Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Jessica Steinberg speaking with cookbook author Adeena Sussman.

In this conversation with the bestselling author of "Sababa" and "Shabbat," Sussman discusses the intersection of cooking, culture, and personal experiences as she continues melding her American Jewish background with her current Israeli life in her recipes.

She reviews aspects of her latest cookbook, "Zariz," which emphasizes quick, easy recipes with shorter lists of ingredients, and how working on it during the war offered a therapeutic outlet during troubling times.

Sussman talks about her various Hanukkah recipes, tips for frying potato pancakes and sufganiyot, and how to streamline the latke-making and doughnut frying processes, if one decides to make their own.

Adeena Sussman's Sheet Pan Latke Board
For the latkes:

1½ - 1¾ lbs skin-on Russet potatoes, scrubbed (depending on your sheet pan size)
1 med-large onion, peeled
2 eggs
2 tsps kosher salt, plus more to taste
½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
3-4 tablespoons potato starch, cornstarch or flour
¼ - ⅓ cup olive oil

Toppings ideas:

Gravlax, sour cream, dill, lemon zest, capers
Sour cream + fish eggs + green onion
Avocado + chili crisp
Horseradish sour cream + quail egg
Pear Gorgonzola
Pomme persimmon
Labaneh + jam
Apple butter

Instructions
Arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat to 450°F.

1. Grate the potatoes and onions on the large holes of a box grater into a large bowl. Using both hands, squeeze out and discard as much of the liquid from the potatoes as possible; transfer them to a second bowl.
2. Add the oil to a quarter-sheet pan (or 9 x 13 inch glass metal baking dish); place in the oven and heat until the oil is very hot but not smoking, 7 to 8 minutes.
3. During the last two minutes of the oil heating, stir the eggs, salt, pepper, and potato starch into the potato-onion mixture.
4. Carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven.
5. Quickly pour and spread the latke batter across the pan; tip and spoon any excess oil over the top.
6. Bake until deep golden brown and crisp, 23 to 25 minutes (or longer as needed). Cut into squares and top with the toppings of your choice.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Cookbook author Adeena Sussman with her latest, 'Zariz,' in December 2025. (Courtesy)

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with James Pasch, the Anti-Defamation League's vice president of litigation.

Pasch, is currently in Israel to meet with the plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit the ADL initiated against Iran, North Korea, Syria and Hamas, for their part in the October 7 massacre.

In a new strategy, the legacy Jewish organization's work in fighting antisemitism is moving to encompass lawfare and since the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, the ADL has filed more lawsuits than in all the years of the existence of the organization.

In this podcast, we discuss how the ADL and other legal organizations are being creative in repurposing laws and redefining terms. We also hear about the struggle to remain firmly inside the Constitution and Bill of Rights when taking on the campus protests that test the boundaries of Freedom of Speech. And we learn how the ADL is preparing for the next big wave of campus hate.

And so this week, we ask James Pasch, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: James Pasch (courtesy)/ People hold US and Israeli flags as they gather before the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, outside a military base near Re'im, southern Israel, October 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

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Welcome to What Matters Now, a weekly podcast exploring key issues currently shaping Israel and the Jewish World, with host Amanda Borschel-Dan speaking with Dr. Gilad Malach, a research fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute.

Malach's research focuses on public policy related to Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, including issues critical to its integration into Israel's economy and society.

This week, the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee is debating a new bill aimed at regulating Haredi draft exemptions.

Starting with the foundation of the state in 1948, Malach takes us through the evolution of the ultra-Orthodox community's refusal to serve in the IDF. We hear of previous efforts to entice the population to join the army and how badly they failed.

Malach takes us through the unique make-up of the ultra-Orthodox household, in which women generally are more educated and go out to work, while men form a "community of learners."

As this new legislation is being debated, we learn what is at stake for the community, as well as the frustrations from the majority of Israelis who are shouldering the national burden.

And so this week, we ask Dr. Gilad Malach, what matters now.

What Matters Now podcasts are available for download on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was produced by the Pod-Waves.

IMAGE: Ultra-Orthodox Jews from the two rival factions of the Ponevezh Yeshiva stand outside the yeshiva following a mediation session held at the place, in Bnei Brak, November 19, 2025. (Erik Marmor/Flash90)

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