Chen Shelach

The Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, has been almost completely sealed off to the media. Now, for the first time, dozens of its former operatives have agreed to be interviewed. These rare interviews bring to light personal and political dilemmas and challenges, and form an account of the top-secret operations that have shaped Israel’s past and may yet shape its future.

The documentary Praise the Lard explores one of the biggest taboos in Judaism—pork—and how the existence of Israel’s pork industry came to exemplify much of the tension inherent in Zionism: the struggle to create a new, secular Jewish identity that exists apart from religious tradition, and whether it will be possible for this secular identity to survive in the face of mounting pressure from observant Jews. Praise the Lard presents an incisive, engaging take on how the unsuspecting pig took on such an outsized role in the land of Israel.

The Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, has been almost completely sealed off to the media. Now, for the first time, dozens of its former operatives have agreed to be interviewed. These rare interviews bring to light personal and political dilemmas and challenges, and form an account of the top-secret operations that have shaped Israel’s past and may yet shape its future.

The documentary Praise the Lard explores one of the biggest taboos in Judaism—pork—and how the existence of Israel’s pork industry came to exemplify much of the tension inherent in Zionism: the struggle to create a new, secular Jewish identity that exists apart from religious tradition, and whether it will be possible for this secular identity to survive in the face of mounting pressure from observant Jews. Praise the Lard presents an incisive, engaging take on how the unsuspecting pig took on such an outsized role in the land of Israel.