Zionism used to mean building a state. Then it meant building a religious homeland.
Israel365 has a new podcast built around the argument that it now means something bigger: turning outward and becoming a light to the whole world, not stopping once the state and the homeland are secure.
That is the entire premise of The Universal Zionist, the new podcast hosted by Rabbi Tuly Weisz and built around his new book, Universal Zionism. And for the first episode, Rabbi Weisz needed a guest who could prove that argument, not just explain it. He found her in Diane Neal.
If you have followed Israel news over the past year, you have almost certainly seen her name. The Law & Order: SVU actress made Aliyah, was named Israel’s official Aliyah Ambassador, and has become one of the most watched public faces of what it means to choose this country in the hardest possible moment to choose it.
What most people don’t know is that she talks about the Bible the way other people talk about the news, constantly, specifically, and from memory. She describes standing in line at Misrad HaPnim to sign her citizenship papers, and the moment the entire room, full of people from a dozen different countries, went completely silent. That is not a detail she read about. That is a memory.
And when she and Rabbi Weisz talk, Scripture is not an afterthought. Verses from Malachi and Isaiah surface from memory, unprompted, in the middle of conversations about Iran, about October 7th, about what it actually costs to rebuild a life in the Jewish state. That is what happens when someone loves this land and this book enough to let them shape how she sees everything else.
You’re reading this because you already are a Universal Zionist.
Join Rabbi Weisz and Diane Neal for the conversation that starts it all.
Watch and Listen
Episode one with Diane Neal is live now, don’t miss it, or any of the episodes still to come.
Listen on Spotify here.
Watch the full interview on YouTube — and while you’re there, like and subscribe so you never miss an episode.
Rabbi Weisz’s book, Universal Zionism, is available at universal-zionism.com, on Amazon, and in the Israel365 Store.
