Holy Cow! Three Tales of Bovine Worship
Israel Story, Episode 5: From red heifers and golden calves to the mooing mascot of radical vegans everywhere
The fate of Israel has long been seen by religious people of various stripes as intimately tied to cows. In the beginning, there was Moses’ battle over the Golden Calf, in which he struggled to bring his people around to monotheism. Then came the folks who believe, based on a passage in the Book of Numbers, that an essential step for hastening the coming of the Messiah is the sacrifice of a red heifer.
In this episode of Israel Story, we bring together stories of these and other instances of bovine worship. Yochai Maital traces the origins of 269, a radical vegan movement spawned by Sasha Bojoor and named after a sweet-looking slaughterhouse-bound calf that Bojoor and two fellow activists designated as their mascot. “Free 269” became their rallying cry. Mishy Harman introduces us to Dubi Ayalon, a retired IDF lieutenant-colonel now living in remote Wisconsin and raising water buffalo for milk. Finally, writer and radio host Jonathan Goldstein offers us a sly and bittersweet interpretation of Moses’ battle against idol worship, told from the disaffected perspective of the youngest employee of Gomer and Sons, whose golden calf business faces its fiercest competition yet: God. Listen to the full episode here, or download from iTunes. (You can find all episodes of Sipur Israeli, the Hebrew version of Israel Story, here, and all our English-language episodes here.)
Prologue: Do We Have a Red Heifer Today? (music by Podington Bear and Unthunk)
Act 1: 269
Act 2: Hello, Buffalo (production help from Anny Celsi, and music by Rich McCulley, Nathan Bowles and Angelo Badalamenti)
Act 3: Gomer & Sons (production help from Jonathan Groubert, and music by the Underscore Orkestra, Latche Swing, OK Ikumi, and Alexandre Klinke)
Israel Story, the English-language version of the popular Israeli radio program Sipur Israeli, is distributed by PRX and produced in partnership with Tablet.
Israel StoryGoing, Going, GoneIn our season finale, we tell four short stories of things that, like our current season, are coming to an end—from a toddler parting with a ‘special friend’ to a couple seeing their life’s work go up in flames, and from a stubborn holdout in a dying industry to an unusually long marriage January 19, 2022- Israel StorySbarro—20 Years LaterOn Aug. 9, 2001, 22-year-old Izz al-Din al-Masri blew himself up at a Sbarro branch in Jerusalem, killing 15 Israelis and injuring over 130. This particular attack is still etched in the collective memory. This week, we visit those most affected by the tragedy. December 31, 2021
- Israel StoryShatnezIn Israel, there are many things that usually don’t—and according to some, never should—mix: Jerusalemites and the beach, Tel Avivans and the Kotel, HaPoel and Macabbi fans, ‘Haaretz’ and ‘Yisrael HaYom’ readers. But our episode today explores the most complicated and fundamental duo in terms of mixing and not mixing: Jews and Arabs.December 17, 2021
- Israel StoryMoon ShotThe most inspiring, audacious, and famous example of Israeli ‘do-it-yourself’ ingenuity in recent history December 6, 2021
- Israel StoryLost and Found—Part IIIn an episode that explores a central religious taboo and pushes the boundaries of what many might deem acceptable within Jewish tradition, we ask whether Cat Stevens was onto something when he sang that ‘the first cut is the deepest’November 15, 2021
- Israel StoryLost and Found—Part IForgotten glasses, a misplaced eye (!), and an ancient Jacuzzi? In today’s episode, the first in a two-part series on losing and finding, we explore what we find when we lose things, and what we lose once we find them. November 8, 2021
- Israel StorySoul FoodWhile we won’t be sampling fried okra, collard greens, or macaroni and cheese, our 70th episode introduces us to two women for whom soul and food are completely intertwined October 25, 2021
- Israel StoryPigging OutBLTs and pork chops are not the first things that come to mind when you think about Israel. But, as it turns out, the Holy Land and swines go way back. In today’s episode, we go down a piggish path to encounter this most unlikely of Israeli animals. October 11, 2021
- Israel StoryNo Place Like HomeSukkot is, really, the holiday of temporary homes. And in our episode today we hear two very different stories: the first about one of Israel’s most popular children’s books and the second about a South Sudanese asylum seeker. But both of them are, deep down, about the same thing—making a home. September 27, 2021
- Israel StoryA Day at the YWhat many of us missed most during the pandemic was a sense of community. So, for our season opener, we went to a place that is all about community to find out what it feels like—and sounds like—when a diverse community tries to regroup.September 6, 2021
- Israel StoryGame ChangerWith the fate of the Tokyo Olympic Games still up in the air, our season finale tells the story of a dream to introduce a sport to a nation, and a nation to a sport. But it is a dream made up of as much pain and disappointment as it is joy and triumph.February 2, 2021
- Israel StoryThe Stories We KilledLike everything in life, stories die. And, more often than not, we are the killers. Today, a behind-the-scenes peek into some of the stories you didn’t get to hear this year. January 29, 2021
- Israel StoryTell Saki—Part II We conclude our two-part Tell Saki story by returning to the soldiers after the battle and following their respective journeys—full of pain and regret, but also full of longing and camaraderie—in the years since the Yom Kippur War January 26, 2021
- Israel StoryTell Saki—Part I Today we embark on a two-episode journey back to the 1973 Yom Kippur War, and specifically to one small hill—a dormant volcanic tell—in the southern Golan Heights. There, we follow a group of young IDF soldiers who, trapped in a small bunker for 36 intense hours, went to hell and back. January 5, 2021
- Israel StoryRound TripMany of us would normally be on the move around this time of year. But 2020 has been everything but normal. So today, we bring you two less-than-normal travel stories about people going back home—but doing so having gained a new understanding of the place from which they come. December 29, 2020
- Israel StoryThe PrincessMost Israelis remember the 2005 disengagement from Gaza as a dramatic moment of national upheaval. But for Hodaya Azulay of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, the drama was of a different nature altogether—it marked a traumatic turning point in her relationship with her favorite mare, Sheleg.December 1, 2020
- Israel StoryHorsing AroundCowgirls with oversize belt buckles and horse breeders fantasizing about producing world champions are not exactly what come to mind when you think of Israel. But today we take you into arenas, rings, and stables around the country to uncover a surprising subculture of equine enthusiasts.November 17, 2020
- Israel StoryThe Last LaughForty years after Carl Sagan’s ‘Golden Records’ began their long voyage into the depths of outer space, Eyal Gever—an Israeli high-tech-wunderkind-turned-conceptual-artist—received an unusual call: NASA asked him to create the first artwork to be printed in space. What, he now had to decide, truly captured the essence of humanity? October 27, 2020