory of a post-October 7 world. We discuss our approach to creating episodes about Jewish women’s responses to the attack on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza, while still making space to tell stories about other aspects of Jewish life.

Since Hamas’s brutal attack on Israeli civilians on October 7, Can We Talk? has focused on Israeli women’s responses to the war. In this episode, we turn our attention to Gaza, where Israel’s sustained bombardment has taken a terrible toll—tens of thousands of people have been killed, nearly two million people have been displaced, and the medical system is in ruins. Over a hundred thousand Palestinians have fled Gaza for Egypt in the past eight months. Human rights activist Jen Marlowe has been raising money and working to help people with the expensive, bureaucratic and logistically complicated border crossing. In this episode of Can We Talk?, we speak to Jen about her recent trip to Egypt to meet with some of the people she has helped get to safety, the conditions people face in Gaza, and what it’s like for her, a Jewish woman, to do this work.