Ep 368: The Israeli Bond with Gal Swisa Cohen and guest David Black P1 on hmTv

Ep 368 – The Israeli Bond | David Black (Part 1)
Hosted by Gal Swisa Cohen | hmTv

What does it mean to be Jewish first as a people—and only then as a faith? And how does Israel shape that identity for Jews living in the diaspora?

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, host Gal Swisa Cohen sits down with David Black, recently retired Executive Director of the Sid Jacobson JCC of Long Island, to explore the formative moments that shaped his Jewish identity, his lifelong connection to Israel, and his philosophy of community building.

David reflects on growing up during the Six-Day War, discovering the difference between minority and majority Jewish life, and how his year living in Israel changed his understanding of freedom, belonging, and peoplehood. He also shares insights from an extraordinary career spanning Jewish communal leadership, cultural diplomacy as CEO of the French Institute Alliance Française in New York, and international human-rights work uncovering Holocaust mass graves in Eastern Europe.

This episode lays the foundation for a deeper discussion on the inseparable bond between Israel and the Jewish diaspora—why each needs the other, and what happens when that connection is neglected.

🔹 Jewish identity vs. Judaism
 🔹 Israel as lived experience, not symbolism
 🔹 Culture as a bridge between communities
 🔹 Leadership, peoplehood, and purpose

👉 Stay tuned for Part 2, where the conversation continues with an in-depth look at Israel engagement, the creation of the Center for Israel, and building sustainable bonds across continents.

Transcript

Ep 368 – The Israeli Bond
Host: Gal Swisa Cohen
Guest: David Black (Part 1)
Platform: hmTv

I’ve removed timestamps, corrected names, smoothed language, and kept the conversational tone authentic while making it polished enough for publication. The content is faithfully adapted from your uploaded transcript 

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🎙️ Podcast Transcript

The Israeli Bond — Episode 368 (Part 1)

Gal Swisa Cohen with guest David Black
hmTv

Gal Swisa Cohen:
Hello, and thank you for joining me today. I’m your host, Gal Swisa Cohen, and on today’s episode of The Israeli Bond on hmTv, my special guest David Black joins me for a conversation about his life, about Judaism, and about Jews in the diaspora.

David has just retired after 14 years as Executive Director of the Sid Jacobson JCC of Long Island, but his career is far more unusual than that title suggests.

Before the JCC, he served as CEO of the French Institute Alliance Française in New York, where his work in cultural diplomacy earned him recognition from the French government. He also served as Associate Vice President at Yeshiva University and as Executive Director of JCC Manhattan.

Critically, he founded the American Friends of Yahad–In Unum, working with Father Patrick Desbois to locate and mark mass graves of Jewish victims murdered by Nazi mobile killing units in Eastern Europe.

At the Sid Jacobson JCC, David built something truly distinctive. On one hand, he expanded the JCC into a major regional social-service hub, including a full-time cancer wellness center open to all, a large food-bank partnership with the Chinese community, and robust mental-health resilience programs. On the other hand, he created Long Island’s primary—and in many ways only—infrastructure for Israel engagement, including the Randy Wobo-Malinsky Center for Israel, IsraelFest, and coordination across dozens of synagogues and organizations.

This rare combination of radical universalism and unapologetic Zionism is exactly why I’m so glad you’re here today. Welcome, David.

David Black:
I’m very happy to be here.

Gal:
So let’s start at the beginning. When did Judaism become so central in your life? Was it something from childhood, or something that developed later?

David:
Before I answer that, I want to turn the question around for a moment and say something about you. You and your husband Dagan are part of a truly transformational Israeli couple on Long Island—connecting Israelis, American Jews, and the broader community in a meaningful way. I want to thank you both for the work you do. It matters.

Now, to your question—yes, it starts in childhood. Two moments shaped me deeply. One was growing up at Midway Jewish Center in Syosset. Our rabbi was a powerful speaker. His sermons spoke to me and awakened my Jewish identity.

The second was the Six-Day War. My family was glued to the television. I was 13 years old. All I wanted was for Israel to survive.

Gal:
What did that moment awaken in you?

David:
It connected me to Israel. Judaism and Israel are related but not identical. Judaism is a spiritual pathway; Israel is a national one. The Six-Day War was terrifying—but it was also miraculous. Watching that unfold changed me forever.

Gal:
You’ve been deeply involved in Jewish institutions—JCCs, Yeshiva University—yet your connection to Judaism seems layered. How would you describe it today?

David:
I see Jewish identity first as peoplehood and Judaism as the faith of that people. One can be a Jewish atheist and still fully Jewish. Identity comes first.

Israel reinforced that understanding. When I first went to Israel, what struck me most was the experience of being part of a majority culture. That sense of freedom—of not being a minority—was transformational.

Gal:
When did you go to Israel?

David:
I was 25. I went for a year, intending to make aliyah. I lived in an absorption center in Kfar Saba, studied Hebrew intensively, and fell in love with the language. Hebrew is poetry. Pure poetry.

Ultimately, I couldn’t afford to stay—I needed a profession—but I never disconnected. Israel remained central to my life and work.

Gal:
At one point, you became CEO of the French Institute Alliance Française. That seems like a departure.

David:
It was one of life’s accidents—right place, right time. I didn’t speak French, wasn’t French—but I understood audience, culture, and purpose. We made French culture accessible to Americans.

That work led to something unexpected: I received the Ordre du Mérite from the French government for creating New York City’s large-scale public celebration of Bastille Day. Music, dancing, streets closed—tens of thousands of people. Culture should be lived, not observed from a distance.

Gal:
Which sounds a lot like what you later did with IsraelFest.

David:
Exactly. Culture needs a heartbeat.

Gal:
When you arrived at the Sid Jacobson JCC, what did you see?

David:
I saw excellence—but I also saw a missing piece. There was an Israeli flag outside the building, but no living expression of Israeli culture inside. I told the board, “I’m not bringing you something new. I’m bringing back something you forgot.”

Israel and American Jewry need each other. Israel cannot be secure without American Jewish support, and American Jews cannot be secure without Israel. That belief shaped everything we built.

Gal:
This is where we’ll pause for today.

Thank you, David, for sharing your story, your thinking, and your heart. This conversation continues in Part 2, where we’ll dive deeper into the Center for Israel and the evolving bond between Israel and the Jewish diaspora.

Thank you for tuning in to The Israeli Bond on hmTv. Please subscribe, share, and stay connected for more conversations that matter.

Until next time—be well.